The Hope of Joy

Text: Obadiah 19-21

Introductio

Alright, church, if you have your Bibles and I hope you do… open up to Obadiah. We’re hanging out in 3 verses this morning.

Final week in Obadiah—a book that’s only 21 verses long but packed with eternal truth.

Now, if you’ve ever had your world flipped upside down, this one’s for you. Maybe you’ve lost a job or a relationship, or maybe it feels like everything around you is crumbling.

Maybe you’ve experienced a time in your life when nothing was certain. You saw God moving, but you couldn’t figure out how it would all work… especially for your good… in the uncertainty… everything felt shaky…

Here’s what I want you to hear: God doesn’t waste the shake-ups. He uses them to wake us up to His joy, His justice, and His salvation.

So, let’s stand together, and look at Obadiah 19–21 “Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the (chef-Fee-La) Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of (EEph-Ree-Am) Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. The exiles of this host of the people of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as (Zare-Rah-Fath) Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in (Seffer-Red) Sepharad shall possess the cities of the Negeb. Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.”

This is the word of God. Let’s pray:

“Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. And we thank you for the prophetic warning given by Obadiah. As we look forward toward the hope that is to be had, may we see you clearly… may we see and hope in your plan. We trust that you are good, Father. And we trust that you will bring about redemption and restoration… help us to see that through your word this morning. In Christ’s name ~ amen.”

CONTEXT:

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “That clears that up! Makes perfect sense… thanks pastor! This truly is life-changing stuff…”

:) Well, I’m glad I could help…

Just kidding.

I know, this book is difficult to understand because there is so much going on beneath the surface that we miss it… and what we need to know here is that the Lord isn’t just randomly shuffling around people… No, he is doing something intentional.

Remember, this prophecy was given as a judgment to the nation of Edom… Because they became PRIDEFUL. They became prideful, and in their pride, they stood by and watched Judah, their ancestral brother, get destroyed.

God saw that… and God holds them accountable for that…

And because of their actions, and inactions, Edom was to be eviscerated-they were to be completely and totally destroyed.

So we see that, as the Babylonians destroyed Judah, Obadiah’s prophesy from the Lord makes clear that Judah (the Israelites) will make a comeback… while Edom will cease to exist. And to boil it down: God’s people have a future; Edom does not.

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Let’s break down what the Bible is saying here:

19) Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau (Edom)… God’s Kingdom, to this point had been split into two - 10 tribes to the north, 2 tribes to the south… and the Negeb region was in the south.

The Northern Kingdom, Israel, had already been destroyed by the Assyrians. Then about 150 years later, the city of Jerusalem and the country of Judah is conquered by the Babylonians… and this is the moment historical moment Obadiah is speaking into…

So the people of Judah, those who lived in this Negeb region will eventually end up living in the land of Edom.

and those of the (Chef-Fee-La) Shephelah

This area are the foothills, between Philistia, that’s on the coast and the mountain range, just west of the Dead Sea—where Jerusalem was… get to spread out into the surrounding areas…

shall possess the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of (Eeph-Ree-Am) Ephraim (one of the tribal regions of the Northern Kingdom) and the land of Samaria.

Then God moves from the Tribe of Judah, to the Tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was the other tribe that made up the Southern Kingdom of Judah. If you remember, 10 tribes went with the Northern Kingdom called Israel, and two tribes went with the Southern Kingdom. The Tribe of Judah was one of two tribes even though the Kingdom took on their name: Judah. But, what important here is that God didn’t forget about Benjamin…

God says… and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

No, this is not Gilead from the Handmaids Tale… this is a large area north of Moab.

So, this covers the Southern Kingdom, but God knows where each one of his people are… and God address them, too. And he calls them to return home to the Promised Land.

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20) The exiles of this host of people of Israel… host typically means army, but this is probably refereeing to remnants of the Northern Kingdom… those that survived the destruction of Israel by the Assyrians… For whoever survived, God says they shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as (Zare-Rah-Fath) Zarephath…

You can’t see Zarephath on the map, but it’s just north of Tyre there on the northern most part of the map… this is the people group that eventually migrates into Samaria and become the dreaded Samaritans that we read about in the New Testament.

