 We'll be looking at Obadiah. And what I chose to do is I looked at the chronology, the dating of each one of those books. Obadiah was written 840 BC. And so we'll look at Obadiah first. And then I'm going to work my way down to the one that is closest to the New Testament, which is 630 BC. And so these five books are going to be taken not in order as you find them in the Bible, but in order as you find them in terms of their dating. And that way you'll have a consistency. And you're going to actually see history for 200 years in the nation of Israel. I chose to do that rather than just choose books at random. And so Obadiah is the very first book that we're going to be looking at. Looking at Joel is the second. Joel was written about 835 BC. And so you'll see that we're going to go in that direction. So here we go with Obadiah. Let's begin reading at verse 1, Obadiah, verse 1 through 4. The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom. We have heard a report from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations saying, arise and let us rise up against her for battle. Behold, I will make you small among the nations. You shall be greatly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you. You who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high. You who say in your heart, who will bring me down to the ground? Though you exalt yourself as high as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the Lord. And let me give you some background, develop this, and then we'll look into our study here. The book of Obadiah, as mentioned a moment ago, was written around 840 BC by a man named Obadiah. The name Obadiah speaks of a worshipper or a servant of God. When you look up Obadiah in your concordance, you're gonna find that there are 13 men mentioned in the Old Testament by the name Obadiah. So the scholars who determine these kinds of things are divided as to just who this particular Obadiah is. The Bible doesn't give us any background information, so nothing can be known for certainty. We simply know that he identifies himself as Obadiah. This book, Obadiah's book, is a prophecy. And we just read the first few verses, so you see that it is a prophecy concerning judgment. And the prophecy concerning judgment is a prophecy of judgment on the land of Edom. Now when you're looking at an old map that gives to us the geography of the Middle East and all, Edom was just south of Israel proper by the Dead Sea, it actually begins by the Dead Sea and then goes straight down till you get to the Gulf of Aqaba, which is another place that we've been to in Israel where it's called Elat. So it goes all the way down to Elat, which is the southernmost tip there as it gets into the Gulf there, the Gulf of Aqaba. And it extends a little to the west as well as to the east into Jordan and into Gaza and various areas like that if you're looking at a map. And so one of the cities of ancient Edom was a city that you read in scripture by the name of Petra. And Petra was one of its principal cities and was actually a stronghold city there. The Edomites, who were they? Well, they were descendants of the patriarch Isaac. When you look in the Old Testament, you see what I refer to as the patriarchs, the ancient fathers. And you'll see men like Abraham. Well, Abraham is a patriarch, but you have Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and then the list goes on from there. So they were descended from the patriarch Isaac. Now Isaac had two sons. And we know the story. He had a son named Jacob and he had a son named Esau. Isaac had been married to Rebecca and they desired children. But the Bible tells us that Rebecca was barren. And so Isaac prayed for 20 years that God would make it possible for her to conceive. And she finally did. And she was having what you would call a difficult pregnancy. And so out of concern, because she was having such difficulty, she prayed and she asked God the reason why. And so it was revealed to her what her problem was and the problem was she was carrying twin boys. Genesis chapter 25 verse 23 says, the Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb. Two people shall be separated from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the younger. And so the first born son who came out, it's just, he's described as coming out red. And he was Harry. So they named him Esau. Esau means Harry. I'm just wild about Harry. Well, Harry, the second son was born holding on to Esau's heel. So his name was given heel catcher, Jacob. It's also known as the word supplanter. And so you see, you see supplanter, if we had time to just consider some of the life of Jacob, you would see that's exactly what he was. He was a deceiver in a sense. He was most certainly an aggressive young man. And we see that in the story between him and his brother and the things that went on. Now, when you look at the sons, the Bible's very clear that Esau, the first born was his father's favorite. He's described as being what we would call today a man's man. He loved to hunt. He liked to dwell outdoors. And so his father really took to him. He liked this masculine little boy who grew to be a very, very powerful man. And also he favored his son, Esau. But Jacob, on the other hand, is described as a mild man. And he enjoyed dwelling in tents. He was what we would today perhaps refer to as a mama's boy. That's what he was. He liked to be with mom cooking and wearing her apron and all that. I mean, that's what he was like. Well, supplanter lived up to his name because eventually he conspired to take both his brother's birthright as well as his brother's