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Title: The Twelve
Scripture: Luke 9:1-6
Speaker: Bill Shirlaw
Date: 29 January 2012
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| Title: | A Brother's Keeper |
| Reference: | Obadiah 10-14 |
| Notes: | This reading is all about brotherhood. Or the lack of it. Obadiah could have been writing about either the invasion of Jerusalem in 853-841 BC (Philistines and Arabs) or 605-586 BC with the Babylonians. Probably the latter. They make their accusation (v 1-9), then go about it to prove its validity (v10-14). The whole keynote is pride. The pride of Edom had deceived the people in what they trusted. They trusted in natural defences, allies, and wisdom, all of which they had plenty of... ...but had turned their back on God. But it’s more than neighbours. Its brothers. The Family Tree. Edom had descended from Esau....the twin son of Isaac the son of Abraham. The Jewish nation had descended from Jacob, the other twin. So they were ‘brother nations’ The Jews were told “Do not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother” (Deut 23:7) Unbrotherlieness – Very serious in ancient times “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8) God puts us in families, and God holds these relationships sacred. My brother is one I should love; one I should encourage; one I should defend. To laugh at my brother’s mistake is unbrotherly; to take delight in his failures is unbrotherly; to rejoice in his misfortune is unbrotherliness of the worth sort. Where could this lead. All this could escalate a battle between two families, a battle between two cities a battle between nations?? But where did it all go wrong for Edom? “On the day you stood aloof” (v11) – cool and distant. Brings us right back to the start of the Bible and the story of Cain and Able. God demanded “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain stood aloof and said “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen.4:9) Edom basically said “Hey, it’s nothing to do with us!” If we stand here looking outside these doors any say “hey, it’s nothing to do with us!”, then we are sadly mistaken. It’s everything to do with us. They are our brothers and sisters. Our duty is to build them up and restore them if they fallen away. Who are we looking down on today? Who are we not acting like brothers towards? Where does our pride get in the way? |
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