A Tale of Two Brothers (2)

[0:00] Well if we could, this evening, with the Lord's help, turn back to the first portion of scripture that we read. In the book of the prophet Obadiah, page 933 in the Pew Bible, or 934.

[0:25] The book of the prophet Obadiah, and the last verse. Verse 21. Saviour shall go up to Mount Zion, to rule or to judge Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.

[0:43] Saviour shall go up to Mount Zion, to judge Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. This morning, during the morning service, when we were talking to the children, those of you who were here, you'll remember that I brought in this nice tub of creamy Philadelphia.

[1:13] And my purpose in bringing in the tub of Philadelphia for the children, wasn't to make them hungry, or to try and persuade the children to try it for themselves.

[1:25] My intention was to draw attention to the meaning of the word Philadelphia. Because I was saying to the children this morning, that the meaning of the word Philadelphia is brotherly love.

[1:38] It means, the word Philadelphia means brotherly love. The word is a Greek word. It's philos, which means loving, or love, and adelphos, which means brother.

[1:52] And so philos and adelphos, together is where we get the word Philadelphia, which means brotherly love. And I was just thinking about that while looking at this chapter this evening.

[2:07] Because when we began considering this little book hidden amongst the pages of the Old Testament, we saw that the book of the prophet Obadiah was all about a lack of brotherly love.

[2:20] And that the reason Obadiah was prophesying about coming judgment was because there was no Philadelphia, no brotherly love between two nations.

[2:31] And that's what the prophecy of Obadiah is about. It's about a long-standing family dispute between two brothers that lasted centuries.

[2:43] Because it was a dispute which was woven into the fabric of their children and their children's children. And as we said last week, the book of Obadiah could be described as a tale of two brothers.

[2:59] With two brothers with no Philadelphia, you could say. With no brotherly love. Because the two brothers which this book highlights, they were twins.

[3:10] And we saw that last week. They were the sons of Isaac and Rebekah who were mentioned in the book of Genesis. And these two twins, these brothers, they were called Jacob and Esau.

[3:23] But when Rebekah, their mother, was pregnant with her twins, she struggled. Which is no surprise. Not only because she was pregnant, but also because she was pregnant with twins.

[3:35] And the result was that Rebekah went and inquired of the Lord. She prayed to the Lord and she asked the Lord, Why am I struggling? And the Lord said to Rebekah in Genesis 25, Two nations are in your womb.

[3:50] Two peoples shall be separated from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other. And the older shall serve the younger.

[4:01] Two nations are in your womb. And so Rebekah was told that she not only had twins, but she also had two sons who would be the foundation of two nations.

[4:13] And that there would be a dispute between these two brothers. And that dispute came when Esau, the elder brother, sold his birthright to the younger brother, Jacob.

[4:24] And in doing so, they fulfilled the Lord's promise that the older shall serve the younger. But Esau sold his birthright without fully understanding what it was.

[4:35] Because the birthright which belonged to Esau was a blessing. It was the covenant blessing of God that had been passed down from generation to generation from their grandfather, Abraham.

[4:48] And when Esau realised that his brother had tricked him into selling his birthright, it was the start of this bitter feud between these two brothers that would last centuries.

[5:00] It was the beginning of a tale of two brothers. But as the Lord promised, the tale of the two brothers was to become the story of two nations.

[5:11] Because when Esau sold his birthright, we're told that his name was called Edom. And when Jacob wrestled with the Lord all night and the Lord blessed Jacob, he said, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel.

[5:28] And so these two brothers were, they were the foundation to two nations. where Esau established the nation of Edom and Jacob fathered the twelve tribes of Israel, whom the Lord promised to bless and protect as his people.

[5:46] And so the prophecy of Obadiah is directed towards these two nations in which they shared the same border. They were neighbours, but they were enemies.

[5:59] There was no Philadelphia between them. There was no brotherly love. And as I said last week, if these two siblings, if they teach, if these two nations, if they teach us anything, they ought to teach us that life is far too short for quarrelling and far too short for family feuds.

[6:21] Life is far too short for arguments and for holding grudges. And that we're taught in Scripture the greatest commandment. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength, and your neighbour as yourself.

[6:41] Love your neighbour. And although this book is the shortest in the Old Testament with only 21 verses, its message, it may be a brief message, but it's a message from the Lord.

