 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 ascend as high as the eagle and though you set your nest among the stars from there I will bring you down says the Lord. 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 grape 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. 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 man, O demon, shall be dismayed to the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. For violence against your brother, Jacob, shame shall cover you and 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. For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near. As you have done, it shall be done to you. Your reprisal 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. You mean how he seated? If you remember in the book of Proverbs, there's a man who watches out of the lattice of his window, and he sees a fool that heads by the harlot's house, and he observes that fool. There once was a man who was watching out of the lattice of his window, and he was living in the bad side of town. And as he watched, he could see drug deals going on, he could see prostitution on the corner, and as he sat and watched, he saw suddenly that people began to scatter, and he didn't know why, but a police car came up, pulled up and stopped at the corner, and instead, after a time, he saw then children come or shop owners come out, and it was a result of the authority coming in. Those who were in sin ran away, but those who were under oppression from the crime were able to rejoice. When the day of the Lord comes, it will come in a way that causes the people of God to rejoice, the people of God to rejoice and to no longer be under the oppression of sin and tyranny, but it will cause those who oppose God's people to scurry and to hide and to run. This text is about the day of the Lord and how the prophet Obadiah, how God himself applies this to the people of Edom. We're going to cover verses 15 and 16, and then we're going to look at the broad topic of the day of the Lord in the Scripture. In verse 15, we're going to see the topic introduced of the day of the Lord. We're going to see Edom, their placement in the day of the Lord, and then the nations, so the day of the Lord for Edom and the day of the Lord for the nations. Okay? So verse 15, for the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near. As you've done, it shall be done to you. Your appraisal shall return upon your own head. So the text opens up with a word that is an attention-getting word that it begins verse 15. It could be translated indeed. Okay? Verses 15 and 16 begin with the same use to give the people's particular attention, because there's going to be a contrast here between verses 10 to 14 with verses 15. Do you see that contrast? It's very easy to get with the ear. Remember that Obadiah is something that is heard more often than it was read. People didn't necessarily sit down with the scroll and read it, but more often the more people would hear it as it is read publicly. So it's meant to be seen with your ears as much as with your eyes on a piece of paper. And when you hear it, you hear the emphasis of day, day, day, in verses 10 to 14, right? The day of the captivity, the day of the destruction, where Edom laughed, where Edom rejoiced in the destruction of God's people. And in verse 15, this contrast, now the same use of yom, the same use of that Hebrew word for day comes. So there was the day of distress, but now in great contrast, the day of the Lord is near. The day of the Lord is near. And Obadiah begins to say that it's not just for Edom here, it's upon all nations. The day of Yahweh is near. And he begins to say, refer back now to Edom in verse 15. As you have done, it shall be done to you. And it's very important throughout the book of Obadiah how we know that the prophets referring to Edom. He refers to them in the singular. He refers to them as Esau, as Edom. He refers to them as Timon, who as Timon was a descendant of Esau. And he uses the singular. So here in verse 15, we know he's referring to Esau, to Edom. He says, as you've done, it shall be done to you. Okay, so what we're learning about the day of the Lord in context is it's going to be like what happens in verses 10 to 14. Distress, calamity, a day of captivity. It's going to be violence. As Edom did, the same thing is going to happen to them. There's a repetition of done, done, and if you have your reprisal shall return upon your own head. That can also be translated. If you have an ESV, you also see that it can be translated deeds. Your own deeds shall return upon your own head. So in the Hebrew, it has a repetition of, as you've done, it shall be done to you. And what you've done shall return upon your own head. It's coming back. This is just deserts. This is appropriate justice. You're going to get what's coming to you. You're going to get exactly what you've done to others. So the day of the Lord on Edom. But in verse 16, there's a shift. There's a shift that's very subtle in the use of grammar, but it's clear in the context of the book. You see where it says, for as you drank on my holy mountain, the you there switches now. It's not the same you as Edom. It switches to the plural as you drank on my holy mountain. And if you watch for the rest of the book, there's a shift in the address. Instead, where Obadiah is addressing Edom, how much pride you had, what you did to the people of Israel, and the judgment. Instead, now he shifts. And from now on, he'll talk about Edom in the third person after verse 16. And he speaks now to the people of Israel. In verse 16, for as you drank, and it's going to be to Israel on my holy mountain. And then as you look in the rest of the book in verses 17 to 21, he will refer to Esau in verse 18, but the house of Esau shall be stubble. And he doesn't refer to them straight anymore as in the second person. He refers to them in third person. He's done talking directly to Esau. He is now speaking to the people of Israel. And he continues on for the rest of the book. You'll know this by the attention getting words that he uses to change topic. It's difficult to see because of the antecedent is not been changed. But you can see it in the grammar and in the change of tone from greatly different change of tone from in verses 17 to 21. And this transition is about