I would like to know how many of you have read Obadiah before. Will you please raise your hand?
Thank you.
I think we have to read it. So, will you please turn there?
We will read the whole book—only twenty-one verses.
The vision of Obadiah.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Edom:
We have heard tidings from Jehovah,
and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying,
Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.Behold, I have made thee small among the nations:
thou art greatly despised.
The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee,
O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock,
whose habitation is on high;
that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?Though thou mount on high as the eagle,
and though thy nest be set among the stars,
I will bring thee down from thence, saith Jehovah.If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night
(how art thou cut off!),
would they not steal till they had enough?
If grape-gatherers came to thee,
would they not leave some gleaning grapes?How are the things of Esau searched!
How are his hidden treasures sought out!
All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee on thy way, even to the border:
the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee,
and prevailed against thee;
they that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee:
there is no understanding in him.Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed,
to the end that every one may be cut off from the mount of Esau by slaughter.For the violence done to thy brother Jacob,
shame shall cover thee,
and thou shalt be cut off for ever.In the day that thou stoodest on the other side,
in the day that strangers carried away his substance,
and foreigners entered into his gates,
and cast lots upon Jerusalem,
even thou wast as one of them.But look not thou on the day of thy brother in the day of his disaster,
and rejoice not over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction;
neither speak proudly in the day of distress.
Enter not into the gate of My people in the day of their calamity;
yea, look not thou on their affliction in the day of their calamity,
neither lay ye hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.
And stand thou not in the crossway,
to cut off those of his that escape;
neither deliver up those of his that remain in the day of distress.For the day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations:
as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee;
thy dealing shall return upon thine own head.
For as ye have drunk upon My holy mountain,
so shall all the nations drink continually;
yea, they shall drink, and swallow down,
and shall be as though they had not been.But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape,
and it shall be holy;
and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
And the house of Jacob shall be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau for stubble;
and they shall burn among them, and devour them;
and there shall not be any remaining to the house of Esau;
for Jehovah hath spoken it.And they of the South shall possess the mount of Esau,
and they of the lowland the Philistines;
and they shall possess the field of Ephraim,
and the field of Samaria;
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
And the captives of this host of the children of Israel,
that are among the Canaanites, shall possess even unto Zarephath;
and the captives of Jerusalem, that are in Sepharad,
shall possess the cities of the South.
And saviours shall come up on mount Zion
to judge the mount of Esau;
and the kingdom shall be Jehovah’s.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do approach Thy throne of grace through the blood of Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus, and by the new and living way that He has opened for us, knowing that He is our great High Priest.
Our Father, we do come with holy boldness, knowing that we are accepted in the Beloved. And now, Father, we just desire that Thou wilt open Thy Word to us, that we may hear Thy voice. We want to please Thee. We want to follow Thee. We commit ourselves to Thee for this day. To Thee be the glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Obadiah is the shortest of all the prophetic writings in the Old Testament. There are only twenty-one verses.
Jerome, the noted scholar of the Word of God, said Obadiah is the most difficult book to study. Yet Hugh of St. Victor said, “Obadiah is simple in language, manifold in thought, few in words, but abundant in meaning.”
He delivered his prophecy, according to the letter, against Edom; but allegorically, against the world; and morally, against the flesh. In Obadiah, he hinted at the coming of the Lord Jesus; and at His coming, the world will be destroyed, the flesh will be subdued, and freedom will be restored.
We do not know who Obadiah is. There are several Obadiahs in the Old Testament, but we do not know who this Obadiah is.
Usually, you will find the Scripture identifies a person by saying so-and-so is the son of so-and-so, so we know who he is. But in the case of this Obadiah, we find the Scripture is silent concerning his father. So we really do not know who he is.
Probably there is a meaning to it, because the prophet is hidden that his prophecy may be more manifested. One thing we do know: he is a prophet. Obadiah means “servant of Jehovah,” or “worshipper of Jehovah.”
As a servant and a worshipper of the Lord, he was given a vision. So this letter, this book, Obadiah, begins with “The vision of Obadiah.”
