The Dusk of Esau, the Dawn of the Lord

Introduction

The Day of the Lord

Switching Focus from Judgement on Esau to God’s plan for all the nations: The Day of the Lord

What is the Day of the Lord?

A majour theme in the latter prophets, especially Isaiah, Joel, Zephaniah.

The Day of God’s judgement over his enemies and the establishment of his Kingdom.

Psalm 75:8 ESV

For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.

A day of God’s victory over Edom,

Isaiah 34:8–9 ESV

For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning pitch.

A day of victory over other nations

Egypt (Isaiah 19:16)

Ethiopia (Ezekiel 30:9)

Babylon (Jeremiah 51:2)

Ammonites, Philistines, Tyre, Moab.

All the nations opposed to Zion, God’s holy hill (AKA Jerusalem, in its spiritual significance)

Zechariah 12:3–5 ESV

On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it. On that day, declares the Lord, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.’

Psalm 110:5–6 ESV

The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.

Ultimately, the day of the Lord is the Day that God goes to war against the proud, for all who are proud are his enemies and the enemeis of his people. Jerusalem is his base of opperations, as we read in Joel 3:16

Joel 3:16 ESV

The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.

However, the Day of the Lord is not only a day of judgement on the nations, but on Israel as well. Just as God will repay the evil of the nations, he will also judge his people and divide between those who are merely Israelite in blood and not heart and his repentant remnant. Listen to God’s warning to those who were eagerly looking fforward to this Day of the Lord:

Amos 5:18–22 ESV

Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them.

The warning goes on in Amos 6

Amos 6:1–3 ESV

“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes! Pass over to Calneh, and see, and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory, O you who put far away the day of disaster and bring near the seat of violence?

Amos 6:8 ESV

The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

How do we come to terms with this? On the one hand, the Day of the Lord is a day when God will have his vengence on his enemies and the enemes of his people. The nations that have wronged his elect nation of priests will be destroyed, wiped out with no remnant of their people. On the other hand, God is also going t judge Israel on that day, all but destroying them and leaving a remnant or survivors.

Vs. 16 God’s judgement on the nations who celebrated th destruction of Jerusalem.

Vs 17 The escape of the remnant and their eventual return to their possessions, according to the ancient promises of God.

Vs 18 When the remnant is secure in their possessions, they will be God’s means of consuming Esau and, presumably, the rest of the nations.

Rulers and Saviours of Esau and Israel

The coming King will rule over both Nations, bringing them both into one Kingdom.

The nature of this rule will bring Saviours, those who bring the Lords salvation.

Conclusion

Obadiah takes the current issues of the day and brings the focus to God’s great promises in a coming Kingdom. We can interpret our times in a similar way, knowing God has reserved wrath for the nations that don’t know God but has also sent the Gospel of Christ into the world.