在危难中与神同行

 

该隐的后代(4:17-26)

亚当的后裔中，该隐及其后代（尤其是第七代的拉麦）可说是离弃神的支流（创4:17-24）。从这个支流而出的几代人，建立了人类高文明、富裕、放纵、自满的社会。可以看见，人类面对死亡的诅咒就转而追求财富，科技和文明以取代神。

拉麦是个大成就者，但他一生彰显了贪婪、自大、剥削、报复等负面品性。这个时候的人已经不再合乎神（按照自己形象创造）的心意。往后该隐的这支流在大洪水中绝迹了。然而，亚当的另一支流，塞特及其后代，却保存了对神的尊崇。塞特是神赐给夏娃（补替亚伯）的。塞特生了以挪士，“那时，人才开始呼求耶和华的名”。

圣经作者提醒我们，这个世界许多大成就并不担保是出自神，蒙神喜悦的。信靠神的人是出自塞特的一脉。让我们察看塞特的两个后裔：以诺和挪亚。

以诺与神同行（创5:21-24）

创世记第五章是“亚当后代的记录”，由亚当开始，至挪亚结束。每个人物都受到死亡的诅咒，结局总是“就死了”（5:5、8、11、14、17、20、27、31），只有一个例外：以诺（5:24）。

以诺与别不同之处，在于他“和神同行”（5:22、24），因此他没有遭到如亚当一般的结局（“你必定死”）。以诺活在因人类死亡咒诅中，却发现了重得生命的奥秘就是“与神同行”。神是生命的源头，与神同行必能保证得生命。

挪亚与神同行（创6:5-10）

在六章9节，作者也用了同一字眼来形容挪亚： “和神同行” 。因为地上的人离开了神的道，他们心中所想的尽是邪恶，神的审判临到全世界。神降下洪水把全地淹没了，地上和天空的生物都被消灭。洪水带来与创造相反的结果，大地回复到空虚混沌。

然而，神命令挪亚造方舟，给他一家人和方舟内的动物能够逃出生天。神拯救挪亚是因为他“和神同行”：“只有挪亚在耶和华眼前蒙恩。……挪亚是个义人，是当时一个完全人。挪亚和神同行。”（6:8-9），没有败坏了神的道。（6:12）

对今天教会的提醒

始祖犯罪堕落，罪进入了这个世界，影响直今。今天的世界跟以诺和挪亚的世代没有两样。譬如：

1. 以诺和挪亚旧约时代的神，和我们今天新约时代敬拜的是同一位。

2. 自始祖犯罪以来，人心没有改变，都充满恶念。

3. 创世记第四章描述的人类社会，跟今天其实也没有什么分别。我们（像以诺和挪亚一样）生活在富裕的都市之中；但一切所谓现代化的发展，其实正在不断引导我们离开神。

4. 因着犯罪，人的形象（照着神的形象而造）破损了。人与神之间那种属灵的关系破坏了。为了填补心内的空虚，人以各种偶像来满足自己，以属世界的事物取代神的位置；人类照着自己的意思创造出自己的神，不向神寻找生命意义，反让物质，地位，名誉等成为自己的主宰。

5. 今天的世界充斥着反映人性阴暗凶残的事件。国家政治如是，国际关系也如是。上帝仍然会审判世人和审判列国，就像挪亚的时代一样。

从这样的角度来看，以诺和挪亚的生命—与神同行，对我们二十一世纪的信徒，实为至重要的提醒。

应用

以诺和挪亚在他们的时代中，都是与别不同的人物，因为他们与神同行。与神同行表示与神亲密的团契。与神同行不仅是活出讨神喜悦的的生命，也是享受与神同在的时刻。这是一种敬拜神和与神团契的生命。