You know, in Old Testament times prophets are also called seers. That is, they see things. They see with their spiritual eyes the thought, the heart, and the mind of God.
They not only see, but they also hear. So this is followed by, “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah.” In other words, he not only was given a vision, but he was also given the Word. He not only saw, but he also heard.
Now, brothers and sisters, this is true of all prophetic ministry. If it is prophetic ministry, then you will find the one who delivers it must be one who not only sees, but also hears.
We remember Moses in the desert. He saw the burning bush—that is a vision—and then he heard the voice of the One who dwelt in that burning bush.
We also remember Isaiah. The same thing happened. He went into the temple to pray, and he saw the glory of the Lord, the throne of the Lord, and he heard the voice.
The same thing is true with John on the island of Patmos. He was given the vision of the seven lampstands, with the Son of Man in the midst of them; and he was given the words to write to the seven churches in Asia.
So, brothers and sisters, wherever and whenever there is prophetic ministry, we know that behind it there is something that has been seen and something that has been heard.
We do not know not only who this Obadiah is; we do not even know exactly when he prophesied.
The only way to judge when he prophesied is by looking at both the internal and external evidence. The external evidence is that, if we compare his relationship with Jeremiah, that may give us a hint, because you find they have words of prophecy in common.
Whether it is Jeremiah who quotes Obadiah, or Obadiah who quotes Jeremiah, that will help us to determine when he prophesied.
Now internally, what we need to know is whether the capture of Jerusalem is a prophetic past or a real past. That is to say, when he mentioned the capture of Jerusalem, was he referring to something that had already happened when he prophesied? Or was he prophesying something that was going to happen, but using the past tense?
So by these two things, we are able to judge roughly the time that Obadiah prophesied.
Now, if you compare the first five verses of Obadiah with the sixteen verses of Jeremiah 49:7-22, you will find that the first five verses of Obadiah are scattered throughout the sixteen verses of the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning Edom.
Now, aside from the five that are identical or almost identical, among the other eleven you find phrases and expressions that are exclusively Jeremiah’s. So, by judging this, you come to the conclusion that it was Jeremiah who quoted Obadiah, and not Obadiah who quoted Jeremiah.
So he must be before Jeremiah, or at least a contemporary, a little earlier than Jeremiah.
Now, when you look into the internal evidence, you find that what Obadiah mentioned is not the captivity, but the destruction of Jerusalem. What he mentioned was the seizure of Jerusalem and the plundering of Jerusalem.
So, as we look back into history, we find that before Jerusalem was destroyed and the children of Israel were taken into Babylonian captivity, actually there were five times that Jerusalem was broken into and plundered.
The first time happened in the fifth year of Rehoboam. Shishak, king of Egypt, broke into Jerusalem. You can find it in 2 Chronicles 12. That was the first time.
The second time was when the Philistines and Arabians entered into the city of Jerusalem and plundered that city. That happened in the days of Jehoram. You can find it in 2 Chronicles 21.
The third time was when Joash, king of Israel, broke into Jerusalem. That happened in the reign of Amaziah. You will find that in 2 Chronicles 25.
Then the fourth and fifth times, you find Jerusalem was captured by the Chaldeans: once during the time of Jehoiakim, and the other during the time of Jehoiachin. You will find that in 2 Chronicles 36.
So you find five times Jerusalem was broken into and plundered.
Now, in order to save time, I will not go into details to eliminate and find out which day the prophet referred to as the day of the distress of Jerusalem. I will just tell you the conclusion.
What the prophet referred to must be the second capture, because it was during the time that the Philistines and the Arabians broke into Jerusalem. The prophet mentioned strangers and foreigners; they came in.
If you read 2 Chronicles 21, you will find it was just after the time that Edom was defeated by Judah, and they revolted. Then, when the Arabians and the Philistines came into Jerusalem, the Edomites tried to get their revenge. So that is what they did to the house of Jacob.
So we conclude that the capture of Jerusalem referred to the second time. Now, if you put these together, then probably we can come to a kind of conclusion that Obadiah most likely prophesied a little ahead of Jeremiah, though probably Jeremiah was also his contemporary, because Jeremiah prophesied a long time.