blessing. Now, when you read concerning the birthright in the Old Testament, the birthright was that which was given to the firstborn son. And the birthright was to demonstrate preeminence over any others. And so the firstborn son had what was called the right or the birthright. And he would get a double portion of his father's possessions. And when father died, he would become the head of the family. So a birthright was a very important thing. We still have those kinds of mentalities even in our society today. There are families that actually look at the oldest son in that regard even to this day. In my family, I have an older brother who thinks that he is the one who runs the show. He doesn't, I do because I'm Jacob. But you can have this mentality and that can be a cultural truth. While in Israel it was most definitely that and he had conspired to take his brother's birthright. He also took his blessing. Now, the blessing was the most valuable heritage a parent could give to the child. The blessing was regarded as the greatest happiness that could come to children. Jacob took the blessing. He took the blessing of the covenantal promises that were made to Abraham, which were promises of abundance and authority over nations, authority in the family. And he took the general blessings that really had been intended under normal circumstances, had been intended for the older brother. Even though God, given the answer to the mother, even though God had said the younger is gonna have preeminence over the older. That's how it came about through conspiring. Now, when that took place, because these things were lost very easily, I mean, through deception, I should just remind you that, the birthright was basically given away for some potage. It's called potage, some little soups, some red soup. Because Esau had come in from the field, he was hungry. He said, I'd like something to eat. And his brother, Jacob said, I'll make you something if you'd like. Well, yes, of course, he said, but it's gonna cost you. Well, what's it gonna cost? It's gonna cost the birthright. What good does a birthright do me if I starve to death? So the scripture later on says that he despised his birthright. He didn't value it at all. And so he basically got the birthright for some potage, for some stew. Later on, when it was time for the blessing to be given, his father being old and getting ready to die, well, mama said to baby boy, it's time to get that blessing. And so he made himself to appear to be his brother Esau. Jacob put some goat skin on his arm because his brother was a hairy man. And so he put some goat skin on and he came in and said, here's your food because the father had said, I'd like some food that you make to Esau. And Esau went out to prepare it when Jacob came in and actually brought in something that had been made for his father, but pretended that he was Esau. And the father says, the voice is Jacob's. You know, he didn't, he said, what's going on here? Because his eyes were dim and he couldn't really see. Come close to me, my son, that I might smell your clothing. And so here comes Jacob and he's wearing his brother's clothing and he has this skin on his arms so that they're hairy and coarse and all. So he grabs him and he says, wow, he says the voice is Jacob, but this is obviously the smell of fields as upon you. It's obviously Esau and he gives him the blessing. Well, here comes Esau and Esau is all upset because he finds out that his brother had been there before him and received the blessing and he cries out to his father, is there not even a single blessing you can give to me, even as blessings? And the father says, I thought that I can't, I can't give you. I've already given the blessing. Well, can't you give me something? And so what he did is he basically said, well, yeah, the only thing I can give you is this. I can tell you that you're gonna live in the fields. I can tell you, you're gonna be warlike and I can tell you, you're gonna serve your brother. So that's basically what he got. Now, when he heard this, the Bible tells us, his response was to comfort himself. And the way that Esau comforted himself was very simply, he says, when my father dies, I'm gonna kill him. And that's how he comforted himself with thoughts of killing Jacob. Nice brother, I'd love to. Well, that's like my brother too. Well, eventually what happens is he married and he moved south and he became, according to Genesis chapter 36, especially verses one and eight, he became the father of the Edomites. So the war that began in the womb and stretched into adulthood was continued by their descendants. That leads to the judgment that God is pronouncing here in the book of Obadiah. You see, in Malachi, God makes an amazing statement concerning Esau, Malachi being the last book in the Old Testament. In Malachi chapter one, verses two and three, this is what God says, I have loved you, says the Lord, yet you say, in what way have you loved us? Was not Esau, Jacob's brother says the Lord, yet Jacob, I have loved, but Esau, I have hated. Obadiah explains why God says he hated Esau. Now, they're being judged for a variety of reasons. It's all based, though, on one thing and that's found in verse three. In verse three, it says the pride of your heart has deceived you. So they're being judged, but the specific sin that is being enunciated is their pride. But they have reasons to be judged that pride had motivated them to do, which caused God to say, I'm gonna judge you. One is you have to go all the way back into the Old Testament book of Numbers, chapter 20, verses 14 through 21. And in