[6:55] It's a message from the Lord. And the message from the Lord, as we can see, is twofold because there's good news and there's bad news. The bad news, it was that the Lord was going to judge the sin of Edom.

[7:06] And the good news was that there was going to be salvation for Israel. And that's what we were looking at last week. Edom's ruin and Israel's restoration.

[7:17] Where Edom's ruin is mentioned in verses 1 to 16 and then Israel's restoration is highlighted for us in verses 17 to 21.

[7:29] But we only reached verse 10 last week. And so we pick up at verse 10 and I'd like us to see three things in the closing verses of this book of the prophet Obadiah.

[7:43] Three things. The sorrow of Israel, the salvation of Israel, and the saviour of Israel. The sorrow of Israel, the salvation of Israel, and the saviour of Israel.

[7:58] So we look firstly at the sorrow of Israel. The sorrow of Israel. If you read again with me verse 10 and 11. Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you.

[8:11] This is to Edom. 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.

[8:26] The sorrow of Israel took place in 586 BC. And this date, 586, 586 BC, it's a key date to remember.

[8:44] Because it's one of those unforgettable moments in biblical history. In a couple of weeks' time as a nation, and even as a continent, we will gather and remember a specific date.

[8:58] We'll remember the 11th of November. And we'll remember it because that was the date, an unforgettable date in our history when the First World War came to an end and there was peace in our land again.

[9:14] Well, 586 BC is another key date which we ought to remember and have etched in our memories when we come to look at the Bible.

[9:25] Not because there is a remembrance date to commemorate such an occasion, but because it was a significant period in the history of the nation of Israel. And not one that is remembered fondly by the Israelites.

[9:39] Because 586 BC was the year that the capital city of Israel, which was Jerusalem, 586 BC was the year that Jerusalem was invaded and destroyed by the Babylonians.

[9:53] 586 BC was the year in which Jerusalem fell and all the Israelites they were taken captive and exiled out of their land and into the nation of Babylon.

[10:06] And in Babylon the Israelites they were commanded to live in a foreign land and to serve a foreign king, Nebuchadnezzar, and they were to bow down to all their foreign gods.

[10:17] 586 BC was the darkest moment in Israel's history. And yet all the prophets, all the prophets from Isaiah to Jeremiah to Joel and to Hosea, they all proclaimed to the people of Israel the same message time and time and time again.

[10:38] Judgment is coming. Judgment is coming. Judgment is coming. You need to repent because judgment is coming. And all the prophets, they spoke about this impending judgment in Israel because of their idolatry.

[10:52] The Israelites, they had drifted away from serving the Lord and they'd fallen into idolatry where they were worshipping all these false gods and bowing down to idols. And the prophets, they had repeatedly prophesied and pleaded with them to turn.

[11:09] Pleaded with them and told them that the day of judgment is coming. when the Israelites were going to be overthrown by this powerful enemy and carried off into exile, they were told about it again and again and again.

[11:23] And that day of judgment, it was often referred to as the day of the Lord. And this is what Obadiah is speaking about in verses 10 to 16 where he repeats the phrase in the day of, in the day of, in the day, do not enter into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity, in the day of his calamity.

[11:47] He's referring to the day of the Lord when the nation of Israel was attacked by the Babylonian army and taken off into exile. And so 586 BC was a year in which the Israelites would never forget.

[12:02] It was etched into their mind. It was, because it was a year in which it changed the face of the nation of Israel. It changed them completely.

[12:14] But when reading the words of this prophet Obadiah, I'm left wondering, well, where does the nation of Edom fit into all this? Where does Edom fit into all of what's going on here?

[12:28] Where they had turned up to, they had, Israel had turned and they had turned to false idols and worshipped false gods. But what does Edom have to do with the Babylonian invasion?

[12:41] What does Edom have to do with the judgment of Israel, their brother? Because looking at it from Edom's point of view, they weren't involved with the people of Israel.

[12:52] They certainly had a grudge towards the people of Israel. They didn't like them. There was this long-standing dispute between these two nations because it found its root in the two brothers, Jacob and Esau.

[13:06] But as far as they were concerned, Israel, nothing to do with them. Nothing to do with them. The Edomites, they didn't believe in God. They didn't follow the Lord. They had no care towards what was going on between Israel and the Lord.

