All right, amen. Let's turn our Bibles to Obadiah. And I certainly can identify with those of you that might feel weary. I know it's always difficult when you've come off a big meal like that, especially with the sugar content that was in many of the dishes today, which were all delicious, by the way. If you doze off occasionally, I'm not going to beat you over the head. I don't beat people over the head for falling asleep in church. I'd rather you fall asleep in church than stay wide awake watching the football game on Sunday, right? So I'm just glad that you're here. And if you miss some things, that's fine. That's why we have the sermon audio ministry, right? So if you don't catch everything, that's okay, because you can go back, you can listen to it again. But we're just glad that you're here. But I would urge you, as much as possible, try to remain alert. This might be a book that we're less familiar with, but one that I think the Lord has some things for us to learn. I want to start out in Obadiah, of course only a single chapter in this short book, but I want to start out by reading verses 15 through 21. So Obadiah beginning in verse 15. The scripture says, For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen. As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee. Thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually. Yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness, and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be afire, and the house of Joseph aflame, and the house of Esau were stubble, and they shall kindle in them and devour them. And there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the Lord hath spoken it. And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau, and they of the plain of the Philistines. And they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria. And Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath. And the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. and Savior shall come up upon Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. Dear Father, we thank you for the wonderful fellowship that we have enjoyed. Lord, I thank you for this precious body of believers. Lord, we know that like any other body, we have our faults, our blemishes, Lord, I think of the children's song that He's still working on me to make me what I ought to be. And that's true of each one of us. Lord, we come to you not as those who have it all together. We come to you as a needy people who need a fresh word from God. So Lord, we pray that you would use this message, open our eyes to understand the book of Obadiah and understand how it relates to our Christian life. Lord, withhold The impetus that we might have to grow weary, to fall asleep, and help us to focus, concentrate on the word. Lord, we pray that we would understand not just this from an intellectual vantage point, but that we would understand how this is significant for our spiritual growth. And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. What gives you hope? Well, as a 21st century man, I decided to ask ChatGPT that question. Here's the response that I got. I don't have feelings or experiences, so I don't have hope the way people do. But if I could reflect on what might inspire hope, it would be the incredible resilience, creativity, and kindness of people. Every time someone overcomes a challenge, learns something new, or extends compassion to another, it demonstrates the power of growth, connection, and possibility. The fact that humans continually adapt, build, dream, and create, even in the face of difficulty, shows that hope isn't just a fleeting feeling. It's something that can be nurtured and found in persistence, in connection, and in shared understanding. Hope comes alive through the stories of recovery, innovation, and love that people create every day. Those stories are proof that change is always possible. Interesting response. Now, dear friends, it is imperative that we evaluate responses like this from a biblical worldview. It would be a grave mistake to think that technology is somehow worldview neutral. It is not. The answer that is given here by ChatGPT represents the faulty worldview of its programmers. That would be the worldview of secular humanism. True hope is not found, friends, in the stories of recovery, innovation, and love that people create every day. True hope is found in the scriptures. And true hope is found in a sovereign God who is working through flawed and sinful human beings to accomplish His plan on earth. Now, when you think about hope, chances are you probably don't think of the book of Obadiah. Now, first of all, let's just be honest. How many of us know anything about the book of Obadiah? Most Christians know that Obadiah is somewhere in their Bibles. They usually know that it's in the Old Testament and that it's really, really short. In fact, Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament and the third shortest book in the entire Bible. But even if you know something about the book of Obadiah, it probably doesn't strike you as a book that would offer much hope. At first glance, the contents of this book sound almost exclusively negative. Let me just give you a quick survey of Some passages here, verse four. Verse 10. These texts seem like a poor backdrop to a message on hope. But to understand how it is that this book can give us hope, we have to step back and we have to consider the context of the book. Now the author of this short book is