Obadiah is one of the pre-exilic, minor prophets, who writes the shortest book in the Old Testament. The book of Obadiah communicates the message that the people of God should not fret when the wicked prosper, because they will be cut down in due time. In like manner, God will silence and destroy the enemies of the church. Obadiah is a word of encouragement to the church.

Okay, good deal. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you for the inestimable value of your word to teach us how to think about this world and our situation, the things that are happening all around us. You're so kind to interpret for us, for with timeless interpretations as you've done here in this giving us this prophet Obadiah. Amen.

Okay, so open to Obadiah, the shortest book of the Old Testament. How about that? One chapter. I'd like to talk about the theme of Obadiah. The theme of Obadiah is that God will silence, neutralize, destroy, and completely exterminate the enemies of the Church of Jesus Christ.

It's a word of encouragement to the church and the subject, the illustration, the type is a nation, the Edomites. To me it's a really helpful testimony for the times that we live in. In the past few months, we've seen massive shifts take place in our culture. It's been an astonishment to all true believers, but the forces of darkness seem to be running roughshod hard against the church to contradict the pleasant ways of God, to say that God is not true, and to say that this world works and it doesn't. So there are these forces that are working to completely replace the pleasant ways of the Lord and replace those things with harmful and defiling things.

These are the times that we live in. And so that's why I think Obadiah is a wonderful gift to the church today. It proclaims the truth that the church should always remember. It's something we often have to tell ourselves in the midst of times like this, and that is in times of moral decline where people hate God, they hate the law of God, they hate Jesus Christ, that God will be vindicated. And while God's order of creation is thrown down, you know, we often feel helpless and wonder why the wicked prosper, but the message of Obadiah is quite simple.

Don't worry about it because God is going to take care of all his enemies. The whole idea is that judgment is coming. You'll encounter those words, the day of the Lord, which always refer to the consuming wrath of God against all of his enemies. And this day of the Lord that will come upon Edom is representative of the final day of the Lord where God will destroy his enemies forever. Now Edom in the Bible always represents the enemies of God.

That's one thing you need to know. Some commentators thought Edom was a type of the Antichrist. You'll find that testimony in this huge old Bible over to my left. You'll read the opening commentary on the book of Obadiah and you'll find them having us consider that Edom is a type of the Antichrist. And the book was written to a people who had seen the Edomites resist and harm the people of God.

He's not writing to Edom. He's writing to the remnant about Edom, and so the purpose is to put the people of God to rest, that he will deal with the Edomites. He will bring them down in His own time. And so He's desiring to encourage His people of His sovereign power over all things and His unalterable plan to right every wrong and to unravel all rebellion against Him and particularly the hatred that Edom has toward his people. Now there are many places in Scripture that speak of Edom, But it's important that you understand the meaning of Edom.

Romans chapter 9 verse 13 gives us what is perhaps the most famous New Testament testimony about Edom. Romans 9 says, as it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. Now, Esau is Edom. The descendants of Esau formed the people who would be called Edom. In that testimony in Romans 9 verse 13 it's followed up by verse 14 which says, what shall we say then is there unrighteousness with God?

Certainly not For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. So then it is not of him who wills or of him who runs but on God who shows mercy. And in verse 17 explains so much of the matter that God is trying to communicate to his people regarding Edom, where we read, "'For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, that my name may be declared in all the earth." So Edom is figurative of those whom God hates and those who hate God and those who hate the people of God. And why are there people in the world who hate God? Well, they are there for the very same reason that God raised up Pharaoh, and that is to demonstrate his power.

Why are the evil in the world in order to somehow, and particularly on that final day, demonstrate God's absolute authority over the wicked and how He will destroy them? So when you see the wicked prospering, always let that remind you that God has raised them up for this very same reason that's given in Romans 9 17, that God would show his power. So we should never worry about the prosperity of the wicked. Let's talk about the genre or the literary style of this book. First of all, you know, it is the shortest of all the prophets.

However, even though Obadiah is short, only one chapter, we cannot confuse its length with its significance. He is a minor prophet, but as we've tried to make clear, the minor prophets weren't minor because they were of minor significance. The minor prophets were minor prophets because they were shorter of length, shorter than the four major prophets. There are 12 minor prophets and 12 major prophets, and Obadiah is one of those. Obadiah is one of the pre-exilic minor prophets.

