Even If You Soar Like the Eagle
“Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
Obadiah 1:4
“You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune… You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster…”
Obadiah 1:12-13
The little book of Obadiah—only 21 verses—is a thunderclap of divine justice.
Edom thought it was untouchable. Its capital seemed impregnable, its treasuries overflowed, its diplomats were shrewd, its warriors were fearless. From those dizzying heights the Edomites looked down—literally and spiritually—on their suffering relatives in Judah as Babylon’s armies closed in.
Instead of pity, they felt opportunity. They gloated. They looted. They blocked 3escape routes and sold survivors as slaves.
Pride convinced them were beyond accountability. God’s answer is chilling in its simplicity:
The higher you build your nest, the harder you will fall. Every advantage Edom trusted was stripped away in a day. The God who sees the heart also topples thrones.
Centuries later, when wildfire turned Lahaina to ash in August 2023, the world saw the same ancient choice played out again. Some exploited the chaos—price-gouging, looting, scamming the grieving. But many others chose a different path. Churches welcomed people. Kitchens cooked for strangers. Gymnasiums became dormitories. People who had no homes themselves handed out water, diapers, and hugs.
The same sun that exposed Edom’s hardness illuminated Maui’s kindness.
This morning, there are people walking through a personal fires—sickness, divorce, financial collapse, grief. Each day presents a new opportunity to use our relative strength to lift someone up with kindness, compassion, and care, following Jesus’ example.
Today, look for a person who is hurting and do a concrete act of mercy—no matter how small.
Father, forgive the Edom in me—the impulse to protect myself first, to gloat in secret comparison, to step over suffering when it’s convenient. Pull down every proud nest I’ve built. Give me eyes to see the brother or sister staggering under today’s disaster, and give me hands quick to serve. Make me a safe house, a hot meal, a kind word—like Jesus to me. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.