identified for us in the very first verse. You notice the first four words in verse one, the vision of Obadiah. The name Obadiah means servant of the Lord. And strikingly, beyond the name of this individual, we know next to nothing about him. There are a handful of times in the Old Testament that the name Obadiah appears, but none of them seem to refer to this particular prophet. The opening verse also tells us the subject matter of the book, which is important, as we'll see, for establishing how it is that this book gives us hope. Notice, thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom. Now Edom, if you look in the back of your Bible at your maps, you'll find that it's located just south of the nation of Judah. Going back to its earliest days, Edom had a complex and difficult relationship with the children of Israel. In fact, the conflict between Edom and Israel was so deep-seated that it actually began with two twin boys, Esau and Jacob, the forefathers of these two nations, who were struggling inside their mother's womb. You remember Genesis 25-23 that Rebekah comes before the Lord and she's having difficulty because of these two boys that are struggling within her. And God tells her, two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger. This conflict continued as the boys grew up. Coming in weary from the field, Esau asked Jacob to give him some of the stew that he was cooking. And Jacob agreed for the low, low price of Esau's birthright. And of course, you remember what transpired sometime later as Isaac, their father, began to grow old and was having difficulty seeing and was bedridden, that you remember that Jacob actually disguised himself as Esau and was able to steal the blessing that would have gone to Esau. As a result, Jacob ended up on the run from Esau, who had threatened to kill his brother. Centuries later, if we fast forward in time, when the children of Israel were delivered from bondage in Egypt, they had to travel through the land of Edom. They kindly asked for permission from the Edomites to travel through the king's highway in their land. They even offered to pay for any water that their cattle drank. You may recall that Edom refused to allow Israel passage and actually came against the children of Israel militarily. Following this incident, as you trace it through the Old Testament, you find that there are a number of negative interactions between Israel and Edom. Edom remained a perennial enemy of the children of Israel and later of both the northern and southern kingdom, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah after the kingdom was divided. If you read through the Old Testament, you do find that under David's reign that the Edomites actually were subject to tribute. And such a state of affairs actually seems to have recurred throughout Israel's history. And notably, you find that during the reign of Jehoram, which was about 853 to 841 BC, Edom rebelled against their tributary service to Judah. Now, against all this backdrop, we should note that scholars are not agreed as to when Obadiah was written. There are largely two schools of thought. Some think that Obadiah was written during the reign of Jehoram that I just discussed in conjunction with that rebellion that I just mentioned. Others think that Obadiah was written about the time that Judah was exiled into Babylon, an exile which Edom seems to have approved of and participated in. Now, we cannot be fully dogmatic, but I am actually inclined toward the second of those options, though certainly, again, we can't be absolutely certain. But either way, however we interpret this, we should understand that Obadiah is more than a book about Edom. Because you might think, well, yeah, what does that have to do with my life today? I mean, I never met an Edomite. Well, really what you find as you trace it through the Old Testament, the nation of Edom is really a pattern for all the enemies of God's people. And what Obadiah presents to us is a message of what we call poetic justice. All those who oppose God's people will be justly condemned and righteousness will ultimately prevail. And friends, that's where we find hope. So this book teaches us that as God's people we can find hope in the promise that God will recompense the wicked and establish His victorious kingdom at Christ's return. As God's people we can find hope in the promise that God will recompense the wicked and establish His glorious kingdom at Christ's return. So let's consider how Obadiah expounds on these two glorious reasons for hope. First of all, the recompense of the wicked. The recompense of the wicked. The recompense of the wicked in Obadiah begins with pride reversed. Now look with me, if you would, at verses one through four. The vision of Obadiah, thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom. We have heard a rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen. Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen. Thou art greatly despised. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee. Thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, that saith in his heart, who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. I want to draw your attention to how God introduces Himself in chapter 1 and verse 1. Notice that in the King James here, in verse 1, you see the title, The Lord God. You'll notice that Lord has a capital L, and a lowercase o-r-d. Now when you find that title in the Old Testament, that is a reference to God's title Adonai, which means that God is the sovereign master or ruler. You will also notice here that the word God unusually appears in all capital letters. And what the translators are signifying to us here is that this is a reference to God's personal name Jehovah. He is the I Am, the self-sufficient covenant-keeping God. So you bring these two ideas together. You have God as the mighty and sovereign ruler of the universe. and God as the self-sufficient covenant-keeping God. This is how God introduces himself, is he introduces this vision against the nation of Edom. And he actually, in verse one, sends an envoy to the nations to summon them to battle against this perpetual enemy of God's people. Now to really appreciate what is said in verses two through four, we need to understand something of the geography of Edom. Edom was characterized by a number of impressive cliffs and gorges. In fact, the language here, at least it's believed by many scholars, may refer to the city of Petra, which could only be approached through a mile-long cleft in the rock. In some places, the passage is so narrow that you can actually touch both sides of the rock simultaneously. And peaks in Edom reached up to 5,700 feet in elevation. So with this type of topography, it is little wonder that the Edomites felt, especially in the ancient world, as though they were invincible against any kind of military attack. That's where you get this question in verse three, who shall bring me down to the ground? Something else we need to understand is that ancient peoples often associated great heights with the abode of the gods. By the way, that's why we see the builders of the Tower of Babel desiring to build a tower that reached up to heaven. It was believed there that they were getting in touch with the divine by building a tower so high. And yet, in this context here, God confronts Edom with the fact that regardless of how high their civilization may be, regardless of even if they're able to touch the stars, they can't compete with an Almighty God. They cannot approach the heights of the Most High. God will bring them down. The underlying sin of the nation of Edom is expressed in verse 3. The Lord says here, the pride of thine heart hath deceived thee. Of course, we can't help but think of those timeless words in Proverbs 16 and verse 18, pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Quite a striking passage in Mere Christianity, that book by C.S. Lewis. He communicates the nature of pride. Listen to what he says. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that are mere flea bites in comparison. It was through pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every other vice. It is the complete anti-God state of mind. Quite a stirring indictment. What is pride? Of course, we know that word can be used in a number of different ways in the modern culture, but perhaps the most succinct definition is the one that's given in Romans chapter 12 and verse 3. Pride is when a man thinks of himself more highly than he ought to think. And as a result, man becomes selfish, narcissistic, conceited. And as Lewis so vividly expresses, pride is at the root of every other sin. It was the very first sin committed by Lucifer. Isaiah 14 and verse 12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. You see that language over and over in that passage. I will, I will, I will. Notice what is said in verse 15, yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Very similar language to what God uses here against the nation of Eden. Now in an audience such as this, pride could be manifesting itself in a number of different ways. Pride is what motivates you to keep adding on to your house and accumulating the latest and greatest vehicles just to be in competition with your neighbors. Pride is what causes you to look down your nose at another person in this church who has a more colorful past than what you have. Pride is what keeps you from humbling yourself and apologizing to your wife for the unkind comments you made last week. Dear friends, pride is a wrecking ball. It will wreck your marriage. It will wreck your relationship with your children. It will wreck your workplace. It will wreck your Christian life. It will wreck this church. Dear brothers and sisters, I would urge you to humble yourself in the sight of God, lest God have to bring you low as a consequence of your pride. Now this pride leads to extinction enacted. Look at verse five and six. If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, how art thou cut off? Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If the grape gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? How are the things of Esau searched out? How are all his hidden things sought up? Now God uses two analogies here. First of all, the analogy of robbers, and second, the analogy of grape gatherers. When a robber commits theft, he generally only steals as much as he needs. He doesn't wipe a residence completely clean. Similarly, a grape gatherer generally doesn't take every single last grape. Some grapes are left behind. These two analogies stand in contrast to the utter destruction that God promises to bring upon the land of Egypt, or the land of Edom, rather. The Lord will ensure that even the hidden things of the land are taken away. Now again, you remember the geography there in the land of Edom. With all of those cliffs and gorges, it was possible to hide possessions, to hide people, and even hide villages, practically speaking. And