But there are other scholars who think that Obadiah actually is the first of the twelve minor prophets. That puts him very far ahead. But anyway, this is not important.
When the prophet prophesied is not important. The really deciding factor is what he prophesied. In other words, the message is really important. The time, or even the prophet, is not important.
Now here you find he prophesied against Edom.
You know, when you look into the minor prophets, there are twelve minor prophets. You find these twelve minor prophets were used by God to prophesy: some concerning Judah, some concerning Israel, the northern kingdom of Israel, some against Edom, and some against Nineveh.
Now here you find Obadiah. His prophecy is against Edom. But we have to remember he is a Jewish prophet. So, even though he prophesied against Edom, you find it is because of the relationship of Edom with the house of Jacob. That is the reason why.
Now, in order to understand this prophecy, we have to know a little bit about the history of Edom. You know, the history of Edom is very, very interesting.
I hope I have time to go through the whole Bible, Old Testament, and try to see the history of Edom. It is most interesting. But I am afraid most people do not know their history, so I have to use a little time to tell you something of the history of Edom.
Now, the history of Edom actually begins in Genesis 25. You remember that Rebekah was pregnant, and then she discovered that there were actually two struggling in her womb. So she went to the Lord, and the Lord said:
Two nations are in thy womb,
and two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels;
and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;
and the elder shall serve the younger.
At the time of birth, the first one that came out was covered with hair, and he was red. That is the reason he was called Esau—covered with hair. Then the second one followed him with his hand upon his heel, and he was called Jacob, the heel-holder, supplanter.
So two sons were born. They were twins, but one came out first and the second followed immediately.
Before they were born, the prophecy was given: “The elder shall serve the younger.”
Now, if you turn to Romans 9, this is a chapter on the sovereignty of God.
Romans 9, beginning from verse 9:
For this is a word of promise, According to this season will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
And not only so; but Rebekah also having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac—
for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad,
that the purpose of God according to election might abide, not of works, but of Him that calleth—
it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.
Before the children were born, before they did anything good or bad, God had already chosen Jacob and rejected Esau. So the Bible says it is according to the purpose of God according to election. Now here is divine election.
God has chosen even before they were born. As a matter of fact, we know that divine election goes way back, even before the foundation of the world. In other words, even before the foundation of the world, God has elected some. God has chosen some. This is divine election. This is the purpose of God. This is the sovereignty of God.
As a matter of fact, it says, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” That word we do not find in the Old Testament until you come to the last book, Malachi. It was in Malachi 1:2-3 that the word came out: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
But anyway, brothers and sisters, we find in the Word of God there is such a thing called the sovereignty of God. Our brother gave a message on that two weeks ago: the sovereignty of God.
Now, God is sovereign. He is the Sovereign of the universe, and because of that He has every right to do anything that pleases Him. In other words, He does everything according to His own good pleasure.
There is no one who has any right to question Him. If God wants to do something, He does it, and nobody can question Him why.
Now, of course, knowing our God is the all-wise God, He would never do anything that is wrong. He must be right. There must be some reason for what He has done, but He may not explain to you the reason.
But anyway, we find that in the Word of God this is a very fundamental truth. It is a part of our faith. We believe in God. We believe He is sovereign. We believe there is a sovereignty of God. We believe that God has every right to do anything that He wants to do. It is His prerogative as God, and we cannot question Him.
All that we need to do is to submit to His sovereignty. That is the one attitude that we must learn to take.
But that does not mean that, because of the sovereignty of God, man is relieved of his responsibility. Not at all.
Divine election is God’s prerogative, but responsibility is human. In other words, we who are created by God are given moral responsibility.
Even in the life of Edom, of Esau, you see it, because the Bible says he despised the birthright. As a matter of fact, the birthright was first given to Esau because he came out first. But he despised his birthright, and because of that he was not able to inherit the blessing. So that is human responsibility.
But anyway, we find that Esau was a hunter. One day when he came back from the field, he was hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. His brother Jacob was cooking a dish of lentil soup.
Esau came in and said, “Give me, give me this soup. I am dying.” And Jacob said, “If you take a vow that you will give me your birthright, then you will have that soup.”