以诺和挪亚的生活方式也是与世界分隔，为神而活。他们活在世上，却不属于这世界。希伯来书11:38 说这些信心伟人原是这世界不配有的人。

今天我们像以诺和挪亚一样，生活在这邪恶和动荡不安的世界（瘟疫肆虐、大国对峙、经济倒退）。我们是怎样安身立命呢？我们有没有与神同行？我们是在影响别人，还是被别人影响呢？我们对人生的未来有盼望吗？我们对死后有盼望吗？我们今天是否在暴风中仍然活得安稳和满有喜乐？

对于以诺被迁去不至于死，以及挪亚一家得救，希伯来书这样说：

因着信，以诺被迁去了，使他不至于死，人也找不着他，因为神把他迁去了。原来在迁去以前，他已经得了神喜悦他的明证。（来11:5）

因着信，挪亚在还没有看见的事上，得了神的警告，就动了敬畏的心，做了一艘方舟，使他全家得救。借着这信心，他就定了那世代的罪，自己也承受了那因信而来的义。（来11:7）

夹在上述两节中间的经文，是：“没有信，就不能得到神的喜悦；因为来到神面前的人，必须信神存在，并且信祂会赏赐那些寻求祂的人。”（来11:6）这种凭信心来到神的面前，寻求他的面就是“和神同行”的真义。

以诺与神同行了三百年之久。当每个人都“活”，以诺却“与神同行”；每个人都“死”，以诺却“被神取去”。以诺的生命是超越的生命，胜过死亡的生命。

挪亚是个义人或完全人，并不是指他从来没有犯过罪，而是指他全心全意地爱神和顺服神。挪亚“和神同行”的生命是完全顺服并实践神的道和真理：是凭信心，不凭眼见。是奉行神的心意，在生命中每一方面都讨神的喜悦，而不是跟从世界。还有，要放下自我，放弃从前依恋的世界。

今天的时代跟以诺和挪亚的时代，只有一样是不同的，就是耶稣已经来了，为罪人死在十字架上，担当了罪人受惩罚。耶稣死后第三天，从坟墓里复活。耶稣战胜了死亡，为了叫信靠他的人得生命，并且得了更丰盛。感谢赞美神！

今天这世代的罪和挪亚时代人的罪同样令神伤心，同样会招致神的审判。在这个纷乱和邪恶的时代，我们若要活得与众不同，活得安稳不惧怕，就要亲密地与主同喜，与主有团契。我们信靠基督的人当持守信心到底，与主同行，有为主而活。最终我们也必会胜过死亡得永生，并且在世活出丰盛的生命。

结论

在亚当的族谱中，该隐的支流虽然制造出高度文明，但也展示人内心傲慢和邪念，最终死在罪中。塞特的支流是求告神的敬虔的后代。当中的以诺是第一线希望，挪亚是第二线希望。

以诺与神亲密同行，越过死亡的咒诅；挪亚的出现，不单自己得救，还使人类越过洪水审判的咒诅，得着安息和安慰。可见在绝望的环境，在死亡笼罩中，神的恩典是始终不离不弃。今天我们要感恩，因为神的恩典一直扶持我们在瘟疫肆虐中前行。

今天耶稣基督来了，为我们成就了救恩，我们只需要诚信相信他，接受他的救恩，我们的罪就得赦免。圣灵会住在我们里头，更新和洁净我们，帮助我们每日与主同行，心意更新越像基督的样式。圣灵也会充满我们，给我们力量去服侍主和为主作见证。

我们来走出信心的一步，完全顺服在耶稣基督的主权下，每天与主亲密同行，体现以基督为中心的生命。我们一定能够经历基督所应许出死入生的蒙恩的生命。保罗提醒我们，有一天我们将好像以诺一样被取去。帖撒罗尼迦前书四16-18:

『因为主必亲自从天降临，有呼叫的声音，和天使长的声音，又有神的号吹响，那在基督里死了的人必先复活；以后我们这活着还存留的人，必和他们一同被提到云里，在空中与主相遇。这样，我们就要和主永远同在。所以你们当用这些话彼此劝慰。』