yet what is promised here is that you can't hide from the living God. God will wipe this nation clean. Promises of the destruction here lead us to the confidence destroyed. Now, of course, we know Edom had a great amount of trust in its geographic features. But in addition to that, there were three sources of confidence that Edom thought would protect them against any trouble. First of all, there was a confidence in national alliances. Look at verse seven. All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border. The men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee and prevailed against thee. They that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee. There is none understanding in him. Edom prided itself on its many diplomatic connections. Each of these connections should have proved to be a source of aid in the time of trouble. God promises here that all of Edom's alliances will come to nothing. Supposed allies will turn their back on the nation. Not only will they not rise in defense of Edom, but they will actually join in overpowering Edom and chasing the people from the land. You know, by the way, that the United States has a treaty relationship with 51 different countries. And you say, well, that'll help me sleep better tonight. Well, friends, beware. Because the combined total of those nations banded together will be of no avail to counteract the judgment of Almighty God. Notice the next source of confidence, the confidence in wise men, verse eight. And you do find this in the Old Testament that the presence of wise men was a tremendous source of pride for the people of Edom. You find this in a somewhat parallel passage that appears in Jeremiah 49 and verse 7. So not only would national alliances not avail to help Edom, but also the collected wisdom of all their wise men would avail nothing to them in the day of trouble. And thinking through a modern parallel, I can't help but draw a connection with what happened during the COVID pandemic. You think about the fact that in the halls of worldly learning, the United States had the supposedly most educated and skilled minds in the world, Anthony Fauci, Deborah Birx, Francis Collins, Bill Gates, and yet all the collected wisdom of individuals like that was not sufficient to stem the tide of a worldwide pandemic. When you think of any type of crisis that we face on a national level, there's always a drive to use our keenest intellectual powers to try to counteract the crisis. Yet, we always find that there are crises that evade the feeble powers of the human mind. You think of all the talk about climate change. We have this sense, at least many in the elite do, that any time there's a natural disaster, that there has to be some kind of human mechanism that can prevent it. But that's not necessarily the case. Clouds arise and tempests blow by what? Order from thy throne. And friends, when there's an order given from the throne, all the collected wisdom of worldly wise men can do nothing to stop it. Finally, consider confidence in military might. This is another source of confidence for the Edomites. Look at verse 9. And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed to the end that every one of the Mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. The reference to Teman there is a reference to one of Esau's grandsons, later became the namesake of a city in Edom. Of course, the mighty men here are Edom's soldiers. Militaries of earth are no match for the hosts of heaven. And we think of Psalm 20 in verse seven. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. U.S. News and World Report still ranks the United States as the world's most powerful country. Most of us take that for granted. We really don't take it all that seriously when, for example, North Korea starts testing missiles. I mean, what is North Korea compared to the United States? Despite the immense proportion of North Korea's economy that is dedicated to military spending, they simply cannot rival the might of the United States. But how few of us really take seriously the motto that is printed on our currency? in God we trust. And of those who do take it seriously, how many of those really understand that the God that we are to trust is the God who is revealed in the pages of Scripture through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? There is no aircraft carrier, there's no missile, no nuclear warhead that can deliver a nation from the judgment of Almighty God. Not even the United States of America. Now all of these sources of misplaced confidence could not overcome the crimes committed. Look with me starting in verse 10 down to verse 14. in the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger, neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction, neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gates of my people in the day of their calamity. Yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity. Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway to cut off those of his that did escape. Neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. Now, one recurring theme that you see throughout Obadiah, and it actually occurs 10 times in these verses, is the idea of the day. When you get to verse 15, you see the full version of that, the day of the Lord. Now, the day of the Lord is not what we think of as a solar day, right, a 24-hour period of time. Rather, the day of the Lord is a divine intervention in history in which God carries out an unusual judgment either on his people or on his people's enemies, oftentimes both. And ultimately, it's with the goal of establishing his rule on earth. Now, we have to understand that when you trace this terminology through scripture, There is not a single day of the Lord in the sense of a single calendar event that every single passage refers to. Really, the day of the Lord is more of a general theme throughout scripture that refers to a number of different events. Some of these events have already taken place in history, as did, for example, Judah's captivity in the nation of Babylon. other day of the Lord events still await future fulfillment. And the two significant ones are, number one, the tribulation period that ultimately climaxes with Jesus' visible return to earth. And number two, the judgment that takes place at the end of the millennium when God purges the old heaven and earth and creates a new heaven and earth. What is spoken of in verses 10 through 14 is referred to variously. You see the language of the day of distress, the day of their destruction, and the day of their calamity. how interpreters debate exactly what day Obadiah is referring to. But I am most inclined here to see the context as a reference specifically to the judgment of the Babylonian captivity. That seems to be in most keeping with what is described in these verses. And so what crimes did Edom commit here? Well, the summary word that we are given in verse 10 is the word violence. And that summary word is expanded on when you go to the subsequent verses. Notice what is mentioned in verse 11. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side. The idea really there is that the Edomites stood aloof while strangers came in and destroyed the city of Jerusalem. This is a classic sin of omission. when Edom had the means to help the nation of Israel. And we're told here that in the context that Edom was actually his brother. Of course, going all the way back to Jacob and Esau, right? When Edom had the means to help, he failed to do so. By simply looking on and failing to help his brother, Edom was effectively just like those who were carrying out this destruction. Of course we think of Proverbs 3 in verse 27, withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Now the next crime that Edom committed is described in verse 12 with three verbs. Notice you have looked, rejoiced over, and spoken proudly. The word looked here actually conveys the idea of gloating. Rather than pitying his brother, Edom actually reveled in the destruction of Jerusalem. There was a proud rejoicing when enemies came for the plunder. But Edom wasn't content simply to stand aloof or to gloat. Verse 13 tells us that Edom actually joined in taking plunder from the wreckage of Jerusalem. The climax ultimately comes in verse 14. We find here that Edom actually took an active role in persecuting the Lord's people. As the people were desperately trying to escape destruction in Jerusalem, the Edomites stood in the crossway to destroy any who tried to leave. And any survivors were delivered over to their tormentors. So friends, Obadiah gives the children of Israel a wonderful assurance in all of this, that this proud people that has been a continual thorn in Israel's side, one day this people will be brought low. Now, the question that we might ask is, when exactly was Edom brought low? Well, we do have some indicators of this in history. In the second century BC, Judas Maccabees attacked the Edomites. 50 years later, John Hyrcanus effectively assimilated the Edomites, who in the Greek were known as the Edomians, into the Jewish nation. And if you want to read more details about that, actually, those books that we call the apocryphal books give some insight into what took place during that time. Now, it's notable, really, that one of the most famous Edomites that we read about in scripture was King Herod. And you remember his posture toward the Lord Jesus Christ at his birth. But what you find is that by AD 70, when the Roman Emperor Titus led a siege against Jerusalem, it is really from there on out that you no longer hear anything about Edomites. Now, you could trace all of the historical data. One thing is quite evident, that in many places of the world today, you can meet a Jewish person. But I dare you to go anywhere and meet an Edomite. It's just not likely to happen. But we have to remember that there's a broader picture in view in the book of Obadiah. As we mentioned at the outset, Edom is a pattern of all nations that are hostile toward God's people. And so to get a clear picture of this, we need to consider the next reason for hope in Obadiah, and that is number two, the triumph of God's kingdom. The triumph of God's kingdom. Now for God's kingdom to triumph, there must first be evil eradicated. Look with me in verse 15 and 16. