Read
The Lord Will Judge
15The day is coming
when I, the Lord,
will judge the nations.
And, Edom, you will pay in full
for what you have done.
16I forced the people of Judah
to drink the wine of my anger
on my sacred mountain.
Soon the neighboring nations
must drink their fill—
then vanish without a trace.
Victory for Israel
17The Lord's people who escape
will go to Mount Zion,
and it will be holy.
Then Jacob's descendants
will capture the land of those
who took their land.
18Israel will be a fire,
and Edom will be straw
going up in flames.
The Lord has spoken!
19The people of Israel
who live in the Southern Desert
will take the land of Edom.
Those who live in the hills
will capture Philistia,
Ephraim, and Samaria.
And the tribe of Benjamin
will conquer Gilead.
20Those who return from captivity
will control Phoenicia
as far as Zarephath.
Captives from Jerusalem
who were taken to Sepharad
will capture the towns
of the Southern Desert.
21Those the Lord has saved
will live on Mount Zion
and rule over Edom.
Then the kingdom will belong
to the Lord.
Reflect
The smooth natural English of the CEV hides a key to understanding this whole passage. If you have another translation or can find it online, it is worth looking at either the ESV or the NIV.
The key word is “day,” which occurs ten times in verses 10-14 in yesterday’s reading, with phrases like “the day of misfortune,” “the day of calamity.” In verse 15 the CEV finally uses this word. The “day” is coming.
Obadiah is not talking about a 24-hour period, but simply a time. But in verse 15 it has a particular meaning. The day of the Lord is coming. Here we tap into a major theme of the whole Bible. There will come a time when all wrongs will be put right, when God will reign in love and truth and justice, when there will be peace everywhere on earth, extending to the whole of creation. “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together” (Isaiah 11:6 NIV, compare Romans 8:18-24). This is the Christian hope. Not a “Pollyanna” hope in the sense that we wish it would happen, but hope in the sense of an expectation of something that we know will happen.
Many people think of this “day” as something far in the future, and in one sense it is. We are still waiting for that “day” in which everything will be made right. But Jesus made a startling claim. He announced that the kingdom of God, which Obadiah refers to in v 21, has already broken into the world with the beginning of his ministry, and has already begun to change it (Luke 17:21). What signs do you see? How can you be part of it?
Respond
Reflect and pray as Jesus taught us: “Thy kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10).
Annabel Robinson
Annabel was born in Kew, near London, England. She committed her life to Jesus Christ at a Scripture Union camp when she was 16, and immediately found joy and peace. At Oxford she was active in the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, where she met her husband, Reid. They emigrated to Canada in 1965, where she taught Classics at the University of Regina until 2007. She has two children, Heather in Oslo and Alasdair in Calgary.