Obadiah and the Day of Juxtaposition
“In the world you will have trouble,” was Jesus’ solemn promise to His disciples (Jn 16:33). That was not the beginning of trouble for God’s chosen people. It was the re-affirmation that just because the Son of God had incarnated, life was not going to be easy for those who belong to Him (1 Cor 3:23). From the days of Cain and Abel, the persecution of the righteous has perpetuated the plea of God’s people for a day of justice to come.
The shortest book in the Old Testament is the prophecy of Obadiah against the descendants of Esau, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Esau was the older twin brother of Jacob, who was given the name “Israel” by Yahweh, the God of Israel (Gen 32:28). In the big picture of human history, Jacob represents God’s elect people, while Esau represents the reprobate people. The Lord of all has declared, “Jacob I have loved; Esau I have hated (Rom 9:13).”
God hates those who do iniquity (Ps 5:5; 11:5), being angry with the wicked all day, every day (Ps 7:11). The wicked are evildoers who are never justified before the Holy God. They are condemned already (Jn 3:18), being dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). It is their nature to sin against God and others (Eph 2:3). With deceived hearts (Jer 17:9) they are only inclined to evil all the time (Gen 6:5). They do not seek God (Rom 3:10–12).
The descendants of Esau occupied the territory southeast of the Dead Sea. They became the kingdom of Edom and were later called “Idumeans.” Rising from the Jordan Rift Valley to the east, the Edomites occupied the cliffs upon which were prosperous plateaus, harvesting an array of agricultural produce. There were numerous caves hidden in wadis with canyon walls, some rising up to 5,700 feet. At the top was a mountain plain that included the King’s Highway, connecting Africa to Asia and by extension Europe.
Collecting road taxes, selling produce on a major trade route, and hiding the proceeds in the caves meant the Edomites were secure. They may have been ruddy in complexion but they were in the black, financially. Diplomats from the known world regularly passed through and had an audience with the wise men of Teman, Seir, and Petra. They broke bread and made contractual agreements.
The advantages of Edom were many, which inevitably enlarged their hearts with pride and arrogance. These attitudes of self-sufficiency were coupled with disdain for Yahweh and the people of Judah, especially. Obadiah’s prophecy was realized some 300 years after it was announced in the mid-9th century B.C. The Babylonian invasion of Judah climaxed with the destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple (586 B.C.).
As was prophesied by Obadiah, the blood kin of Israel aided in the plunder of Zion instead of helping defend it. In the arraignment of the Idumeans, God’s Word adds numerous reasons to why God brought ultimate judgment upon the whole nation (vv. 10–14), which occurred in A.D. 70 under Roman General Titus. Esau was reduced to stubble. He was left without a descendant from that day forward.
God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble (Jas 4:6). Yahweh’s covenant love for Israel did not waver during the years of Babylonian captivity (Jer 31:3). God disciplines those He loves (Heb 12:4–11), while He exacts punishment with perfect precision upon His enemies.
Obadiah’s prophecy ends with an allusion to the Day of the Lord (v. 15) This is the day in which Jesus Christ will return to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 17:31; 2 Tim 4:1; 1 Pet 4:5). He will judge the world in righteousness, and He will light the heavens and the earth on fire (2 Pet 3:10–12). All nations will prove to be unholy, unrighteous, and the deserving targets of God’s wrath (Rom 1:18–32; 1 Thess 1:10).
From the ashes will come the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells (2 Pet 3:13). The city of God, the New Jerusalem (Rev 21–22), will descend to its ordained place in the new creation.
The Day of the Lord is the Day of Juxtaposition for all the sons of men who ever were conceived in their mother’s womb. The Israel of God, elect from every nation, will no longer suffer persecution and plunder. Robed in the righteousness of Messiah, who delivered them from the wrath of God directed against them because of sin, these will occupy eternity in the presence of God…holy and blameless (Eph 1:5; 5:27).
The reprobate, who had their best life here and in their respective generation, will also be juxtaposed in the resurrection to judgment (Jn 5:28–29). Their sentence resembles Edom, brought down from their lofty places of power and prosperity, in order to face the sentence of eternal punishment in the fiery hell of their home in the lake of fire (Mt 25:41, 46; Jude 7; Rev 20:14–15).
My dear reader, consider the plight of Edom and the juxtaposition to come on the Day of Judgment. God is just in all His judgments (Gen 18:25), and He alone is the justifier of His elect, redeemed, regenerate, believing people (1 Pet 3:18). We, like Obadiah, must warn those who are self-satisfied in themselves. The wrath of God is coming (Mt 3:17; Lk 3:17). Christ, alone, is the shelter from the storm. You must be found in Him on the last day, and it is only by God’s doing that anyone is found in Christ (1 Cor 1:30). Therefore, if you hear His voice calling you to Himself, then repent of your rebellion in sin and trust Christ for you salvation, today, and on that day of juxtaposition when all things are revealed and reversed for righteousness’ sake.
https://discoveryalliancechurch.com/sermon-audio
David Norczyk
Coeur D’Alene, Idaho
October 23, 2022