[13:20] It was nothing to do with them. They didn't think anything of it. And so what, so why is Obadiah talking about Edom here? And I suppose from Edom's perspective, it was probably the same story of Cain and Abel all over again.

[13:41] The first brothers in the history of mankind were Cain sent to the Lord about his brother Abel. Am I my brother's keeper?

[13:53] But as we know from the relationship between the two brothers, Cain and Abel, there was animosity, there was jealousy, there was hatred, there was so much hatred to the point that Cain murdered his brother Abel.

[14:08] And when the Lord asked Cain, where is your brother? All Cain could reply, all Cain would say to the Lord is, am I my brother's keeper? What's that to do with me?

[14:19] Am I my brother's keeper? And that's the same response which Edom gave towards their brother nation Israel when the day of the Lord's judgment came. Edom just shrugged their shoulders and said, in effect, am I my brother's keeper?

[14:35] But what's interesting is that the reason Edom was being judged by the Lord was the same reason Cain was judged by the Lord. Because Edom had murdered their brother Israel in their heart.

[14:52] They had murdered them in their own heart because they hated them with a vehement hatred. And is that not what Jesus warns us about in the Sermon on the Mount?

[15:04] You've heard that it was said of old, you shall not murder. And whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to the judgment.

[15:20] Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council. And whoever says to his brother, you fool, will be liable to the fires of hell.

[15:33] And that's why the Lord was judging Edom. Because the Edomites, they were meant to be responsible for their brother, nation, Israel. But they hated them.

[15:44] They wanted them dead. They may not have been the nation that invaded them and took them off into exile. But their lack of care towards their brother, nation, showed how deep this dispute was and how much they hated the Israelites.

[16:01] And this is why the Lord says to Edom in verse 10, Because of the violence done to your brother, Jacob, shame shall cover you and you shall be cut off forever.

[16:12] The Lord said to the Edomites, they were going to be destroyed, they're going to be cut off, they're going to be given no possibility for forgiveness, no opportunity for repentance, they're going to be wiped out completely.

[16:27] Now what's interesting is that by the time Jesus comes, Edom doesn't exist. Doesn't exist, completely wiped out. And the Lord says to the nation of Edom in verse 11 that they were going to be destroyed because they were accomplices when Israel was attacked by the Babylonians.

[16:48] Where the Lord says in verse 11 that the foreigners who were the Babylonians, when they entered the gates of Jerusalem, Edom is described as one of them.

[17:00] Just like one of them. They were with them. They were part of Israel's downfall. They had failed to stand up for their brother. Which is why the Lord goes on to say in verse 12, do not gloat over the day of your brother and the day of his misfortune.

[17:17] 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 day of their calamity.

[17:28] 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 of his fugitives.

[17:39] Do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. That's what he's talking about. In the day of. the day of the Lord. It was to be like no other.

[17:50] It was to be Israel's judgment day. But all Edom did was just look on. Look on as Israel was attacked by the Babylonians and ransacked and destroyed and they rejoiced to see them fall.

[18:08] They gazed on their affliction and they stood by as the Israelites were dragged off into exile. And the Lord says you shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have rejoiced over your brother's misfortune.

[18:22] You shouldn't have stood by when they were hurting. You shouldn't have spoken so proudly and boasted how great you are and how strong you are and how rich you are and how powerful you are.

[18:34] As a nation you should have helped your brother. You should have helped your brother. But it was the pride of Edom that led to their fall. For the Lord said to Edom as we saw last week in verse 3 the pride of your heart has deceived you.

[18:53] The pride of your heart has deceived you and we all know the well known proverb pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

[19:06] And that was Edom's story. pride comes before a fall. And there is a strong lesson for us here. Not only as Christians in a congregation but members in a community.

[19:22] Because what we are taught here although we may never think about it or even think like it we're not to rejoice over the misfortune of others.

[19:34] We're not to play the priest and the Levite and cross over to the other side of the road and ignore our role as the good Samaritan. We're not to stand proud over others and gloat when they get things wrong.

[19:49] We're not to gossip about their affliction and their sins and their hardship because who do we think we are to ever look down upon someone else?

[20:01] What right do we have to be proud of ourselves and boast of our own achievements? Who do we think we are? Because my friend if we're going to do any boasting if we're going to do any boasting it should be of the Lord's mercy towards us.

