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July 1st

The bible reading today is in Obadiah 1 and Psalm 82,83.

The prophet Obadiah had a vision from God about God’s judgment upon the Edomites the sons of Esau, who acted in opposition to God’s chosen, who terrorized Israel during their 40 years of wilderness wandering, and who joined forces with the likes of the Moabites and Ammonites to attack Judah during the times of the divided kingdom of Israel.

This shortest book in the Old Testament was a message of judgment “entirely” pointed at a foreign country. All of the other prophets of God, except for Obadiah, Nahum, and Habbakuk, directed their messages primarily to Israel or Judah.

Obadiah’s message is direct and plain. Anyone who touches God’s people of faith will be judged without mercy. Obadiah accused Edom of a pride and arrogance that went way beyond the measure found in other opponents of Israel. A prime illustration of Solomon’s wise declaration from God...“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16:18‬ ‭

And what a fall Edom took ”completely wiped off” the face of the earth. Also, in today’s reading in the Psalms, we hear a “praise and worship” leader “preach”. Yes, preach a sermon to Judah on how to appeal to God for justice upon their behalf...“O God, Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;” Let them, whose pride went about crushing others, let them be crushed and shamed so that they can never raise their faces from the ground.

“Let them perish in disgrace,” That is...Let them experience the humiliation of disgrace that they placed upon others so much so that they will want to die. “That they may know that “you alone”, whose name is the Lord, “You” are the Most High over “all” the earth.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭83:17-18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Sounds like verses that Jonathan Edwards preached from during America’s Great Awakening of the 18th century. Especially his famous sermon on July 8, 1741, at Congegational Church of Enfield, Conn. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

“Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’

Deut. 32:35

Obadiah was declaring it, and the music director was preaching it. The day of reckoning will come, and God Himself will bring it. And those not found in the lamb’s book of life will be cast into the lake of fire forever.

Come, Lord Jesus,

Have a great day