that portion of scripture, it records how Moses requested safe passage through their territory as they were wandering in the wilderness and they refused. And the king, at that time, even threatened violence against them if they tried to cross. And God hadn't forgotten that. And then second, Edom did not come to their aid during a time of invasion. Some commentators believe the invasion being referred to as when the Philistines were causing some problems and came to capture Jerusalem and you'll see that in verse 11. And because of this, because of the pride that led to these kinds of things, God pronounces judgment on Edom. And he basically, as we go through this, he'll be saying this. He's saying, you will be small among nations. Your pride has deceived you. You will be cut off. Esau shall be searched out. Your warriors will fear. Shame will cover you. You will be cut off. You will be repaid. You were happy when Jerusalem fell, but you will be dealt with. And that's what we're gonna see here in the book of Obadiah. So it begins at verse one, the vision of Obadiah, thus says the Lord God concerning Edom, who we've heard a report from the Lord and a messenger has been sent among the nation saying arise and let us rise up against her for battle. So this begins with a formal declaration. This is a message, but this is a message from God. That's what it means when it says a vision of Obadiah, thus says the Lord God. This is a vision. This is a message from God. And this message is directed against the Edomites. The Lord has sent out a messenger to stir up the nations to rise up against Edom. So God is now beginning to move to fulfill this determination to judge them. In verses two, three, four, he says, I will make you small among the nations and you're gonna be greatly despised. So God is bringing them down because of their proud belief in their own might because they believe themselves to be great. When he says in verse two, I will make you small among the nations. You shall be greatly despised. He goes on to say, the pride of your heart has deceived you. Notice you who dwell in the clefts of the rock whose habitation is high, you who say in your heart who will bring me down to the ground. And then he goes on to say, though you exalt yourself as high as the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down. So the pride of your heart has deceived you. I'm gonna make you small, but he describes the land that they live in. You who dwell in the clefts of the rock whose habitation is high. And so they lived in a place where they really thought that they could not be taken down. They are gonna be brought down because of the proud belief and the proud belief that they have is their belief in their own might. See, they lived in caves on the hills and because they lived in caves in these hills, they felt that they were impregnable. They thought there was nobody that could come and take them. They thought themselves to be completely safe. They're really high up on those hills and they're in these caves in the small mountain range. And so they're basically saying, who can ascend to defeat us? Who can come up here and take us out? Nobody. So this pride had convinced them that they were incapable of being beaten by enemies. It's this pride that God hates and it's this pride that brings judgment on them. When you come to the 21st century, pride of thinking that you can't be defeated is something God still hates, by the way. You know, the nation that doesn't trust in the Lord is doomed for destruction. May we, as a nation, remember that. They were arrogant, they were self-sufficient and God makes it clear you're gonna be judged. Notice what he says in verse four there. He says, though you exalt yourself as high as the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the Lord. You think you dwell safely? You think you're out of reach? Nobody can get to you. Well, I'm letting you know, God is saying, though man's arms are too short to reach you, God is saying, my arm is not too short to reach you. You will be judged. Amos, in the book of Amos, chapter nine, verse two, it says, though they dig into hell, from there my hand shall take them, though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. So you can't escape me, the Lord is saying, no matter how low you might think you're going, and no matter how high you think you are, you are not gonna get away from me. You think that no one can bring you down from your habitation, but God is saying, but you're wrong. Your pride has led to you being brought down. Now it's interesting to me how this says it here in verse four, because when it says, though you exalt yourself as high as the eagle, set your nest among the stars, that reminds me of Isaiah 14. Because when you study Isaiah 14, you see the sin that led to the fall of Satan. That's found there in Isaiah 14, verses 12 through 15, where God says, how you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, sin of the morning. How you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations. For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the North. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. I will, I will, five. It's called the five eye wills of Satan. So obviously Satan had eye problems. I will, I will, I will, I will, I will, I will. I will do these things. Now God is saying, oh, you think so. You think you're gonna get away with these things. God is saying, no. He said that to Satan and he's saying that to eat him. You may be inaccessible to man. God is saying, but you're not inaccessible to me. And when I go to get you, there's nothing you can do to save yourself. So he's speaking to them and he's saying, I will bring you down, sayeth the Lord. Verse five, if thieves had come to you, if robbers by night, oh, how you will be cut off. Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If great gatherers had come to you, would they not have left some gleaning? Oh, how Esau shall be searched out, how his hidden treasures shall be sought after. And so it's interesting what the Lord's saying. He's saying this, he's saying thieves can break in and they can steal all they want or all they can carry away. But normally he says they don't take everything and that's probably generally true. If you're on vacation and you leave and somebody comes and breaks into your home and begins to steal things, well, normally they don't take every single thing. They'll take the things that they think are of value. If you have a computer, if you have a television set, if you have some recording devices or whatever, whatever electronics you might have, maybe they'll take your couches or whatever, but they don't take everything normally. They don't come in with a moving van and just normally strip everything. They leave things behind and that's what the Lord here is basically saying. Thieves can break in and thieves can steal all they want or they can carry away, but normally they don't take everything. Then he speaks of grape harvesters. He's saying a grape harvester will go in and begin to take the grapes. They take the best grapes, but they don't always take all of the grapes. But in your case, you will be completely ransacked. You will have nothing left. He's making it very clear in verse six, your ruin will be total, nothing shall be left, even the hidden treasures that you have, even the things that you think that you've hidden from others. Now, this could be speaking in reference to Petra, which would also be a place where they would have perhaps some of the merchandise or the things that were valuable to that nation, but he's basically just making it very clear, you may think you've hidden things, because it's kind of like, you can think that you can hide things and no thief would ever be smart enough to discover where you hid your things, right? You think that, oh, I can hide it so that nobody can steal it. But remember, you probably were the same person who used to put your watch and your wallet in your shoes on the beach, and you shoved it all the way to the bottom so that nobody would know where your watch was and where your wallet was, because you thought, what kind of criminal mind could really see through this? I'm really hiding it well. And that's how people think, because I used to do that all the time. I'd take my wallet out, I'd put it in my shoes, and I thought, for sure, they'd never think to look into this shoe here and find my wallet. Well, bottom line is God is simply saying, you can't hide these things. There's nothing that you're gonna have that isn't gonna be taken away. You are gonna be completely judged. So this is a real strict thing. Verse seven, all the men in your Confederacy shall force you to the border. The men at peace with you shall deceive you and prevail against you. Those who eat your bread shall lay a trap for you. No one is aware of it. Will I not in that day, says the Lord, even destroy the wise men from Edom and understanding from the mountains of Esau? Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed to the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. Your allies will turn on you and you will have no one to rescue you. Notice what he says in verse eight. Will I not in that day, says the Lord, even destroy the wise men? There's not gonna be no help at all coming to you. Not even your advisors. Your wise men will not bring forth any wisdom because they're gonna be destroyed. There is nothing that you can do. You are gonna be completely cut off. You're gonna lose everything. Like it says in Proverbs 21 30, there is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord. There's nothing that you can do. When he says in verse nine, your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed to the end that everyone from the mountains, et cetera, Teman is a city that's near Petra. It could be either a city, or some are saying this may be a geographical location, but the point is he's simply saying this, you are gonna be destroyed to the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. You're all gonna be destroyed. Now, verses 10 through 14 gives us reasons. He's gonna give to us some insight. Verse 10, for your violence against your brother, Jacob, shame shall cover you. You shall be cut off wherever. In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried captive his forces when foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were as one of them. But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother in the day of his captivity, nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress. You should not have entered the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity. You should not have stood at the crossroads to cut off those among them who escaped, nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained in the day of distress. So God has just lain out his case against them. You had no sympathy, and you had no concern for the nation. You actually rejoiced over their pain. You see, when Israel was being invaded, instead of offering aid, you sided with their oppressors. And that's a great sin. Because you had no sympathy or concern and rejoiced over them, I will bring a judgment. Proverbs 24-17 says, "'Do not rejoice when your