[20:19] Our boasting should be of the Lord's patience with us. Our boasting should be of the Lord's faithfulness towards us in spite of who we are and what we're like.

[20:32] Because we have nothing to boast. We've got nothing to be proud of. We've nothing to boast but to boast in Jesus Christ. And instead of highlighting one another's burdens and adding to them, Obadiah is teaching us that we are to bear one another's burdens, either literally or prayerfully.

[20:56] We ought to do it in order to fulfil the law of Christ, the law which commands us love one another as Christ has loved us and gave himself for us.

[21:11] We're to show Philadelphia. We're to show our brotherly love towards one another. We're to support one another, especially if we are Christians, because the Bible reminds us that the way in which we know we have passed from death to life is because we love the brethren.

[21:32] We love our brother. We love our neighbour. We love those around us. We look after those around us. And is that not what Jesus taught us?

[21:43] That having humbled himself to wash the feet of his disciples, Jesus said, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

[22:00] But then the challenge came from Jesus when he said, by this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

[22:15] So that's the challenge, to love one another. That's the first thing we see here, the sorrow of Israel. The sorrow of Israel in which their brother nation Edom stood by as they were being attacked.

[22:32] But secondly, I want us to see the salvation of Israel. The salvation of Israel. What it says in verse 17, days of understand me, what it shall know what it shall be those who are delivered.

[22:57] Those who are delivered. We sang earlier in Psalm 137, and in that psalm, it's a beautiful psalm, I love singing it, but in that time the psalmist is writing as an exile in Babylon where he says by Babel's streams we sat and wept when Zion, when Jerusalem we thought on and midst thereof we hanged our hearts the willow trees upon and the psalmist in Psalm 137 he went on to speak how the Babylonians had demanded the Israelites to sing all the songs of Zion to sing about Jerusalem, sing about your own nation it was just taunting them sing about the good old days sing about all the memories that you had but they couldn't do it it was too painful because all the memories they had had been wiped by this Babylonian invasion and their captivity into exile in Babylon it was too much for them and the psalmist says how shall we sing the Lord's songs within a foreign land they couldn't do it they couldn't bring themselves to do it but what's interesting in Psalm 137 is that the Israelites they never forgot that Edom was part of the invasion they never got over the fact that their brother nation was in on the action as it were because the psalmist said

[24:25] Lord remember Edom's sin when Jerusalem met its fate tear it down their voices cried tear down every wall and gate and what we see in Psalm 137 is that the Israelites they never forgot the way that they were treated by their own brother they never got over the hatred that their brother showed towards them but now as we look at this section of Obadiah's prophecy the focus is it's moving away from Edom's ruin to Israel's restoration the Lord has dealt with Edom the Lord has spoken to Edom and declared judgment on the nation of Edom because of their hatred towards their brother but now the Lord declares to Israel that their experience of exile in Babylon it will not last forever because the Lord promises to his people they will be restored they will not always remain in a foreign land to serve a foreign king and be made to worship foreign gods the Lord promises that the Israelites there will be deliverance there will be restoration there will come a time in the future when the people of Israel will return home and their nation will be restored to its former glory and this is what the Lord says in verse 17 on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance there shall be deliverance there shall be salvation there's going to be redemption on Mount Zion there shall be salvation now Mount Zion as it's mentioned in many of the Psalms and in this book it was a mountain in Israel in which upon which Jerusalem was built the city of Jerusalem was and it still is today built upon God's holy mountain called Mount Zion and Jerusalem was built into the rock of Zion and it was seen and known by all the people of Israel as the dwelling place of God because that's where the temple was built that's where the glory of God dwelt in the holy of holies that's where all the Israelites made their pilgrimage pilgrimage every year to Mount Zion to the mountain of God and here the Lord promises his people that they will see those days again they will be delivered he says they'll be delivered from the hand of their enemies they will experience the salvation of the Lord they'll be set free from captivity in Babylon and they'll be brought back to Mount Zion they'll return from exile and come back to the mountain of God and the Lord says there shall be holiness and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions there shall be holiness and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions and that's an interesting promise and a statement to make because the Lord emphasizes that the people of Israel will repossess what they lost at the exile but not only that more will be given to them in which their inheritance will be far greater than it was at the first where they will receive an abundance of possessions and the possessions which the Lord promises to the people is the promise of land