You remember Esau said, “What good is the birthright? I am almost dying. Give me the soup. You can get the birthright.” That is the reason Esau was called Edom, because Edom means red: “Give me the red, the red lentil soup.”
So, for a dish of soup, he gave away his birthright.
But when he came to the time of the blessing, you remember that Esau was trying to get the blessing. Of course, Jacob stole it from him, and because of this he hated his brother.
Now, brothers and sisters, you need to see this. The birthright was his, but he despised it. Yet, when he came to the blessing of the firstborn, he wanted it. He had no right to it anymore, and yet he wanted it.
Because he did not get it and his brother got it, he became angry with his brother. He was jealous of his brother, and he hated his brother. You remember he said, “I am waiting for my father to die, and then I will kill him.”
Now, even though after twenty years he forgot, unfortunately you find his descendants held that perpetual hatred toward Jacob. We will see that later.
Because he could not get the blessing, he wept. He shed tears. You find in Hebrews 12 that Esau was a profane person. He despised the birthright, and yet he tried with tears to get back the blessing, but he could not.
But anyway, you find in Genesis 27 his father still blessed him:
Behold, of the fatness of the earth shall be thy dwelling,
and of the dew of heaven from above;
and by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother;
and it shall come to pass when thou shalt break loose,
that thou shalt shake his yoke from off thy neck.
In other words, you find God gave Jacob the land of Canaan, the promised land. But to Esau He gave Mount Seir. It is from the southern tip of the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. All that region, aside from the land of Canaan, was given to Esau.
Now, if you know the topography of that land, you will find this land of Edom—because Esau, Edom, is Idumea—in the northwestern part of the land was very fertile land. But on the eastern side of the land, it was beyond description a barren desert.
But it was very beautiful, full of mountain ranges. You find that people lived in the mountains, in the caves. They even built cities in the caves, either side of the mountain. It was almost impenetrable. That is what you find in all the descriptions in Obadiah.
So it was such a land. It was land for hunting and so forth. The descendants of Esau roved around, and so forth. The prophecy, the blessing, that was given to them was Mount Seir.
As a matter of fact, the Edomites—that is, the descendants of Esau—actually developed much quicker than the children of Jacob.
If you read Genesis 36, you find that the Edomites were a mixed race, because Esau married not only two daughters of the Hittites, the Canaanites, but he married another daughter of Ishmael. So you find it was a mixed race, very mixed. But they developed very highly.
In civilization, you find they had tribal leaders and chiefs among them. When the children of Israel were slaves in the land of Egypt, they already had chiefs of their tribes, and later on kings among them. In civilization they were highly developed.
Now, the first book in the Bible is Job. Job is not an Israelite; most likely he is an Edomite. Not only that, but you find in the same book of Job Eliphaz the Temanite. Now, Teman is in the land of Edom. So that great theologian is also an Edomite.
So you can see that they developed very quickly, even ahead of the house of Jacob.
When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, God told them that they should not abhor the Edomites. When an Edomite came to the third generation, he or she could enter into the assembly of the people of God, because they were brothers.
But unfortunately, when the children of Israel came to their border, they asked for permission to go through. That is in Numbers 20. You find that the Edomites not only refused their going through their land—because that was a straight and quicker route to the promised land—but they even gathered an army to fight them.
So the children of Israel had to retreat. For thirty-eight years they surrounded Mount Seir, wandering around Mount Seir, until after thirty-eight years they went around it and came to the eastern side.
So you find that this is how the house of Jacob suffered because of the hatred of the Edomites. So that was history.
It is interesting, very interesting, because I have to go into it a little bit. After the children of Israel entered into the promised land, if you read history, you will find that they and the Edomites fought against each other. Under David, the Edomites were subdued.
But later on they rebelled. Through all the history, finally we lost any trace of the Edomites. Today we do not know who the Edomites are, because in this case we lost track.
At the time of Christ, you find King Herod was an Edomite. So when the King came into this world, there was an Edomite as king over Judah. It was very interesting. But, brothers and sisters, anyway, that is the history of the Edomites.
Now, when you look into the book of Obadiah, you find roughly it is divided into three parts.