enemy falls. "'Do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles.'" And these people were glad when they saw Israel being treated that way. Notice verse 13, you should not have entered the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Not only did you ally against the nation, but you actually came in and looted the city. And then he says in verse 14, you should not have stood at the crossroads to cut off those who were escaping. So instead of showing compassion and concern for those who were fleeing, you actually prevented them from escaping. Because what they were doing is they were making their way down south to go into Egypt to try and find some security there. But they detained them and then they turned them over to the invaders. And so he says, "'These are the reasons why you're gonna be judged.'" Now what happens here in verse 15 is interesting because, well, I'll read verses 15 and 16 and show some things to you. It says, for the day of the Lord, for the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near, as you have done, it shall be done to you. Your appraisal shall return upon your own head, for as you drank on my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually. Yes, they shall drink and swallow, and they shall be as though they had never been. Obadiah is writing about a judgment that's coming. But he likens it to God's future judgment. The term here in verse 15, the day of the Lord is a technical term. It actually is speaking about, the day of the Lord is another way of speaking of a period when God is pouring out His wrath on unbelieving man. It's normally reserved and used for the last days. And it speaks concerning the days that are also called the tribulation period. So what he's doing is he's likening the judgment that they're having that's gonna come upon them in the near future. He's actually likening it to a final judgment that God is gonna be bringing on the earth in what are called the last times or the latter days. That is referred to as the day of the Lord. So he's writing concerning judgment, but he's likening it to future judgment. Now when Messiah comes to establish His kingdom at the end of the tribulation, and this is what we're looking at really as a picture of that, then there's gonna be judgment that takes place. There's gonna be a judgment that occurs at that time. And there are three basic ways to look at this when Messiah comes for this. There's not a common agreement on exactly how it's gonna work out, but some believe that this is now making reference to the judgment that's gonna occur that's found in Matthew 25, what is called the judgment of sheep and goats. So the judgment speaks of how people of earth are treated, the people of earth treated Israel during the tribulation. There are others when they begin to look at this thing, say no, Obadiah is pointing to the future judgment that you find in the book of Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 through 15. Then there are others who see this as being fulfilled during the tribulation when all who oppose Jesus are killed. The point is as Edom joined Israel's oppressors and were judged, judgment will come upon Israel's oppressors. Now we need to remember that Edom is a picture of the flesh and will never partake in God's blessings and so all they have waiting for them is judgment. So when he says in verse 15, the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near, as you have done, it'll be done to you. He's simply saying you are gonna receive for what you have done. You're not gonna get away with it. In the same way that at the very end when God deals with those who have rejected him, even so you are soon to be dealt with for your rejection because Edom rejected the Lord as they were rejecting Israel. As a result of that and treating them that the way they did, God is simply saying I will bring a severe judgment on you. You are gonna lose every single thing that you have. Not a single thing that you have and own is gonna be preserved. You are gonna be dealt with and you will be destroyed. Verse 17, but on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance. There shall be holiness. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire. The house of Joseph a flame. But the house of Esau shall be stubble. They shall kindle them and devour them and no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau for the Lord has spoken. Well, Edom is awaiting destruction. Israel is awaiting God's blessings. When you look at prophecy, it's been referred to in this way. The Jewish nation has been referred to as the miracle of the Jews. Because when you look in the Old Testament as we've been doing we're going through Joshua as you know on Wednesday nights and you see all these ights that I like to tease about. The Canaanites and the Hittites, the Parasites, the Jebusites and all the rest of the ites. What other ites do we have? Cellulites up, tides out of sides, you know the ites. I like that, it's so stupid. Think for a moment. When in history has there ever been a people that existed like the Jews? Never, in history. You can look for the Canaanites if you want. Jebusites, all of the ites. You can look for those people. They don't exist. They're all gone. Everyone, everyone. You know we use the term man, that guy's a Philistine. But he's really not a Philistine. He's not descended from the Philistines. We just use the word, he's a Philistine. Why do we say that? Well because he's a pagan. And so we'll use that term. You can look in history. And this to me is so amazing. It's mind boggling. These people, the Jews, in 70 