I once had a neighbor who kept me up all night with loud rock and roll. Then one day, there was a massive car accident in front of our two buildings. I discovered that just as we see in Obediah, my neighbor apparently had learned a lesson. In Obediah, we see a people called the Edomites who assist the Babylonians in conquering the people of Israel - the neighbors and linguistic cousins of the Israelites. We look at the typical, simplistic theory of Obediah, one that has to do with God's vengeance - and then we look a little deeper.

We consider the progression of idol worship from the Old Testament to the time of Jesus - to today. We also consider a man I met who collected restored classic cars and another man who owned a wall of expensive guitars, but who could no longer play them because he had developed a disability. We consider that question of how we end up like our idols: blind, deaf, and spiritually lifeless.

My mother believed in miracles - and when I was born very sick, she baptized me herself, because at the time, the Catholic Church taught that unbaptized babies that died went to Limbo. We look at the miracles of Jesus, and how the Synoptic Gospels refer to them as "deeds of power", while John refers to them as "signs". We see that there is a very deep reason why John does this - and we consider how this reveals the very theological nature of the Gospel of John.