我们既然在基督里蒙受神极大的恩典，圣灵在我们心中感动去爱神，我们断不能继续过旧人的生活。我们在基督里是新造的人，就当在行事为人与蒙召的恩相称。愿圣灵这时候激动我们，叫我们从里到外醒觉起来，以及行动上向这个世界死，以致这世界的潮起潮落都不能影响我们与主同行。

Return to Me with All Your Heart

 

Joel 1:1 – 2:17

Introduction

When disaster strikes, we usually respond in one of two ways. We either turn to God and enter a new, fuller relationship with him, or we turn away from God and blame him or others for our troubles. Some even deny God’s existence.

The people of ancient Israel experienced disaster and were faced with this same decision. Would they turn away from God in their time of trouble or turn to him and seek his blessings?

Setting

The book of Joel is the second book in the minor prophets. Joel mentioned about things of Jerusalem in the southern kingdom, hence he was a prophet in the southern kingdom Judah. Scholars generally do not come to agreement as to the time of Joel’s ministry. It could be before exile to Babylon or after returning from exile.

Joel prophesied to the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the midst of a catastrophe that threatened their very existence. A locust plague of unprecedented proportions had struck the land. Millions of voracious incest arrived in wave after wave to consume every green plant—vegetable gardens, grain crops, grapevines, fruit trees, and even the grass upon which their sheep and goats grazed.

In the face of such a disaster, all human and animal life was at risk. In the ancient world, there were no insecticides to kill the locusts, no stocks of non-perishable food for emergencies, and no relief agencies to bring in food supplies. Such a plague brought with it the spectre of death for thousands upon thousands, especially the very young and the very old.

During such a perilous time, it was only natural that the people of Judah and Jerusalem would ask hard questions about the justice and mercy of God. Is God truly in charge of heaven and earth? Is he sovereign? Is he good?

They also looked inward at their own sin and moral responsibility for the plague. Has God sent the locust plague to punish us for our failure to live in right relationship with him? Will God be merciful to us? Do we have a future?

In response to such questions, the prophet Joel delivered the word of the Lord to his people. There are three chapters in the book of Joel, and it can be divided in two large sections. We shall look at the first section 1:1 to 2:17.

God Spoke to His People through Circumstances

Joel means “the LORD is God.” He first describes the unique and devastating locust plague that afflicted Judah and Jerusalem.

“What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.” （Joel 1:4）

All the four types mentioned here were locusts. They had devoured all the crops of the nation. The people in Joel’s time relied fully on agriculture for their survival, and they would lose their livelihood if all these crops were destroyed.

The plague of locusts was quite horrible, it invaded like a mighty army without number. It has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. It had laid waste the vines and ruined the fig trees. It had stripped off their barks and thrown them away, leaving their branches white (1:6-7).

The vine and the fig tree were almost considered the most important produces in their days. However, all these were gone; The grain was destroyed, the new wine was dried up and the olive oil failed (1:10).

People were without joy, for they saw nothing but destruction. They were alarm and panic, and the future was something uncertain. All their possession was gone. Their storehouses were in ruins, and they lost all their flocks of sheep and cattle (1:17-18). They had nothing left to bring to the Temple as an offering to the LORD.

God sent Joel to tell His covenant people not to take all these happenings as something natural. God actually wanted to convey a message to His people through the disaster.

That’s why Joel started by saying these, “Hear this, you elder; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors? Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.” (1:2-3）

Those things that can be told and passed on from generation to generation must be something that was very important, and something that would affect their lives. The people had to learn the way of God through all these incidents.

God knew His people very well. They were slow and dull in responding to spiritual things and the things of God. They would not feel that it was God speaking to them through the plague of locusts. So, God sent the prophet Joel to tell them to observe what God was telling them through all these incidents.

Today, God is also speaking to us by letting us to go through calamities in lives. We must examine ourselves and listen attentively.

