The Kingdom Shall Be the Lord's

The Kingdom Shall Be the Lord's (Obadiah)
Intro: Prophets are God's royal ambassadors
Compare e.g. 2Ki 18

Review: Familiar message sent by the Great King to rebellious vassals
In 700s: Jonah (to Nineveh), then Amos & Hosea (to Israel), & Micah (to Judah)
In 600s: Nahum (to Nineveh), Zephaniah & Habakkuk (to Judah),
Soon after fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, Obadiah (to Edom)

Exposition

1. Judgment coming on mountains of Edom (1-9)
   Don't trust in your defenses (v4), allies (v7), wise men (v8), mighty men (v9), they all will fail you.

2. On the day of their destruction, you were like one of them (10-14)
   a. You watched w/ joy on day of their captivity (v12)
   b. You looted their homes on day of their calamity (v13)
   c. You cut off all who fled in day of their distress (v14)

3. On Day of the Lord, you will be like one of them (15-16) (turning pt)
   There are many days of the Lord in Scripture, when God brings his just judgment upon unrepentant, wicked men, which ushers in a great reversal.

4. Salvation coming on mountain of Zion (17-21)
   Great reversal comes for Zion when Edom is looted & consumed, none shall survive; but Zion shall possess all nations.

Application

1. God's Ambassadors: which ambassadors we are.
   2Co 5:20-6:2

2. God's Justice: Lex Talionis.
   "As you have done, it shall be done to you; your reprisal shall return upon your own head" (v15).

3. God's Kingdom: fate of Jacob & Esau.
   "And the kingdom shall be the LORD's" (v21).

Immediate fate of Edom (desolated by Babylon in 582 BC), & final confrontation between Jacobite & Idumean kingdoms (Lk 23:7-11, Acts 12:1-13:1).