"The Lord Reigns"
[Obadiah 19-21]
March 25, 2007 Second Reformed Church
Israel and Edom were two neighboring nations; more than that, they were the descendants of two brothers: Jacob, the father of Israel, and Esau, the father of Edom. Edom was to the east of the Jordan, in the mountains, and they spent centuries being jealous and prideful, for, we remember, that Jacob trick Esau out of his birthright and blessing. So, when the Babylonians attacked in 586 B.C., Edom seized upon the chance to take revenge and help the Babylonians conquer and take Israel into captivity. You have heard of the Babylonian captivity.
God allowed Israel to be conquered and taken into captivity for her sins. However, Babylon and Edom had sinned in conquering Israel. And in the book of Obadiah, we have God's response, God's prophecy against the Edomites. God told them that for their sin, they would be punished. They believed they were safe on the mountains and in caves; God would bring them down. They thought their wealth would sustain them; God would give it to other people. They believed that their friends would protect them; God told them their friends would turn on them and slaughter them and God would make sure that every man, woman, and child of Edom was dead.
God told Edom that they should not have been prideful and jealous; although they were not the people of promise, God had still provided for them. They should have known better than to plot against the Israel of God. They should have known better than to rejoice in the destruction of the Israel of God. They should have known better than to loot the blessings of God from His people.
Now, God promised them, that just as they had rejoiced in seeing Israel destroyed, all the nations of the world would lift high a glass and celebrate the destruction of Edom. And, much to the dismay of Edom, God told them that God had made a way for Israel, there was an escape for them through Mount Zion, Israel was not lost; Israel was not annihilated; Israel would return. And the house of Jacob and the house of Joseph would one day return and take back their land and also the land of Edom. They would remove the last remains of the Edomite civilization; their flame would burn up Edom's stubble. Nothing would be left of the house of Esau; nothing would be left to show that they existed. The land and the remains of Edom would become part of the new Israel.
And if we are not familiar with the towns and the areas around Israel, it might help to hear how the Today's English Version, the Good News Bible, puts this morning’s text: "People from southern Judah will occupy Edom; those from the western foothills will capture Philistia. Israelites will possess the territory of Ephraim and Samaria; the people of Benjamin will take Gilead. The army of exiles from northern Israel will return and conquer Phoenicia as far north as Zarephath. The exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sardis will capture the towns of southern Judah. The victorious men of Jerusalem will attack Edom and rule over it. And the Lord himself will be king."
If we think about a modern map, God told them that when Israel returned from Babylon, she would be given, not just the modern country of Israel, but in the south, the Gaza Strip, in the west, the West Bank, in the north and east, most of the country of Syria, and to the south-east, what used to be Edom, God gave Israel most of the country of Jordan. God significantly increased the land of the nation of Israel after the final Babylonian captivity.
What does that mean for modern day politics? I don't know. And I won't speculate here.
What we can know, what we can say, is this: after Israel sinned, God sent her into captivity, and when she was broken and had come to repentance, God released her from her physical captivity, as well, and gave her back the Promised Land and more. And that is our story as well, isn't it?
We were born sinners, condemned through the inheritance of our father, Adam. But God has chosen from all humanity -- from all the descendants of Adam -- a people of God, and Israel of God, a people, not united by a land mass, but united through the One Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. We who believe and have received Salvation in Jesus Christ Alone are part of the people of God. We have been freed from our captivity to sin, and we have been led out of Egypt, we have been led out of Babylon, we have been led out of whatever distant and horrible land our sin had consigned us to. And now, we hear and know these words:
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32).
God delivered Israel, and still gave her the Promised land, and still gave her more, and still brought the Savior through her line. And we have been delivered from our bondage to sin, we have been adopted into the people of God, and God has given us, not only His Son, not only His Only Son, not only the Only Possible Salvation -- which surely would have been more than we could ever have believed was possible -- but He continues to give us more.
How can we be down cast? If we suffer for our sin, what did we expect? If we suffer for Christ, is there any suffering so great that it can eclipse the wonder and the beauty and the amazement of what God has done in becoming Incarnate, living, suffering, dying, rising, and ascending -- to the Glory of the Father and -- for you?
"The wages of sin is death." If you are physically alive this morning, that is a blessing. If you are spiritually alive this morning, that is a blessing. If you are spiritually alive this morning, it is because of the undeserved Gift of God in Jesus Christ -- you have blessing upon blessing upon blessing.
We have heard two translations of verse 21 this morning, let me give you a third, "Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's [YHWH's]."
The word that is translated, "those who have been saved," "the victorious men," and "saviors" in the three translations is ma'yeshua'im, which literally means "the saviors." We may remember that the angel said to Joseph, "[Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus [yeshua], for he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). "Savior" can refer to people other than Jesus.
Here, in Obadiah, God promised that a special, chosen group of men who were from Jerusalem would be the ones to take Edom and rule over it. John Calvin said that these were "preservers" and he likens them to those who are called to be ministers (Commentaries, 454). These people are sinners, they also had to be freed by God, but they were now appointed to watch over, to preserve, to teach the people in the land, that they would not forget what God has done and what God continues to do, above and beyond what they could ever conceive.
Have you forgotten? Do you remember what God has done for you? Are you still amazed? Are you still thankful? Do you still believe and trust and hope in Him?
Obadiah said that God would send "saviors" to rule, but God would be king. YHWH was their ruler. YHWH was their Sovereign. They were living in YHWH's Kingdom. YHWH reigns.
Do you believe that? Do you understand that you and I are part of the Kingdom of God that rules over the earth and that is coming in its fullness when God to restores the earth and sets all things right again?
Calvin explains that it was God's Purpose to rule over His people after He had restored them -- that they would be part of a divine kingdom, with no other king but God, Himself (455). And since that was true for Israel, it is true for us as the Church, as the people of God, no longer confined to one nation, but scattered throughout the earth. God's Salvation is no longer tied to a piece of land, but it is found in every land and every people, and He rules the earth, and the universe, from His Throne. Yet let us understand two things:
Although God is ruling from His Throne in Heaven, but let us not think that God is afar off, because God is ruling here and now, in time. He is here in this church right now, just as assuredly as He is also ruling from His Throne on High. And after the mercy and grace we have been given, we ought to fall before Him in worship and obedience. Our response to this great Salvation is to submit to our God and Savior, to submit to His Word, to trust Him and follow Him and rejoice in Him now and forever -- He is our King!
And second, Calvin writes, "We hence see that the Church has no existence, where the word of God does not so prevail in its authority, as to keep down whatever height there is in men, and to bring them under the yoke, so that all may depend on God alone, that all may look to him, and that he may have all in subjection to himself" (455).
If we are Christ's Body and He is our head, if there is no Head, if we neglect the Head, or throw the Head away, there can be no life in the Body. If the Word of God Alone is not preached in a church, it is not the Church. If the Word of God Alone is not believe and taught to be the truth, then it is not the Church. If in our Consistories and Classes and Synods, we deny the Word of God based on our feelings, based on what psychiatrists and science so-called says, if we say, "Yes, the Bible says this is plain language, but I say..." -- that is not the Church.
Are we the Church?
The prophecy of Obadiah teaches us this: all sin most be punished; it doesn't matter who we are. God has made a Way of Salvation through Mount Zion for those who believe. We receive blessings from God far above what we could ever deserve or desire. Those whom God has saved have God as their King, and God rules the Church and the Church rules the world only through God’s Word.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank you for these days of reflection on our sin, we repent of our sin and abhor it and ask that You would keep us from sin -- leading us to the Way of escape. Keep Yourself as King before us, and cause us to serve You, that our joy may be found in Your Glory. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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