Meditation

Hi there,

Today we are copying out the final verses of Obadiah and also the final verses of the season of the shortest books in the Bible.

Next week will be a "break week" and offers an opportunity to get caught up if you've fallen behind or missed any of the books.

Despite their size, and variety all the books we have copied contain complete stories and point to a singular triumphant truth;

God is Sovereign over all.

Verses 19-21 of Obadiah promise not only a physical reinstatement to Israel of the lands it lost but also a hope for us all.

The naming of specific lands, many of them ancient, give concrete expression to the idea of restoration: God will reverse the losses, return His people, and reorder the land according to His promise.

However, as much as these verses read like geography, these promises are really about sovereignty.

God's sovereignty is a promise that unites us all.

Today's verses are Obadiah 19-21 (and are marked in black. The full book is included for context.)

Obadiah’s Vision

¹ The vision of Obadiah.

This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom—

We have heard a message from the Lord:
An envoy was sent to the nations to say,
“Rise, let us go against her for battle”—

² “See, I will make you small among the nations;
you will be utterly despised.
​³ The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocks
and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’

⁴ Though you soar like the eagle​
and make your nest among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,”​
declares the Lord.

⁵ “If thieves came to you,​
if robbers in the night—
oh, what a disaster awaits you!—
would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
​If grape pickers came to you,​
would they not leave a few grapes?
​

⁶ But how Esau will be ransacked,
his hidden treasures pillaged!
​⁷ All your allies will force you to the border;
your friends will deceive and overpower you;
those who eat your bread will set a trap for you,
but you will not detect it.

⁸ “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“will I not destroy the wise men of Edom,
those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?

⁹ Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified,
and everyone in Esau’s mountains
will be cut down in the slaughter.

¹⁰ Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,
you will be covered with shame;
you will be destroyed forever.

¹¹ On the day you stood aloof​
while strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.

¹² You should not gloat over your brother
in the day of his misfortune,
​nor rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their destruction,
​nor boast so much
in the day of their trouble.

¹³ You should not march through the gates of my people
in the day of their disaster,
​nor gloat over them in their calamity
in the day of their disaster,
​nor seize their wealth
in the day of their disaster.

¹⁴ You should not wait at the crossroads
to cut down their fugitives,
​nor hand over their survivors
in the day of their trouble.

¹⁵ “The day of the Lord is near
for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
your deeds will return upon your own head.

¹⁶ Just as you drank on my holy hill,
so all the nations will drink continually;
they will drink and drink
and be as if they had never been.

¹⁷ But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;
it will be holy,
and Jacob will possess his inheritance.

¹⁸ Jacob will be a fire
and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
and they will set him on fire and destroy him.
There will be no survivors
from Esau.”

The Lord has spoken.

¹⁹ People from the Negev will occupy​
the mountains of Esau,
and people from the foothills will possess​
the land of the Philistines.
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will possess Gilead.

²⁰ This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
will possess the land as far as Zarephath;
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
​ will possess the towns of the Negev.

²¹ Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion
to govern the mountains of Esau.
​ And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.

Encouragement

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

​Andy

God's word in your hand

I've attached this explanation of Obadiah from The Bible Project to accompany this week's copy work.

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