30. JOEL & OBADIAH

Joel & Obadiah - Both emphasize the Day of the LORD, judgment, and nations

Nahum & Habakkuk - Excellent pairing: God judges evil / Why doesn't God judge evil?

Haggai & Zechariah - Post-exilic prophets encouraging Israel to rebuild the Temple

Theme: The Day of the LORD

Key Texts:

Joel 2:12–13 KJV

Therefore also now, saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, And turn unto the Lord your God: For he is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness, And repenteth him of the evil.

Obadiah 15 KJV

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.

Obadiah 21 KJV

And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

Big Idea

The Day of the LORD is coming.

God calls people to repentance, promises restoration to His people, judges the proud nations, and ultimately establishes His kingdom.

INTRODUCTION — TWO SMALL BOOKS WITH A BIG MESSAGE

Tonight we're looking at two of the shortest books in the Old Testament: 

Obadiah is actually the shortest book in the entire Old Testament—only 21 verses.

But sometimes size doesn't determine significance.

Both books deal with one of the great themes of Bible prophecy:

“The day of the LORD.”

Joel - gives us the big prophetic picture.

Obadiah - gives us a specific example of God's judgment on a nation—Edom.

And both books ultimately point us toward the same truth:

God is in control of history, judgment is coming, and the kingdom belongs to Him.

I. JOEL — THE DAY OF THE LORD

1. THE DEVASTATION — JOEL 1

We don't know exactly when Joel ministered. Unlike many of the other prophets, Joel doesn't identify a king or give us a precise historical date.

Instead, Joel begins with a catastrophe.

A terrible locust invasion has devastated the land.

Joel 1:4 KJV

That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; And that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; And that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

Everything has been stripped bare.

The crops are gone.

The vineyards are devastated.

The people are suffering.

And Joel says, in effect:

Don't just look at the disaster—look at what God is saying through it.

He calls the people to repentance.

Joel 1:14 KJV

Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the Lord your God, And cry unto the Lord,

The devastation became a divine wake-up call.

And that's an important spiritual principle.

Sometimes God allows circumstances that cause us to stop, examine our lives, and realize:

“I need to get right with God.”

II. THE DAY OF THE LORD

JOEL 2

Joel moves from the immediate plague to something much larger.

Joel 2:1 KJV

“… For the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand”

This phrase appears repeatedly throughout the prophetic books.

The Day of the LORD is God's decisive intervention in human history—bringing judgment upon sin and ultimately establishing His righteous rule.

Joel describes it as:

great

terrible

dark

unavoidable

… And then comes the invitation.

Joel 2:12 KJV

Therefore also now, saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

And then one of the most beautiful verses in Joel:

Joel 2:13 KJV

And rend your heart, and not your garments, And turn unto the Lord your God: For he is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness, And repenteth him of the evil.

In other words:

God isn't looking for empty religious activity. He wants genuine repentance.

You can tear your clothes and still have a hard heart.

III. THE RESTORATION

JOEL 2:18–27

After judgment comes restoration.

God tells Israel:

Joel 2:25 KJV

“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten…”

What a promise.

The same God who allowed judgment is able to bring restoration.

The locusts had eaten.

The land had been devastated.

But God wasn't finished with His people.

That's an important truth for us:

Devastation is not necessarily the final chapter.

God can restore.

God can rebuild.

God can revive.

God can take what appears ruined and bring glory out of it.

But remember the context: Joel is speaking prophetically about God's dealings with His covenant people, ultimately pointing toward Israel's restoration.

IV. THE SPIRIT

JOEL 2:28–32

Now we come to one of the most important passages in the book.

Joel 2:28 KJV

And it shall come to pass afterward, That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions:

Sons and daughters will prophesy.

Young men will see visions.

Old men will dream dreams.

Then Joel says:

Joel 2:32 KJV

“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered…”

In  Acts 2, Peter stands on the Day of Pentecost and quotes Joel 2.

That means Joel's prophecy has a direct connection to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the New Testament age.

But there is something important to understand.

Peter's quotation does not require us to say that every detail of Joel's prophecy was completely fulfilled at Pentecost.

Joel's prophecy continues into the great prophetic events surrounding:

Israel

the nations

the Day of the LORD

cosmic signs

judgment

salvation

and ultimately Christ's kingdom.

That's why Joel is so important in understanding biblical prophecy.

V. THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS

JOEL 3

Joel now moves from Israel's restoration to God's judgment upon the nations.

Joel 3:2 KJV

I will also gather all nations… And will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

God is going to deal with the nations according to their treatment of His people.

And then Joel gives us this tremendous statement:

Joel 3:16 KJV

“… But the Lord will be the hope of his people…”

That's where Joel takes us.

