TIT FOR TAT
Opening Prayer
Lord, thank You for Your mercy on us.
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[a] Mount Zion
to govern the mountains of Esau.
And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.
Footnotes
- Obadiah 1:21 Or from
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Focus your thoughts on Jesus and His promised return as Lord and King.
Think Further
Lex talionis – eye for eye, tooth for tooth – the punishment resembles the crime (Lev 24:19,20). Verse 15 is the bridge between the two halves of the book; Obadiah has outlined the case against Edom and is now saying ‘tit for tat’ – God’s justice is being upheld in not letting the guilty go unpunished. ‘The Day of the Lord’ would come (15) and God would sort things out. For Christians, of course, this goes far beyond political and military tit for tat; we look forward to the day when Jesus will come again and will sort things out. Justice will be done, God’s suffering people will be vindicated, and we shall enjoy the new heaven and new earth (Rev 21:1–8).
However, there is hope even in Obadiah’s message. The people of Judah, having been punished by God for their own sin, will find His mercy in their escape back to their own land and restoration to their covenant inheritance. The Hebrew is obscure in verses 19–21, but the overall idea is that of the kingdom of God coming on the earth. Obadiah paints an idealistic picture – things don’t happen quite like that – but surely that’s because all is approximate until the real ‘Day of the Lord’ comes.
When I lived in a Third-World country, I was acutely aware of a great desire to see Jesus come again and right all wrongs. That desire tends to get lost when one is well off, and things are going well. Even in more affluent societies, however, there are undercurrents of unrest and danger, uncertainty and sudden disaster, fear and grief. Jesus told His disciples not to worry because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). Let us keep that at the forefront of our minds as we watch the news or face personal and family tragedy. One day there will be a great deliverance!
Apply
Talk to God about what is most plaguing you when you read this. Ask Him to help you keep all things in perspective.
Closing prayer
Lord, if You would mark iniquities, who would stand? Thank You for dealing so kindly toward us.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.