Telltale Signs
Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You are greatly despised. The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, Obadiah 1:2-3a NASB
Arrogance – In a conversation with the Rabbi here in Parma, the topic of political arrogance came up. He directed me to the smallest of the prophetic books, Obadiah. The book is purportedly about the fall of Edom, but in fact it is equally about any government that takes God’s roles upon itself. When a government exiles God and God’s instructions from its behavior, inevitable consequences follow. So, instead of reading Obadiah as an ancient, historical document, we might be better served by noticing how God deals with such arrogant nations, precisely because His actions are not restricted to the fifth century B.C.E.
Notice God’s opening declaration. He will make the powerful nation small. No other force is truly behind this decline. The observable results might be economic, material, medical, or cultural, but the true source of the collapse is God’s verdict. Notice that there is a complete loss of status. This powerful nation has become despised. The Hebrew is bāzâ. It basically means “contempt,” but in this case it is enhanced with the addition of mĕʾōd, “greatly.” How the mighty have fallen!
Now look at zêdôn, “arrogance.” “The basic idea is pride, a sense of self-importance, which often is exaggerated to include defiance and even rebelliousness.”[1]
zîd is frequently used to refer to three specific aspects of pride. One is presumption. . . The second aspect is rebellion or disobedience. Because the person is proud he asserts his own will to the point of rebelling against one in authority over him. . . The third, closely related to the second, carries the additional element of willful decision.[2]
This combination means that the inevitable disgrace is self-inflicted. Essentially, it’s about willfully crossing boundaries that God has put in place. As we read the rest of Obadiah, we discover that crossing these boundaries is the result of allowing special interest groups to dictate the norms of the civilization. When this happens, God not only allows but initiates the process of throwing away the economic gains of the culture, the military strength of the society, and the security of its people. The civilization ends up destroying itself.
Consider the contemporary application of Obadiah’s message. Modern politics is obsessed with presumptive pride—on all sides of the aisle. Both God and Torah have been exiled. Political expediency remains. Politicians are not representatives of the masses but rather facilitators of lobbyists. Furthermore, the West seems intent on breaking down some of the most fundamental boundaries of human existence. Gender identity attempts to erase basic biological differences, boundaries that have been in place since Genesis 1:27. The results are catastrophic chaos. Racial politics revokes the unity of humanity by adding boundaries that do not exist in biblical thought. Finally, open mass migration removes the distinctions between cultures that are the hallmark cultural identity. It not only destroys the sense of belonging necessary for community; it often attempts to smash together incompatible values. The biblical text warns against this as well. There is a difference between pagan and orthodox, and it matters!
What Obadiah tells us today is that crossing borderlines through self-willed arrogance is anathema, and God will act accordingly. What we hope is that andralamousia doesn’t follow.
Topical Index: bāzâ, despise, zêdôn, arrogance, andralamousia, Obadiah 1:2-3a
[1] Wood, L. J. (1999). 547 זִיד. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 239). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2] Ibid.
