 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 as 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 going to 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. 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, he's described as coming out red. And he was hairy. So they named him Esau. Esau means hairy. I'm just wild about hairy. Well, hairy. The second son was born holding onto 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 is 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 first born son. And the birthright was to demonstrate preeminence over any others. And so the first born 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, you know, the one who runs the show. You know, he doesn't, I do because I'm Jacob. But you can have this mentality and that can be a cultural truth. Well, 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, in giving the answer to the mother, even though God had said, the younger is going to 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 going to cost you. Well, what's it going to cost? It's going to 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. 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 also he grabs him and he says, wow, 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 a blessing says, 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 going to live in the fields. I can tell you you're going to be warlike and I can tell you you're going to 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 simple. He says, when my father dies, I'm going to 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. 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 going to 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 going to see here in the book of Obadiah. So it begins at verse 1. 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 nations saying, arise and let us rise up against her for battle. 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 2-3-4 he says, you're going to 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 2, 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 from 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 going to 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 going to be brought down because of the proud belief and the proud belief that they have you 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 it's this pride that brings judgment on them when you come to the 21st century a 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 going to be judged notice what he says in verse 4 there he says though you exalt yourself as high as the eagle 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 the arms 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 in verse 2 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 no matter how high you think you are you are not going to 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 it's interesting to me how this says it here in verse 4 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 oh Lucifer said in the morning how you are cut down to the ground you who weaken the nations 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 it's called five I wills of Satan so obviously Satan had eye problems I will I will I will I will do these things now God is saying oh you think so you think you are going to get away with these things God is saying no he said that to Satan and he is saying that to eat him you may be inaccessible to man God is saying but you are not inaccessible to me and when I go to get you there is nothing you can do to save yourself so he is speaking to them and he is saying I will bring you down say it to the Lord verse 5 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 what the Lord is saying thieves can break in and steal all they can carry away but normally he says they don't take everything and that is probably generally true if you are on vacation and you leave and somebody breaks into your home and begins to steal things normally they don't take every single thing they take the things they think are of value if you have a computer if you have a television set if you have some recording devices or whatever electronics you might have maybe they will 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 is 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 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 6 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 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 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 and you 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 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 going to have that isn't going to be taken away and be completely judged so this is a real strict thing verse 7 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 even destroy the wise men from Edom and understanding from the mountains of Esau then your mighty men shall be dismayed to the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau 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 8 will I not in that day even destroy the wise men there's not going to be no help at all coming to you not even your advisors your wise men will not bring forth any wisdom but they're going to be destroyed there's nothing that you can do you're going to be completely cut off you're going to 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 9 your mighty men oh Timon shall be dismayed to the end that everyone from the mountains etc Timon is a city that's near Petra it could be either a city or some are saying this may be a geographic location but the point is he's simply saying this you are going to be destroyed to the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau may be cut off by slaughter you're all going to be destroyed now verses 10 through 14 gives us reasons he's going to give to us some insight verse 10 for your violence against your brother Jacob shame shall cover you you shall be cut off forever 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 laid 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 the 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 going to 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 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 he's actually 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 going to come upon them in the near future he's actually likening it to a final judgment that God is going to be bringing on the earth in what are called the last times 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 is a picture of that then there's going to be judgment that takes place there's going to be a judgment that 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 going to work out but some believe that this is now making reference to the judgment that's going to 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 for the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near as you have done it will be done to you he's simply saying you are going to receive for what you have done you're not going to 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 going to lose every single thing that you have not a single thing that you have and own is going to be preserved you are going to 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 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 aides that I like to tease about the Canaanites and the Hittites the Parasites, the Jebusites and all the rest of the aides what other aides do we have cellulites up tights out of sites you know the aides 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 you can look for the Canaanites if you want Jebusites all of the aides 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 AD 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 they come out of the 40s and 30s sometimes you'll even still see that artwork and it was acceptable because it was alright 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 there's no way to 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 and she says you gotta come here come here and so I grab my wallet and ran the other way but she dragged me back and we go into this area of this souvenir shop and there's this guy behind the counter this Mexican guy and I say hey it'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 are you a Christian he says no I'm a Jew I'm 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 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 attorneys 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 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 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 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 call Rubinites even Perezites the miracle of the Jew when in history has 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 answers 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 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 the new when it begins to speak concern in these people God says to the Edomites I'm going to 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 and 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 God did bring judgment against them so he's speaking concerning 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 want to do this just look up the day of the Lord and you will find it used many times with what we in the New Testament would say the tribulation is the day of darkness the day of gloom it's the 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 going to be in their near future in 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 going to happen now Israel awaits God's blessings they're going to be completely resettled on their own land and Mount Zion once again is going to be a holy place Isaiah 52 1 says awake, awake put on your strength O Zion put on your beautiful garments 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 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 discard those things that pollute your life erase those things that are going to 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 as you begin to make determinations I'm going to grab hold of the things that build me up I'm going to 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 going to 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 want to 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 and 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 want to 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 going to be alike see it's been said if you don't like holiness now you're not going to like it when Messiah rules if you can't worship the Lord now you know you're not going to 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 going to be like because that's what we're going to do guys we're going to 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 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 I used to have what happened to that sense of God's presence that I used to have and we used to say we're not 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 going to be like when the Messiah rules and 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 14 20 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 going to 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 Zarepah Zarepah 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 mountain 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 everyone in Israel eventually when they're younger becomes a member of their military everyone 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 older years they're already and they're all trained because at any time a 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 after our left you can see a couple of churches 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 it 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 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 a reaction 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 arrayed 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-Aul airlines is the best in the world and they don't waste their time frisking 80 year old grandmas carrying some little pecanis they don't do that 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 going to 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-Aul I don't have a problem at all with their security because it's the safest in the world to fly safely and arrive safely but these people have been living under this kind of influence and this kind of awareness now for years 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 of Vietnam and I were walking in Jerusalem and as we were walking back to our hotel there 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 he's a friend of mine who owns the company that we work with in Israel his name is Samuel Schmooley he says Dave you want to see where the rockets were and I said yeah and Gary my friend he says you want to go and we said yeah but Gary says don't tell Sonia because she won't let me go I said man up so we walked out and Marie's looking at me like where are you going 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 going to happen anymore one day Messiah will be ruling one day there's going to be peace holiness unto the Lord and Israel will be blessed 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 it's simply a picture of rulers or deliverers judges that will be there who are going to be representing God's rule on earth and Psalm 14610 says the Lord shall reign forever your God oh Zion to all generations praise the Lord that is what's going to 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 over their pain the way that you blocked their 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 going to be dealt with in this way this is the book of Obadiah