Does God care about betrayal?

Hey friends, welcome back to becoming a boss. Today we're wondering, does God care about betrayal? If you're over the age of five, you've likely felt some type of betrayal in your life. And if you're like me, you're wondering, where was God? And although some cases are worse than others, today we are unpacking some hall of fame level treachery. Bigger than LeBron leaving Cleveland and coming from the smallest book in the OT. Obadiah comes right after Amos, and he starts off hot just like him, cussing out Israel's neighbors. But not all of Israel's neighbors, just Edom. And this whole book is about pride, payback, and what they did to Israel. So, what did Edom do to deserve its very own burn book? Well, first of all, Edom and Israel were from the same family. And not just the same family, but brothers. And not just brothers, but twins. These two countries come from the sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was born first, but Jacob's competitive spirit was already grabbing at his brother's heel on the way out of the womb, just trying so hard to be the firstborn son. Those twin boys eventually grew into countries. Esau became Edom, and Jacob became Israel. The nation of Esau had already attacked Israel a couple of times, so I don't know if they ever got along. Now, everybody picks on their little brother sometimes, but this was upending. Here's what happened. There's a big bully on the playground, probably Babylon, who was picking on little Israel. And everybody knows if a big bully is picking on your little brother, your job is to go handle business. And did Esau go and do what he was supposed to do and defend his little brother? No. In fact, big brother Esau stood idly by and watched his own flesh and blood be pillaged, murdered, and taken into captivity. Now, imagine standing there and watching your flesh and blood get pummeled on the playground and not doing anything about it. The audacity. And you might think that that's pretty awful, but there's more. Little Jacob, who had become Israel, runs to his big brother Esau for help, trying to escape the bully. And instead of scooping up little bro and fending off the bad guy, the nation of Esau stood at the border and captured the refugees themselves. Some of them they handed over to the enemy. In another cases, they slaughtered their own brethren right there, even the women. And that kind of betrayal, that gets a whole book of the Bible dedicated to it. Obadiah says that the nation of Esau had so much pride in their hearts that they thought they were going to get away with it, too. But they won't. The nation of Esau lived up in the mountains, so Obadiah says to them, "No matter how safe you feel in your cities, sitting high in the cleft of the mountains, you will not escape the wrath of God." And if you read the book of Amos with me, he told us that Esau's anger raged continually, and his fury flamed unchecked. Which makes you wonder, what was Esau so angry about? This is the part that's going to mess up your whole day. I know you're mad at Esau right now for what he did to his little bro, but let's rewind a thousand years when Jacob and Esau weren't countries yet, but just people. The eldest son, Esau, was entitled to a birthright and a blessing, which means he was set to receive the largest portion of his father's inheritance, and also become the leader of the family. Now, this was especially critical for this family, because that inheritance was a world-changing inheritance. Literally. Inheriting God's promise to Abraham that he would become a great nation through which the entire world would be blessed. And one at a time, little bro Jacob stole both of those things from his brother through conspiracy and manipulation. So, one could say that Jacob got what was coming to him. You can find that whole drama story in Genesis 25. It's only a couple of chapters. And spoiler alert, Jacob's mom helps him to conspire and manipulate. Classic crazy mama drama, y'all. Now, I don't know about you, but I've had my own share of betrayal. The worst one was recently and from my own family. I was heartbroken and confused, because isn't your family supposed to be a safe place? I expected them to be a safe place for my entire life. So, I just couldn't even believe it. And I cried to the Lord about it, and complained, and cried some more, and complained a lot. But when I finally got quiet, he led me to a specific verse. It's Psalm 18:2, which begins, "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer." That feeling of hurt and betrayal did not go away overnight, but every time an angry thought would come into my mind, I would immediately interrupt that thought with that verse that God had led me to. At first, I was not good at it. I caught myself ranting and raving in my head, which was not good. But eventually, I got better at it. And with practice, I got free. My heart had slowly changed, and I was finally able to step into forgiveness. We are not designed to carry this crap with us, but to leave it at the feet of Jesus. Or if you want to hang on to it, that's fine, too. Just remember, if you hang on to it long enough, your children's children's children can end up slaughtering an entire country. But, your choice. Obadiah wraps up his book just like Amos and Joel and most of the other minor prophets, with a message of hope, saying that deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will be the Lord's. Friends, I have read a lot of books, but the Bible is the most interesting book in the world. I hope that you read it with me and discover just how incredible it is. Praying for you, friends.