August 18, 2024
Obadiah 19 – 21
“Restoration”
A lot of HGTV programming is about restoring older properties. Whether it’s beachfront property or homes in historic districts, we love a good restoration story. The same goes for movies, television shows, and books. We gravitate to stories of people’s lives being restored, redeemed, renewed. Something resonates within.
We now arrive at the promise of the Kingdom of the Lord. We’ve heard about the punishment of Israel. There was the Babylonian captivity. There was the destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. There was depraved and disobedient and idolatrous behavior from God’s people. That was dealt with. There was far worse behavior from the descendants of Esau, blood relatives to the people of Israel. We learned of how God punished them. They were removed from the picture.
We’ve now arrived at the place of restoration. Let’s read Obadiah 19 – 21 again:
Those 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.
The 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.
Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion
to rule Mount Esau,
and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.
There’s one word I want us to pay attention to. It’s the word translated, “possess.” What’s one of the basic rules of Biblical interpretation? There are several. When Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you,” he meant you want to write this down because it’s going to be on the quiz. Any variation of that means, “Pay attention.” Also, and we’ll see this in a bit, when “shall” is used, it means no ifs, ands, or buts. “Shall” isn’t might, maybe, perhaps, or should. You don’t argue with “shall.” And then there’s repetition. That’s where we’re at with the word, “possess.” It’s used six times in two verses. So that’s where we’re going to start.
Side Note as Potential Homework –
All of the places mentioned in these verses have interesting and significant history. For example, the land of the Philistines is mentioned in verse nineteen. You know the story of the most famous Philistine of all…Goliath. The people group who populated the land of the Philistines came from three regions: Anatolia, a region in Turkey; Cyprus, an island in the eastern Mediterranean, whose ties are primarily Southeast European; and Crete, the largest and most populous of the Greek islands.
All of the other places mentioned in these two verses have equally interesting backstories. If you’re a geography/history nerd like me, you might enjoy checking them out.
Now back to our word study. Possess. Easy to translate. The Hebrew
word means, primarily:
To take possession of
To inherit
To cause others to possess or inherit
Why is this concept important? Because, while in their disobedience something had been taken away from the Israelites…and they had been removed from someplace, they will be restored. Restoration.
Staying with the Philistines, here’s how we can understand this. Joel 3:4-6 says, “What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border.” Land which God promised to Israel will be returned to them. They were chosen to occupy the land. God determined, before they even knew it, that it would be theirs. So, in His grace and mercy, they will possess it. Remember, they have sinned. They have rebelled against God. But after
punishment comes restoration. After centuries of Philistine occupation, Israel is restored to the land.
Here’s a great way to think about the Kingdom of the Lord. A woman writes, “Every time I read the Old Testament, I think, ‘seriously? Again? When will these Israelites learn?’ And then I realize…as I look in the mirror…I’m the same as them.” The mirror hurts. Big time.
Praise God that in Jesus Christ, we have been reconciled with God. We know that, having been called by Jesus Christ to follow him, however ugly that person is in the mirror, there is always a way back. Jesus Christ has possessed us, so we are assured that we shall possess forgiveness and eternal life. Amen?
That whole mirror metaphor reminds me of one of my favorite Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn quotes:
“The line between good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart.”
The Kingdom of the Lord is about the way back. Remember how the Book of Genesis describes creation? After every significant piece to creation, Genesis says God saw that it was good. It was good…it was good…it was good. And then, on the sixth day, what did God do? Right…He created us. And after that sixth day of creation, with the creation of humankind being the crowning moment, what did God say? He said it was very good. Pay attention to the superlative. Very good.
But then, what happened? Sin happened. I love how Charles Spurgeon describes it:
“We declare on scriptural authority that the human will is so desperately set on mischief, so depraved, so inclined to everything that is evil, and so disinclined to everything that is good, that without the powerful, supernatural, irresistible influence of the Holy Spirit, no human will, will ever be constrained toward Christ.”
In other words, people are not basically good. Sin is always a cloud hanging over our heads. It is a wretchedness waiting to pounce at any given moment. Without Christ, there is no good in us or to us. Without
Christ, we are living in a far-off land.
Another Spurgeon quote, this time when he thinks about what his life was like before Christ:
“I seemed to be all rottenness, a dunghill of corruption, nothing better, but something a great deal worse.”
He follows that up with:
“If God does not send me to hell, He ought to do it.”
What he talks about there is what the Day of the Lord will be like for those who are without Jesus Christ. It’s like the horrible outcome described by Obadiah for Edom. Not good. Not good.
But then, here comes the promise of the Kingdom of the Lord. All is restored. What has been lost is now found. “You shall possess” means “You shall be restored.” Why? God’s sovereign will. It has been part of God’s purpose and plan for you to possess that which was unattainable without Jesus Christ.
Once more, Charles Spurgeon:
“You are a great sinner, but he is a greater Saviour.”
And then, one of my favorites:
“As far as God is concerned, your sin has ceased to be. He laid it on Jesus Christ your substitute, and he took it and bore the penalty of it – nay, the thing itself; he as your scapegoat, carried your sin right away, and it is lost in the wilderness of forgetfulness.”
Obadiah gives us a picture of God’s electing grace. Our God will go to any length to restore His lost and sinful people. It is a beautiful thing to know what God will do to keep us in His care. Here’s how Jeremiah 32:37-41 puts it:
“Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.”
God will go to any length to restore us to a vital and vibrant right relationship with Him.
Almost ten years ago, doctors at a hospital in Texas informed George Pickering that his adult son was in a state of brain death. They explained his son showed “no brain activity” and the decision had been made to remove life support.
Pickering, however, was unconvinced. He was not willing to give up on his son. So, to prevent them from removing life support, George Pickering drew a firearm on them. He demanded that the doctors give his son more time, all the while firmly gripping the gun. He asked if there were more tests they could perform.
As you would expect, the situation escalated. I couldn’t imagine being in that room, or that hospital, on that day. The standoff lasted three hours. And yes, the police were there. With all this happening, the medical team performed additional tests on Pickering’s son.
While police negotiators tried to reason with Pickering, a pivotal moment arrived. In desperation, George Pickering asked, once more, for his son to squeeze his hand. And he did. Now, it could have been an involuntary response, but you shouldn’t make life-or-death decisions on assumptions.
After the hand squeeze, Pickering peacefully surrendered to the police. He subsequently served an eleven-month prison sentence. Oh, and by the way, his son made a full and complete recovery.
How far would you go to restore a loved one to new life?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Until next week:
SOLI DEO GLORIA…
To the Glory of God Alone
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