But they are not the only exiles to return… verse 20 continues,

and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in (Seffer-Red) Sepharad… this is a hot topic issue for theology nerds, but we’re not sure where this ancient city was located. Most scholars believe this to be the ancient city of Sardis… way off the map… kind of off the coast of Turkey… but God says they shall possess the cities of the Negeb.

And Obadiah closes up the book with God’s prophesy, tying a bow on all that we read with these words:

21) Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion… Obadiah here is pointing to the restoration of Israel after their exile, so these “saviors” are likely human leaders who help establish justice and restoration as a part of God’s redemptive plan for Israel… it is believed that Obadiah is referencing the judges like—Ezra, Nehemiah, and others, those who called God’s people to redemptive repentance… to rule Mount Esau… again, referring to Edom… but also metaphorically as God’s enemy…

So this much more than a simple relocation of people groups… this is the fulfillment of prophesy… from Edom siding with Babylon, as they stood by and did nothing… watching as Jerusalem was destroyed and Judah decimated… God sees all this and tells Edom, “You will pay for this evil…”

And we know that the Babylonians came and destroyed Edom around the 6th century BC… this caused the Edomites, those who survived to disperse and completely assimilate into surrounding countries… and by the 1st century, they completely lost their distinct identity as a people…

Now, we see that the entire Promised Land has been addressed, and we see here that God concludes and sums up the book of Obadiah with these words:

and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

Now, being the Bible nerd that I am… this passage excites me… it unlocks a bigger picture for me and how I understand God… sometimes, when we really respect the moves that someone makes to a specific end, we’ll say, “They’re playing chess when everyone else is playing checkers.” Or another one, “They’re playing 4D chess…” We see this is what the Lord is doing…

And, just as God was orchestrating His grand plan of restoration for Israel, even when their situation seemed hopeless, He is at work in our lives today. The same God who brought His people back to the Promised Land is the God who moves in the chaos and uncertainties we face. You might not see the full picture now—just like the exiles couldn’t fully grasp what God was doing—but His plan is unfolding both for His glory and for your good. Let’s consider how this truth meets us in our own lives.

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And on that idea is where we get our BIG IDEA from this passage: GOD SHAKES THINGS UP TO REVEAL THE HOPE OF JOY.

Now, let me give you three things that help us to trust, that when we don’t understand what God is up too, when we have a hard time seeing how anything that’s happening in my life is going to turn out for my good, we can trust that God is actively shaking things up for our good… for the hope of joy… which is found in His Plan.

And with that, point #1)

1. God Changes Things to Bring Conformity to His Plan (v19)

As we read and went over verse 19, we saw God moving people all over the place… Now, to us, we don’t see how one people group moving from point A to point B matters in the midst of it. Although often, we’re able to see how it matters in hindsight…

And I wonder if you’ve ever experienced this? Life was chaotic, things seem to be falling apart, nothing was going right… only to see later the reason behind of those things…

The whole “hindsight is 20/20 things”…

I wonder if this is what’s happening to our country… we look around and we wonder how God could allow different aspect of our culture to flourish… or different people to rule… and we have a hard time (in the middle of it all) seeing how any of it could work out for His glory… or for our good…

John Piper has a saying that “God is alway doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.”

What we see from Obadiah, is God rearranging things to work out his plan at a macro-level… a plan to save humanity… a plan to restore all of creation…

What we can trust at a micro-level, is that God is personally attending to your life… changing things to bring conformity to His plan for your life…

And this is why it’s so important that we believe that our Heavenly Father is good… because if He is not good, then the pain He inflicts would be purposeless… it would be pain for pain’s sake… but we know it’s not…

Illustration: Imagine a chessboard. You might think you’re just a pawn, but we need to remember that God is the Grandmaster. He’s moving pieces you can’t even see, setting up victories you can’t yet imagine. Sometimes that means moving you to a place that feels uncomfortable or even painful… But we know He’s doing it for His glory and your ultimate good.

