GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 3~ ~ Psalm 122:6 ~ ~ “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.”

Today Mr. Youssef is talking about the minor prophet Obadiah, who speaks about the ongoing war throughout history between the Jews and the Edomites, which we are still watching in the news currently in real time.

OBADIAH: JACOB VERSUS ESAU

Obadiah is the shortest book of the Old Testament, consisting of a single chapter.  It was written around 690 BC, after the fall of both Israel and Judah.  Obadiah pronounces God’s judgment against the people of Edom, who are gloating over the defeat of the Jews.   The Edomites, in fact, helped the Babylonians loot the city of Jerusalem and enslave its people in 597 BC.)

Who were the Edomites?  They were descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob.  Just as Jacob and Esau engaged in a fierce sibling rivalry, the Israelites and Edomites continually clashed, (and still do.)

Obadiah warns:

“You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble.  You should not march through the gates of My people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster.”  (Obadiah 1:12-13).

But the book is much more than a rebuke to Edom – it’s a message of hope and ultimate victory for the Jewish people.  Jacob and Esau, the Jews and the Edomites, represent two ways of life. 

Jacob represents obedience, Esau represents rebellion. Even though “Jacob” (the Jewish nation) has sinned and failed God, a day is coming when the repentant one will be restored.  Obadiah predicts the nation’s coming victory:

“Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him.  There will be no survivors from Esau………Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau and the kingdom will be the Lord’s.  (Obadiah 1:18 and 21)

(After the October 7, 2023,  massacre of the Jews, the verses quoted by Bible scholars, that pertain to it at the time were Obadiah 1:10-18, part of which were quoted in this book (above) which was, of course, written before the attack.)

The other verses are: (God speaking to the Edomites):

“because of the violence to your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame, and you will be cut off forever.  On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth, and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem, you too were as one of them  see (verses 12-13 above)……..Do not stand at the fork of the road to cut down their fugitives and do not imprison their survivors in the day of their distress.  FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD DRAWS NEAR ON ALL NATIONS.  As you have done, it will be done to you.  Your dealings will return on your own head.  Because just as you drank on My holy mountain, all the nations will drink continually.  They will drink and swallow and become as if they had never existed.

But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, and it will be holy.  And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.  Then the house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; but the house of Esau will be as stubble and they will set them on fire and consume them so that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau.  For the Lord has spoken.” (Obadiah 1:10-18

Christians need to fight the propaganda war that the enemy of the Jews is setting forth now!   We are told to stand with our brothers against the sweeping lies on the media today.  We need to tell the truth about what happened, and WHO did it.   God will not hold any Christian guiltless who falls for this deception.  His Word makes that clear.

When Christ comes back (spoken of as the “Day of the Lord” in the verses above — in caps), then God will perform His judgment of the enemies of His chosen people, and establish His millennial  Kingdom on earth (see verse 21: “The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, AND THE KINGDOM WILL BE THE LORD’S.”

    All prophetic scholars agree that it will be “soon”  (In God’s timing of soon).  The church needs to be on God’s side!!!!!  PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.

Psalm 122:6

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

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John 15:10

If you keep my commands, you shall abide in my love; even as I kept my Father’s commands and abide in His love.

Revelation 19:16

And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:   KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Revelation 21:23-24  (City of New Jerusalem)

The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the Glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

1 Corinthians 15:57

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 98:1

O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

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Matthew 12:20

A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

1 John 5:4

For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.

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Andrew Murray, in his classic book “Abide in Christ” says:

Some believers count promises only as his comfort, but to the believer who is really seeking to abide (truly live) in Christ’s love, the commands become no less precious.  As much as the promises they are the revelation of the divine love…….

(even for those things that we don’t understand……..like future world events.)  We need to TRUST AND OBEY.)

TRUST AND OBEY, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.

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