Obadiah 1:16 says, 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.  This is the promise to the heathen and to those who only claim to be God's people, but who in fact are simply looking for their own prosperity.  God said that these people would be cut off, as though they had never been.  Verse seventeen then declares, But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.  God was going to deliver His people, but the Edomites would not be a part of that deliverance.  Verse eighteen proclaims, And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, 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.  Those who were truly God's people were to be delivered, but the people of Edom would not be among them.  They would be burned like stubble and utterly destroyed.  Those who claim to be God's people today only for their own benefit and not because of a real relationship with Christ will suffer the same fate.  Verse nineteen says, And 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 defeat of Edom was to be complete, as will the defeat of all who stand against God.  Those who do defy or even deny God may be prosperous in this world, but will one day, when Christ returns, will be utterly defeated.  Verse twenty states, 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. The captivity of the children of Israel will come to an end.  Even if Israel was not immediately returned to a position as a world power, through Christ they were returned to a position of being the spiritual power of the world, if they accepted Him as Savior and Lord.  We are a part of that spiritual kingdom if we likewise accept Christ as our Savoir and Lord.  Vesre twenty says, And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.  I believe that this is a reference to those who preach the gospel of Christ.  Christ is the only Savior, but those who follow Him proclaim salvation to the world.

Obadiah 1:8

Obadiah 1:8 says, 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?  This is a reference to those who were the leaders of the nation.  I believe that we can say that when we look to leaders who do not look to God for guidance, then we place ourselves in danger of God's judgment on us as a nation.  Verse nine adds, And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.  Everyone in the nation was to be subject to God's judgment, for the least to the mightiest.  We might think this unfair, but we can be certain that if there were those who believed in God that they are still alive with Him today.  We might wonder why God doesn't take a more direct action against those governments today who abuse His people, but we know that when the time is right that judgment will come.  Verse ten continues, For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.  Now the people of Edom were told why God was going to punish them.  They had become violent against their brother Jacob, or God's people.  God warned them because of their actions that they would be cut off forever.  Anytime someone refuses to acknowledge God and mistreats His people, that person is in danger of being cut off from God forever.  Verse eleven states, 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.  This verse basically states that when the nation of Israel was under attack that the people of Edom allied themselves with the enemy.  I believe there is a warning here about standing with those who stand against God.  Edom was not to be just arbitrarily destroyed, but they were to be destroyed for their sins against God and His people.  As followers of Christ, we cannot afford to ally ourselves too closely with those who stand against God.  Verse twelve adds, But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; 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 distress.  This is quite an indictment against Edom.  They were told that they should have stood with their brothers, the people of God, in the battle with the world.  We too must stand with God's people in the battle against evil in the world today.  We can never rejoice in the destruction of any of God's people without being held accountable.  Verse thirteen continues, Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;  The people of Edom were told they should not have taken advantage of God's people when they were in trouble.  People today need to heed that same warning.  God may allow Christians to be under the rule of evil regimes, but He will never let those who take advantage of them when they are down go unpunished forever.  Verse fourteen says, 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.  The Edomites, the descendants of Esau, not only took advantage of God's people, they captured and turned in those who attempted to escape.  Instead of siding with their kindred, they fought against them.  All followers of Christ today are our kindred, and we must never stand against them, and we must really never take actions that will cause them to be harmed.  Verse fifteen adds, 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.  This was a warning that the people of Edom would suffer the same defeat as the heathen.  They, like Esau, had sold their birthright.  God's judgment is certain for those who rebel against Him.

Obadiah 1:1

Obadiah 1:1 says, The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.  We are first told that this is a vision that Obadiah had.  It was a vision concerning Edom, which is the Hebrew word for red according to Matthew Henry.  Since I do not know Hebrew, I rely on others for this meaning.  The Edomites were descendants of Esau, who was noted for his red hair and may have been called Edomites because of this.  Esau was also remembered for selling his birthright, and evidently his descendants at this time had sold their relationship to God.  Obadiah said that they had heard a rumor from God that an ambassador from the heathen would rise up against Edom.  Verse two adds, Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.  Obadiah was basically saying that God had removed His protection from them because of their sin against Him.  God had made the people of Edom small in the eyes of the heathen.  We must never forget that our strength comes from God and our relationship with Him.  Verse three continues, The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?  The people of Edom had become full of self-pride, feeling that they were too powerful to be destroyed.  We today, who call ourselves a Christian nation, must beware of being full of self-pride.  We are not indestructible by our own power but are only indestructible by our faith in Christ.  Verse four states, 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.  The people of Edom evidently felt that they were so strong that no one could bring them down, not even God.  They exalted themselves instead of exalting God.  If we begin to exalt our power and wealth as a nation instead of exalting God, then we are in danger of having God show us how small we really are.  Verse five adds, 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 grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?  I believe that God was saying that Edom would not be as fortunate.  When God came to them in judgment, there would be nothing left.  When God judges things obtained through sinful actions, nothing will be left of the things gained by sin.  Verse six continues, How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!  Nothing could nor can be hidden from God.  Those things that we may think that we have gained by sinful means and hidden away are not hidden from God.  Verse seven concludes, 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.  The people of Edom were warned that they could not trust their political allies.  We know today that alliances are always changing and that we cannot always put our faith in them.  When we begin to look anywhere other than to God for our security in life we are setting ourselves up for failure.