[28:04] Israel is going to receive an abundance of land and that's what the Lord promises to the Israelites in verses 18 to 20 where it says the house of Jacob shall be afire the house of Joseph aflame the house of Esau stubble they shall burn them and consume them there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau for the Lord has spoken those of the Negev shall possess Mount Esau those of Shephla shall possess the land of the Philistines they shall possess the land of Ephraim 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 Zarephath and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Shephard shall possess the cities of the Negev and so what the Lord is saying is that when the people of Israel return from exile the nation will be restored to its former glory when Israel is redeemed from bondage and set free there will be a great blessing when the salvation of Israel comes the Lord will restore the nation of Israel and the abundance of possessions which Israel is going to receive is beyond their asking and beyond their thinking because all the land that the Lord promises to his people it's the original promised land the promised land the land that flows with milk and honey it's all the land that was part of the covenant promise with Abraham the Abraham who was

[29:40] Jacob's grandfather the Abraham who had received the original promise of blessing which included the promised land because the Lord had said to Abraham way back in in Genesis 12 I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing I will bless those who bless you I will curse those who curse you and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed and that was the covenant promise that was passed down from generation to generation from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to the 12 tribes to all the children after them down throughout all the Israelites where they all received the promise of Abraham that they would be a great nation and this is why the promise of possessing an abundance of land is so important here because what the Lord is promising to his people is that when they are delivered from bondage when they return to the land of Israel it will be the promised land it will be the land of promise because what the Lord says about these lands the mountains of Esau and Philistine and Ephraim and Samaria and Gilead and the land of the Canaanites and even the south what the Lord says about all these lands is that they will belong to Jacob they will belong to the nation of Israel and this is what's remarkable because when the Lord mentions the house of Jacob and the house of Joseph in verse 18 he is referring to the two kingdoms of Israel and the long history of Israel is that it was a divided nation there were two kingdoms

[31:25] Joseph describes the northern kingdom Jacob describes the southern kingdom but when Obadiah prophesies it's one kingdom one kingdom of Israel which emphasizes that the promise of salvation would not only mean redemption and restoration it would also mean reunion and vindication and victory the land which the Lord promises that the Israelites will possess is the promised land and the purpose of mentioning all the land and the abundance of possessions is to remind the Israelites of the Lord's faithfulness towards his people when he assured them the promised land way back when they escaped from Egypt for when we look at the history if you look at the history of Israel it's a remarkable history where the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt and the Lord delivered them the Lord delivered them from slavery and bondage in Egypt the Lord brought salvation and by considering the history of Israel we can see the relationship between the Israelites in bondage in Egypt and their bondage in Babylon and both cases the Lord promises to his people a great inheritance a great inheritance that they'd be delivered from the hand of their enemy that they'd go over the Jordan and inherit the promised land and the picture which Obadiah is trying to present to us

[33:05] I hope you're following with me I know it's very hard with all this talk about land but the picture which he's presenting to us is a picture of salvation a beautiful picture of salvation because salvation is deliverance from the hand of the enemy from the hand of the enemy of sin and death that's our position that's where we're born that's what we're in that's where we find ourselves when we enter into this world but what the Lord is promising to his people is the assurance and the promise of an inheritance a great inheritance and that's the promise for the people of God that's the promise for those who trust in the Lord and the promise it's not only to the generation that left Egypt and the generation that left Babylon but the promise he's saying stands for every generation every generation it stands for us the promise it still stands tonight that in the salvation of the Lord the Lord claims us as his own covenant people and he says to us

[34:17] I will be their God and they shall be my people that's the covenant promise I will be their God and they shall be my people and that in him because of him says Peter we have received an inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled that fades not away and it's reserved in heaven for us that's the promise of the covenant the Lord will bless his people the Lord will protect his people the Lord will deliver his people the Lord will save his people from their sins that's the wonder of this salvation but that salvation could only come through a saviour it could only come through a saviour and that's what

