Princeton Presbyterian Church

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1649

August 11, 2024

Obadiah 1.10-15        Click here for audio worship  (Forgive the brain fade during the Lord's Prayer!)

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“Hope in God’s Kingdom”

 

Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. ¹¹On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. ¹²But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress. ¹³Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity; do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity. ¹⁴Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives; do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. ¹⁵For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.

 

• Judgment Upon Edom

 

Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament at 21 verses. But, Obadiah is also a powerful witness against the all nations who are prideful and over step their bounds according to God’s desire. The situation in Obadiah is that God had passed judgment on Israel and used the nation of Babylon as His pawn to pass that judgment. A little background: The nation that is first called out in Obadiah is Edom. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau. Israel were the descendants of Jacob. You may remember that Jacob and Esau did not have the best of relationships and that brotherly feud was passed on to Israel and Edom. Edom looked down on Israel, considered themselves better than Israel, and when Babylon drove the Israelites out of Jerusalem into exile, the Edomites took advantage of the situation and in their prideful attitude, they participated in the violence and stealing along with Babylon. It was this arrogance that brought Obadiah to proclaim the judgment of God against Edom. Edom apparently also gloated over their sin and the destruction of Jerusalem. This is the judgment we see in verses 10-14, the bulk of our reading for today.

 

Sibling rivalry is an important theme in some Bible stories. Brothers do not get along well in some cases and in this case neither do their descendants. Cain and Abel is the first story of such a relationship and we read what the Lord said to Cain in Genesis 4.7, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” The crouching sin led Cain to kill his brother. It was another example of the depravity of sin passed to all.

 

Or consider the New Testament example, the story of the Prodigal Son. Luke 15.27 tells of one of the servants in the household speaking to the older brother, “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’” The older brother is angered, not a happy camper… ²⁸But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends (Luke 15.27-29). We do not know the response of the older brother from the parable, but what we learn from it is measured in the good news of God’s mercy in verse 32, “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”

 

Jacob and Esau, Israel and Edom, Cain and Abel, the prodigal and the older brother, some of these stories end with a judgment in God’s justice and another in the judgment of God’s mercy. Both are fair judgments for God chooses those He will mark for justice and those whom He will choose for mercy (Exodus 33.19, Romans 9.15).

 

• Judgment Upon all Nations

 

Obadiah 1.15 takes a shift from Edom to all nations. This shift may be a warning to all nations to understand that if any nation acts like Edom, they will face the same judgment. God is not only the Lord of Israel, but also of Edom, and of all nations of the earth. Our own nation will one day face judgment. Every nation will one day face the Lord and be judged. Every nation will one day face the day of the Lord. Edom becomes something of an example as a witness to all nations that if you act in violence and pride, God’s justice will come upon you. One day, the Lord’s day, all nations shall be judged.

 

There is this little detail in Obadiah in the Hebrew words that we unfortunately cannot see in the English translation. The word for Edom in the Hebrew has the same letters as the word for humanity, Adam. The only difference is in the ‘punctuation’ that marks a change the pronunciation and meaning of the words. But what is interesting about the two words is this movement from judgment upon Edom to the judgment upon the nations or all humanity, from Edom to Adam, one nation to all nations.

 

This is the same scenario we get in Matthew 25 when the judgment comes and the dividing of the sheep and the goats. ³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³²Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.” Obadiah is as much a foreshadowing of this event in Matthew 25 as it is a judgment on Edom.

 

• Do Unto Others

   

The latter half of verse 15 is kind of a reverse of the golden rule, “As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.” This is a common theme in the Psalms as prayers will often seek God’s judgment upon evil doers by having them fall into their own traps. Some people look upon this as karma or instant justice is often the term used in YouTube titles, but it is biblically God’s justice. He works His holy justice upon those whom He wills to do so. The message of judgment here is watch out what you do because that same action may come back on you. The evil done to others will come upon you, which is a work of God through His justice. It is why our parents would say things like, be careful what you do to others because it may come back to you. The classic story of the bully in school who later has to face the one bullied who now has some authority over the bully. It is the similar thought in the Golden Rule, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7.12).

The judgment of God upon Edom is that the injustice they had done against Israel will be done to them. The violence will come back on them. The theft will strike them. Their actions, their evil, will return to them.

 

 

• Hope in God’s Kingdom

 

One of the cases I want to present in the minor prophets is the connection to the New Testament and particularly to Jesus Christ. We have already seen the picture of judgment to come in Matthew 25 and at the end of Obadiah we see more of God’s kingdom that is preached and revealed in Jesus. So, it is appropriate that we read the end of Obadiah’s prophecy, verses 17-21,

 

But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. ¹⁸The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken. ¹⁹Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. ²⁰The exiles of this host of the people of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the Negeb. ²¹Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.

 

In simple terms the Edomites will be judged, their lands occupied, while the Israelites of Jacob’s lineage will regain all that was theirs. Restoration will come according to the promise of God made known in the prophecy of Obadiah. It is Obadiah’s final statement that leads us to see Jesus again, “the kingdom shall be the Lord's”. There is only one kingdom that will rule over all kingdoms and all nations, that is the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven. I feel like I have repeated Matthew 4.17 with each prophet so far in this series. Jesus says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” In essence what Jesus is proclaiming is that the kingdom that will be over all kingdom’s has arrived. The judge who will judge all nations has come. The day of the Lord is here and yet to come.

The kingdom of God was the hope of Israel when Babylon sacked the city of Jerusalem and when the Edomites joined in out of their pride and disregard for the righteousness of God. The hope of the coming Messiah has always been the hope of Israel. Obadiah is a short book and prophecy of only 21 verse, but its story tells the common themes of all peoples, demonstrating the costly nature of sin and the judgment that will come and also giving hope for restoration in the promise of God’s kingdom. Those themes permeate the New Testament story of Christ. We see it in many places in the Gospels but I want to point out two particular texts that emphasize the restoration we all hope for in this world of darkness.

The first is 1 Corinthians 15.20-28, But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. ²⁸When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

 

By Adam came death, the wages of sin. By Jesus comes resurrection, the restoration of God’s people through Christ’s death and resurrection. Paul says in verse 24, then comes the end, judgment, final restoration of through the kingdom of God. All other rule and authority and power that opposed God is defeated. The last enemy, verse 26, the last “kingdom”, so to speak, is death. It too is defeated. Christ has conquered on the cross and from the grave. And, like in Obadiah, His Kingdom is the Lord’s and will have no end. Then God will be all in all. Glory to God.

 

The second text is from Revelation 11.15, Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

 

All the kingdoms of the world, all the nations shall be judged, and all the kingdoms will be under the kingdom of God and Christ. He shall reign forever and ever. This is our hope and promise as it was for Israel in the days of the prophets, and as it was for God’s people in the days that Jesus walked this earth, and as it still is for God’s people today. The world as we know it today will not be the final word. The darkness and death will end and Christ will rule. The lies and corruption will come to an end and the kingdoms will be judged. God’s kingdom alone will, stand ruling over all.

 

Israel became impatient time and time again. It led them to forget God and sin against Him. Nations were used to judge their faithlessness. We also have a tendency to become impatient waiting for the return of Christ when all things will be restored and made new. The new heaven and the new earth, how long, O Lord? But we must keep the faith, trust in the Lord and in His timing. Wait for the Lord and watch. The good news is that God’s kingdom has come and will come again in all its fullness. Jesus Christ has come and will come again and all things -- all things will be restored and all kingdoms will be the Lord’s. Amen.