God Settles Accounts

You got a Bible, turn to Obadiah. Turn to Obadiah.

I'll give you a little extra time to find it.

Obadiah is one of those kind of like one pagers.

It's a single chapter. This summer we are I've just

called it the Summer of the Short Books. We were

recently in phi Lehman. It's one chapter long. We're today

we're in Obadiah, one chapter long. Soon we're going to

be in Jude one chapter long. You're kind of getting

the picture. We're tackling these books that are short. We

can usually take them in one or two or maybe

three bites on a Sunday, and we're going to be

doing that throughout this summer. And today we're in Obadiah.

While you're looking for Obadiah, let me just encourage you

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Yeah, you find Obadiah.

Okay, let me start in Obadiah this way. In about

nineteen forty four, a pastor named Dietrich von Hoffer.

Was in prison. He had been jailed by.

The government of Nazi Germany, and Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer and

as well as several lots of a whole cohort of pastors,

many of whom he sort of led, were refusing to

act on.

The Government of Germany's wishes. At the time.

There were lots of things that the government of Germany

were asking pastors and churches to overlook or cooperate in.

One of the things that they were doing was telling

pastors what to say and what to preach about what

was going on in the country at the time, and

Pastor Bonhoeffer was like, no, we're concerned about Germany's soul.

And the response from the German government was, you just

say what we tell you.

To say, and we'll worry about Germany's soul.

For this and other resistances, Bonhoeffer was thrown into prison,

and as he and other Christians and pastors suffered under

the persecution and imprisonment and eventual execution, Bonaheffer and his

fellows took this position, we can trust the justice of

God in whatever way he wants to do it, in

whatever timing he wants to do it. Though the Nazi

government seems untouchable right now, we trust that God settles accounts.

They might have seemed naive at the time.

There was Bonhoeffer in prison, there was the German government

seemingly too big to fail, to muscular to collect anything on.

But of course the Reich that was supposed to last

one thousand years was over.

In twelve.

And we are still reading and speaking of Pastor Bonhoeffer today.

Turns out bon Hoeffer was.

Right, but he wasn't right just because he happened to

be right or smart.

He was right because he knew from God's word that

he could trust the living.

God to settle accounts.

As we look at the book of Obadiah, the Prophecy

of Obadiah, what we'll find here is Obadiah is a

prophet whose name just means one who serves Yahweh. He's

almost purposely obscure, don't know anything else about him. We'll

also see the main character in this prophecy is a

nation called Eatom.

Eat them but I'll all.

Say right now, and I'll get into some of the history,

but Eatom is the nation that are the descendants of

a guy named Esau that you may be familiar with

from Genesis. Eat them Esau. These are synonymous. This synonymous,

and you need to know that when we read this.

The other thing I think that's worth keeping in mind

is that the people of God, at different times and

in different places do find themselves hard pressed, persecuted, maligned, marginalized.

This does happen.

And although now in this place and in this time

we enjoy great freedoms, we've gathered here this morning publicly

we share our faith and practice it without really overt

persecution of any kind. Right now, there have been times

that the greatest testimony of trust demonstrated by the people

of God is the fact that they instead of taking

justice into their own personal, vindictive hands, instead of despairing

over the way that they are being treated, rather can

trust that God settles accounts in his own way. Maybe

you're not a Christian but have seen Christians suffer mistreatment. Well,

you may have wondered where does that come from? What

theological resources do Christians draw on in order to not

take vengeance in their own hands, to not despair, but.

Rather to trust. What do they trust about God's justice?

What they trust about God's justice is that he knows

how to balance the books. Let's read the prophecy of

Obadiah and then we'll jump into it. It's just twenty

one verses twenty one versus that I think are sometimes

hard to understand, truly, but we'll do our best. The

vision of Obadiah, Thus says the Lord concerning Edom. We've

heard a report from the Lord, and a messenger has

been sent among the nations. Rise up, take, let us

rise against her for battle. Behold, I will make you

small among the nations. You shall be utterly despised. The

pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live

in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling,

who say in your heart, who will bring me down

to the ground? Though you soar aloft like the eagle,

though your nest is among the stars.

From there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.

If thieves came to you, if plunderers came by night,

how you would have been destroyed?

Would they have not steal only your enough for themselves?

If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings?

How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures sought out. All

your allies have driven you to your border. Those at

peace with you have deceived you. They have prevailed against you.

Those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you,

And you have no understanding. Will I not on that day,

declares the Lord, destroy the wise men out of edom

and understanding, out of Mount Esau. And your mighty men

shall be dismayed, o'teeman, so that every man from Mount Esau.

Will be cut off by slaughter.

Because of the violence it's done to your brother Jacob,

shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.

