The Day of the Lord
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, I’m grateful that I can be with You now. Accept my worship and speak Your Word to me.
Read Obadiah 1:15-21
[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. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
What promise does God make to his people here?Obadiah’s prophecy contained four elements commonly found in many of the Bible’s prophetic books: the promise of judgment, the reasons for judgment, a description of what that judgment would be like, and the promise of deliverance and restoration. It’s a pattern that helps us readers to make sense of the world we live in. Things don’t just happen randomly. Evil may seem to have the upper hand for a while but, in the end, it won’t go unnoticed or unpunished. There will be justice. But justice, as the Old Testament portrays it, can sometimes appear to be as thoroughly unforgiving and violent as the wrong it punishes. However, that’s not the end of the story. There is a deeper message here. It’s not just a question of tit for tat. Cutting across the cycle of wrongdoing, judgment and punishment chronicled by Obadiah is a startling ray of grace. God’s new kingdom will come, a kingdom in which old enemies and rivals will be brought together, rescued and united (21). Under God’s rule, the law of love and grace trumps all other laws. It’s revolutionary and life-changing. It points forwards to the new covenant under Jesus Christ.
Apply
Bring to the Lord any thoughts or actions that you’re ashamed of today. Be ready to receive his forgiveness.
Closing prayer
Lord God, how great it is to know that one day You’ll make all that’s wrong with the world right.
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