The same “schedule” of events is seen in Obadiah as is generally the case in all the prophetic books. Israel turns from the Lord. The Lord sends prophets to call them back. Israel is stubborn and does not repent. Judgment comes, with God using the nations to do His work. God seeks Israel’s cleansing and salvation. Meanwhile, the nations God uses go beyond His will. So God judges the nations when Israel returns to Him.
As with Amos 1, so in Obadiah, Israel’s
neighbors are to be judged because in Israel’s time of sorrow and trouble, when
they were taken captive, her neighbors rejoiced in it and were part of it
(Obadiah 1:11-14). Obadiah, of course,
has one particular nation in mind: Edom.
If you are not familiar with Edom, the descendents of Esau, and their
excessive hatred of the descendents of Jacob, I will off you the opportunity to
catch up with these passages: Lamentations 4:21-22; Jer. 49:7-22; Obadiah 1; 2
Chronicles 20:10-11; Psalm 83:5-8; 108:10; 137:7; Isaiah 63:1-6; Hab. 3:3 and
Ezekiel 25:12-15; 35:1-36:15.
It is quite interesting how often Edom (also called
Mt. Seir) is singled out for judgment, although given the birth prophecy (Gen.
25:23) and the blessings from their father Isaac (Gen. 27:27-29,39-40) we are
not permitted to be surprised at the “ancient hatred” (Ezek. 35:5). Edom is an OT illustration of “replacement theology”
at work. That is the current view of
many people that the Church is now the recipient of Israel’s promises, or
simply that God no longer will give Israel the land, since God is now more
interested in the “world” than “one nation.”
I am just saying: Edom believed that God was done with Israel and would
no longer keep His promise to them. As
soon as the Babylonians cleared out of the land, Edom intended to take the land
for themselves (Ezek. 36:2, The ancient heights have become our possession).
All this brings us back to Obadiah. Verses 10-14 describe what Edom did against
his brother that would bring on them the wrath of God. They watched Israel’s captives but did not
help or comfort them. They entered
Israel’s national space to get a better view.
Then they rejoiced in Israel’s distress.
They looted Israel. They hindered
those who tried to escape. Some they
caught and delivered them up to the invading enemy.
Amos prophesied the coming Day of the LORD as
a terrible time for Israel (Amos 2:16-27).
Obadiah prophesied the coming Day of the LORD as a terrible time for the
nations who stood against Israel (Obad. 1:15-16). The standard for the judgment of the nations
will be how they treated Israel, which is consistent with Jesus’ prophecy in
Matt. 25:31-46. Jesus said the question
would be whether they were merciful to one of the least of these My brethren
(Mt. 25:40,45).
Meanwhile, for Mount Zion, there will be
deliverance, holiness, and dominance, for the kingdom shall be the LORD’s
(Obad. 1:17-21). I believe that we
should continue to pray for the situation in Gaza and Israel, that the name of
the Lord will be magnified (Ps. 85:18).
And then pray for “the peace of Jerusalem,” only pray the entire prayer
from Psalm 122:6:
Pray
for the peace of Jerusalem; may they prosper who love you.
No comments:
Post a Comment