While Edom thought they dwelt secure in their own mountain fortress, God promises that His own holy mountain would be the actual place of safety, security, and most poignantly, salvation (v. 17). Christ is not only the means of judgment in Obadiah, but He is also the fortress of salvation for all those who come to God for safety. It is a beautiful picture of the work of Christ, not only as supreme judge of the world, but as the place of refuge and salvation for the people of God.

Perhaps you’ve passed over Obadiah more times when flipping through your Bible than any other book in Scripture. It’s a third of the way through the Minor Prophets and it’s only one chapter consisting of only 21 verses. But if you have not read it, pause now and read through it before continuing. This little book, a prophecy against the nation of Edom, is a gem. It is thoroughly encouraging to the beleaguered Christian and thoroughly exalting to Christ. But to understand how it is, we first need to understand the context and content of this little diamond.
The nation of Edom consisted of the descendants of Esau, as the book makes clear. God refers to them as the brother of Jacob, certainly drawing our minds to the very conflict between the patriarchs of the two nations: Jacob and Esau. As Israel settled in the land of Canaan, the descendants of Esau had settled in the mountainous regions to the East. They famously built their cities and strongholds in the caves and hidden crevices of the rocky spires, the most well-known being the city of Petra.
The sin of Edom as condemned by God in the short book is two-fold. First, God condemns them for the “pride in your heart” (v. 3), thinking themselves invulnerable and safe. Indeed, enemy attackers would be forced to traverse single-wide passageways through the rocks in order to attack, and so the cities of Edom were seemingly impenetrable. Though they think that they soar among the stars as eagles, God promises that their highly defensible geography was no match for His vengeance.
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In thoughtful consideration for the safety of children, many churches in the PCA already perform background checks on individuals who help directly or tangentially with children’s ministries. Background checks help validate the qualification of every believer to “keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable,” (1 Pet. 2:12). The wisdom of the practice applies even more to the men who shepherd the church. They are to be “above reproach” (1 Tim. 3:2 and Titus 1:7) and “proven blameless” (1 Tim. 3:10).

In 2019, nine presbyteries (10%) overtured the General Assembly for a study committee on domestic abuse and sexual assault. The assembly approved the formation of the study committee with amendments by the Overture Committee that restricted them from bringing recommended changes to our Book of Church Order.
Despite no formal recommendations, one of the most straightforward and essential pieces of wisdom from the report is protecting the church through background checks. The report specifically suggests the following:
“Presbyteries enacting policies to require background checks and abuse training for all ordinands and transfers, and policies to protect whistleblowers against retribution” (emphasis added, DASA Report, M49GA, p. 949)
And:
“Candidates for the gospel ministry and others employed for spiritual oversight (Sunday school teachers, youth leaders, etc.) should be examined carefully to determine their godly character. Presbyteries and Sessions are encouraged to carefully investigate a candidate for leadership roles including but not limited to the candidate’s knowledge of theology. Background checks, social media checks, and careful reference checks should be used to screen for abusive leadership.” (emphasis added, DASA Report, M49GA, pp. 1128, 1159, 1183)
In thoughtful consideration for the safety of children, many churches in the PCA already perform background checks on individuals who help directly or tangentially with children’s ministries. Background checks help validate the qualification of every believer to “keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable,” (1 Pet. 2:12). The wisdom of the practice applies even more to the men who shepherd the church. They are to be “above reproach” (1 Tim. 3:2 and Titus 1:7) and “proven blameless” (1 Tim. 3:10).
Officers of the church “watch over the souls” of the congregation (Heb. 13:17); and warnings against mistreating children and those with childlike faith indicate how seriously Jesus took this shepherding (Matt 18:5,6). Additionally, the Westminster Larger Catechism, when discussing the “sins of superiors” under the fifth commandment, warns leaders against the “careless exposing, or leaving [those in their care] to wrong, temptation, and danger,” (WLC 130).
In light of these things and in response to the advice from the DASA Report, a group of elders in different presbyteries crafted an overture to address this issue. As part of that group, I brought a version to my session which then referred it to South Texas Presbytery. The overture proposes an amendment to the BCO that church courts perform a background check on all potential officers (TEs, REs, & Deacons). This proposed amendment will come before the 50th General Assembly as Overture 6.
Some presbyteries already make provisions for background checks for all TEs by way of their standing rules. However, no such mechanism exists for REs and Deacons except that every congregation adopts their own policies. While specific policies within presbyteries and congregations can be further developed beyond background checks, this overture, and its recommended placement in the BCO, suggests that background checks should be viewed as an extension of the existing responsibility of church courts to perform “a careful examination” including “personal character” (21-4.c; 24-1.a) and “Christian experience” (13-6).
Background checks are not a new exam but a wise addition to existing requirements. The secular courts and agencies are not being brought into the evaluation process of potential officers. Instead church courts are utilizing all available information for the preexisting requirement to judge the character of officers. There may be cases in which exams contain information that is not disqualifying. There may be cases in which the exam contains information that pre-dates conversion and does not indicate a sinful proclivity in the potential candidate. Any performed background is not to be treated as a pass or fail situation but additional information to in wisdom evaluate the character of a candidate (more on this issue is addressed below).
That said, few overtures are sent to the General Assembly in perfect form. Overture 6 is no different. There are things that could eventually be added or removed to improve it. However, the amendment as it stands makes a clear declaration that protection of Christ’s flock is as important as protecting the Church’s doctrine. There is not likely to be significant disagreement on the underlying principles of the overture.
However, a straightforward writing and reading of such an overture still creates issues, questions, and concerns. The same questions that were anticipated by the authors of the overture and that were discussed on the floor of South Texas Presbytery will likely come up again during the debate of the Overture Committee. In light of this, it may be helpful to report some of the deliberations made in the drafting of the overture. I hope that a review of these issues will help the Overtures Committee further improve the amendment.
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Written by Dr. Michael LeFebvre |
Thursday, February 24, 2022
In the name Yahweh, God made himself known as a present being—present with and for his people. And wherever God’s presence is invoked, that announcement is pregnant with the certainty of his attention, his care, his power, and his grace. Perhaps a helpful paraphrase of God’s words at the burning bush would be, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘I Am Present has sent me to you.’” God sent Moses to the people in Egypt with that marvelous announcement. And the subsequent exodus events would be an object lesson for all generations that God is Yahweh, present with his people in all their sufferings.