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen. As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee. Thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually. Yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. Now there's a significant transition when we come to verse 15. Up until now the concern has been specifically limited to Edom. But now the concern broadens to all the heathen or all the nation. The Day of the Lord in verses 10-14 was a day of distress for Israel. But now the Day of the Lord in verse 15 is clearly looking beyond anything in Obadiah's lifetime to an event that would encompass the whole world. I would suggest that what Obadiah is ultimately referring to here is the Tribulation period. Now the summary of God's judgment upon Eden and the summary of God's judgment on all the nations is given in the middle of verse 15. Notice the language used here. As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee. This is what scholars refer to as lex talionis. You don't need to memorize that phrase, but it means basically that expression you see in Exodus, right? An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The punishment fits the crime. God always meets out a punishment that is in keeping with the crime that has been committed. In verse 16 these various nations are envisioned as drinking. Now scripture frequently uses the metaphor of drinking to refer to the experience of God's wrath. Listen to Psalm 75 and verse 8, for in the hand of the Lord there is a cup and the wine is red, it is full of mixture and he poureth out of the same, but the dregs thereof and all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them. You know, people tend to popularly think of hell as a separation from God. That is partly true. Those suffering in the flames of hell are separated from all the love, all the care, all the benevolence of a caring Heavenly Father. But there's a sense in which hell is anything but a separation from God. Listen to this description, Revelation 14 verses 9 through 11. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. There's that metaphor again. Which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone, notice, in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." You notice here that it says that those that are tormented in the lake of fire are not separated from God. They're tormented in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Dear friends, that's exactly what makes hell so terrifying. It is not the absence of God. It's the presence of God. God and all his power, all his might, all his wrath and hatred against sin and sinners. That's what makes it terrifying. Now, I don't get some sadistic pleasure out of telling you that. I tell you that because I care. Oh, friend, if you're here without Christ, it is essential that you turn away from your sins and that you place your full confidence in Jesus Christ. Now, do you remember when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, what was it that Jesus prayed? Let not, or let what? This cup pass from me. Have you ever asked yourself, what's the cup? Well, again, you trace that language through Scripture, and what you consistently find is that the cuff is the wrath of God. Of course, we know that in the context of that prayer in Gethsemane, that Jesus prayed, yet not as I will, but what? As thou will. He submitted to his Father's will. And his Father's will was not just that Jesus endure the crown of thorns, It was not just that Jesus endure the cat of nine tails. It was not just that Jesus endure the nails through his hands and through his feet. The will of the Father was that Jesus endure the full wrath of God for the sins of mankind. Now that's a staggering thought. Friends, that's our hope. It is the fact that Jesus has taken the wrath of God upon himself as our substitute. so that you and I will never have to face the wrath of God. And Jesus is gloriously risen from the dead, indicating that the Father's wrath has been appeased. And that wrath can turn to gracious favor on you and on me when we repent and come to Christ. Do you know him? You know, friend, that even this moment, sitting in this room right now, you can call on the name of the Lord. You cry out, Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. I deserve to face your wrath. But right now, I turn from my sins and I put my trust in you. Lord, I believe you died on the cross and you rose again for me. Friend, if you'll do that, you can be gloriously saved this very day. If you have questions, I would urge you to come talk to me. Friend, there's nothing more urgent than to settle your relationship with Christ. If you and I could get any glimpse of the wrath of God on sinners, friends, what a horrifying image it is. Yet, how gracious our God is in offering a way of escape. Well, we notice how Obadiah continues here as we come to verse 17. But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness, and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions, and the house of Jacob shall be afire, and the house of Joseph aflame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them and devour them, and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the Lord hath spoken it." The end that comes upon the heathen or the nations stands in stark contrast to what will happen on Mount Zion or Jerusalem. The language of deliverance, the Hebrew word there, actually speaks of a theme that shines through the Old Testament again and again, the theme of the remnant. And yes, there will be great distress for all the nations, including Israel, but God will preserve a remnant among His people that will find deliverance on Mount Zion. Of course, we know that Zion today is trodden under the foot of Gentiles. In the very plot of land in which the Old Testament temple once stood now stands the Islamic dome of the rock. Yet promised here is the fact that Jerusalem will once again become a holy place, a habitation suitable for Jehovah God. The image we're given in verse 18 is startling. Both kingdoms of Israel, the house of Jacob, the southern kingdom of Judah, and the house of Joseph, which is the