Turning in the Word of God to the Book of Obadiah, in verse 21 we read, and saviours shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. The kingdom shall be the Lord's. Before commencing a longer series early in the new year, we've been looking a little at some of the minor prophets and we look this evening at this book of Obadiah. If we were to give a heading, we could say our theme is where it will end, where it will end. How will things pan out? Will this world as the unbelieving often maintain just go on and on. Will there be no radical change and simply that history goes on and on and on? And the more optimistic like to convince themselves that in that endless and meaningless history man will go get better and better though if there is no standard outside of man, how can we even define what better is? But nevertheless, men imagine that history has no end. Well, it does. Men may scoff at the idea, but history is heading towards a conclusion. And this present world, this present age is not the eternal age. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 3. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were. from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. There is an end, as surely as there was a beginning, so there shall be an end of this present age. So verse 7, But the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. The fact that generations have gone by since these words were written is no argument against their truthfulness. With the Lord a thousand years is as one day, he thinks, on a bigger scale than we are inclined to. So that history is not an endless, meaningless thing. It is neither meaningless nor is it endless. There is an end. Christ must reign until all his enemies are put under his feet. There is a last day beyond which there are no days. There is an eternal world beyond that last day. But the present manner of life, the present age does come to an end. The text we read there speaks of the last days by which is meant the whole period from the first coming of Christ as the Redeemer to the second coming of Christ to judge the world in righteousness. And throughout these last days there are scoffers. These last days In case you need confirmation of what the term means, Hebrews 1 verse 1, God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken by his Son. The whole New Testament age is the last days. Beloved, it is the last time in 1 John chapter 2. The term the last days means the whole period between Christ's first and second coming. But they are the last days because beyond them is an eternal world where there is no day and night and the last day is the last day of the present age. So there is an end and the last day is often called the day of the Lord. It's called the day of the Lord because it will be the day when the Lord manifests His power and glory as never before and when the final reckoning takes place and the honour and glory of God are vindicated before all and His justice is fulfilled in the damnation of the unbelieving and His glorious grace is displayed in the glorification of His people. But in the Old Testament, the term Day of the Lord was often used of those forerunners of that last great day of the Lord. It was used by the prophets of those times when God, in signal measure, vindicated His honour, judged His enemies, and delivered His people. These components will be most resplendently displayed at the day of the Lord. All these other days of the Lord, these days when God, these times when God manifested His greatness in judgment and in mercy are pointing towards that final day of the Lord. Now, last week we looked at the prophet Nahum. Well, Obadiah is a little later than Nahum. Nahum refers to when the northern kingdom of Israel was taken by Assyria and Judah was tributary to Assyria. But things have moved on. In Obadiah, we've moved forward to the time when Babylon has become the superpower and has taken Judah and Jerusalem itself in 586 BC. This prophecy was probably written just after the destruction of Jerusalem and it deals largely with the role of Edom when that destruction took place and the judgment of God upon Edom because of the wicked and arrogant role that Edom played at that time. and it speaks of that judgment upon Edom and the restoration of the church and people of God when they are brought back from captivity in Babylon. You remember some of the saints of God that we're familiar with from the captivity period, Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the prophet Ezekiel deals with that period of being taken into captivity. But this prophet is dealing with Edom's role. Edom played a conspicuous part in the time of Jerusalem's calamity. In the book of Lamentations chapter 4 and verse 21, Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Oz. The cup also shall pass through unto thee. Thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. Or in Ezekiel chapter 25, Ezekiel chapter 25 and verse 12. Thus saith the Lord God, because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it, and I will make it desolate from Taman, and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword, and I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury, and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God. But what is true of this episode in history is true of the whole of history in its conclusion. The Kingdom is the Lord's, that is, it will be shown, it will be demonstrated that the Lord is King, that He governs all. God is always King. The Lord is always sovereign, governing everything in His all-wise providence. There is no variation in God's kingship in the sense of His government over all things. But there is variation in the demonstration of that kingship. There are times when He demonstrates that He is King. and the fullest demonstration that he is King will be at the last day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Now in looking at this book we learn not only the dealings of God with Edom. Edom was the people that descended from Esau and who lived in Mount Edom. But the end of it all, the futility of the false confidences that Edom had and therefore it teaches us in all generations that these confidences that Edom indulged in are as futile now as they ever were. and shall prove useless in the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Firstly then, the false refuges of the proud will all