A.D. were taken captive and dispersed throughout the world. Throughout the world. You find Jews throughout the world. You know the stereotypical Jew and to me it's a very, it's a very evil stereotype to be honest with you. Because during the 30s and 40s here in the United States, especially the Jews were not regarded as a people. And there would be cartoon characters of them that were offensive, terribly offensive. They would draw their pictures with big noses, big ears, big lips and all. And it was okay. And the cartoons were, you saw them all the time. And if you ever even see some of the older cartoons on TV that come out of the 40s and 30s, sometimes you'll even still see that artwork. And it was acceptable because it was all right to hate Jews. The Jewish people were hated throughout the world, throughout the world. And they always looked basically the same and they always were made to appear in the same way. But I've been around the world and I have seen Jews in various countries. That there's no way that you can take that stereotype. When we've been in Israel, Marie and I were in Megiddo and we go walking into Purgatory, into a souvenir shop. And Marie comes walking up to me. She says, you gotta come here. Come here. And so I grabbed my wallet and ran the other way, but she dragged me back. And we go into this area of this souvenir shop there in Megiddo and there's this guy behind the counter, this Mexican guy. And I say, hey, what's happening? No, I looked at him. He was from Mexico City. And so Marie was speaking to him and she had asked him, where are you from? He says, Mexico City. And she says, oh, are you a Christian? He says, no, I'm a Jew from Mexico City. A Jew from Mexico City. We've gone into, in Israel, we've gone in, there's a street we go to, some of you have been to Israel, it's called Ben Yudah Street. And you go into the shops, Marie and I have gone into shops and the minute she walks in, the shopkeeper looking at my wife begins to speak Spanish to her. And they never do to me for some reason, I don't know. But they speak to her. And they think she's Spanish Jew because the highest population of returnees for the longest time were Spanish Jews. And so you will see people in Israel who are Mexican, who are Spanish. You will see black Jews. There are Japanese Jews. My guide for years was from Argentina, Jew. His wife was from Brazil, Jew. So the stereotype that they have to look in a certain way is ridiculous. It's ridiculous. There's no way because they were scattered throughout the whole world. In 1492, there were certain things taking place in Spain. We know one of them, Columbus, took his three small ships and sailed. We know that. But the Inquisition in Spain was at red hot heat at that time. And what happened is the Jews were forced to do one of three things. In Spain, you either converted to become a Catholic or you left the country or you were killed. Those were your three options in Spain in 1492. Many of the Jews left from Spain and traveled to later on to the new world. They went into Mexico. From Mexico, the Jews traveled north. And there are populations of Jews throughout the Southwest, Santa Fe, New Mexico has a large population of Jews who are from Mexico, who are from Spain. And so you have Jews all over the world, all over the world. But you don't have Canaanites all over the world. You don't have parasites all over the world. You have some Rubinites, but those are the Mexicans, they just got Rubinites. You know, even Perezites. The miracle of the Jew. When in history has there ever been a time when a people were scattered throughout the world yet retained their national identity, retained the mentality of who they were, did not get absorbed into the dominant culture but remained independent. The answer is never. There's only one people that ever did that. And that's the Jews. That's the Jews. The Jews retained their personal identity and their religious beliefs, and they remained. That's what happened. And when they returned to Israel and began to repopulate when as a nation ever, that was not a nation that had been, not a nation for 1900 years, when did that nation ever become a nation again? And the answer is, when Israel in 1948, once again became an independent nation. So when you read your Bible in the Old Testament and it's, and the new, when it begins to speak concern in these people, God says to the Edomites, I am gonna judge you. You will be no more. And that's why you can look throughout the world to this day and you will not find an Edomite. They were wiped out. They do not exist anymore. And that's why God is saying, my people will be blessed. Now, all the way back in Genesis chapter 12, God had spoken to Abraham. And when he was giving his initial promises to Abraham, the patriarch, the father of the Jewish nation, he said, those who bless you, I will bless. And those who curse you, I will curse. The Edomites fall under that curse. And because they did not give help to Israel and because they rejoiced when Israel was being pillaged, when Jerusalem, the Holy city was being pillaged, God says, because of your pride, I will bring judgment against you. And God did bring judgment against them. So he's speaking concern in the judgment that came against him, but he's likening it to the judgment that occurs later on at the very end of history in this time that is referred to in this particular portion as the day of the Lord. And he's using the image of the day of the Lord, which is by the way, if you have a concordance, you might wanna do this, just look up the day of the Lord and you will find it used many times