Now, when we use that term pre-exilic, we need to be reminded that there are prophets that prophesy at three different time frames. The pre-exilic, you know, before the exile in Babylon, There are the exilic prophets who were prophesying of the people to the people who were in Babylon and then there are the post-exilic prophets who prophesied after the Babylonian captivity. When we get into next week, we'll be dealing mostly with the post-exilic prophets. There are many examples of Edom's hatred toward the church and of God's hatred toward Edom, And we encounter the Edomites in Genesis chapter 25 verses 24 through 26 and here you find the struggle of Jacob and Esau in their mother's womb. And in Genesis chapter 25 verse 23 we read two nations are in your womb and the Edomites the red are in that womb and they are contrary to God Contrary to God from their very womb.

You know, if anyone has any doubt of the significance of life in the womb, then they should think about Genesis 25 23. Two nations are in your womb. We should never diminish the significance of life in the womb as we do in our society today. But Edom or Esau had affection for the mess of pottage that was related to selling his birthright. Esau did not have high regard for the kingdom of heaven.

He would sell it off for a mess of pottage. He didn't value the kingdom. He didn't see the kingdom as beautiful. He saw that it was worthless, so he traded it for something that was worthless and that was his massive pottage in selling off his birthright he showed his disdain for the promises of God to Abraham he showed his disdain for God's promises by marrying two Canaanite women. From the very beginning, from the womb to the tomb, Edom or Esau was a God-hater, and his people always hated the people of God.

In Genesis chapter 36 verse 1 we read of the genealogy of Esau. This is the genealogy of Esau who is Edom. Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan. Ada the daughter of Elon the Hittite, a holy Bama the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite. Well after Esau came of age he settled in Idumea.

You can read about that in Genesis 36 verse 8 where Esau dwells in Mount Seir and Mount Seir is Edumia, this mountainous region where he finally settled and the geographical center of his kingdom. In Numbers chapter 20 verses 14 through 21 we learn that the Edomites despised the people of God who came out of captivity. Moses was leading the children of Israel out of Egypt and he wanted to pass through Edom and he made requests, made assurances that they would be safe as the people pass through and what did Edom do? They refused to let Moses pass through their land. They were the perpetual enemies of God.

We find Edom showing up all over the place in the Bible. The Edomites opposed Saul. They opposed David and were subdued by David. One thing you'll find out about the Edomites is that they rise, they fall, they rise, they fall, they rise, they fall. They're constantly getting destroyed and then they bounce back a little bit and then they get destroyed again.

The anger of Edom toward the people of God is seen again at the time of the Lord Jesus Christ in the person of Herod, Herod the Great. Herod the Great was an Edomite. He was an Idumaean. He became king of Judah under Rome in 37 B.C. And you remember Herod the Great as the king who tried to kill the boy, the baby Jesus, as he called for the death of the male children.

It was a terrible genocide that took place during that time. He attempted to murder the child, the Lord Jesus Christ, and of course he failed, but he did rage against the church because the Edomites always do what the Edomites are. They're haters of God. So this is sort of the background of this whole thing. Now let's talk about why a prophecy for such a small nation.

The Edomites are really insignificant historically, but why? Why such a book about such a small insignificant people. And the reason is they are representative. They are meant to ring a bell in your mind to remind you of things. And they are representative of people and nations who despise the people of God.

So whenever you see anyone despising the people of God, think Edom. They should take you back to help yourself understand what is going on. It's always important to be able to understand the world and what's going on in the world so that you're not confused and that you have your wits about you. Now there are many, many places where you can encounter this small nation and I'm going to give you several passages of Scripture, write them down, I'll just make brief comments about them, there's no way we can develop them, but I want to build a case for the significance of the picture of the Edomites and how God has designed to use it. You can go to Isaiah chapter 34 verses 1 through 12.

In Isaiah 34 verse 2 there are these words about God's disposition toward Edom, and his fury shall be against all their armies. Verse 3, their slain shall be thrown out, their stench shall rise from their corpses. When you see the enemies of God making progress, don't worry, it's not the end of the story. Whenever you see it, think of Edom. Think this, it's not the end of the story yet.

