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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and
Jacob will possess his inheritance. 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.
“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.
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. Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains
of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.”
Obadiah 17-21
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks
be to God.
In yesterday’s devotion, we looked at the Lord declaring
judgment well beyond Edom, a judgment that extended to all nations. Well,
almost all.
For as we look at today’s closing verses from the Book of
Obadiah, we find the Lord offering encouraging, good news to His people, the
Israelites who would be returning from their judgment and exile. Look again at
these words here:
But on Mount Zion
will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance. 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.
“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. 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. Deliverers
will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will
be the Lord’s.” Obadiah 17-21
All other nations were heading towards God’s punishment
but as we see in this passage, the Israelites were heading in the other
direction, pointed toward a holy deliverance at the hands of a God who would
once again be their Redeemer and Restorer.
After seventy years being deposed from their homeland in
Babylon, the people of God would be allowed to return home to again possess
their inheritance, the land that God had first granted to their ancestors. Edom
would burn to the ground for the way they abandoned and mistreated their
brother nation to the north but a rejuvenated Israel would thrive and prosper once
again. We read where God was going to reinstate their boundaries and allow His
people to possess all the lands within as they once again were permitted to
settle down. Note where these boundaries would be extended beyond where they
were prior to God’s judgment. For instance, the scriptures tell us that the
Lord was giving the Israelites the land once belonging to the Edomites, land
well south of where their borders were prior. Additionally, God was giving His
people land once occupied by the Philistines, important land to the west which
bordered on the Mediterranean Sea.
Indeed, better days were ahead for the exiled Israelites.
Hope existed beyond judgment. For a holy deliverance was on the horizon, a
deliverance that would not only bring the Israelites home but would once again
reestablish a kingdom that would fully be the Lord’s.
That’s the way Obadiah ends, with words of inspiration
and optimistic expectation for the people of God who were reminded, along with
us today, that we serve a Lord who indeed rescues and restores us from times of
difficulty and hardship, showing time and time again that He is our hope and
strength, our almighty, holy Deliverer, now and forever more.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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