On the outskirts of the Dead Sea lies
a range of red sandstone heights. They are known as Mount Seir. It was there that
Esau settled after he had given away his birthright. It had formerly been the
residence of the Horites and they had occupied the entire mountain (range).
Genesis
14:6 ~ “and the Horites in their Mount
Seir, as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness”
Deuteronomy
2:12 ~ “The Horites formerly lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed
them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, just
as Israel did to the land of their possession which the Lord gave
to them.)
It is in this rise of stone that
we find the capital Selah or as we understand it today- Petra. It is the Greek
word for “Stone” or “Rock" for obvious reasons. Even today the uniqueness
of the city is evident as it is literally carved into the side of the soft mountain
sandstone. It sits like a nest high above in an inaccessible place. Literally,
it is “where eagles dare.”
Obadiah
3-4 ~ ““The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the
clefts of the
rock,
in the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring
me down to earth?’ “Though you build high like the eagle, though you
set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares
the Lord.
Yet we see in the above verses
the judgment of Edom in their craggy mountain abode. A virtually unknown
prophet of the living God foretells of the fall of the untouchables. God told
Israel not to hate Edomites, but Edom had turned vicious to Israel. They had
turned murderous and treacherous to their own by hating their brothers. They
forbid passage through their land when the Israelites traveled from Egypt to
Canaan.
Deuteronomy
23:7 ~ “You shall not detest an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall
not detest an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land.”
Numbers
20:18-21 ~ “…Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through us,
or I will come out with the sword against you.” Again, the sons of Israel
said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if I and my livestock do
drink any of your water, then I will pay its price. Let me only pass
through on my feet, nothing else.” But
he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a
heavy force and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to allow Israel
to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.
Because of Edom’s arrogance and cruelty
they would be brought low and totally destroyed by decree of God.
Nebuchadnezzar would crush them five years after the fall of Jerusalem. By the
time of Rome’s capture of Jerusalem, Edom would disappear from history for goo.
God was clear:
Obadiah
1:15 ~ "For the day of the LORD
draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your
dealings will return on your own head.
So where is Christ in Obadiah? We
see Him come to light in verse 15-21. We see Him in the deliverance of Israel.
We see the deliverance of Zion.
Obadiah
17 ~ “But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, and it will be
holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.
We see a day when God’s people
will repossess what was once theirs. What we see here is a day, a coming day,
the Day of the Lord when Jesus will establish His messianic Kingdom. This has
much deeper theological and spiritual implications but most are obvious and I
won’t go into them here. There will come a time when God will not just reign in
the house of Jacob but everywhere for all time.
This really small book shows something huge for a believer. It shows that those that invariably trust in God, they will be renewed and will be delivered in the Lord's strength and in His time, not ours.
Isaiah 40:31 ~ "Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.
This really small book shows something huge for a believer. It shows that those that invariably trust in God, they will be renewed and will be delivered in the Lord's strength and in His time, not ours.
Isaiah 40:31 ~ "Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.
Glory to God.
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