Hebrews Review Concluded

Then in Hebrews we learn that if we are truly saved by faith that we will never be lost again.  We are reborn by faith in Christ.  I believe that just as we are physically born once, we are spiritually reborn once.  Once we are reborn into the kingdom of God we are secured by the Holy Spirit.  We then have a responsibility to seek God's will in all that we do, but if we fail, we are not then unborn.  We are still God's children, and as the book of Hebrews tells us, when we stray away from God's will, He will chastise us.  Some may need more chastisement than others, but I believe that as followers of Christ, and therefore children of the heavenly Father, we all at some time or the other need chastisement from God.  We are also told that the great men of the Old Testament were great because of their faith and not because of their own innate goodness.  They had faith in God and the coming Messiah.  They were never saved by works or living up to the law, but by faith alone.  Also, we are warned to beware of strange doctrines.   This means we must know what God's word really teaches.  Being somewhat familiar is not enough.  Then, we are instructed to go into the world with God's message.  We are saved to serve and not to just sit back idly until Christ returns.  There is a lost world in need of salvation that we are commissioned to reach with the gospel.  Next, we are also instructed to listen to religious leaders, those put in place over us by God.  We know that God calls some to be preachers and teachers, and they are called for the benefit of all  Christians. Finally, we are instructed to live our lives in praise to God.  I know that I do not do this often enough.  We serve a loving God Who has redeemed us from the penalty of sin if we accept that redemption.  We should daily give Him praise.  Next, we will look at the shortest book of the Bible, Obadiah.

Hebrews Review Continued

The next thing that we learn from the book of Hebrews is that in Christ we have a greater high priest than we did under the old sacrificial system under the law of God.  The high priests, before Christ came as our eternal High Priest, were limited in what they could do.  They could only offer limited atonement for the sins of the people through the sacrifice of animals.  They really did not have unlimited access to God.  The old sacrificial system was like the law given to Moses.  They were signs of obedience to God, but neither could bring salvation because of the sins of the people.  Christ was and is the only acceptable sacrifice for sins, and as such, He becomes our heavenly High Priest.  We not only do not need to go to God through anyone else, but I would say that we cannot go to God through anyone else.  We may have people praying for us, which is good, but ultimately, we must go to God through a personal relationship with Christ.  I stated that Christ is our eternal High Priest, because He was always the only way to salvation.  The plan of salvation was completed even before the giving of the law.  Salvation through Christ was never an alternate plan.  It is the plan that was put in place from the beginning.  Since God gave people free will, He always knew their potential to fail to follow Him.  Yet, God loved us enough to create us with a free will.  God wants us to serve Him, not because we have no choice in the matter, but because we do.  This is why in the book of Hebrews it is called so great a salvation.  The only way for salvation to have any meaning is if every person has a choice about accepting it through faith.  If some people are predestined to salvation and others predestined to everlasting punishment, then Christ's death would have been unnecessary.

Hebrews Review

Review

I will attempt to summarize some of the things that we have learned from the book of Hebrews.  First, we know that there was a time when God spoke in many different ways to His people, but He finally spoke through the life of Christ, Who fulfilled all the law of God.  We will never have another thing said by God about how we may be restored to Him.  Christ is the final word of salvation.  This does not mean that God will not still speak to us, but He will no longer speak about another way to salvation.  Next, we are called on to be honest in our relationship to God.  It is not enough to just say the words, but we must honestly accept the truth of what God teaches us.  Going through the motions is not enough.  If we accept the truth of God as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Who provides a way for salvation for all who accept Christ as Savior and Lord, then we need to take our relationship to Him seriously.  We are also told of Christ's superiority to the angels.  Angels do not have the power to deliver us from death.  Christ alone was given this power, and this power was given to Him as a seed of Abraham.  Christ did not deliver us by His position as God, but He delivered us by His position as a man.  Christ's power on earth came from being obedient to the will of His heavenly Father.  That is the same place that our power comes from today.  We may sometimes wish that God would send an angel to help us in a particular situation, and it is possible that He may and we never know it, but He sent Someone greater than an angel.  God our Father, if we are followers of Christ, sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us.  As Christians, we are never without the power of God in our lives unless we choose to be.

Hebrew 12:25

Hebrews 12:25 says, See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:  This is a call, or a warning, to not neglect the call of Christ.  Those who had spoken for God before Christ came were but people of the earth, but when Christ came, He came down from heaven.  Matthew Henry says that Christ by His word shook not only the world, but the heavens as well.  We should never underestimate the power of the word of God.  We are told that in Jesus Christ that the Word became flesh.  Before Christ came, God shook the nations to make a land for His people.  Now, God has shaken the heavens to make an everlasting home for His people, those who have put their faith in Christ.  We cannot ignore God's calling us to faith in Christ and have any hope of salvation.  Verse twenty-six adds, Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.  This is what I was discussing above.  The life of Christ shook the very foundation of the universe.  There is no place that we can go that God is not already there, and there is no other way to salvation except through the blood of Christ.  Verse twenty-seven continues, And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.  The old sacrificial system could be shaken, but salvation through Christ and the rewards that it brings never will be shaken.  Verse twenty-eight states, Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:  We are reminded that since we are receiving an everlasting, unmovable kingdom that we are to serve God acceptably.  This means that we are to acknowledge God's grace in saving us, and this will lead us to serving Him with reverence and Godly fear.  This does not mean that we are always to be afraid that God is going to strike us down, but that we should live in awe of both God's power and His grace.  Verse twenty-nine adds For our God is a consuming fire.  God does indeed have the ability to burn everything up.  Fortunately, for us who are followers of Christ, all God burns up are the everlasting consequences of our sins.