fail. The false refuges of the proud will all fail. Edom, meaning red, is the name given to Esau in Genesis 25 and verse 30. Genesis 25 and verse 30. And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage, for I am faint. Therefore was his name called Edom. And if you have a margin Bible, it gives Edom as that is red. And this people of Edom descended from this unbelieving, this apostate, this covenant-breaking man, Edom or Esau. And his descendants were notorious enemies of the people of God. And the Lord here declares that he was going to ruin all the false hopes, all the props, all the false confidences of Edom. And he represents his message as being like a messenger sent to stir up the nations against Edom. In verse 1, thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom. We have heard a rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen. Arise ye, and let us go up against her in battle. It's not literally that there is an ambassador, but it's showing that the Lord was governing this stir among the nations against Eden. And Obadiah, which means the servant of the Lord, he is to declare this message that Edom was going to be ruined. Edom was a little nation but with very big ideas. Verse 2, Behold I have made thee small among the heathen thou art greatly despised. But they were full of pride and they had confidence in various things. First of all, They had delusions of strategic safety being infallible. They had delusions of the infallibility of strategic safety. In Psalm 55, 19 we read, They have no changers, therefore they fear not God. Men who live comparatively tranquil lives and things just take over nicely, they assume it will always be so. Now, in Mount Sinai, where they dwelt, this Mount Sinai was a mountain refuge and could only be reached by a narrow entrance up in the rocks, sila, rock meaning rocks, was the capital of Edom. And so they thought they had it made. Who could take Edom? They were up in the rocks. They could hardly be accessed. They were safe as could be. Nobody would ever take Edom. And so they were arrogantly complacent. They thought they were safe. They thought they'd got it all sorted out. Everything was fine. And it would just go on and on that Edom was safe from his enemies. But they weren't beyond the reach of God. Verse 4. Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. They weren't beyond God's reach. And it doesn't matter how much a sinner thinks he has it all sorted out. He is not beyond the reach of God in his judgment. And God was going to bring about a complete clean out of Edom. Verse 5, If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, how art thou cut off? Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If the grape gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? He's saying, if you were robbed, They wouldn't take absolutely everything. They would leave something. If robbers broke in, or if the grape gatherers gleaned a vineyard, there would be something left. But he's saying, when God judges Edom, there will be nothing left. God can judge and judge terribly and completely those who think they have every ground for complacency. All who imagine that they've got things organised, sorted, there will be an end. The righteous shall see it and laugh and say, lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in his riches and strengthened himself in wickedness. No attempt at security outside of Christ will last. It will not work. There is eternal security in Christ and nowhere else. But then there were the alliances, verse 7. All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border. The men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee and prevailed against thee. They that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee. There is none understanding in him. These alliances, they went to the border. That's the idea of ambassadors going to the border and making a treaty with other nations at the border. And they would make treaties and promises which proved empty. These nations that they made these treaties with, they couldn't be trusted. They would be as a wound under them. The idea seems to be like a cushion, a cushion to recline on at the table, which is how they often did come to a table to eat. But this thing that looked like a cushion, it produced a wound. It wasn't what it seemed to be. And instead of being a comfort, these nations would wound them. and harm them. But they thought they had it worked out. They had the right alliances and therefore they were safe. And many people find a sense of security in their network of people who think in the same ungodly way as they do. Of course it's absurd because death comes but there is a present comfort. I'm one of many and the social media only increases that false complacency. So many people who think as I do And if I'm so well thought of and accepted in this array of people, this various web of contacts, then things can't be so bad. But you know they can. They can. Because God can cut through All of that, all the contacts, all the associates, all the people who are on message for unbelief. And the solitariness of facing God in judgment can quickly become apparent. Of what use is it when death comes to be well thought of by a lot of people? So what? Facing God in judgment? Oh, but I've got a lot of friends. So what? Not one of them will deliver you from the hands of God. The fact that you reassured one another by similar outlook, by saying we'll have a good time which means really a bad time, but we'll have a good time. We don't need to worry. Though hand join in hand, they shall not escape. Then there was the wisdom of this world. The wisdom of this world, verse 8. Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom? and understanding out of the Mount of Esau, and thy mighty men, O Taman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the Mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter." Edom was famous for its wisdom and for its intelligence network. Edom was in the know. Teman is part of Edom. Esau's grandson was called Teman, Genesis 36, 11. And this city, this city or district was named after him. But this wisdom will prove folly when the enemy overruns Edom. They thought they were the clever people, but they weren't clever at all. Or they were clever in that they had good intellects, but they weren't really wise. You see, wisdom and folly in scripture are not a measure of intellectual capacity. Wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Folly is the opposite. Sin is folly. Of course it's folly to think that happiness is to be found in breaking God's law. All blessedness is in God. How can it be that Sin will lead to blessedness and yet that is the foolishness that every unbelieving man embraces with all his heart. And so it is for us. The fact that great men think the same way. that our politicians, that our media, that experts even, encourage unbelief and the forgetfulness of God. It's still not true wisdom. They encourage confidence. They encourage false bravado. but in the end it will prove lighter than vanity. Do you suffer from such delusions that all is well now and therefore all will be well in the future? Like the rich fool in the parable, Luke 12, 16-21, he was doing well. Things were going well, the business had gone so well He had so much good so plentifully did his fields bring forth. He had enough to make bigger barns and store them for many years to come. But God said, thou fool, this night thy soul is required of thee. You see, because things are steady now, doesn't mean they always will be. Death will come. It will end. The familiar round of life will end. The Lord is able to bring down all the false hopes and delusions of security that proud men cherish so much. But then secondly, the Church is not defenceless in the end. The Church is not defenceless in the end. Here, Edom's special sin is pinpointed in verse 10 to 16. The great sin of Edom was the way they treated his brother Israel, that is referring back to the first two men, Jacob and Esau. Perhaps other people thought, well it's just one nation with a spite against another, but It wasn't so in God's eyes, because Israel, that was His people. It was the church of the living God. They were the apple of His eye. And yet, Edom, in the day when Babylon took Jerusalem, they were gleeful spectators. of Jacob's trouble. Verse 11, In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. You remember way back in the book of Numbers, They had refused Israel permission to pass through their land at the Exodus. It's in Numbers chapter 20. Numbers 20 and verse 14. Numbers 20. Verse 14. And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom. Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail, that hath befallen us, and so on. And he recounts the exodus and he says, verse 70, Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king's highway. We will not turn to the right hand nor to the left until we have passed thy borders. And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. And then Israel explained they wouldn't do any harm, they wouldn't take anything. But verse 20, And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border. Therefore Israel turned away from him. Now in Deuteronomy provision was made for Edomites to join the congregation, individual Edomites. Deuteronomy 23, 7 and 8. But the general pattern and tone was set that Edom opposed Israel constantly for generations. The Edomites continued to practice circumcision and claimed to be God's people. Yet they hated the true people of God. The false church always hates the true. And so when Jerusalem was taken, they looked on and rejoiced. When God's people were taken captive They rejoiced. Just as the enemies of Christ, when He was crucified, sat down and watched Him there, so here the church is being ruined. And the Edomites rejoiced. They joined with others in looting everything that was left. And verse 12, But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother, in the day that he became a stranger when he was taken captive. Neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of their distress. And verse 13 describes how they looted and took whatever was left and how they plundered the already desolate Jerusalem. And verse 14, neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway to cut off those of his that did escape, neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. Those who were escaping, they either cut them down or else they captured them and delivered them up. They were there at the crossway manning the crossways, the narrow mountain passes, to cut off fleeing Israelites and to kill or to give them up to the enemy. And so the day of the Lord would come, verse 15, for the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen. As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee. Thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually. Yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. They had gone into Jerusalem and feasted on what was left. And the Lord is saying, this was going to happen to them to such an extent that it would be as if they had never been. So they celebrated Judah's ruin and feasted on Israel's calamity. But the Lord saw it as them touching His people. The Lord was displeased with them. Zechariah chapter 2 and verse 8. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, after the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you, for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. The LORD was displeased inasmuch as ye did it not unto the one of these, the least of my brethren, ye did it not unto me. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? The Lord takes it very personally when wicked men assault His church. That's why in Acts 7 verse 7, Stephen recounting Israel's history says how God promised that after they were afflicted, He would judge the nation that afflicted them. Though the Lord was using the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, and the Edomites to purify His church, yet they meant it for evil and God would judge them. The Lord cares about His church. and he sees it as a great wickedness when men hate his church and his people. But then thirdly, the kingdom is the Lord's. The kingdom will be shown to be the Lord's. The kingdom will be shown to be the Lord's from verse 17. God's judgment on his true church was not final. And that's always the case. God chastises, purges, purifies his church. Individual apostate churches may cease to exist, but there will always be a church. And so there was to be restoration, verse 17, but upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance. and there shall be holiness, and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. There would be holiness, a purified