From verse 1 through verse 9, it is a prophecy of the destruction of Edom. From verse 10 to verse 14, it gives the reason why. Then from verses 15 to 21, it is a prophecy concerning the day of Jehovah, the day of the Lord.
When that day comes, the Edomites and all the nations will be destroyed, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s. So roughly, it is divided into these three parts.
Now, the important thing is to know: what is the message of Obadiah?
As you read casually, you may think that it is a prophecy against Edom, that Edom will be destroyed completely. But actually, this is not the message.
Actually, the message is found in the last sentence: “The kingdom shall be Jehovah’s.” That is the message.
You will find that no matter how much Edom hated Jacob, how much Edom persecuted Jacob, eventually Edom will be destroyed and Jacob will be established. Why? Because Jacob represents the kingdom of God.
So it is a comfort to the people of God. We can broaden it and say that, in spite of the fact that the world is represented by Edom—or the religious world is represented by Edom—you find the world is always hating the church of God.
The children of God have suffered in the hands of the world, of the religious world, throughout history. But there is a comfort, because the day of the Lord shall come. He will judge the world, even the religious world, and He will establish His kingdom among His chosen people. So that is actually the message.
What we want to do this morning, after giving the background, is to see the spiritual application of Obadiah. Obadiah is not only a prophecy, but Obadiah has a spiritual principle demonstrated to us.
Now, Edom in the Scripture is commonly accepted by Bible scholars as representing, spiritually speaking, the flesh.
You know what the flesh is? It is a twin brother of the spirit. It is not the spiritual that is firstborn; it is the natural that comes first. You find that in 1 Corinthians 15. That which is spiritual does not come first. That which comes first is the natural.
That which is of the flesh always comes first and always persecutes that which is of the Spirit.
You know, when God created man, He gave man the birthright to have dominion over all things. But man lost his birthright through sin. In Genesis 6, you find man had so sinned that the Word says man had become flesh.
Now, brothers and sisters, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. When we were born, we were born of the flesh; therefore, we were flesh.
Not that we do not have a spirit, but our spirit was dead in trespasses and transgressions. Our spirit had no contact with God the Spirit. We lived as the flesh, according to the desires of our soul and the passions of our body. We were flesh.
Now, it does not mean there is no good in the flesh. From a human standpoint, there are many good things in the flesh, as well as many bad things in the flesh.
But whether there was any good in the flesh, it was no good to God. Why? Because the Bible says the natural man does not receive the things of God, because they are foolishness to him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
You also find the Scripture says the mind of the flesh is enmity against the things of the Spirit.
So far as the flesh is concerned, whether there is something good in it or something bad in it, you will find nothing is acceptable to God. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. That is what the Word says.
The only way for the flesh is to go to the cross, to be crucified. That is what God does to the flesh.
You know, before we believed in the Lord Jesus, we were flesh. We used our flesh to commit many things. But sometimes we even used our flesh to do some good, even trying to do some good works, thinking that by doing some good works God might accept us.
But we know that even our righteousness is all as filthy rags. God will not accept them. Anything that comes from the flesh is rejected by God.
Yet you find the flesh is full of pride. What are the symptoms of the flesh? Number one: pride. We were all proud of ourselves.
Number two: there is jealousy there. You find someone better than you are, and you are jealous.
And number three: hatred. We hate.
These are the symptoms of the flesh. Especially, you will find that we hate the things of God. Because we do not have them, therefore we are jealous of people who have them, and we hate them. That is the flesh.
Now, thank God, when we come to the Lord Jesus and are saved, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Thank God, we have a spiritual life in us.
But, brothers and sisters, that does not mean that our flesh has changed. The flesh in us is still flesh. That is the reason why, in our spiritual experience, the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit lusts against the flesh.
You find there is a war between the Spirit and the flesh. But unfortunately, the flesh seems to be stronger; therefore, oftentimes our spirit is persecuted and suppressed.
How easily we are deceived. We think that because we have believed in the Lord Jesus, therefore our flesh has changed.
