Moses wrote in the book of Deuteronomy chapter four and verse twenty four, “For the LORD your God [is] a consuming fire, [even] a jealous God.” The writer of the book of Hebrews continued that theme in Hebrews chapter twelve and verse twenty nine, “For our God [is] a consuming fire.” The idea is that God is holy, God is just, and God is righteous, and no evil, injustice or impurity can withstand His mighty hand. They are consumed by His presence, and should He decide they must flee, they cannot resist. Such was the case with Edom. Although God allowed the judgment of His people, Jacob, those in Edom should not have stood proudly, walked greedily, or lived insatiably before His eyes. Edom did so, and they did so against God's people. Now they were to pay for their ways, and Jacob or Israel was to be restored. Obadiah continues to show us Jacob's restoration in verse twenty of his prophecy. He wrote:
And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel [shall possess] that of the Canaanites, [even] unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which [is] in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
When God decides to restore Jacob or Israel, nothing can stop Him, and now we see through the words of Obadiah “the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites.” The land west of the Jordan river and between the coast of the Mediterranean Sea is the land mentioned here. God restored to Israel that which had been taken. After seventy years of Babylonian captivity, God sent Jacob back to their land, and it stretched “even to Zarephath” which was a coastal city of the Mediterranean Sea.
God also promised, “the captivity of Jerusalem, which [is] in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.” Still more of the expansion is toward the south and this time Obadiah mentions Jerusalem as the particular city. We remember how Edom pillaged and gawked at Jerusalem when Jacob went into captivity, and now God is returning the people of Israel back to their home and beyond. God is a restoring God, and just when it seems that there is no hope for any redemption at all, God shows Himself strong.
Perhaps we have areas in our lives that we feel satan, the enemy of our soul, has destroyed. Maybe satan used other people to take away our territories or ruin relationships. It could be that we have a sense of hopelessness that anyone, anywhere cares about what happened to us, and now we begin to wonder if God Himself even cares. Let me assure you, He does care, and although it may seem that we are in captivity now, whether it was because of a fault of our own or someone else, God knows how to restore.
Sometimes our flesh nature will get us in trouble, but God knows how to restore. Sometimes people ruin areas of our lives, but God knows how to restore. Sometimes we may think our condition impossible, but God knows how to restore. He did it for Jacob, and He can do it for us. Our part is to trust God with all our heart, soul, mind and spirit, and He will do what we find impossible to do on our own.
Next time we will finish the book of Obadiah with a declaration as to who the land belongs to in the the first place, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
No comments:
Post a Comment