the day of the Lord in verses 15 to 16, these transition verses. So he says, as you drank on my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually. So as who drank of the wrath of God on the holy mountain, but the people of Israel, 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. So again, he focuses on the judgment and now it's a repetition instead of done, it's a repetition of drink. For as you drank, so shall all the nations drink. Yes, they shall drink and swallow. And this word for swallow is the only use in the Bible for this swallow. It's a word that means to slurp up loud drinking or vomiting. It has to do with a drunkenness usually. So shall all the nations drink continually. And they shall be, what shall be the result? It'll be as though the nations had never existed. So what do we learn about the day of the Lord here in these verses? We learn that it's near and we learn that it's applied to eat them. And we also know that it's applied to the nations. This is consistent with the use of the day of the Lord in the Old Testament and the New Testament. We see that it's got a near fulfillment and it's got a far fulfillment. We'll see that it's applied to eat them, but it will also be applied to Israel. It will also be applied to the nations. It will also be applied to anyone who does not obey the Lord. So let's begin to learn about the day of the Lord in the Scripture. Let's turn to the prophet Zephaniah and see what he has to say about the day of the Lord. Zephaniah chapter one. Zephaniah one opens up about the day of the Lord. He says, we'll read in verse two. I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land, says the Lord. I will consume man and beast. I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land, says the Lord. We see a widespread judgment of God coming, but then there's something localized here in verse four. I will stretch out my hand against Judah. So we see a localized and a universal judgment happening and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, now he begins to apply the day of the Lord here. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests from the pagan priests, those who worship of the heavens of the house tops, those who worship and swear by the host by the Lord, but also swear by Milcham. Okay, so you see the whos and the whys, who are being judged, but those of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Why? But because of idolatry. In verse six, those who have turned back from following the Lord have not sought the Lord nor inquired of him. So how do you respond to the day of the Lord? Be silent in the presence of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is at hand. Again, this imminent nature of the day of the Lord. When the day of the Lord is near at hand, there's only, grammatically, there's only three different possibilities. It's either near relationally. No, the day of the Lord is not near relationally. Is it near physically? No, the day of the Lord is not something that can be related physically. It is near in imminence. It is near, right, could be the next event on the calendar. It could be the next tick of the clock. It's right around the corner. It's not just an eschatological thing. It's not something just that happens at the end times. The day of the Lord is going to be an event where God shows up. And when God shows up, the mightiest men will cry. Those who have the most money will see that it's worthless. Those who have the least money will see that money would have not helped them anyway. It doesn't matter whether you're young or old. When the wrath of Yahweh comes, then it is to be, you're to put your hand over your mouth in silence in the presence of the Lord God. In verse eight, he continues, And it shall be in the day of the Lord's sacrifice. You see how the Lord refers to it? It's going to be a sacrifice where I will punish the princes and the king's children as such that are clothed with a foreign apparel. And he goes on to describe how those who leap over the threshold, those who fill their master's houses with deceit, violence and deceit, those who are stealing and committing acts of covetousness, he goes on to describe how the merchants in verses 10 and 11 will cry out. And in verse 12, those who say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil. Those who say, the Lord won't judge either way. He's not going to come and do evil, and he's not going to come and do good. We have many in our day who refer to God that way. God won't judge, and they think, oh, God won't reward. Why should I do good? And God won't punish. I shouldn't just do what I want. But here in verses 14, look at the description of the day of the Lord and learn what the day of the Lord is like. The great day of the Lord is near. It is near and it hastens quickly. Again, he's emphasizing this judgment from Yahweh can come in a moment. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter. There the mighty men shall cry out. The most hardened soldier who has seen death after death after death. There that kind of person will cry out. The mighty men, the day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress. What kind of day is it? It is a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers. I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh is going to be poured out like human waste, like refuse. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath, but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, for he will make speedy, speedy riddance of all those who dwell in the land. Turn to Isaiah 13. Again, we're looking at what the Word of God has to say about the day of the Lord. We're trying to piece together themes. We learn about how it's near. We learn about how it's a day of darkness and gloominess. The prophets are the ones who speak about the day of the Lord. Isaiah 13. There are at least 19 occurrences in the Old Testament prophets referring to the day of the Lord. In Isaiah 13, there's a proclamation against Babylon. In verse 6, wail, scream out, for the day of the Lord is at hand. Again, we see it's right near the imminency of it. God's judgment could come at any time. It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Do you believe in the destruction of the Almighty? In verse 7, therefore all hands will be limp. Every man's heart will