Formerly we used our flesh to commit sin; now we use our flesh to serve God. We use our fleshly wisdom, our fleshly talents, our fleshly energy, our fleshly experience, our background, or whatever it may be. We turn and use this to serve God, thinking God certainly will be pleased.
But remember: the flesh cannot please God. The verdict of God is that the flesh must come to death, and He has condemned it on the cross of Christ.
Now, brothers and sisters, what is our story? Our story as believers is that, because the flesh is akin to our spirit, so close—twin brothers—we often find that we are living according to the flesh instead of living according to the Spirit.
There is a perpetual battle between the Spirit and the flesh. Do nothing, and the flesh will hate the Spirit. It has a perpetual hatred against the things of the Spirit.
Sometimes the flesh may appear very spiritual, but it is a counterfeit. As a matter of fact, it is persecuting the Spirit; it is opposing the Spirit. This is a lesson that we have to learn.
Now, brothers and sisters, it takes time to learn this. Maybe it takes failures to learn it.
That is how you find the Apostle Paul learned that lesson. In Romans 7, you find that he thought his flesh was good. He thought he could do the will of God, keep the commandment, and please God. So he tried, and he tried very hard.
But only after repeated failure did he come to the conclusion. He said, “In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.”
Only at that time are we delivered from our flesh. Then we begin to realize that he that is of Christ has crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
So, brothers and sisters, this is a lesson that we have to learn. It is a very important lesson to learn. How much time, energy, and effort are wasted because we do not know the difference between the flesh and the Spirit.
Only the Spirit represents the kingdom of God.
Now, that is applying it to us personally. But there is another application: you can apply Edom corporately.
Corporately, Edom represents something that is very close to the house of God, and yet it is the enemy of God’s house.
In the first century, you find it was Judaism that was the enemy of the church of God.
You know, in the beginning it was God’s revelation among Israel. But when did that living faith of the children of Israel become an ism—Judaism, a system, a religious system?
Most likely it happened during the days of captivity. In the days of captivity, you find that living faith gradually degenerated: first through apostasy, and then it degenerated into a system, Judaism.
You find Judaism is so close to the church of God. They are twin brothers. Judaism came first, and then the church of God. But you find how it persecuted the house of God. It hated, because it had lost its birthright.
Now, what do we apply today, then? In the twentieth century, can we say it is Christianity as a religious system?
Christianity has developed through the ages into a religious system. It has become an ism. Whenever you find any living faith degenerated into an ism, a system of religion, it becomes the enemy of that which is of God.
You read church history. From Roman Catholicism becoming a system, how it persecuted true believers. What hatred it had. Why? Because it had lost its birthright. Somebody else got the birthright: jealousy, hatred, and pride.
At the Reformation, when Protestantism became an ism, the same thing happened. You read the history of Protestantism and you will find how it persecuted true believers, just like Roman Catholicism. Nothing better.
How many have they killed? The Anabaptists—they tied a rock on the neck of an Anabaptist and drowned them. They said, “You want to be baptized? We will baptize you.” Thousands drowned.
Whenever a living faith degenerates into an ism, a system, a religious system, you will find it always hates that which is of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, thank God, Edom will be destroyed. Whether it is the world or the religious world, it will be destroyed.
You find in Revelation 17 and Revelation 18, Mystery Babylon the Great, the religious world, drinks the blood of the saints. Then in Revelation 18, Babylon, the great city, the political-economic world, trades in souls.
But Babylon will fall. Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem, shall be established. The kingdom is the Lord’s. So, dear brothers and sisters, take comfort.
Because if you want to be true to the Lord, if you want to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes, it is the way of the cross. But eventually it reaches the kingdom.
I believe this is the message of Obadiah. So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, still open our understanding that we may see what Thou art speaking to us, both individually and corporately.
We pray that we may have a vision of the flesh and Thy judgment upon the flesh, that we may side with Thee and deliver it to the cross, that we may live a life that is spiritual and pleasing to Thee.
We pray that we may also have a vision of what the church of God is: the pillar and ground of truth, that we may follow Thee.
Lord, we pray that we may see, eventually, New Jerusalem shall shine because the kingdom is the Lord’s. Use these words and encourage us to make us faithful in these last days. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.