northern kingdom of Israel, will be like a fire that consumes the house of Esau such that nothing remains. And again, we see that even today. That you can go throughout the world and you won't encounter an Edomite today. Now that's the negative side of things. As we conclude here, consider the land restored. Verse 19, And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau, and they of the plain the Philistines, and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria. And Benjamin shall possess Gilead, and the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath. And the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. The promise here is that the Jewish captives, wherever they might be, will one day reclaim all the promised land and actually possess lands formerly held by their enemies, such as the Edomites, the Philistines, and the Phoenicians. And friends, this is the Abrahamic covenant in living color. The land, the seed, the blessing. You remember that that's an unconditional promise. And it will be fulfilled literally. Now look at how the book concludes in verse 21. And saviors shall come upon Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. The saviors here, I would suggest, are analogous to those judges that we read about in the Old Testament. These are deliverers who serve some function, apparently, in governing the kingdom of Israel alongside the Lord Jesus Christ in the Millennial Kingdom. And the ultimate goal of it all is expressed at the end of verse 21, the kingdom shall be the Lord's. That's what history is working toward. Think of those great words in Revelation 11, 15, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. That's the glorious future we're waiting for. Now what is the point of this book for today? I want to quickly draw your attention to a New Testament passage that I think serves as a good parallel to Obadiah. So turn with me quickly to James chapter 5. James chapter 5. Now something that is very curious, when you read Obadiah Of course, strictly speaking, the prophecies are addressed to the nation of Edom. But you have to remember that the inclusion of the Book of Obadiah in the Canada Scripture was given not, of course, to the children of Edom, but was given to the children of Israel. The children of Israel, the promised seed, they were the ones that were to benefit from reading of these prophecies against Edom. And you have something similar occurring in James chapter 5. Notice James 5 and verse 1. Go to now ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cryeth. Just like Obadiah, you have a group of people that even though they're being addressed here, you find that the book of James is not written to them. In fact, when you read throughout the book of James, you find that James' readers were oppressed by these rich men. The purpose is not so much for the benefit of the rich men that James includes this, as it is the benefit of his readers. He wants them to be encouraged that God will set all things right, that a day of just retribution is coming on their persecutors. And that was exactly what Israel could anticipate in Obadiah. Now look at the result of this. What should be the response of James's readers? What should be our response today to the reality that God will judge the wicked? Look at verse 7. Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. That's a challenging command to obey, isn't it? Be patient. But friend, we have to realize that our waiting is almost insignificant when you consider it in the light of eternity. in the truest sense, the coming of the Lord draws near. This is the language of imminence. And what we're committed to with a pre-tribulation rapture is the idea that the coming of Christ could literally be at any moment. He could return before this service is over. And ultimately, when he does that, he will bring his bride to be home with him, and then he will pour out his judgment on this wicked and sinful world. The grave danger, dear friends, is when we grow impatient. We have this tendency that we want to take the matters into our own hands. And you look at the news headlines, you see the things coming down the pike in our school system. The tendency is that we want to view the world not as the mission field, but as the adversary. And we can become impatient. There's an increasing drive in evangelicalism today to see our primary mission as seizing political power and influence with the goal of turning the U.S. back to God. Friend, the United States will not turn back to God simply because we acquire enough political power. Our hope is in the coming of Christ. He is the one that will set all things right. He is the one who will come as the Prince of Peace with the government on his shoulder And ultimately, it is only then, dear friends, that we will see the fulfillment of those words by the hymn writer. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, peace on earth, goodwill to men. Dear Father, we thank you for these precious moments that we've spent considering the book of Obadiah, perhaps a book that many of us are not totally familiar with, Lord, I pray you'd open our understanding to grasp this book, to grasp its purpose in the canon of scripture. We thank you, Lord, for your perfect design in the word of God, and we thank you for this precious little book that gives us hope. Please guide us in the remainder of our service, of course, in our business meeting to come. May we honor you in all things, and we pray it in Jesus' name, amen.