Tuesday, November 3, 2015

PT-2 Introduction to Obadiah


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/3/2015 10:24 PM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  More Introduction to Obadiah

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Obadiah 1:1

            Message of the verse:  “1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom- We have heard a report from the LORD, And an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, "Arise and let us go against her for battle’”

            Dr. Wiersbe entitles the only chapter in his commentary on Obadiah, “A Tale of Two Brothers,” and I guess that pretty much sums up what is written in this shortest book of the Old Testament, something we mentioned in our last SD.

            As I was driving around yesterday I was listening to the Moody radio station in our area and the show I was listening to the commentator began by talking about the first day of November and the fact that this month ushers in the holiday season where people come together in families to have things like Thanksgiving Dinner.  His program was about how there are difficulties among families and what can be done to help people who are having issues in their families.  Isaac and Rachel had problems with their two boys, Esau and Jacob, and the trouble was so great that hundreds of years later it still went on.  We read about stories in our own country with the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s, and how their battle went on for many years.

            One of the greatest times of trouble in our country had to have been the Civil War as we saw members of the same family fighting against each other because of opposite beliefs they had, and many, many were killed because of this war.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Esau and Jacob were twin brothers who had been competitors from before birth (Gen. 25:19-26).  Unfortunately, their parents disagreed over the boys, with Isaac partial to Esau and Rebekah favoring Jacob.  God had chosen Jacob, the younger son, to receive the blessing attached to the Abrahamic Covenant (Rom. 9:10-12), but Jacob and Rebekah decided to get this blessing by scheming instead of trusting God (Gen. 27).”

            This story is a familiar one from the book of Genesis and after Esau found out he was tricked he said that he would kill Jacob, and so Jacob fled to Rebakah’s family where he lived there for many, many years.  When Jacob finally came back home he stilled feared his brother Esau and although there was some small reconciliation trouble was still brewing and would get worse with the coming families as I am sure the stories were told about what happened.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “The Law of Moses commanded the Jews treat the Edomites like brothers:  ‘You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother’ (Deut. 23:7 NKJV).  In spite of this, the Edomites ‘harbored an ancient hostility’ against Israel (Ezekiel 35:5 NIV) and used every opportunity to display it.

            “In this brief book, Obadiah the prophet delivered three messages from the Lord.”  We will begin looking at these messages in our next SD.

11/3/2015 10:44 PM

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