In verse 5 of that chapter, you read, for my sword shall be bathed in heaven. Indeed, it shall come down on Edom and on the people of my curse for judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood. It is made overflowing with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats with the fat of the kidneys and rams for the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah." Now Bozrah is a place in Edom and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Lot to say there in Isaiah.

Jeremiah chapter 49 verses 7 through 8 where we read in verse 7, against Edom, thus says the Lord of hosts, is wisdom no more in Teman? Now when you read Teman, T-E-M-A-N, that also should tell you that he's talking about Edom. Seir, Timon, Edom, Edomia, those are the terms that you should connect with the Edomites themselves. But this phrase here is wisdom no more in Timon. In other words, God reduces them to stupidity and they have no wisdom.

If you go to Ezekiel chapter 25 verses 12 through 14, You'll read these words, Thus says the Lord God, because of what Edom did against the house of Judah by taking vengeance. Cut off man and beast from it and make it desolate from Teman. Dedan shall fall by the sword. I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Ezekiel 35 1 through 15 moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it and say, Thus says the Lord. Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you.

I will stretch out my hand against you. Mount Seir. You can picture this mountainous region, this really beautiful region high up. They were so high and mighty and lifted up and God says, no, you're not high, you're not too high for me. He says, I shall lay your city's waste in verse 4.

Verse 5, because you have had an ancient hatred and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity. Blood shall pursue you since you have not hated blood. Therefore blood shall pursue you." Terrifying words. They hated Israel with an ancient hatred. It went back to their father Esau, which went back to their father the devil Lucifer himself who hated God.

The ancient hatred. In Joel chapter 3 verse 19 we read about God's blessing toward his people and his destruction of Edom at the same time. He speaks of the destruction And then he speaks of his blessing on his own people. And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water. A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord.

And then he speaks of Egypt being in desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness. This is the great division of God's treatment of people. He treats his people wonderfully. He gives them living water. What does he do to the wicked?

He makes their life a desert. This is what happens when you turn away from God. The deserts start to overwhelm you in your life. Amos chapter 1 verses 11 and 12, for three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not turn away its punishment because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity. His anger tore perpetually.

This is a picture of a resentful person whose anger is welling up with inside. The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. It's the most dangerous thing in the human soul. It causes one to be led into its own destruction as it did Edom itself you had the jealousy of of Esau toward Jacob Isaiah chapter 63 verses 1 through 7 also speaks of this great calamity toward Edom and also God's great salvation. By the way, the New Testament ends in Malachi and in Malachi chapter 1 verse 3 we read these words the very last book of the Old Testament but Esau I have hated and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness So here we have this warning to the enemies of the church, your days are numbered, and an encouragement to the church saying their days are numbered, don't worry about it.

Now let's talk about who Obadiah is. We don't know very much about Obadiah the man, his lineage, his position. We know that his name is significant as interestingly enough, the names of the prophets are significant. All of them tie to their message. The name that they possess breathes a sense of their whole life and message and destiny.

And this is true with Obadiah. His name means the servant of the Lord. This term occurs 20 times in the Old Testament referring to other people. Other than that, nothing is known about the author himself. He's a man who seems to come out of nowhere and he has a message for the people of God that they should always remember.

Remember Edom, remember Edom, remember Edom, don't forget that your salvation is coming and their destruction is on the way. The day of the Lord is something you can count on. Well let's talk a little bit about the historical context. Obadiah and Jonah are the earliest of the Minor prophets. Now that I've made such a bold statement, let me just back up for a moment.

There is controversy about whether Obadiah is one of the earliest prophets or whether he is prophesying sometime near the days of Jeremiah. I'm going to take the position that the book is early rather than late, that it occurs during the 9th century around 848 BC during the reign of Jehoram. He was probably a contemporary of Elijah and Elisha. Jeremiah, who lived in the sixth century, quotes Obadiah in Jeremiah 49, 29. And either Jeremiah is quoting Obadiah or Obadiah is quoting Jeremiah.

And I believe that Jeremiah is quoting Obadiah. There's two sections, one section in Obadiah and one in Jeremiah that are very similar. Obadiah verses 1 through 9 and Jeremiah 49 7 through 22. The question is, they're very similar. Who borrowed from who?