melt. There won't be any defiance when God's judgment comes. There won't be any fists raised, but people will be like, it's useless. It's pointless to fight against God, and their own hearts will melt with terror. In verse 8, they will be afraid. Sharp pains and sorrows will take hold of them, and they'll be in pain as a woman in childbirth. They will be amazed at one another, and their faces will be like flames. Behold the day of the Lord comes, cruel with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate. And he will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will halt the arrogance of the proud and lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. What are some of the themes that you see here? Do you see how it's to be a day that will be wailed at? The prophet takes the most painful event in humanity, the birth of a child, to say this is how it's going to come. This kind of pain, it's going to be a cruel day, wrath. Who's it going to come to? But sinners. And we also see it's going to be a cataclysmic event. The stars, heaven itself, is going to be involved in this. And the whole, then the world will be punished. The prophets look at the day of the Lord, much like when the prophet Isaiah would begin to speak about Satan, and he begins to refer to some of the princes, and begins to talk about a prince, and then he changes topic and begins to speak about Satan, and Satan's fall. And he talks about both of them in one setting. The prophets do that about the day of the Lord. The prophets see the time of the day of the Lord when it will be the end of the universe. But they also talk about the imminency in their own time. In this context, it's coming on Babylon, and he's going to use the day of the Lord. Zephaniah talks about the day of the Lord coming on Jerusalem. Where does Obadiah talk about the day of the Lord? But on Edom and all the nations, the day of the Lord is a phrase that's applied to a current situation in the prophets. But then they also see it's going to picture something greater that's coming. When Babylon gets destroyed, it's a warning. There's a greater day of the Lord coming. When Obadiah gets destroyed, there's a greater day of the Lord coming. When Jerusalem gets destroyed with the day of Yahweh, there's a greater one coming. And so it applies to us. It applies to us because the day of the Lord is coming for us. Let's look in the New Testament. Let's turn, yeah, I didn't give you guys a text. I'm trying to decide which one to go to because we have so much time. Let's look in, there's four different occurrences in the New Testament. Let's go ahead and we'll look at, we'll try to look at all of them quickly. First Thessalonians. Let's go to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. But concerning the times and season, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord, you see how he uses the same phrase? He's picking up the idea from the prophets. So comes as a thief in the night. This time frame is going to come with great unforeseen wrath. For when they say peace and safety, then suddenly destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. Just like you never know when the pregnant woman is going to pop, right? Just like you never know it could happen. The day of the Lord is going to come in that same unexpected way in verse 4, but you know brethren, but you brethren are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. You see how he contrasts? Who's the day of the Lord coming for? It's coming for those who are in rebellion to God, those who are not genuine Christians. It's going to come surprising to them, but the Christians, that this time frame is going to come expected. You see how he knows, brethren, this won't be surprised you. It won't be like a thief to you. So it's this time frame coming yet. Second Thessalonians, let's go to Second Thessalonians 2. Now brethren, considering the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, so we're talking about end times things. The return of the Lord. We ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit or by the word or by letter as from us as the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means. So in context, someone has been sending either a false letter or a false teacher, someone telling the Thessalonians that the day of the Lord has already come. But he says, let no one deceive you for the day will not come until the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, the anti-Christ who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he sits as God in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? So here's the day of the Lord coming and it's not going to come until the anti-Christ, the man of sin is revealed. But it's yet coming for us this time of the wrath of Yahweh. In Acts 2, the day of the Lord is also referred to and we can look at that very briefly in Acts 2. In Acts 2, verse 17, it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and on my servants and on my main servants I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and the signs of the earth beneath, blood and fire, vapor and smoke, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. So here is from Joel and we see where Peter says what he's talking about is taking place. It's taking place in the prophesying, it's taking place in his spirit being poured out on all flesh and it's taking place in whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But what's not taking place is the sun turned to darkness, the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. That is something that the Thessalonians, at first Thessalonians 2nd, say won't happen until the Antichrist comes. It's going to come and it's going to come and people are not going to expect it. That day the Lord looked once more in one more text in Revelation 6. Turn to Revelation 6. Before I read this text, consider some of the what we've covered tonight. The day of the Lord is not something that was just as some Bible teachers have talked about where it's simply an eschatological thing. It's something simply that's for the end times. It's a phrase that's used for the coming wrath of God. It has a near application and a far one. We see that continually through the prophets. Who receives the day of the Lord? But those who are sinning, who are opposed to God, those who are not