We are in the midst of Covid-19 Pandemic. This plague devours lives, just as the locusts which had laid waste all the fig trees and stripped off their barks, and thrown them away, leaving their branches white. This pandemic messes up our lives. Pains they bring are like teeth of the lions that bite us and swallow us up.

We must stop our complaints in the midst of calamities strike. We cannot afford to ignore God or to continue to resist Him. We instead, ought to seek God so that we can see it from God’s perspective:

What lesson does God intend for us to learn, individually or as a nation? Are we becoming conceited and self-centered? Are we turning a blind eye to poor and needy; to the injustice around us? Are we participating in the evil scheme of discriminating powerless people? And very importantly, how does God want us to cope with and overcome this plague?

Let’s humble ourselves before God and to listen attentively to what He has to say through our environment changes.

How Shall We Listen?

First, we must come to an awakening. “Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!” （1:5）If we keep on slumbering, and if we become unconscious towards our spiritual life, we cannot hear and be awakened by God with the words He speaks through our circumstances. We must wake up and weep over the days we have been slumbering.

Then, “Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.” (1:14)

The solemn assembly is a meeting with confession of sins and prayers. We must enter God’s temple to pray to Him after we are awakened spiritually.

If we were to seek God’s heart, and to understand His will for us in these circumstances, we need to enter the temple of God and pray and cry out to Him rather than just being awakened by Him. We must pray with our brothers and sisters.

Don’t expect to hear God speaking without any effort putting in. Don’t consider ourselves to be smart and experienced enough to know God’s will through the things happened without doing anything.

No! We must pray again! We must enter God’s house and pray earnestly and plead for mercy whenever something happens to us.

“To you, O LORD, I call, for fire has devoured the open pastures and flames have burned up all the trees of the field. Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the open pastures.” (1:19-20)

We must pray seriously and come before the Lord and tell Him everything about our real situations and encounters. We are not to take them lightly but to reflect upon them genuinely and eagerly, and weep before God as we tell Him our conditions. We will hear God’s voice when we do like this.

A Call to Repentance

Finally, in 2:12-17, Joel calls on the people to repent and throw themselves on the mercy of their compassionate God.

“Even now, “declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for his is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents form sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing—grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.” (2:12-14)

Human sin has so negatively affected the natural world. Joel, unlike other prophets, never catalogues the sins committed by the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Perhaps they were so obvious that he did not feel the need to list them.

Joel’s emphasis was calling the Israelites to repent because he knows that God is merciful and compassionate. It is God’s nature to forgive those who repent rather than to judge them, to restore rather than to destroy.

If we keep on murmuring, throwing out our frustration and insisting our rights when calamities strike, we will then hear only our voices ultimately instead of hearing God’s voice.

Instead, let’s rend our hearts and not our garments, to seek God. In Hebrew, the heart is the center of thought, faith, and will. So, we are to go beyond external demonstrations of repentance to repent inwardly—to change their orientation, priorities, and attitudes. This could only happen if we would turn back to God.

When we repent with a contrite heart, and when we turn to God fully, God’s grace shall come upon us and He shall stop all these disasters, or He might cause us to go through these disasters peacefully and steadily, so that we will not be cut off.

Conclusion

God loves us forever, and He never forsakes us. If we have encountered any things that are extremely painful or disastrous, we have to remember the plague of locusts that was once encountered by the Israelites, and we shall do a self-reflection to hear what God has to say to us, what He has to remind us, and what He has to awake us, through all these major events in our lives.

Let’s be the believers who are sharp in discerning the work of God. Let us tell God in detail about all our encounters, and to pray before Him, to join prayer meetings and to pray together with all the saints of God. Let us pray earnestly to God that we can hear His voice through all the incidents that will happen around us.

Let’s rend our hearts, and come humbly before God, to desire and to look upon His beauty, and to turn back to Him. He is the only Lord in our lives. Let us hear the Word of God, confess our sins to Him, and submit to Him and do His will.

