Nancy: Welcome to immerse: the daily bible reading experience.
day 200 and 69
Immersed in Obadiah.
The people of Edem were neighbors to the people of Judah.
They lived in the rocky mountainous region South of the Dead Sea, A place
scarcely accessible to attacking armies.
This made the Edomites complacent about their safety and security.
Confident and proud that no one could harm them.
When the Babylonians besieged to Jerusalem, the mites joined in
the attack after the city fell.
They pillaged it.
They even captured people from Judah who were fleeing and either killed
them or sold them into slavery.
Two of the Lord's prophets warned the Edomites in very similar terms, that
because they had done this, they also would be conquered and devastated.
One of these prophets was Jeremiah, who included a denunciation of Edam
in his Oracles against the nations.
The other prophet was a man named Obadiah.
We know nothing about Obadiah other than the fact that he too delivered an oracle
against Edam speaking for the Lord.
Obadiah told them, you have been deceived by your own pride because
you live in a rock fortress and make your home high in the mountains.
Who can ever reach us way up here?
You ask Boastfully, but even if you soar as high as Eagles and
build your nest among the stars, I will bring you crashing down.
And that is just what happened.
After accepting the Mites help and their campaign against Jerusalem,
the Babylonians turned against them and devastated them so thoroughly
that they ceased to be a nation.
And so Obadiah's words were fulfilled.
Thieves came at night and robbed you.
They would not take everything.
Those who harvest grapes always leave a few for the poor, but your
enemies will wipe you out completely.
The first half of Obadiah's Oracle against Edem is very similar to
the first half of Jeremiah's.
Though the material in Obadiah is longer and in a slightly different order, toward
the end, the focus of the Oracle shifts to Jerusalem and a promise about its future.
The exiles of Israel will return and reclaim their ancient inheritance.
God himself will come to rule from Mount Zion.
This brief book sends a clear and emphatic message presenting us with a theological
core of Israel's prophetic message.
The Lord is sovereign over all nations, and he will surely act to restore justice
and to protect and renew his people.
The prophet Obediah.
This is the vision that the sovereign Lord revealed to obediah
concerning the land of Edam.
We have heard a message from the Lord that an ambassador was sent to the
nations to say, get ready, everyone.
Let's assemble our armies and attack Edem.
The Lord says to Edam, I will cut you down to size among the nations.
You will be greatly despised.
You have been deceived by your own pride because you live in a rock fortress and
make your home high in the mountains.
Who can ever reach us way up here?
You ask Boastfully, but even if you soar as high as eagles and
build your nest among the stars, I will bring you crashing down.
Says the Lord.
If thieves came at night and robbed you, what a disaster awaits you.
They would not take everything.
Those who harvest grapes always leave a few for the poor, but your
enemies will wipe you out completely.
Every nook and cranny of Edo will be searched and looted.
Every treasure will be found and taken.
All your allies will turn against you.
They will help to chase you from your land.
They will promise you peace while plotting to deceive and destroy you.
Your trusted friends will set traps for you and you won't
even know about it at that time.
Not a single wise person will be left in the whole land of edem, says the Lord.
For on the mountains of Edem, I will destroy.
Everyone who has understanding the mightiest warriors of Teman will be
terrified, and everyone on the mountains of Edem will be cut down in the slaughter
because of the violence you did to your close relatives in Israel, you will be
filled with shame and destroyed forever.
When they were invaded, you stood, aloof, refusing to help them.
Foreign invaders carried off their wealth and cast lots to divide up Jerusalem, but
you acted like one of Israel's enemies.
You should not have gloated when they exiled your relatives to distant lands.
You should not have rejoiced when the people of Judas suffered such misfortune.
You should not have spoken arrogantly in that terrible time of trouble.
You should not have plundered the land of Israel when they
were suffering such calamity.
You should not have gloated over their destruction when they
were suffering such calamity.
You should not have seized their wealth when they were suffering such calamity.
You should not have stood at the crossroads killing
those who tried to escape.
You should not have captured the survivors and handed them over in
their terrible time of trouble.
The day is near when I, the Lord will judge all godless nations
as you have done to Israel.
So it will be done to you.
All your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads just as you swallowed
up my people on my holy mountain.
So you and the surrounding nations will swallow the punishment I pour out on you.
Yes.
All you nations will drink and stagger and disappear from history, but Jerusalem
will become a refuge for those who escape.
It will be a holy place and the people of Israel will come back
to reclaim their inheritance.
The people of Israel will be a raging fire and ed 'em a field of dry stubble.
The descendants of Joseph will be a flame roaring across the
field, devouring everything.
There will be no survivors in Edem.
I, the Lord have spoken.
Then my people living in the Negev will occupy the mountains of edem.
Those living in the foothills of Judah will possess the
Philistine planes and take over the fields of Efraim and Samaria.
The people of Benjamin will occupy the land of Gilead.
The exiles of Israel will return to their land and occupy the
Ian Coast as far north as Zfa.
The captives from Jerusalem exiled in the north will return home and
resettle the towns of the Negev.
Those who have been rescued will go up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem
to rule over the mountains of Edem.
The Lord himself will be king.
This concludes today's immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.