Nahum and Obadiah: Bad Neighbors

We read Nahum and Obadiah to face the edge where justice meets mercy. We explore Nineveh’s fall, Edom’s pride, and our urge to gloat, then turn our hearts toward refuge, humility, and prayer.

• Nahum’s oracle against Nineveh and Assyria’s cruelty
• God as just judge and sure refuge
• Vivid siege imagery and empire collapse
• Wrestling with judgment and divine goodness
• Obadiah’s charge against Edom’s betrayal
• The danger of gloating over another’s pain
• The Day of the Lord and restoration of a remnant
• A call to humility, empathy, and prayer

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Chapters

• 0:22 Setting The Stage: Two Prophets
• 0:41 Why Nahum Targets Nineveh
• 2:45 God’s Character: Justice And Refuge
• 5:29 Nineveh’s Siege And Collapse
• 10:55 Wrestling With Judgment And Goodness
• 11:51 Turning To Obadiah And Edom
• 13:31 Edom’s Pride And Betrayal
• 16:36 Day Of The Lord And Restoration
• 18:04 Don’t Gloat Over Another’s Fall
• 19:26 Closing Reflection And Prayer

Transcript

Why Nahum Targets Nineveh

God’s Character: Justice And Refuge

Nineveh’s Siege And Collapse

Wrestling With Judgment And Goodness

Turning To Obadiah And Edom

Edom’s Pride And Betrayal

Day Of The Lord And Restoration

Don’t Gloat Over Another’s Fall

Closing Reflection And Prayer

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hey, welcome back to the Out Loud Bible Project Podcast. This is Mike. Today in this episode, we're gonna cover two whole books of the Bible. That's gonna feel accomplished, isn't it? Two whole books. Well, we're reading Nahum and we're reading Obadiah. Obadiah is actually just one chapter, so we get to squeeze that in and get two for the price of one today. Now, these two books aren't like most of the other minor prophet books, uh, because whereas most of the other minor prophets are speaking to either Israel or Judah about their need to repent and turn to God and turn back to God after decades and decades of unfaithfulness, Nahum is prophesying against the city of Nineveh. Now, if you remember the story of Jonah, that will sound familiar to you. That is the same city, Nineveh, that Jonah was told by God to go offer them a second chance, that they could repent and God would uh would delay, would spare them, that generation, from destruction. Well, Jonah didn't like that, that's his whole story, but sure enough, the king of Nineveh repented, humbled himself, led the whole city to repent, and God spared them from being destroyed. Now, at this point, when Nahum comes into the picture, this is about a hundred years later. So anyone who heard the story of God and heard the prophet Jonah and humbled themselves with the king of Nineveh and that king himself, they're all long gone. We are now a few generations beyond that. And uh Nineveh, it's time for their judgment. God's patience has run out, and he's offering this warning and proclamation of what's going to happen through uh the prophet Nahum. Now, Assyria also, remember, is the empire that came and took away the northern kingdom of Israel, and that was all part of God's plan. But even though God used the kingdom of Assyria to deliver his judgment to his people Israel, that does not mean that Assyria and God are best buds and that everything Assyria does and how they did it, God approves of. No, no. They have to answer for their sins as well. And well, here the time has come. So here's Nahum. I'll read uh Obadiah after this, and we'll introduce a little bit about what Obadiah is when we get there. For now, let's just stay in Nahum's channel here as we check out uh Nahum one through three, that's the entire book in the New English translation. This is an oracle about Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkishite. The Lord is a zealous and avenging God. The Lord is avenging and very angry. The Lord takes vengeance against his foes. He sustains his rage against his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, but great in power. The Lord will certainly not allow the wicked to go unpunished. He marches out in the whirlwind and the raging storm. Dark storm clouds billow like dust under his feet. He shouts a battle cry against the sea and makes it dry up, he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashin and Caramel wither. The blossom of Lebanon withers. The mountains tremble before him, the hills convulse, the earth is laid waste before him, the world and all its inhabitants are laid waste. No one can withstand his indignation, no one can resist his fierce anger. His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire, boulders are broken up as he approaches. The Lord is good. Indeed, he is a fortress in time of distress, and he protects those who seek refuge in him. But with an overwhelming flood he will make a complete end of Nineveh. He will drive his enemies into darkness. Whatever you plot against the Lord, he will completely destroy. Distress will not arise a second time. Surely they'll be totally consumed like entangled thorn bushes, like the drink of drunkards, or like very dry stubble. From you, O Nineveh, one has marched forth who plots evil against the Lord, a wicked military strategist. This is what the Lord says. He's speaking to Israel right now. Even though they are powerful, and what's more, even though their army is numerous, nevertheless they will be destroyed and trickle away. Although I afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. And now I will break Assyria's yoke bar from your neck, I will tear apart the shackles that are on you. Now he speaks against the king of Nineveh. The Lord has issued a decree against you, your dynasty will come to an end. I will destroy the idols and images in the temples of your gods. I'll desecrate your grave because you are accursed. Look, the herald is running on the mountains. A messenger is proclaiming deliverance. Celebrate your sacred festivals, O Judah. Fulfill your sacred vows to praise God, for never again will the wicked Assyrians invade you. They've been completely destroyed. An enemy who will scatter you, Nineveh, has advanced against you. Guard the rampart, watch the road, prepare yourselves for battle, muster your mighty strength, for the Lord is about to restore the majesty of Jacob, as well as the majesty of Israel, though their enemies have plundered them and have destroyed their fields. The shields of his warriors are dyed red, the mighty soldiers are dressed in scarlet garments, the chariots are in flashing metal fittings on the day of battle, the soldiers brandish their spears, the chariots race madly through the streets, they rush back and forth in the broad plazas, they look like lightning bolts, they dash here and there like flashes of lightning. The commander orders his officers, they stumble as they advance, they rush to the city wall, and they set up the covered siege tower. The slew is gates are opened, the royal palace is deluged and dissolves. Nineveh is taken into exile and is led away. Her slave girls moan like doves while they beat their breasts. Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days, but now her people are running away. She cries out, Stop, stop, but no one turns back. Her conquerors cry out, Plunder the silver, plunder the gold. There is no end to the treasure. Riches of every kind of precious thing. Destruction, devastation, and desolation. Hearts faint, knees tremble, every stomach churns, all their faces have turned pale. Where now is the den of the lions and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion, lioness, and lion cub once prowled and no one disturbed them? The lion tore apart as much prey as his cubs needed and strangled prey for his lionesses. He filled his lairs with prey and his dens with torn flesh. I am against you, declares the Lord of Heaven's armies. I will burn your chariots with fire. The sword will devour your young lions. You will no longer prey upon the land. The voices of your messengers will no longer be heard. Woe to the city guilty of bloodshed. She's full of lies. She's filled with plunder, she's hoarded her spoil. The chariot drivers will crack their whips, the chariot wheels will shake the ground, the chariot horses will gallop, the war chariots will bolt forward, the charioteers will charge ahead, their swords will flash, their spears will glimmer, there will be many people slain. There will be piles of the dead and countless casualties, so many that people will stumble over the corpses. Because you've acted like a wanton prostitute, a seductive mistress who practices sorcery, who enslaves nations by her harlotry, and entices people by her sorcery, I am against you, declares the Lord of Heaven's armies. I will strip off your clothes, I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms, I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt, I will make you a public spectacle. Everyone who sees you will turn away from you in disgust, and they'll say Nineveh's been devastated, who'll lament for her? There will be no one to comfort you. You're no more secure than Thebes. She was located on the bank of the Nile. The waters surrounded her, her rampart was the sea, the water was her wall, Cush and Egypt had limitless strength. Put and the Libyans were among her allies, and yet she went into captivity as an exile. Even her infants were smashed to pieces at the head of every street, they cast lots for her nobility. All her dignitaries were bound with chains. You too will act like drunkards, you go into hiding, and you too will seek refuge from the enemy. All your fortifications will be like fig trees with first ripe fruit. If they're shaken, their figs will fall into the mouth of the eater. Your warriors will be like women in your midst. The gates of your land will be wide open to your enemies, fire will consume the bars of your gates. Draw yourselves water for a siege, strengthen your fortifications, trample the mud, tread the clay, make mud bricks to strengthen your walls. There the fire will consume you. The sword will cut you down, it will devour you like the young locust would. Multiply yourselves like the young locust. Multiply yourselves like the flying locusts. Increase your merchants more than the stars of heaven. They're like the young locusts that sheds its skin and flies away. Your courtiers are like locusts, your officials are like a swarm of locusts. They encamp in the walls on a cold day, and yet when the sun rises they fly away, and no one knows where they are. Your shepherds are sleeping, O King of Assyria. Your officers are slumbering. Your people are scattered like sheep on the mountains, and there's no one to regather them. Your destruction is like an incurable wound. Your demise is like a fatal injury. All who hear what happened to you will clap their hands for joy, for no one escaped your endless cruelty. Ooh, sobering reminder that God does bring judgment and he does judge sin. He does not let the sinner go unpunished, as he says. It's kind of interesting in that book how really most of it is very severe and very definitive judgment on Assyria, even though there's still little glimpses of God's heart for uh reconciliation, and that he is a refuge, and he is good. And I think we have to kind of manage that tension there of like God will punish sin. He does not let sin go unpunished. However, he's still good, he's still a refuge for those who are in trouble, he still hears the cries of the oppressed, and he's always watching and he will always take action at the right time. It's it's tough for us to believe sometimes. I'm sure the Israelites were not completely comforted by this, but uh hey, it's it's just something about God that we continue to learn, continue to hone our hearts closer to His. Well, let's pop on over to the book of Obadiah. If you uh try to find it in your paper Bible, it's probably going to be difficult because it's only one page. Uh, and it's likely in that part of the Bible where the pages still stick together. We don't open this part of the Bible very often. But the book of Obadiah is very short, it's one chapter, but it's it's interesting where this prophecy from Obadiah it concerns Edom. And, you know, a lot of, I get it, a lot of these Old Testament names of nations and cities and locations, it's tough to keep them all straight, and we just kind of lump them into like, I don't know, they're the bad guys, right? They probably just did something bad uh against Israel, I don't know. Uh and while that, you know, generally is true. Edom