Let's look at the book of Obadiah. A small book of the Old Testament. Only one chapter and 21 verses. But it has a powerful message. The theme of Obadiah is well stated by Paul in

Galatians 6:7, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."

Or, in the words of Obadiah himself,

Obadiah 1:15. "As you have done, it shall be done to you.

Retribution is a reality, God is just, and He will punish injustices perpetrated against other people, both individuals and nation. The Lord takes very seriously the covenant promises He makes.

Genesis 12: 1-3, 1. Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country. From your family, and from your father's house. To a land that I will show you.

2. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great.

3. I will bless those who bless you; and I will curse him who curses you. and in you all the families of the earth shall be blesses."

He promised to bless those who bless His people, and curse those who curst them. The Lord closely identifies Himself with His people, that to curse His people is to curse Him, reject them is to reject Him. Edom's end then foreshadows the fate of all who abuse the people of God. The Lord is determined to keep faith with His people, even when His people are faithless and disobedient. And He will keep faith, in spite of appearances.

The desecration of Jerusalem and the people of Judah sent a message to the world of Obadiah's day: The God of Israel has been defeated by the gods of Babylon.  Edom, and the other oppressing nations. But as we know that was a false message, because appearances can be deceiving.

In His sovereignty God uses circumstances to accomplish His purposes, to purify and protect His people. As Lord of all the Earth He was already masterminding Edom's doom, announcing victory in the face of smoldering defeat, and controlling the course of the future in order to accomplish His plan. The Lord who did all that for Israel is the Lord who still works for His people today.

The "day of the Lord" in verse 15 of Obadiah anticipates the entry of Jesus Christ into the world.  When Jesus walked on the earth as a man, the nature of His kingdom and the manner of His coming was different from the image of Obadiah.  Jesus ushers in a quiet kingdom of peace, a spiritual kingdom entered by faith in the Person of Jesus Christ.  But truly, "the day of the Lord" and the coming of His kingdom are inseparable from Jesus Christ. The Second Coming of Jesus will conform more closely to the picture painted in the prophecy of Obadiah than did His first coming.

We need to remember as we prepare and wait for the coming of Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that God hates pride. It is pride to believe we are invulnerable and to place our trust in any other than God. He will humble those who exalt themselves in this way. Exalt God. Glorify Him for the security and success you experience. Refuse to judge others, knowing that any judgment or criticism you pass may return to you. Do not rejoice in judgment on others.  The godly person does not rejoice in the destruction of God's people, but, like God he seeks their reconciliation to God and their restoration to holiness and blessing. He avoids pride and the deception it produces within human hearts.  Ask God to reveal any areas in which your heart is deceived because of pride.

Receive the reconciliation and restoration that comes through repentance.

Obadiah 1: 1-21 The Coming Judgment on Edom 1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom

(We have heard a report from the LORD, And a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying, “ Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle”):

2 “ Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You shall be greatly despised.

3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, You who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Whose habitation is high; You who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’

4 Though you ascend as high as the eagle, And though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down,” says the LORD.

5 “ If thieves had come to you, If robbers by night— Oh, how you will be cut off!— Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to you, Would they not have left some gleanings?

6 “ Oh, how Esau shall be searched out! How his hidden treasures shall be sought after!

7 All the men in your confederacy Shall force you to the border; The men at peace with you Shall deceive you and prevail against you. Those who eat your bread shall lay a trap for you. No one is aware of it.

8 “ Will I not in that day,” says the LORD, “ Even destroy the wise men from Edom, And understanding from the mountains of Esau?

9 Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, To the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau May be cut off by slaughter. Edom Mistreated His Brother

10 “ For violence against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you, And you shall be cut off forever.

11 In the day that you stood on the other side— In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for Jerusalem— Even you were as one of them.

12 “ But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother In the day of his captivity; Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah In the day of their destruction; Nor should you have spoken proudly In the day of distress.

13 You should not have entered the gate of My people In the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction In the day of their calamity, Nor laid hands on their substance In the day of their calamity.

14 You should not have stood at the crossroads To cut off those among them who escaped; Nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained In the day of distress.

15 “ For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.

16 For as you drank on My holy mountain, So shall all the nations drink continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though they had never been. Israel’s Final Triumph

17 “ But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau shall be stubble; They shall kindle them and devour them, And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,” For the LORD has spoken.

19 The South shall possess the mountains of Esau, And the Lowland shall possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of Ephraim And the fields of Samaria. Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel Shall possess the land of the Canaanites As far as Zarephath. The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad Shall possess the cities of the South.

21 Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion To judge the mountains of Esau, And the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.

Joyfully, In The Master's Service
   Blessings, Prayers and Love,
   Pastor Pat

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