My take is Jeremiah borrowed from Obadiah who lived hundreds of years before. The fulfillment of the prophecy is important to take note of. I want to suggest that the fulfillment of this book is pictured in the book of Acts, that every chapter in the book of Acts shows the victory of the gospel over the Jewish and the pagan enemies of God, and this is spotlighted in Obadiah. This resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, his conquering the pagan nations through the salvation of the Gentiles, which leads up to the final judgment at the end of the age is the fulfillment of Obadiah, but this is fulfilled as we see the final destruction of the wicked. There is a spiritual pride of man.

There's an intellectual pride of man. As a result, there's insolence toward God and the things of God. And Obadiah is given to us to recognize that the handwriting is on the wall for the enemies of God. And so remember Edom. Remember Edom.

Edom had a short history. Edom was wiped out in 70 AD, never to be heard from again. Well, with that as an introduction, let's dive in to the contents of the book. Obadiah divides into two halves or sections, and the first section stretches from verses 1 through 14 and this focuses on God's punishment toward Edom And the first section is Edom's punishment from 1 through 9. The second section in this first half is Edom's rebellion from verses 10 through 14.

And then The third section in the first major division is God's judgment on the nations, verses 15 and 16. And then the final section is God's restoration of His people. So let's begin in verse 1 and look at Edom's punishment. And it's important to grasp the tone of the language that God gives us to understand Edom. Let's look at verse 1.

The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord 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 so this is a word from God an authoritative word that will absolutely be proven to be true and that is there will be a battle against her. Verse 2 we read about what God will do to Edom. Behold I will make you small among the nations you shall be greatly despised. When you think about Edom or when you think about those who hate the Church of Jesus Christ, you can apply these very words, I will make you small.

They seem to be so great, they seem to be so powerful, they seem to have all the money, all the ability to communicate. This is the way that it seems today. The wicked really do have control over the communication systems of the world. Just a few minutes ago, I was looking at a video that was produced by the Center for Medical Progress that was exposing Planned Parenthood's selling of baby parts. There was a warning sign that YouTube put up in front of the video that said, this is dangerous and offensive content.

Click here if you do not want to see any of this kind of content again. And click here if you want to proceed. But there are all these, you know, red, you know, warning signs and all this kind of stuff. Okay, that was on YouTube. And we, you know, there have been Facebook blocking, you know, disclosures like this in the last two weeks.

The wicked seem to be running the communication systems. They seem so big. When you see that, remember they are small. I will make you small. So they may seem large now, but they will shrivel and will be small.

Don't worry about it. And then we see their sins in verse 3. The sins really surround pride. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who say in your heart, who will bring me down to the ground. So the Edomites were proud, and this is true of all the enemies of God.

They feel so high and mighty, but in verse 3 we learn the truth about them. The pride of your heart has deceived you. All of their pride is a puff of smoke. And while they dwell in the clefts of the rock and seem so secure, they're not at all. You know, pride is a self-deceiving sin.

It causes you not to see your own pride. This is, it's a double blindness. You know, and what we find is that Esau did destroy himself in his lineage because of his bitterness and his resentment and his jealousy toward his brother. Pride will always get you deflated." And that's exactly what verse 3 means. So Esau destroyed himself in his lineage because of his bitterness.

You know, somebody once wrote to Spurgeon and said I don't see why God hated Esau. You know why did God hate Esau so much? And Spurgeon replied, sir I don't understand why God loved Jacob. And it really bears witness to a truth of Scripture that God is sovereign in salvation and that the reason he loved Jacob was because of his own sovereign hand. Was Jacob a better man?

Well, we know that Jacob was a deceiver. He was a supplanter. He cheated his brother. He deceived his father, and he manipulated and used his mother for his own gain. So Jacob wasn't, you know, the nicest person that you would ever have met, and yet God loved him.

And you know, here we find that God is so gracious that He even loves sinners. At the same time, He does hate those who hate His own people. And here is just a disclosure of the results of the cursings and the blessings of Deuteronomy chapter 28. It also bears witness to Genesis chapter 12 verse 13 where we learn that in Abraham all the families of the world will be blessed and they'll prosper. So there's this illustration of pride.

Look at verse four. 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 will you be cut off? Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If the grapegatherers had come to you, would they not have left some gleanings?