On the day that you stood aloof, on the day

that strangers carried off his wealth, and foreigners entered his

gates and cast lots for Jerusalem.

You were like one of them.

But do not gloat over the day of your brother

in the day of his misfortune. Do not rejoice over

the people of Judah in the day of their ruin.

Do not boast in the day of distress. Do not

enter the gate of my people in the date of

their calamity. Do not gloat over his disaster in the

day of his calamity. Do not loot his wealth in

the day of his calamity.

Do not stand at the.

Crossroads to cut off his fugitives. Do not hand over

his survivors in the day of distress. For the day

of the Lord is upon all nations. As you have done,

it shall be done to you.

Your deeds shall return on your own head.

For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so

all the nations shall drink continually. They shall drink and swallow,

and they shall be as though.

They had never been.

But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,

and it shall be holy. The house of Jacob shall

possess their own possessions. The house of Jacob shall be

a fire, and the House of Joseph of flame. The

House of Esau stubble. They shall burn them and consume

in them, and there be no survivor for the House

of Esau. For the Lord has spoken. Those of the

Negeb shall possess Mount Esau. Those of the Sheffala shall

possess the land of the Philistines, and they shall possess

the land of Ephrium and the land of Samaria. And

Benjamin shall possess Gilead. The exiles of this host of

the people of Israel shall possess the land as far

as the the land of the Canaanite as far as Xerophath,

and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Safarid shall

possess the cities of the Negev. Saviors shall go up

to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the.

Kingdom shall be the Lord's. This is the word of

the Lord.

Like why have we not heard a sermon on Obadiah before,

I don't know, because the message is actually pretty pertinent.

It's certainly pertinent amongst people who are facing persecution or

injustice of any kind, because the message of Obadiah is

God settles accounts, and the people who trust the justice

of God trust that he will do that. And there

are three truths I think from Obadiah that help frame

how we understand God settling accounts. Here's the first truth.

Three truths. Here's the first one. God settles accounts even

though some seem untouchable. God settles accounts even though some

seem untouchable. I'm sure Pastor Bonhoeffer felt like the government

of Germany was untouchable while he sat in prison. In

verses one and two, you just start with the vision

of Obadiah. Obadiah's like, hey, eat them, you're going down.

You seem untouchable. In fact, they were very much untouchable

as far as Judah was concerned at the time. You

seem untouchable, but it's coming. And Eaedam's response to that

in verse three was the pride of their heart had

deceived them. They thought they lived in an untouchable situation.

The pride of their heart deceived them. They were in

a lofty place, they had the high ground they sit

in their heart. Who can bring us down? And Obadiah,

You're gonna go down even harder than you think. If

people came and robbed you, wouldn't they just take enough

what they of? What they needed, wouldn't they just take

enough for themselves, But you're gonna go all the way down.

But they couldn't see it. They thought they were untouchable.

The pride of their heart had deceived them. It kind

of reminds me of King Nebaconezzer, if you know this account,

as King Nebuconezzer.

Walks on the rooftop the highest place.

He's the highest dude, standing on the rooftop of his palace,

the highest place in Babylon, the highest city militarily over

the highest empire of the world.

At the time.

And the prophet of God had said, God is going

to touch you if you don't humble yourself.

But one day he.

Stood on that rooftop and he looked at all of Babylon,

and he said to himself, is this not great Babylon

which I have built for my glory? And at that moment.

God touched his sanity and he lost it. He couldn't

even hold on to his own mind. He seemed untouchable.

Right Israel couldn't have touched him, No country could touch him,

no no empire could overcome him. He was the highest

dude on the highest place in the highest city of

the highest empire. But no one is untouchable, no one.

It's always a scary thought. This is just a by

the way for Christians. By the way, if you ever think,

look what I've done, Look what I've built, look how

much I have like, jettison that thought immediately. But that's

just an a that's just a by the way, because

the real message to the people of God in this

is more like, don't be intimidated by those who think

they're untouchable.

Don't share in their mistake.

They might think they're untouchable, You should know better. You

should not be intimidated by them. You should not despair

over the fact that their accounts to.

Settle, And who oh, who could possibly make things right?

Because you know who makes things right. No one's untouchable.

They thought they were untouchable because of their situation. They

thought they were untouchable because of their allies. We can

see that in verses six and seven. Right, all your

allies have driven you to your border. Those at peace

with you have deceived you, those who share bread with

you have set a trap.

Esau Edom thought that they.

Were untouchable because they had allied themselves with the most powerful.

Nations Eatam's boast was in their allies.

First, Peter tells the people of God, and trust yourself

to the one who judges justly.

Your allies.

Throughout the entire history of God's people, they've made the

same mistake over and over again of thinking that they

needed to trust the powerful in this world. And one,

Peter says, intrust yourself to the one who judges justly.