Judgment is coming—but God's people have hope.

And that leads us naturally into Obadiah.

VI. OBADIAH — THE PRIDE OF EDOM

Obadiah is only 21 verses long.

Its subject is primarily Edom.

Who were the Edomites?

They descended from Esau, Jacob's brother.

So Edom and Israel were related.

But throughout their history, Edom repeatedly opposed Israel.

And God tells Edom:

Obadiah 3 KJV

“The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee…”

That's the central problem.

Edom became proud.

They trusted in their:

position

military defenses

wisdom

wealth

geographical location

They believed they were secure.

But God says:

Obadiah 4 KJV

“… Thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.”

Pride always overestimates itself and underestimates God.

VII. EDOM'S SIN —

THEY REJOICED OVER JUDAH

Edom's problem wasn't simply pride.

They also rejoiced when Jerusalem was suffering.

Obadiah 11 says Edom stood by while Jerusalem was attacked.

Then verse Obadiah 12 says:

Obadiah 12 KJV

“But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother…”

Edom saw the suffering of Judah and celebrated it…. And God says: I saw it.

That is important.

Sometimes we look around and think:

“Nobody sees.”

God sees.

Nobody may know what was said.

God knows.

Nobody may know how somebody was mistreated.

God knows.

Nobody may see injustice.

God sees.

And Edom learned that lesson.

VIII. THE DAY OF THE LORD —

OBADIAH 15

Now we find our connection between Joel and Obadiah.

Obadiah 15 KJV

“For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen…”

There's the same phrase again.

Joel says:

The Day of the LORD is coming.

Obadiah says:

The nations will answer when it comes.

And then: “as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee...”

God's justice is certain.

Edom may have escaped human justice.

But they could not escape divine justice.

IX. THE FINAL WORD

THE KINGDOM BELONGS TO GOD

Obadiah doesn't end with Edom.

It ends with God's kingdom.

Obadiah 17 KJV

“But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance…”

Obadiah 21 gives us the final statement:

Obadiah 21 KJV

“… the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.”

That is a tremendous way to finish the book.

The kingdom doesn't belong to the proud.

It doesn't belong to the powerful.

It doesn't belong to the nations.

It doesn't belong to Satan.

The kingdom belongs to the LORD.

And ultimately, Scripture points us toward the reign of Jesus Christ—the King.

X. CHRIST IN JOEL & OBADIAH

Joel points us to Christ through:

The Spirit — Acts 2 connects Joel's prophecy to Pentecost.

Salvation — “whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered.”

The Day of the LORD — Christ will ultimately judge and establish righteousness.

Israel's restoration — God's prophetic purposes for Israel are not forgotten.

The Kingdom — God's ultimate purpose is the establishment of His righteous rule.

Obadiah points us to Christ through:

The coming judgment of the nations.

The deliverance of God's people.

The establishment of God's kingdom.

And that final statement is enough to preach:

“And the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.”

XI. THREE LESSONS FOR US

1. DON'T IGNORE GOD'S WARNING

Joel's locust plague was a wake-up call.

God was calling His people to repentance.

When God puts His finger on something in our lives, we shouldn't harden our hearts.

We should turn to Him.

2. DON'T LET PRIDE DECEIVE YOU

Obadiah says:

“The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee.”

Pride doesn't usually announce itself.

It deceives us.

It makes us think:

“I'm okay.”

“I don't need God.”

“I'm secure.”

But Proverbs 16:18 says:

“Pride goeth before destruction...”

Edom learned it.

We need to learn it.

3. REMEMBER WHO IS IN CONTROL

The world looks chaotic.

Nations rise.

Nations fall.

Governments change.

Wars come.

Kings die.

Empires disappear.

But Joel and Obadiah remind us:

God is still on the throne.

The Day of the LORD is coming.

Christ is coming.

Judgment is coming.

Restoration is coming.

And finally:

“The kingdom shall be the LORD'S.”

CONCLUSION

If I could summarize Joel and Obadiah in four words, they would be:

REPENT.

God is calling people back to Himself.

WATCH.

The Day of the LORD is coming.

TRUST.

God will keep His promises to His people.

REJOICE.

Because the final word isn't Satan's.

It isn't Edom's.

It isn't the nations'.

It isn't man's.

THE KINGDOM SHALL BE THE LORD'S.

And that's the hope of prophecy.

We aren't waiting for history to figure itself out.

We're waiting for the King.

Jesus Christ is coming again, and when He comes, God's purposes will be fulfilled, His enemies will be judged, His people will be vindicated, and the kingdom will belong to the LORD.

JOEL & OBADIAH

The Day of the LORD is coming.

So repent while there is time, remain faithful while we wait, and remember—God wins in the end.