generally converted, whether Jew or Gentile. It was that way in the Old Testament and it's that way in the New Testament. The grammar of it shows that it is talking about an indefinite period of time, but a period of time. And that day is a day that belongs to Yahweh. It's descriptions. It's cosmic. It involves the weather. It involves cruelty of judgment. It involves darkness and thick clouds. It involves promises and hopes, which we'll see next week in the day of the Lord. But for this week, we get the wrath. And its consequences are going to be on the enemies of God, on the proud and lofty. And it will have an immediate application and it's got a universal application in the last day of the Lord. Read Revelation with me and see the similarity with the description of the coming day of the Lord. Revelation 6, 12, I looked when he opened the sixth seal and behold, there was a great earthquake. The prophets in many places of the day of the Lord speak of the earthquakes and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became like blood. Sounds just like Joel. Sounds just like many of the prophets speak about the moon becoming like blood. And the stars of heavens fell to the earth as a fig tree drops in its late figs when it's shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky shall be receded as a scroll when it's rolled up. Isaiah 34 talks about the day of the Lord and uses this same terminology. And every mountain and island will be moved out of its place. The prophet warns about this very event. And the kings of the earth and the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men. You see the men of war just like in Zephaniah. Every slave and every free man hide themselves in the caves and the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rock, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne from the wrath of the lamb. And what do they know? They just know it's the end times. For the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand? Fear the coming judgment of God if you are not in Christ. If you are in Christ, then the day of the Lord will be a great blessing to you. You don't have to fear the antichrist because soon after the antichrist comes, the real Christ comes. Those who are not in Christ should tremble at his coming. Imagine now the Lord returns tonight. Tonight the Lord returns. What a blessing for the people of God. What joy to be with him forever. Think about all the difficult things in your life. You don't have to go to work Monday morning. You're going to work for the king. Think about how you love the Word of God and to know God. But then you can be with him and know him personally and see him physically. He'll right all the wrongs. You remember the analogy of the police car that comes into the bad part of town? When the Lord comes and this is a bad part of town, every town is a bad part of town in this world. And when the Lord comes, he's going to right all wrongs. In this particular instance we have here in Obadiah, that wrong needed to be righted. And there are many wrongs and evils, horrible things happening in our world. People's heads being cut off, right? And the Lord is going to come and he's going to right that. He's going to set it right. Don't you long for that day? Don't you want it? But think about most people. It won't be a day of joy. What would cause us to sing and cheer and dance as if we were at a wedding will cause them to scream, will cause them to howl, will cause them to cry out for the rocks to hide them because the day of the Lord has come. When Jesus Christ was on this planet, he divided people like Yahweh divided the Red Sea. When you came into the presence of Christ, then your hypocrisy was going to be shown and he would reveal it in time. Or your genuine, your desperate nature for Christ would be revealed. He revealed the hearts of men. And when he comes again, he will divide the world with sheep and goats. He will divide the world with those who are terrified at his coming and those who scream with joy. Where will you be? Where will you be at the coming day of the Lord? Where will you be one who is screaming for joy or with terror or with terror? Most, think of most that you know. They're not ready for the return of the Lord. And the day of the Lord is near. The wrath of the day, the Lamb, the wrath of the Lamb is near. Let us consider these things. This is what you need to be thinking about continually. The return of the Lord. Is the return of the Lord on your mind? Is this day something that you think about often? If you do, what will trials be? What will a bad back be? The Lord's returning one day when somebody mocks you or you get fired, the Lord's returning one day, do you see how it gives you the right perspective in all of life? Sin is so enjoyable, isn't it? You hear that lie? But the day of the Lord is coming. What about all those who have sin in their hand now, who taste it? I like to put it around and enjoy it like a candy. When the Lord comes, it will fall out of their mouth as they scream in terror. Will sin seem so enjoyable then? This is the reality of life. The Lord is returning. This is more real than your work tomorrow morning. This is more real than your death that's coming. This is more real than your very hands that you can look at, than your family that you can hold. This is as real as any of those things. The Lord is coming and the day of the Lord is near. Let us live in light of these things. Second Peter, when he talks about the day of the Lord, he says, what manner of men should we be if the Lord is going to come and he applies it to the end of the millennium, when the new heavens and new earth are made and the earth melts away? How should we live in light of these things? Should we not live for the Lord because of the day of the Lord that's coming? Let's pray. Dear Lord, please help us to consider the reality of how the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near. Help us to live life in light of this. Help us to tremble at the thought of your wrath, to rightly respect, dread, fear you, to rightly rejoice in the work of your son. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that we can look forward to your return because of what you've done for us on the cross. Please help us to think of the day of the Lord rightly and have it to impact us. Amen.