God settles accounts. No one is untouchable. Don't be intimidated

by those who you think are untouchable. Don't ally yourself

with those who you think you need, all yourself with

the one, the only one you need. They thought they

were untouchable because of their situation, because of their allies.

They thought they were untouchable because they were smart, he

says in verses eight nine. On that day declares the Lord,

will I not destroy the wise men out of you

them the understanding. You know, there are some very smart

people in this world. Their limitations are astonishing. They can't

even see around a single corner. No one is untouchable.

No one's actually that smart, no one's that powerful.

And as the Bible says, let not the wise man

boast in his wisdom. But let the one who boasts

boast in this that he knows the Lord.

That's your boast. People of God, that's your boast. Boast

in that.

And let those who boast in their wisdom, let those

who boast in their allies. Let those who think that

their situation is untouchable not intimidate you, not cause you

to despair. We trust the truth that God settles a counts,

and we trust that even though some seem untouchable, no

one is. That's the first truth that we trust. Here's

the second. The second truth that we trust is that

God settles accounts, even though he seems sometimes too patient.

God settles accounts even though sometimes he seems too patient,

I mean too patient. How can God be too patient? Well,

let me get into the background on this, because in

verses ten through fourteen, Obadiah is sort of like pointing

towards the history of Israel and Eaedom. Let me get

into it. The history of Israel and Eedom go all.

It goes all the way back to Genesis. Israel is

a nation that are the descendants of Jacob, also called Israel.

Edom is a nation that is the descendants of a guy.

Named Esau they're brothers, and Jacob ripped Esau off.

He started it true.

And years later he returned to Esau, brought bringing restitution

and repentance, and it looked like everything was going to

be fine, except for as things went, all of the

descendants of Esau would persecute Israel. They were brothers, they

were neighbors. But even after Israel was taken into slavery

and held in Egypt for years and years and years,

generations and generations, as the nation left slavery and was

desperate for help, they came to their brothers and Edam said,

all we need to do is pass through your land

and get to the place that God is taking us.

And Eatam said, fend for yourself. Go around. We don't

want you here. We won't help you one bit.

And then once Israel got established and begin to operate

as a kingdom, Eden would make raids on Israel throughout

her nationhood. And then finally, so we're covering generation after

generation after generation here right. And then finally when Babylon

came end and exiled Jerusalem, taking all of the people

of Israel out of there with just a few survivors

of a few remnants, did eatom help.

No fact, that's what he's talking about here.

And in Psalm one thirty seven, Psalma says this, remember,

o Lord, against the Eden might the day of Jerusalem,

how they said lay it bear, lay it baar.

That's generations. That's what I mean by is God to patient.

I think that many.

People, many people can identify with the refrain that shows

up in the Bible over and over again when they're

suffering under injustice, the refrain that shows up, How long,

o Lord, how long will you have patience with this?

When are you going to settle accounts? Eden was passively

unjust to them. So you see that in verses ten

through twelve, as the violence was being done to their brother,

done to their neighbor, they.

Stood aloof They failed to.

Love them, they failed to protect them, They failed to

serve their brother and serve their neighbor.

They just turned a blind eye to their needs.

Which is again a by the way for the people

of God. We are not just called to avoid active

evil evil, but rather we are called to love our neighbors,

to protect, to serve, to provide for neighbor and brother.

They were also actively unjust towards them Verses thirteen through fourteen.

Right they cut off those in Juda, they they plundered them.

And yet, and yet in God's law, what we find

is this in Deuteronomy twenty three, do not despise an Edamite,

for he is your brother. What they despise us. But

what we get in Romans twelve Christians, what we get

is this, do not avenge yourself, but leave room for

God's wrath.

It is mine to avenge. I will repay instead. If

your enemy is hungry.

What feed him? If he's thirsty, give him something to drink.

And it says this, and in doing so, you will

heap burning coals on his head.

Huh, how does that work?

How does putting food and drink in a man's hands

put burning coals on his head?

Can't I just do the coals.

God's in charge of the coals. God's in charge of

what gets put on his head. You take care of

what needs to be put in his hand. And in fact,

that's what God says verse fifteen and sixteen. For the

day of the Lord is near upon all nations. As

you have done Edom, it shall be done to you.

Your deeds shall return on your own head. People of God,

let God take care of what needs to be put

on people's heads.

Do not avenge yourself, but leave room for.

God to do what he has promised to do, which

is settle accounts.

Even if you think.

He's too patient, he's not. He's perfect in his patience.

Can we trust? Can we trust the truth that God

settles accounts even when he seems.

Too patient?