and it's associated with what we in the New Testament would say the tribulations, the day of darkness, the day of gloom, it's a day of destruction. It's speaking about what God is going to do in the last day during the tribulation period. And he's basically just likening what will take place in this judgment time where he pours out his wrath in the future, he's likening what will take place in the future to what is soon to take place in the nation of Edom, and that is gonna be in their near future. And when he says in verse 18, the last portion, no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau, the Lord has spoken, it's utter and complete destruction. That's what's gonna happen. Now, Israel awaits God's blessings. They're gonna be completely resettled on their own land and Mount Zion once again is gonna be a holy place. Isaiah 52, one says, awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion, put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. You see, when Messiah rules, holiness will be present. When Messiah rules, holiness will be present. And I was sharing today in the book of Romans how that God calls us in Christ to live a righteous and a holy life. That's what God has called us to. And I'll tell you, holiness is something you pursue. There is a state of holiness in the sense that God sets you apart, but there is something that you actually do, you actually cooperate with the spirit of God in pursuing holiness. And there's a pursuit called the pursuit of holiness. You pursue, you discard those things that pollute your life and you embrace those things that are gonna purify you and you pursue that. And that's also called living a sanctified life. It's getting away from the things that bring you down. You know, not everything that you do is sinful, but not everything that you do builds you up either. And so what you eventually do if you're pursuing the Lord is you begin to make determinations, I'm gonna grab hold of the things that build me up, I'm gonna reject the things that bring me down. And sometimes the things that bring me down might be a relationship that I have with somebody else. I've had friendships that were very dear to me that I realized I'm gonna have to release this friendship not because I don't care for or love that friend, but because when I'm with that person, I'm not the best person I can be. And I wanna be the best person I can be. And therefore, that person ceases being what I consider to be a dear friend, it becomes more to me of a ministry. So I have to be prepared, I have to be ready, prayed up and aware that when I'm with this person, wherever it may be, that he may very well be the kind of person who encourages me in the opposite direction of where God wants me to go. So I've had a long time of doing that. For many years I've discovered some things are friendships and some things are ministries. And you just have to think that way. Why? Because I want to, when all is said and done, what I want to do is I wanna live a life that's pleasing to God. And that's what he's called me to do. That's what he called his church to do. I am holy, God says in 1 Peter 1, 15 and 16, therefore ye be holy. So God calls us to live a separated life, a holy life. Well, for us right now, that's something you're pursuing, but when Messiah rules, holiness will be the norm. That's what it's gonna be like. See, it's been said, if you don't like holiness now, you're not gonna like it when Messiah rules. If you can't worship the Lord now, you're not gonna like it when you're in heaven. People are walking with the Lord wherever it may be because if you think it's boring to do that now, think of what eternity is gonna be like because that's what we're gonna do, guys. We're gonna be with the Lord. But it's not boring at all. There's such peace and such joy. There's just such contentment when you know that your sins are forgiven and you're right with God. And when you're doing things that you know are not pleasing to the Lord, there's a discontent. There's this agitation of spirit. There's a dissatisfaction. It's called conviction. You have that and you ask yourself, what happened? What happened to the joy I used to have? What happened to the peace that I used to have? That sense of God's presence that I used to have and we used to say if you feel far from God then guess who moved? Because it's me. The Lord says, if you draw near to me, I will draw an eye into you. But sometimes I'm running away from him rather than running towards him. And so holiness is what God is calling us to live and that's the estate. That's what it's gonna be like when the Messiah rules. In Jeremiah 31-23, it says, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities when I bring back their captivity. The Lord bless you, oh home of justice and mountain of holiness. In Zechariah 1420, in that day, holiness to the Lord shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots of the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. So holiness is gonna be the norm. Now, in verse 19, The inhabitants of the south shall possess the mountains of Esau. The inhabitants of the flistening lowland, they shall possess the fields of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria. Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captains of this host of the children of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zareptah. Zarepa. The captains of Jerusalem who are in Sephirah, which is an unknown country, by the way, shall possess the cities of the south. Then savior shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. Edom can only expect destruction in their future, but Israel will receive blessings. They will be resettled in their own land, but they will no longer be under attack. You go to Israel and every one of them, every one in Israel, eventually when they're younger, becomes a member of their military, every one of them, both women and men. They serve for a number of years, but they're always on reserve status, always on active reserve. And they continue being under active reserve for many years until they're older years. They're all ready and they're all trained because at any time, our rocket can come into the city. At any time, there can be an attack. In the past, we were on a trip in Israel years ago now and we were coming in this particular area that was, we were driving on this road that comes around the city of Jerusalem. We're going by an area where it's called Absalom's Tomb. Off to our left, you can see a couple of churches. And as we were driving, my wife and I were in the front and Marie said, there's somebody coming from the hill. And we looked to the right and you could see somebody and they had a scarf around their face that was a young man and he was coming down through some olive trees and in his hand was a Molotov cocktail. And as he came running down, he threw that Molotov at the bus that was directly in front of us. Now the buses that they attack are not tour buses. The buses they attack are the city buses because the city buses normally will have Jewish inhabitants. What he did is he came from that hill, he threw that Molotov. We saw it, it was right in front of us. It wasn't 30 feet in front of us. He hit the side of the bus and then hit the ground and exploded in flame. And I remember turning around my reaction was, you know, Marie, they're going to hurt us. Get on top of me and shield my body from the broken glass. Save me. Because I got to finish this tour. They have good doctors here in Israel. I turned around and I yelled at everybody down, get down. They just kind of sat there, get down. Now that was just a reaction and I didn't really need to have was just an instant reaction because they don't attack our buses. They attack the Jewish buses with the Jewish people in it. They don't live in peace like you and I do. There are, there are arid shelters everywhere in cities everywhere. We've gone from the north to the south, from the east to the west. We've gone from top to bottom. And in every city there are preparations for war. They're on the alert every day. They expect attacks at all time. That's why the security of Israel, when you fly Al-Al Airlines, is the best in the world. And they don't waste their time frisking 80-year-old grandmas carrying some little Pekingese. They don't do that. You know, we think that we're being wise in doing that. They don't do that. Everybody goes through the same scrutiny. Everybody has to go through the same thing because they're gonna make sure that nobody gets harmed because they've had to learn to do that since they became a nation back in 1948. Whenever we travel to Israel and we fly Al-Al, I don't have a problem at all with their security because it's the safest in the world because I know that they're doing everything they can to make sure that we fly safely and arrive safely. But these people have been living under this kind of influence and this kind of awareness now for years. And there are children who've grown up never knowing a real peaceful day. We were there on one occasion when rockets were being fired. A friend of mine, a Vietnam vet, and I were walking in Jerusalem. And as we were walking back to our hotel, you could hear the sound of, it was just a deep thud. And he's a nom vet. He was a door gunner. And he turns to me, he says, those are rockets. And I said, yeah, because I spent time in the military and I heard rocket fire and all of that too. And I said, I know. And well, it turns out that this place where one of the Jewish guides lived, his compound where he lived, his apartments, they were firing towards his apartments. And so later on, a friend of mine who owns the company that we work with in Israel, his name is Samuel Schmooley. He says, Dave, you wanna go and see where the rockets were? And I said, yeah. And Gary, my friend, he says, you wanna go? And we said, yeah. But Gary says, don't tell Sonia because she won't let me go. I said, man up. No, so we walked out and Marie's looking at me like, where are you going? And I just kind of smiled because we went off. And as we went off, we saw the area that all this rocket fire had taken place. And this is how they live day in and day out. This is what goes on. But one day that isn't gonna happen anymore. One day Messiah will be ruling. One day there's gonna be peace, holiness unto the Lord. And Israel will be blessed. There'll be judges. In verse 21, when it says, Savior shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau. The kingdom shall be the Lord's. It's simply a picture of rulers or deliverers, judges that will be there who are gonna be representing God's rule on earth. And Psalm 14610 says, the Lord shall reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord. That is what's gonna take place. Israel will be exalted. Israel will be blessed. But the enemies of Israel will be no more. Edom is one of those enemies. And God says, because the way you treated my people, the way that you rejoice of their pain, the way that you blocked their exit so that they could find security, these are things that I'm judging you for. And it's all because of the pride of your heart that you are gonna be dealt with in this way. And that's the book of Obadiah.