remnant would return, and Zion would be set apart for the worship of the Lord. Judah would once again occupy that which was promised to Abraham, possess their possessions, that which was appointed to them. And there would be retribution, verse 18, and the house of Jacob shall be afire, and the house of Joseph aflame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them, and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the LORD hath spoken it." You might say, but Judah didn't judge, wasn't the means of ruining Edom, it happened during the captivity. Yes, but it happened on account of Jacob, on account of Judah. And therefore, Judah is represented as this fire because the Lord would send the fire of his judgment on Judah's account against Esau. And verse 19, they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau. And they of the plain, the Philistines, and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. The southern Judeans would also take Edom. Those of the plain would take territory from the Philistines. And then verse 20, And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath, and the captivity of Jerusalem which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south, and Saviours shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount Esau." Now this was literally fulfilled, but it points forward to the expansion of the church. Yes, when the church was a nation and God gave victory over their enemies. That was a fulfillment. But more than that, the gospel of Christ will advance among the nations, among the heathen, and this will demonstrate that the kingdom is the Lord's, that he is in charge as Christ builds his church in this world. In Isaiah 42 verse 8, he says, I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. And then we have after that the great prophecies of gospel advance as well as final judgment. So that the kingship of God is vindicated in the advance of the kingdom of grace and in the kingdom of glory when he delivers his church finally and judges all his and their enemies. So that's why we pray, thy kingdom come for the advance of the gospel and the submission of nations to Christ Through that Gospel, heartily and willingly, we pray for that, and we pray for the ultimate coming of the Kingdom, the final stage of the Kingdom, the glorified Kingdom, when His enemies are all finally cut off. The outcome is not in doubt. The future is. that the kingdom will be demonstrated to be the laws. You say, well, there's not much sign of it just now. The church is marginalized, at least here in the West. Nobody takes any notice. Nobody cares. Everybody does what is right in their own eyes. Rulers couldn't care less about the law of God. The church is in derision, weak, broken. But there is still a God in heaven and He sits upon the throne. And the Lion of the tribe of Judah is still opening the seals of the book and executing the eternal good pleasure of God. And the crown shall flourish upon his head, and the gospel shall advance in the earth as he has appointed. And then shall come the end, when the kingdom shall be delivered up to the Father, and God shall be all in all. When every knee shall bow, when Isaiah 45 shall be fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Isaiah 45 speaks of the vindication of God, of Jehovah. Isaiah 45. Verse 22, Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. In Philippians 2 that word from Jehovah is referred to Christ, Jehovah Jesus, and it shall be fulfilled. every knee shall bow. Those who are born of the Spirit, they bow the knee in this world and shall do so gladly in that which is to come. Those who are not, they shoot out the lip against Christ in this world, but they shall bow the knee. They shall know that the kingdom is the Lord's, that despite all the pretensions, even of this generation, that there is a God in heaven and that He has a right over men and that what contradicts Him is sin and that He will judge that sin in righteousness and without forgiveness in Christ He will punish His enemies forever and ever. There is a final reckoning and in that final reckoning all the pretensions of man, all the ungodly theorizing of men, all of the strutting about, pretending to know what he doesn't, all the false confidences and hopes will be laid low, and men shall know that there is a King in heaven, the living and true God, and that Jesus Christ is the one through whom he will judge the world, and all shall acknowledge and know that the truth of God's word is the truth. The people of God will rejoice in that fact forever, and the ungodly shall bewail that fact forever and ever, that stubborn, unchangeable fact that God is, that the Bible is his word, that the gospel they heard preached when in this world is true and yet it remains the object of their hatred but of their everlasting frustration in their utter inability to give expression to their continued enmity toward God. And so the enemies of Christ shall forever know what the truth is, still hate it, and be utterly unable forever to alter it or to make any effectual resistance against it. The truth of God, that the people of God will rejoice in forever, shall be a cause of vexation of spirit forever and ever. in that place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. In this world, the Gospel is sent to sinners. In this world, sinners are commanded to repent and believe. In this world, Christ is freely offered to sinners in the Gospel. And it is in this world that you must seek and find the Lord that you must seek him while he may be found, before that great day of God shall come when he shall demonstrate beyond all contradiction that the kingdom is the Lord's. Amen. Let us pray. O gracious and eternal God, We pray that Thou wilt bless Thy word to our hearts. We pray that each one of us might be found with that one thing needful, that we might all be prepared for that great day of God, and that we might be found in Christ, resting and relying upon Him and His righteousness, that righteousness which is of God by faith in Jesus Christ. So hear us and accept our prayers. Enable us to possess our souls in patience in this day of blasphemy and reproach, knowing that Thou art still infinitely exalted in glory and majesty and power. And he that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. Hear us then, O gracious God, and accept our prayers for Jesus' sake. Amen.