Oh, how Esau shall be searched out, how his hidden treasures shall be sought after." Here they're likened to an eagle, you know, an eagle living in the high places, you know, living in these high mountains, but yet now, even though they were so high and mighty, what's left of Edom? Maybe you've heard of the city of Petra. It's this desolate, carved-out relief of what's left of a city. It's nothing but barrenness. There's nothing there except this remarkable place called Petra, which is just a place for tourists to come by and gawk at.

He took away everything that fed their pride. He deprived them of everything that they delighted in. And then in verse seven, we see that something happened to them and what happened to them is what will always happen to the enemies of God. And this is very important to understand because we see that their allies stood up against them to destroy them. Their friends became their enemies.

And this is one factor that we we should always consider in our minds, that God is the one who rules all the nations. He raises them up, he puts them down, he puts rumors in their minds, he causes fears to rise up. You never know what's gonna happen. Don't worry about it. You might have all these allies lining up, but you never know.

They may all turn on one another and devour one another. That happens. But in verse 7, we see a picture of this. 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. So you have this Confederacy that the Edomites had developed in order to attack and in order to destroy the people of God. And what was going to happen to that confederacy? Well, their own confederacy would force them to the border and deceive them and prevail against them.

Their own alliances would fall apart. So whenever you see the enemies of God seeming to prosper, always remember Edom. Remember that at any time God can take their confederacy and make it turmoil and they may just turn on one another and devour one another. This is the power of God at work in history. In verse 8 we see how He will destroy their wisdom.

Will I not in that day, says the Lord, even destroy the wise men from Edom and understanding from the mountains of Esau." In other words, God is in control of the way that everybody thinks in Edom and therefore God is in control of the way everybody thinks among his enemies. Don't ever fear your enemies. Remember Edom. God is in control of every synapse of every brain in the world, as therefore we should not fear. As David said, though the earth should change and the mountains slip into the heart of the sea.

Don't fear because God is there. In verse 9 we learn that He'll confuse them. Then your mighty men, O Timon, shall be dismayed to the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. This is the way that God confuses the enemies and the people of God and how He turns people's thinking and they think foolish thoughts and as a result they do foolish things that are self-destructive. So this is the first subdivision in the first major section of God's punishment on Edom, verses 1 through 9.

Now in verses 10 through 14 we read of the ways that Edom rebelled. Here it sounds like we're reading about Edom's assaults against Jerusalem because Edom did join forces with the haters of God more than once and so what we read about here without question speaks of their participation with Nebuchadnezzar in his battle against Jerusalem and then later on how they helped the Romans lay siege to Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Edomites joined forces with not only Nebuchadnezzar but with the Roman Emperor in order to destroy the people of God. When they did it in 70 AD the Romans turned on them and destroyed them. Verse 10, 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 there 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. Here you have a picture of the Edomites rejoicing in the destruction of Jerusalem. Verse 13, you should not have entered the gate of my people in the day of their calamity.

Indeed you should not have gazed at their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor laid hands on their sustenance in the day of their calamity. Edom was brutal. They were merciless. They were the kind of people that would kick you while you were down, and that's exactly this merciless spirit that they had it began with their father Esau who was merciless toward his brother Jacob in verse 14 we see that they attacked Israel 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." And then this takes us to the 15th verse, which brings us to the third subdivision in the first major heading of God's judgment against Edom. And here we find the language of the day of the Lord.

Verse 15, 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 when you think of the enemies of the people of God the various kinds that exist in the world, the great and the small, the ones who would hate you in your own community, those who have large institutions or even nations that hate the people of God, who create laws, who persecute the church, recognize this here, the day of the Lord will come. And you can always be assured that those who have hated and harmed the church, as you have done, it shall be done to you. Your reprisal shall return on your head when you think of the hatred that there is toward the people of God remember Edom remember Edom don't forget Don't forget that God will return upon their heads what they deserve.

Verse 16 speaks of another factor of God's judgment upon them, and that is that while they were once prominent, they'll be forgotten later on they're so well known they're so appreciated they're so lauded but that's not the end of the story verse 16 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." When you think about the attacks against the church, those who hate the people of God, it will be as though they had never been. This should teach us about how we relate to those who hate the Word of God, the Son of God, the Church of God. When we receive their belittlements, when we receive their objections, we should always remember this phrase, they shall be as though they had never been. And so you can see how this prophet is used to the Lord to comfort the church, to help the church see the bigger picture of what's going on, to go behind the curtain and see the end of all these things, to lift up above the landscape and see where it's all going.

