August 4, 2024
Obadiah 15-18
“Fearless Joy”
Make no mistake. Verses fifteen through eighteen are rough. Startling? Perhaps. Brutal consequences for disobedience? Absolutely. An aspect of Biblical truth we don’t often explore? All day long. Unfair retribution? Never. God is never unfair.
Before we get rolling, a word of thanks to our tech team. Today’s message is heavily weighted with Scripture. Most of it will be up on the screen. So they will be busy.
Let’s kick things off with Obadiah 15-18:
For 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.
For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,
so all the nations shall drink continually;
they shall drink and swallow,
and shall be as though they had never been.
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.
The 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.
What’s the first thing verse fifteen affirms? “The day of the Lord is near.” We’ve talked about it before. It’s such a big deal, it would not hurt to talk about it again.
What is the day of the Lord?
Generally, the day of the Lord has one purpose with two activities. According to a 17th century Confession of Faith, the primary purpose of the day of the Lord is for God’s glory. It brings to a close His work of salvation. Remember, as we see running throughout Scripture, there has always been a trajectory to God’s creative purpose. Everything was building toward the birth, life, death, resurrection, and return of Jesus Christ. Nothing could stand in the way of that purpose. Not the wickedness of nonbelievers nor the disobedience of God’s chosen people. God’s purpose would be accomplished.
I love how one pastor captures the big picture:
“We too often worry about tomorrow because our focus is on tomorrow and not on our God who is sovereign over tomorrow.”
Burk Parsons
In that big picture, the day of the Lord is all about how God brings us into His heavenly kingdom.
The second piece to the day of the Lord is how God deals with His
enemies.
As we’ll continue to see, Edom was an enemy of God because he was an enemy of God’s people.
Edom betrayed his kin by blood. They were all descendants of Abraham. He was the Father of the Promise. The promise was to lead to salvation through Christ and Christ alone. And they betrayed that promise. Edom joined forces in attacking Israel. Edom made unholy alliances with pagans. Edom watched as Israel was attacked and taken into captivity. Edom blocked routes of escape for people trying to flee. These were bad people doing bad things. We’re going to get into what the day of the Lord meant for them.
The other piece to the day of the Lord, which we’ll probably look at next week, focuses on eternal salvation. This is the good news of the good news/bad news aspect of the day of the Lord. One way or another…either Jesus will return before you die or when you die you will have your day of the Lord moment…your salvation will be completed. You will enjoy eternal
bliss and harmony with God. You will join other believers in worshiping your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You have fearless joy in life because of that promise.
For all others, there will be destruction and eternal torment away from the Lord. Here’s something you might want to write down:
THOSE WHO DO EVIL WILL RECEIVE JUDGEMENT FROM GOD ON THE DAY OF THE LORD.
Over a decade ago, the book, “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived,” hit the bestseller lists. It was hugely popular across all denominations. Even some evangelical types gobbled it up. If only Charles Spurgeon had been alive to review it. I would have paid to read that review.
Anyway, it was a bad book with bad Biblical theology that led many people astray. Love does win for those whose names have been written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life from before the foundation of the world.
Side Note – Show picture {taken by the James Webb Space
Telescope}
That is RX J1131-1231, a distant, supermassive-black-hole-containing quasar located about 6 billion light years from Earth in the constellation Crater. In 2014, astronomers found that the X-rays being emitted are coming from a region inside the accretion disk located about three times the radius of the event horizon.
And what, Professor Mortimer, is the event horizon? My friends at Space.com tell me the event horizon is a boundary that marks the outer edge of black holes. It is the point at which nothing, not even light, can escape.
And your name, my dear friends, was known by God before that existed.
Why do we claim fearless joy? That knowledge, right there, is the reason.
But not so for the wicked. As Edom would soon learn, the day of the Lord is a fearful thing for those who are separated from God by evil.
Let’s cut to the chase and listen to how Jesus describes the day of the
Lord. We sometimes get stuck in this notion of gentle Jesus, meek and
mild. It’s the old love wins, you can’t judge me, everybody gets saved in the end superficial Christian trope.
Let’s hear some Biblical truth.
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is
delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 24:21-22, 29-31, 48-51
Who are the elect Jesus speaks about? They are those whose names have been written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life. In the face of impending calamity, they possess fearless joy.
And then, again Jesus, this time in Matthew 25:31-45:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
And who are the righteous? Those whose names have been written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Finally, from Zephaniah 1:
The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
“I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
“I will sweep away man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
and the fish of the sea,
and the rubble with the wicked.
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
those who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
and yet swear by Milcom,
those who have turned back from following the Lord,
who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”
The Day of the Lord Is Near
Be silent before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is near;
the Lord has prepared a sacrifice
and consecrated his guests.
And on the day of the Lord's sacrifice—
“I will punish the officials and the king's sons
and all who array themselves in foreign attire.
On that day I will punish
everyone who leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master's house
with violence and fraud.
“On that day,” declares the Lord,
“a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,
a loud crash from the hills.
Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
For all the traders are no more;
all who weigh out silver are cut off.
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
who are complacent,
those who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do ill.’
Their goods shall be plundered,
and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.”
The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
the mighty man cries aloud there.
A day of wrath is that day,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
I will bring distress on mankind,
so that they shall walk like the blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord;
their blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them
on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
In the fire of his jealousy,
all the earth shall be consumed;
for a full and sudden end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Here’s a difference with a distinction. All who rebel against God will be punished, chastised, corrected. In the case of Israel, the purpose is to bring them back to God. It is to return them to faithfulness. That was always of utmost importance. For them, the day of the Lord comes with a promise of restoration and renewal.
Verse fifteen kicks off something completely different. It is the promise of retribution without restoration. Edom rejected God and His people. Edom should have stood by his brother during his time of hardship. But he didn’t. And so, “your deeds shall return on your own head.” That is not a good thing. It is payback in the form of divine wrath. Things never go well for those in rebellion against God.
Here's one last thing you might want to write down:
THE BAD NEWS FOR THE NATIONS MEANS GOOD NEWS FOR THE HOUSES OF JACOB AND JOSEPH.
And we could add, as followers of Jesus Christ:
THE BAD NEWS FOR THOSE WHO REJECT JESUS CHRIST IS GOOD NEWS FOR THOSE WHO CHERISH HIM ABOVE ALL OTHERS.
Until next week:
SOLI DEO GLORIA…
To the Glory of God Alone
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