God will grant us peace that goes beyond our own understanding in pains and disasters. He will guide us onto the path of light. Pains and sufferings will be over soon, for God is a mighty judge, and He is compassionate, and He longs to bless those who choose to turn back to Him and trust in Him.

Walking with God through Pandemic

Genesis 4:17-26

The Descendants of Cain Among the Descendants of Adam

Adam and Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel. Cain, and his offspring (especially Lamech, who was the seventh generation after Cain) was a clan that deserted God (Genesis 4:17-24). Several generations of this clan built a society which was highly civilized, affluent, indulgent, and self-contented.

So, we see that people sought after wealth, technology, and sophisticated civilization instead of God in the midst of sin and death. The Scripture portrayed Lamech as a great achiever, yet his entire life revealed his carnal character, for example, he was greedy, conceited, exploitative and revengeful.

People, who were created in the image of God, during this time did not conform to God’s desire. God’s image had distorted. Later, the clan of Cain was destroyed in the flood. However, Seth and his descendants, who were another clan coming out from Adam, preserved their honor and reverence towards God. Seth was the son given to Eve by God (in replacement of Abel). Seth gave birth to Enosh, and “At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD.”

The Bible writer reminded us great human achievements might not be necessarily from God, and please God. Those who trust in God and please God come from the clan of Seth. Let us explore the lives of Enoch and Noah, the two descendants of Seth.

Enoch Walked with God (Genesis 5:21-24)

Chapter 5 of Genesis records Adam’s descendants. It starts with Adam and ends with Noah. Every man was under the curse of death, and his end was nothing else but “died” (5:5,8,11,14,17,20,27,31, except for one man, and that was Enoch (5:24).

The difference between Enoch and the rest was that he “walked with God” (5:22,24). Hence, he did not encounter the end like Adam’s end (“you will surely die.” ）Enoch discovered the secret of regaining one’s life after man’s sin and living under the curse of death, and that was to “walk with God”.

This current pandemic threatens the lives of many. Many parts of the world are plagued with the sting of death. But God is the source of life. Let us walk with God closely during this time. God’s presence will ensure that we have life.

Noah walked faithfully with God (Genesis 6:5-10)

In Genesis 6:9, the author used the same word to describe Noah, that Noah “walked with God. Since people on earth had deviated from God’s way, all the inclination of their hearts was nothing but evil. Thus, God regretted creating human and he sent the flood to wipe off all creatures on earth and in the air.

The flood was anti-creation. It reversed the creation account, whereby the earth returned to its original state - formless and void. Yet God commanded Noah to build an ark. Noah’s family and the animals were brought into the ark to survive the flood.

God rescued Noah because he “walked with Him”, and “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord”……Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.”（6:8-9）He did not corrupt the way of God (6:12).

A Reminder to the Present-Day Church

Since the time human ancestors fell and sinned, sin had entered the world and spread its influence until now. There is no difference between today’s world and Noah’s time. For example:

1.      The God that Enoch and Noah worshipped in the Old Testament time was the same God we worship in our New Testament time.

2.      There were no changes in men’s hearts since our ancestors sinned. Human hearts engross in sins.

3.      The society that was depicted in chapter 4 of Genesis was not much different from ours now. We (like Enoch and Noah) live in affluent cities and all the so -called modern development may indeed draw us away from God.

4.      Because of sin, man’s image (which is created in the image of God) was distorted, and the relationship between man and God was broken. To make our vanity meaningful, we satisfy ourselves with all kinds of idols, and we replace God with worldly things. Man creates our own gods in accordance to our own desires, and we do not seek our life purposes from God. Instead, we allow material, position, and fame to become our master.

5.      There are incidents today, which reveal the human wickedness in national political arena as well as in international relationships. God will still judge the nations and their people, as He did in Noah’s time.