Application: So, here’s a question for you—what’s God moving in your life right now? Is it a new job, a new challenge, a new calling? Maybe it’s a hard season where you’ve lost more than you’ve gained. Whatever it is, trust that God’s in the details.

He’s not shaking things up to break you; He’s shaping you to fit into His perfect plan.

Scripture backs this up: 2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all…being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

2. God Redeems People to Restore Justice to the Land (v20)

The Promised Land was given to God’s people… and we see that while it appeared as if God’s people were gone… they were not… God knew where each one of them was and he was working it out for them to return back to where they belonged…

In your life, if you find yourself in a place where everything is falling apart… know this: God loves to restore what has been taken away… He loves to give good gifts to his children… and I know, right now it feels like nothing could ever replace what’s been destroyed… but our God can, and does, restore and fix what’s been broken.

This is what it means to live with hope… we don’t hope in ourselves… we hope in God… and we hope that what God brings into our lives is Justice. Making all things right.

Application: Church, if you’ve been wronged, if you’ve experienced injustice, know this—God sees you. He hasn’t forgotten. And God will bring justice…

3. God Speaks Prophecy to Foreshadow Salvation to the World (v21)

Prophecy Fulfilled in Christ: The “saviors” in Obadiah are a picture of the ultimate Savior, the One who would come to deliver not just Israel but the whole world. Jesus is the King who established His kingdom through the cross. When He died and rose again, He shook the foundations of sin and death, opening the door for all people to enter His eternal kingdom.

Illustration: Think about the moment when Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished.” At that moment, the earth literally shook. The veil in the temple tore from top to bottom. Why? Because the King had come, and He was making all things new.

New Heaven, New Earth: And we get this language, “Making all things new,” from Revelation 21:1–5 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.””

The restoration of Israel, the survivors that are restored back to Jerusalem, is foreshadowing the ultimate restoration—the people of God residing in the New Jerusalem with God—so as God did what Obadiah said he would do… we can more fully trust that Revelation 21 will come to pass as well… that as our lives are shaken… when we’re being moved about from here to there…

we must ask ourselves: what (or more specifically, who) are we going to trust? Where are we going to put our hope?

Application: Here’s the question: Where’s your hope today? Is it in your circumstances, your achievements, your bank account? Or is it in the unshakable kingdom of God? Because if your hope is anywhere else, when life gets hard… when life begins to shake… it will crumble…

But if your hope is in Jesus, you’ve got a foundation that can’t be moved.

The writer of Hebrews says it best: Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,”

Gospel Call and Communion

And that’s how we’re going to respond: Reverence and awe. Today, as we prepare our hearts for communion, we’re reminded that Jesus is the ultimate Deliverer Obadiah was pointing to. The bread represents His body, broken for us. The cup represents His blood, poured out for the forgiveness of sins… and we know that Christ’s sacrifice is so much more than offering forgiveness to us… his death on the cross ushers in an anticipation of the ultimate fulfillment of His kingdom… where, in the New Jerusalem and the New Earth, believers will share in the eternal feast with Jesus, in God’s presence…

Invitation: If you’re here today and you haven’t surrendered your life to Jesus, now’s the time. The world is shaking, your life may be shaking, but Jesus is the unshakable foundation you’ve been looking for.

He’s inviting you into His kingdom, a kingdom of joy, justice, and salvation.

Move to Communion

Let’s Pray:

Father, thank You for being the steady hand in the chaos. Thank You for using every shake-up to draw us closer to You. Help us to trust Your plan, to wait for your justice, and to anchor our hope in the unshakable kingdom of Jesus Christ. We love You, and we pray all this in His mighty name. Amen.

Benediction:

Series Blessing Based off Obadiah 15-17

The day of the Lord is near up the nations, so may you find yourself in the safety of the true Mt. Zion, who is Christ the Lord. Amen. Go in His peace.