Israel’s Final Triumph
November 8, 2020
Commentary
At this point in the book, we find a change of emphasis. There is an extension of the theme of divine judgment from one specific enemy nation, Edom, to all the nations. A description is given of how all foreign nations hostile to the Lord’s people, will be consumed. Judgment is first portrayed through the imagery of drunkenness. The army after a victory would often have much rich spoil, including food and drink from the defeated enemy. However, their carousing would soon be turned into drunkenness and the cup of wrath (Psalm 75:8) would be poured out upon them by the Lord.
Israel itself is pictured as the avenging fire by which God’s judgment is brought down upon his enemies. The survivors of Judah will become the instruments of God’s action to bring complete destruction upon Edom.
Despite the destruction of Jerusalem, the divine favor has not been totally removed from the Holy City. Even though a great reverence for Jerusalem is found here, there is also a note of warning against a false trust in any kind of holy place (Jer. 7). This is a continuing problem for many Christians in many places today.
Three points are made in closing (v. 17):
1. Someone who saves from danger or destruction will be raised up.
2. Victory will be over all who oppose God’s will.
3. All this will show how God is in control.
Application
I must realize that I can never place a false trust in some holy place. When it comes to worship it is not the place but the person that counts.
Obadiah 1:15– 21 (NET)
15 “For the day of the Lord is approaching for all the nations! Just as you have done, so it will be done to you. You will get exactly what your deeds deserve.
16 For just as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink, and they will gulp down; they will be as though they had never been.
17 But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape, and it will be a holy place once again. The descendants of Jacob will conquer those who had conquered them.
18 The descendants of Jacob will be a fire, and the descendants of Joseph a flame. The descendants of Esau will be like stubble. They will burn them up and devour them. There will not be a single survivor of the descendants of Esau!” Indeed, the Lord has spoken it.
19 The people of the Negev will take possession of Esau’s mountain, and the people of the foothills will take possession of the land of the Philistines. They will also take possession of the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, and the people of Benjamin will take possession of Gilead.
20 The exiles of this fortress of the people of Israel will take possession of what belongs to the people of Canaan, as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will take possession of the towns of the Negev.
21 Those who have been delivered will go up on Mount Zion in order to rule over Esau’s mountain. Then the Lord will reign as King!
Illustration: Martin Luther’s Response To a God is Dead Statement
The great Christian reformer, Martin Luther, in fact, once spent three days in a black depression over something that had gone wrong. On the third day his wife came downstairs dressed in mourning clothes. “Who’s dead?” he asked her. “God,” she replied. Luther rebuked her, saying, “What do you mean, God is dead? God cannot die.” “Well,” she replied, “the way you’ve been acting I was sure He had!” (James Gallop – Sermon Central).