When the people of Israel were enslaved in Egypt, they cried out to God for deliverance. Then God answered their cry, using the expression “I am who I am” (Exod 3:14) to introduce himself as their deliverer. In English, that sounds like a philosophical statement about God’s existence. In Hebrew, the passage uses the verb ehyeh (a form of the word hayah), normally translated “I am” or “I will be.” That translation is, in most situations, adequate. But for the meaning of God’s name in Exodus 3 and several other places in the Bible, hayah carries the added weight of representing God himself: Yahweh, “I am.” In such contexts, more careful attention to the nuance of this verb is important.
Indeed, the Hebrews, languishing under the whips of their oppressors, did not need to know simply that God exists. They needed to know that he was present with them. And that is precisely what God announced to Moses and memorialized in his name Yahweh, as defined by the verb ehyeh.
The Meaning of God’s Name at the Burning Bush
God explained the meaning of his name Yahweh (often represented in English Bibles as “Lord” in all small caps, and sometimes vocalized as “Jehovah” or by its consonantal root “YHWH”) while commissioning Moses at the burning bush. He instructed the prophet,
Say this to the people of Israel: “I am (ehyeh) has sent me to you.” . . . Say this to the people of Israel: “The Lord (Yahweh), the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.” This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. (Exod 3:14–15)
God explained the meaning of Yahweh by placing it in parallel with the similar-sounding Hebrew term “I am” (ehyeh, from the root hayah). Yahweh is God’s personal name, so closely identified with his being that many orthodox Jews refuse to pronounce it, instead saying HaShem (“the name”) or Adonai (“Lord”), to guard this name’s sanctity.
Scholars debate whether the word Yahweh actually derives from the verb hayah. Even if the word Yahweh does not derive from hayah, it sounds similar. And biblical authors often employed sound-alike phrases to indicate name meanings (e.g., Gen 25:25, 30). In this case, the meaning of God’s name Yahweh is explained with the sound-alike ehyeh, a Hebrew being verb usually translated, “I am” or “I will be.” But the usage of being verbs such as hayah/ehyeh in Hebrew differs slightly but significantly from the way being verbs are used in most western languages.
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