It looks hopeless in the moment. It looks as if the enemies of God are prevailing and that there's no way to overcome them, but if you lift up above the clouds and look down, you'll see where it's all going. It will be as though they had never been. Remember Edom. Remember Edom.

Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He will prevail. And then in the final section there's the restoration of Israel, God's deliverance, in verses 17 through 21. And verse 17 makes this very clear, But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

A few things to point out in verse 17. The first is this term, Mount Zion. Mount Zion is code for the rule of God through the worship of God. And so it says, but on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance. So the first thing that that the people of God should always remember that there's only deliverance in one place the rule of God through the worship of God and there's a result of that deliverance holiness and there shall be holiness in other words the beauty of the Lord what is holiness its beauty The whole doctrine of holiness really can be summed up in beauty.

Every wonderful thing loaded into one term, holiness, and it shall be holiness. This is what happens to the person who loves God and is called according to his purpose. There's a constant beautification as the dross of sin is brought to the surface through the trials and tribulations, the fires, the disappointments, all these things bring the sin to the surface. It's confessed and acknowledged and then it's skimmed away by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death on the cross, but the result is holiness. It's the whole idea of God giving people progress in their souls.

While Edom is confused and destroyed, the people of God are beautified. And whenever you see the wicked prospering, remember Edom, remember Edom, Remember what happens to Edom. Remember the way that God has rigged the world and nothing can contradict it. You know, one of the most important things for any person is to understand what God is doing in the world. And here we are given such a clear understanding of it.

So in verse 17 we see this picture of deliverance and then we're reminded of the destruction again, the complete wiping out of Edom in verse 18. The house of Jacob shall be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame but the house of Esau shall be stubble. They shall kindle them and devour them and look at these last words of verse 18 and no survivor shall remain in the house of Edom for the Lord has spoken here you have this imagery of fire God uses this imagery all throughout scripture And this is a picture of a firestorm. A firestorm is a self-consuming fire. It's a terrifying conflagration that creates its own wind.

It's a fire that just consumes wind and devours it. And then whatever it rolls over, it consumes completely. And a fire is really consisting of atoms and molecules slamming against each other and exploding and you know the soot is burned away the fuel is consumed and and there's nothing left And he's speaking of a firestorm here. Fires can turn into tornadoes of fire. And it's fascinating to study fire.

But when there's a firestorm, everything is consumed. You know, when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, there was a gigantic firestorm that consumed the city. On Nagasaki, there was not a firestorm, and the damage was quite different, but in Hiroshima it was absolutely consuming because of the fire that was generated as a result of this firestorm. Then in verse 19, there are geographical illustrations of their demise. Verse 19, the South shall possess the mountains of Esau and the lowlands shall possess Philistia they shall possess the fields of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria Benjamin shall possess Gilead and the captives of this host of the children of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath the captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the south It's a physical geographical illustration of the kind of domination that the Edomites will be subjected to.

And I think this just shows the fact of the real space and time geographical reality that the enemies of God will face. They will have no land. They will have no opportunity at all. And then the conclusion is in verse 21, and this really tells the whole story of of what God will do with Edom. Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.

The kingdom shall be the Lord's. That is the truth about the fate of the enemies of God. The kingdoms of this earth will become the kingdoms of God. Don't ever worry about the progress of the wicked. Don't ever worry about their slanders.

Don't ever worry about what they might take away from you. As we read about in the book of Hebrews, where the people of God's properties were plundered, they allowed that plundering to go on cheerfully because they knew that they had a city that God made. And the whole message of Obadiah is this, take heart. Though the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ seems to be so little, seems to be so foolish and unwise, insipid, powerless, without hope in the world, it is an illusion because the kingdom shall be the Lord's. And so the people of God should do their work in the world to continue to proclaim the glory and the beauty of God, to believe that God will keep his word and he will reduce Edom to rubble.

So remember Edom. Remember Edom in any time you see hatred toward the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what the truth is about the situation. Okay, so there it is, Obadiah, the shortest book in the Old Testament.