Thus, Enoch and Noah, who walked with God, teach us important lessons today.

Application

Enoch and Noah walked with God means that there is an intimate fellowship with God. It is something more than living a life that pleases God, but also to enjoy His presence. It is a life that seeks God, worships God and fellowships with Him.

Enoch and Noah lived a lifestyle that is separated from the world. They lived for God. Though they lived in this world, they did not belong to the world. Hebrews 11:38 says that the world was not worthy of such people of faith.

Like Enoch and Noah, we live now in a world which is full of evil and uncertainties (Covid-19 pandemic, confrontation between two super-powers, economic downturn, and etc.). How then shall we still live in peace and be secured? Are we walking with God? Do we influence other or are we influenced by them? Do we have hope towards our future? Do we have hope after this life? Are we still living in stability and joy during the stormy days?

The book of Hebrews says something like this in relation to the rapture of Enoch and the deliverance of Noah’s family:

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5)

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. (Hebrews 11:7）

In between these two verses is verse 6 which says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

This is the true meaning of “walking with God”—seeking God and trust Him daily! Thank God that we are truly blessed to live in this day for there is one difference between Enoch and Noah’s times in comparison with ours, and that is, Jesus had come and, on the cross, He bore our sins and died our deaths. By this, our sins are forgiven.

Jesus arose from the grave three days after His death. Jesus overcame death, and He enabled those who put their trust in Him to receive life, and even more abundantly. Let us give thanks to God and praise Him!

Enoch walked with God for three hundred years. When everyone “lived”, Enoch instead “walked with God.” While everyone “died”, Enoch was “taken away by God.” Enoch’s life was transcendent, and he conquered death.

Noah was a righteous man or a perfect man. It did not mean that he never sins, but it meant he loved God and obeyed Him wholeheartedly. Noah’s life of walking with God means a life that was completely submitted to God and a life that practiced God’s Word and His truth.

It is a life that lives not by sight but by faith. It is doing God’s will and pleasing Him in every sphere of our lives and not following the patterns of the world. Moreover, it shall be a life that seek to die to self and to give up our love for the world.

The sins of this era and that of Noah’s era had equally saddened God’s heart, and will invite God’s grave judgement. How is your life today? Are you walking intimately with God?

We who trust in Christ have to hold steadfastly to our faith, to walk with God and to live for Him until the very end. Ultimately, we will surely conquer death and receive eternal life, and be able to live an abundant life in this world now.

Conclusion

The clan of Cain was highly civilized among Adam’s lineage, but they also exposed their arrogance and wickedness. They died in their sin eventually. The clan of Seth was a godly offspring who sought God. Among them was Enoch, who was the first ray of hope while Noah was the second ray of hope.

Enoch walked with God closely and he surpassed the curse of death. Noah also walked with God closely. He came not just to save himself, but mankind from the curse of the judgment of flood. He enabled mankind to receive rest and comfort.

The lives of Enoch and Noah testify that, God never forsake us nor leave us helpless in an environment that is full of despair and overshadowed by death. God’s grace is sufficient for us. We must be grateful today for God’s grace has sustained us to move forward in this pandemic.

We are more blessed than Enoch and Noah because Christ had come to accomplish our salvation. We just need to receive him as our savior, and all of our sins would be forgiven. Then we must continue to trust Him sincerely, and walk with him daily.

The Holy Spirit will live within us to renew and cleanse us, and to help us walk with God daily, so that we would be transformed in our mind into the likeness of Christ more and more. The Holy Spirit will also fill us and empower us to serve God and to witness for Him.

Throughout these pandemic days, let us take a step of faith to submit fully under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Let us walk closely with God daily and to embody a Christ-centered life. We will surely experience a blessed life that transcends death, as Christ has promised to give us.