is interesting because Edom is actually, you could call it a cousin of Israel, uh, because Edom actually comes from the line of Esau, just like Israel comes from the line of Jacob. Jacob and Esau were twins. Now they didn't have a great relationship. You can go check it out in the book of Genesis, about two-thirds of the way through the book of Genesis, there's Jacob and Esau's story, but they were relatives. Edom has been living as neighbors to Israel this whole time, ever since Jacob and Esau. And their relationship was, again, never great, but Edom really committed a grievous sin against Israel and against the Lord. When Israel was taken away into captivity into Assyria, and Judah was taken away into captivity into Babylon, that left the cities and the lands kind of open. And guess who moved in and took what they wanted? Edom. Edom was nearby, they neighbored the land, they saw what happened to Israel and Judah, and they just seized the opportunity to kind of get some free stuff. They didn't think anyone would know, they didn't think anyone would care, they didn't think anyone would notice. But guess what? God sees, God cared very much, and God will not let his people be taken advantage of anymore. So, God's judgment on Edom here is delivered through the prophet Obadiah. It's very short, but it's very potent. Let's check it out here. The book of Obadiah in the New English Translation. The vision that Obadiah saw, the sovereign lord says this concerning Edom. We've heard a report from the Lord. An envoy was sent among the nations saying, Arise, let's make war against Edom. The Lord says, Look, I will make you a weak nation. You'll be greatly despised. Your presumptuous heart has deceived you, you who reside in the safety of the rocky cliffs, whose home is high in the mountains. You think to yourself, No one can bring me down to the ground. Even if you were to soar high like an eagle, even if you were to make your nest among the stars, I can bring you down even from there, says the Lord. If thieves came to rob you during the night, they would steal only as much as they wanted. If grape pickers came to harvest your vineyards, they would leave some behind for the poor. Oh, but you will be totally destroyed. How the people of Esau will be thoroughly plundered, their hidden valuables will be ransacked, all your allies will force you from your homeland. Your treaty partners will deceive you and overpower you. Your trusted friends will set an ambush for you, and that will take you by surprise. And at that time, the Lord says, I will destroy the wise sages of Edom, the advisors from Esau's mountain. Your warriors will be shattered, O Timon, so that everyone will be destroyed from Esau's mountain. Because you violently slaughtered your relatives, the people of Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be destroyed forever. You stood aloof while strangers took his army captive, and foreigners advanced to his gates. When they cast lots over Jerusalem, you behaved as though you were in league with them. You should not have gloated when your relatives suffered calamity. You should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah when they were destroyed. You should not have boasted when they suffered adversity. You should not have entered the city of my people when they experienced distress. You should not have joined in gloating over their misfortune when they suffered distress. You should not have looted their wealth when they endured distress. You should not have stood in the fork of the road to slaughter those trying to escape. You should not have captured their refugees when they suffered adversity. For the day of the Lord is approaching for all the nations. Just as you have done, so it will be done to you. You will get exactly what your deeds deserve. For just as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and they will gulp it down. They will be as though they had never been. But on Mount Zion, there will be a remnant of those who escape, and it will be a holy place once again. The descendants of Jacob will conquer those who had conquered them. The descendants of Jacob will be a fire, and the descendants of Joseph a flame. The descendants of Esau will be like stubble. They'll burn them up and devour them. There will not be a single survivor of the descendants of Esau. Indeed, the Lord has spoken it. The people of the Negev will take possession of Esau's mountain, and the people of the foothills will take possession of the land of the Philistines. They'll also take possession of the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, and the people of Benjamin will take possession of Gilead. The exiles of this fortress of the people of Israel will take possession of what belongs to the people of Canaan, as far as Zarephath. And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sephirid will take possession of the towns of the Negev. Those who have been delivered will go up on Mount Zion in order to rule over Esau's mountain. Then the Lord will reign as king. This book serves as a good reminder to not celebrate the calamity, the downfall, the hard times of people that you don't like. Especially if they're God's people. That is part of letting God be the judge, letting justice be his. Is we do not celebrate when they experience hard times. Because even though you're not going to necessarily rob people who go through hard times because they're down and out, aren't we taking something that doesn't belong to us when we celebrate someone else's downfall? We're taking joy that does not belong to us from that situation. That is not how we're supposed to achieve that. And yet when we take it, God notices and he levels the playing field. Instead, when we see people that and I get it, if we don't like them, we are we just want them to see their comeuppance. That is not our place. Let's grieve with those who grieve, let's mourn with those who mourn, and pray that God will relent and that God will draw all nations to himself, and God will draw all people to himself, that hearts will be softened. Let's pray in that vein and find ourselves not sharing in the judgment, but sharing in God's blessing, which will inevitably come. That's the thinking out loud thought for the day.