Can we trust that God settles accounts even when some

people seem untouchable. There's a third truth in Obadiah about

God settling accounts.

Starts in verse seventeen. Starts with the word butt.

It's a big butt, and it's important. Let me highlight

this truth this way. If the first truth is God

settles accounts even though some seem untouchable, and the second

is God settles accounts even though he seems too patience,

sometimes the third truth is this God settles accounts in

his own way. God settles accounts in his own way.

And here's what I'm getting at. If you start in

verse seventeen and you go all the way to the

end of Obadiah, it's sort of a puzzle.

It's kind of a puzzle.

John Calvin thought it was a puzzle, and I think

you'll see why. I mean, if you just go all

the way to the end. The verse twenty one. Verse

twenty one says, saviors shall go up to Mount Zion

to rule Mount Esan and the kingdom shall be the lords,

the kingdoms, the kingdom shall be the lords who are

these saviors. Calvin said, this is like the apostles, those

who preach the Gospel.

And baptized. And I read that, and.

I thought that was odd until I considered his argument.

He said, when the Bible says the kingdom shall be

the Lord's, what is the kingdom that is the Lord's

except for.

That place where his word rules supreme.

And his word came to the people through Christ, of course,

through Christ, through the apostles, through those who preach the

Gospel and were baptized, who actually put their lives under

the submission of God, who put their.

Lives in under the word of God, who.

Says, I will trust the Gospel of Christ, and I

will trust the word of Christ.

My life belongs to him. I will be in God's kingdom.

How An, I I think you're onto something.

In other words, as God establishes his kingdom, he does

it his own way. He does it his own way,

and then you kind of work from there. In verses

nineteen and twenty, not only do you have like his

kingdom being established his own way, you've got this multiplication

that happens.

His own way. You see verses nineteen through twenty where

it says Negabel shall those are the Negabel.

Shall possess Mount Esau Sheffala and Atlanta the Philistines. As

he's talking about this, this is not a reclamation only

of Israel. This is a multiplication. This is beyond the

borders of Israel. This is expansion.

Huh.

Well, that has never happened, not in a conventional way,

but under the commission of Christ. That is exactly what

happened under the commission of Christ. That is exactly what

happened God's way. Before the Book of Acts was completed,

the rule and kingdom of God was spreading and multiplying

across all of this region and has continued ever since,

even reaching to San Antonio, Texas.

God's way, God's way.

And this could happen in a conventional way under God's

administration at some point in time, who knows. But what

we know is that it's already happening. God's way now.

And this judgment, this judgment.

In verse eighteen, the house of Jacob shall be a

fire Joseph of flame.

Esau s double, and.

Jacob is going to consume Esau with fire. Well, that

happened God's way, not by Jacob turning to revenge. We

were just talking about revenge. We were just talking about

leaving God to settle accounts. Jacob was off the scene,

Israel was off the scene. Judah had been exiled. It

was God using other nations to come and consume.

We saw an edom.

That happened, But it happened because Edom had touched the

flame of Judah inappropriately caught fire, and other nations consumed.

That happened God's way. That happened God's way.

In verse seventeen, this holiness, but in Mount Zion, there

shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy.

God established holiness amongst his people, not through a temple

made by hands, through the temple of Christ's body torn

down and restored in three days. God established the holiness

of his people taking refuge in the Mount Zion of

God by the blood of Christ that covered his people

and made them holy. I don't know about you, but

I praise God that he settles his accounts his way,

because he was If he was going to settle accounts

you and way, I'd be up. But instead, he said,

all who, all who repent and place their faith in

me and my son and the work of my son,

I will make them holy. I will make them a

part of my kingdom, and my kingdom will not end.

I subtle accounts. There are none who are untouchable. I

settle accounts. Don't despair. There are none that I am

being too patient with. My patience is perfect, and praise

God for it.

And I settle accounts my way, and I'm glad that

he does. Would you stand with me in prayer all

over this place heavenly?

Father Loarvi asked that you would continue to strengthen our faith.

There's no doubt in my mind that there will be

those of us.

Before our time is.

Through that face injustice, persecution, mistreatment, that are maligned.

And what will we do?

Will we try to take justice into our own hands?

Will we try to personally grab a hold of.

Vengeance? Will be despair?

Will we just melt under persecution as if there is

no one who can rescue?

I pray that we would trust. I would pray that

we would trust that you settle accountants.

There is no one untouchable, that there is no way

in which you were being too patient. Lord, we're a

testimony of gratitude towards your patients. There's no way in

which you are too patient. You are perfect in your patients.

And though we praise you that you settle accounts your way,

certainly we are the beneficiaries of you settling accounts with

us through your son, and so we asked that you

would just continue to build our trust in your perfect justice.

It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen, let's sing