Paul reminded us that one day we shall be taken away like Enoch in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 -18:

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

We must not be complacent living in sins and motivated by our “old self”, since now we have received the saving grace of Christ, and the Holy Spirit moves in our hearts to love God. We are new creation in Christ, and our walk should be worthy of the grace of Christ.

May the Holy Spirit spur us now so that we can be awakened inside out, and we will take action to die to the world, so that the fashion and pattern of this world will not hinder our walk with God. And we shall walk with God closely through this pandemic.

Vengeance and Victory

 

Obadiah 1-21

God shows favor to His people, and takes vengeance on His people’s enemies

The book of Obadiah is the shortest among the 39 books of the Old Testament, and it consists only one chapter with twenty-one verses. The name “Obadiah” means “the servant of the Lord.”

Most Bible interpreters agree that the book was written in the post-exilic times, a work composed after the destruction of Judah. This is because the book mentioned about the destruction of Jerusalem, so most likely it was written after 586 BC. What then are the key messages of Obadiah?

God is in control of history and He reigns over the whole earth

The vision that prophet Obadiah saw was about the nation of Edom. In the first verse, it says, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom — We have heard a message from the Lord: An envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Rise, let us go against her for battle”—

So, Edom would one day be attacked by nations. Edom was neither a big nor a strong nation, yet it was extremely hard to be conquered because of its rugged terrains. It was situated at the south-east of the nation of Israel, and today it is within the borders of Jordan.

The Edomites lived in Mount Seir which was covered with many cliffs and wood. Their cities were built in the mountains that were chiselled out from the rocks. Hence, they were shaded by natural protection which made them hard to be invaded by their enemies.

The Edomites were secured in their place, and they never expected that they would be invaded by their enemies in the future. Thus, they became very arrogant because of this false sense of security.

The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord. (vv. 3-4)

Edom was arrogant and proud towards God, and they oppressed the Israelites too. Hence, God wanted to judge her. Those who have openly resisted God and harmed His people shall be judged by Him, though they may seem to be invincible.

When Obadiah heard God saying this, he could not understand how a secured nation of Edom would be destroyed. It was impossible to human reasoning. However, the prophet saw such a vision, and he declared it by faith. It was a kind of faith that had complete trust in God.

 Alexander the Great conquered the capital city of Edom around 300 BC, and Edom was weakened from then on. In 164 AD, Edom was officially ruined by the Jewish Hasmonean Dynasty. The whole nation of Edom has ceased to exist by the first century. Now it is left in ruins, an ancient city of Petra, where tourists come and visit. However, Israel still exists.

The prophecy of God for the Edomites was completely fulfilled. God raises a nation and He destroys a nation. God’s punishment will ultimately come upon those nations who are arrogant and disdain God, and harming God’s people.

Today, the Church is the people of God and the Holy nation of God. God loves and cares for His people, and He takes revenge for His people against those who oppressed them. The vengeance He takes is not a revenge over some personal hatred, but a fulfilment of justice and righteousness in the social realms. The evil doers shall reap from their own wickedness.

History is held in God’s hand. God is the God who is in control from eternity to eternity. This means that our encounters, our families, our lives, and our health, etc., are all under His control.

The things that we perceive with our physical eyes are not necessarily our safety nets nor does it bring us absolute security. Our faith should be built on God who is in control of everything. He holds today and tomorrow, and our future.

Do not sin like the Edomites

The Edomites were arrogant and confident of themselves, and disdained God in their hearts, and hence, they openly resisted God. They were deceitful and self-deceived. Nothing could offer permanent stability except those that are provided by God.

God did not take pleasure in the Edomites’ attitude, and He wanted to constrain their unruliness, and so He eventually wiped them off from the earth. In addition to this, verses 10 to 16 put down the reasons why the nation of Edom was punished by God.

God punished Edom because she had acted violently against her own brother, Jacob (v10). Jacob was the grandson of Abraham and the son of Isaac. The elder twin brother of Jacob was Esau, who turned out to be the Edomites’ ancestor. The descendants of Esau were the Edomites, and the descendants of Jacob were the Israelites.

The relationship between the Edomites and the Israelites were exactly like the relationship between Esau and Jacob. They were brothers, siblings of each other. Nevertheless, the Edomites did violence against their own brothers.

First, they took their back seats when their brothers were in troubles. They paid no attention, took their back seats and be indifferent to all these (v 11).

Second, they gloated over their brothers in the days of their misfortunes. When they saw their brothers in need, they rejoiced over their destruction and boasted of their troubles instead of showing their cares externally (v 12).

Third, they took the advantages of the Israelites’ misfortunes and did them harm. Not only did they take their back seats, they also had evil intention in their hearts and took a further step to seize the wealth of their brothers in the day of their disaster (v13).

Last but not least, they intensified the plight of the Israelites and drove them to their dead end. Judah could have survived in their escape, but the Edomites informed their enemies and they blocked Judah’s only way of escape. (v14)

The Edomites did not show love to their brothers. Instead they treated their brothers with indifference, cunningness, wickedness, and violence. The Lord was raged at the Edomites because of their wicked deeds, and destroyed them completely.

We should not commit the sins of the Edomites, by thinking that we could rise above heavens and thus offend God who rules and reigns over the whole earth. Whoever disdains God shall share the same fate as the Edomites.

God will overturn any nation that is insolent, and those who oppress others with power, wealth, skills, or knowledge. The proud shall be shaken, and no one can run away from God’s righteous judgement.

Now it seems that evil still prevails, but God is in control of everything. We must persevere in our fight against the evil. For we are confident that God is still the Lord over all heavens and earth after these happenings, and our trust in Him shall not be in vain.

Let us do some reflections:

God has given us our family in this world, and they are our next of kin who share the same bloodline as us. But how is our relationship with them? Do we behave indifferently to them like the Edomites? Do we turn a blind eye and a deaf ear when we become aware of their needs? Do we take a back seat? Do we gloat over their mistakes and misfortunes? Do we long for them to suffer and even make their situation worse by giving them a kick?

The Bible says, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8)

Let us love our family members and our brothers and sisters in God’s family and care for them in accordance to the teaching of the Bible. This is something pleasing to God, for family is established by Him.

Victory and revival will finally come to the people of God

The book of Obadiah was written after the destruction of Judah, the southern kingdom. At that time, the nation of Israel was literally destroyed, and the people lost their homes. You can imagine how fearful, angry, and frustrated they were as they encountered such predicament and brokenness.

They might be reminiscent of their powerful military strength and their magnificent palaces and Temple. But they had lost all these by then! Are Babylonian gods more powerful than their God? I’m afraid that this could be the question we will raise when we are in troubles.

In fact, we all know that the Israelites were wicked themselves and violated the covenant of God. Hence, they ended up miserably.

However, prophet Obadiah did not rebuke them either in his manner of speech or message. He just made the Israelites, who were then trapped in their adversity, know that God was still in control of everything even when they were in the most miserable state. Victory belongs to the people of God forever.

The prophet used the ultimate destiny of Edomites to enable the people of God to see that God rules and reigns over the whole earth. The hearts of the kings and the political situations of all nations are in the hand of God. The Lord will take vengeance for His people with justice and righteousness, and victory will always belong to the people of God.

The prophet prophesized that Israel was then in their adversity, but they shall prosper, and the house of Esau shall be destroyed (v18). The prophet foretold the future victory of Israel (v19-20), “Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.” (v21). 

No matter how desperate our environment seems to be, there will be song of victory that the Lord has prepared for His people. The Lord is the Deliverer, and all things belong to Him, and all things are held in His hand. The victory will always belong to God’s people who put their trust in Him. Do you believe these words?

Whatever condition we may be in, let us follow our Lord closely, for those who rely on Him shall be victorious! God loves and cares for us and He will surely revive us and execute justice and righteousness on earth.