[35:18] Obadiah tells us here he tells us about the saviour of Israel so we've considered the sorrow of Israel the salvation of Israel but there could be no salvation without a saviour so let's look lastly and briefly at verse 21 the saviour of Israel the saviour of Israel he says in verse 21 the saviour shall go up to Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau and the kingdom shall be the Lord's the last word that this minor prophet gives to us on the pages of scripture is a word about the saviour of God's people and throughout his short but full prophecy Obadiah presented to us the ruin of Edom and the restoration of Israel where Edom's ruin it came about by their pride the restoration of Israel all due to their saviour and as we just saw the salvation which the Lord promised was the blessing of the covenant that the people of God the people of God would receive as their inheritance the promised land the inheritance that is incorruptible and undefined but now

[36:42] Obadiah reminds us that the promise of the covenant was that the Lord would bless his people with this incorruptible inheritance he would deliver his people from bondage and the Lord would protect his people in the security of their salvation but that promise it could only come through the saviour the saviour in which the Lord would save his people from their sins and you know I love these words hidden in the pages of the Old Testament saviour shall go up to Mount Zion to judge Mount Esau and the kingdom shall be the Lord's I love those words because all these words are is an affirmation and a projection of what would happen in the New Testament because the promise of salvation could only come through a saviour a saviour that would save his people from their sins and when we come to the opening pages of the

[37:50] New Testament we're confronted with a word from an angel regarding the saviour of Israel you shall call his name Jesus why for he shall save his people from their sins you shall call his name Jesus you shall call his name Jesus but as we can see from what Obadiah prophesies here he uses the plural and not the singular he uses the term saviour and not saviour and straight away we're left asking why does he do that why does he say saviour and not saviour does this mean that there are more saviours than one yes it does because the passage is clear there are more saviours than one and at this point most commentators either skim over this translation or they ignore it all together but looking at what

[38:52] Obadiah is saying about deliverance and salvation and restoration the statement the saviour shall come to Mount Zion it can only be explained in light of the trinity god the father god the son god the holy spirit because what i often forget and maybe you forget it too is that the work of salvation is not just confined to the one person jesus christ the work of salvation in the life of a believer from beginning to end it's a trinitarian act it's an act of all three persons of the god and all working together for the salvation of god's people and in that sense they're all saviors they're all partaking in the salvation they all have a role to play in the deliverance from the bondage our deliverance from the bondage of sin and death and that's what the apostle paul what we were reading earlier on that's what he found remarkable as he explained the wonder and the glory of the gospel to the colossians he reminded them that it is god the father who promised us a share in the inheritance of salvation it's god the father who promised to his people the promised land that's incorruptible and undefined but not only that says paul he has delivered us he delivered us out of the power of darkness into the kingdom of god's beloved son and it's in him says paul it's in him in the son it's in him that we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins and this all takes place by the enabling of the holy spirit the holy spirit huge part to play it enlivening our heart opening our eyes it's a triune act of god's salvation they're all working together they're all working together in this act of salvation and you know in the closing words of this little book hidden amongst the pages of the old testament we're given this wonderful picture of the cross wonderful picture of the cross savior shall go up to mount zion and they shall judge the mountain of esau and the kingdom shall be the lord's the savior shall go to mount zion the savior god the father god the son god the holy spirit they shall come to mount zion they shall go up to jerusalem that's where they all met outside the city walls and outside the city walls of jerusalem on a cross they all met and there they judged the mountains of esau they brought judgment upon everything that esau stood for and that esau represented sin and death but my friend what i want us to see in in this closing image before us with with mount zion and mount esau is that we have two kingdoms we have two kingdoms the kingdom of darkness the kingdom of god's dear son god's beloved son and that's the message of the book of abadiah it's the tale of two brothers esau and jacob the story of two nations the nation of edom and israel the message of two kingdoms the kingdom of darkness the kingdom of god's beloved son jesus

[42:53] christ and i suppose the only question that you have to answer tonight which kingdom do you belong to which kingdom are you in are you still in the kingdom of darkness or have you come into the kingdom of god's beloved son which kingdom do you belong to because there's no middle ground there's no in between state you can't be close to the kingdom of god because being close it's not close enough you have to be in it you're either in one kingdom or the other and i don't think i need to tell you which kingdom to be in because as obadiah prophesies the kingdom that will have the final victory over sin and death will be the kingdom that belongs to the lord and my friend if you haven't already done so you need to come into the lord's kingdom you need to be found in the kingdom of god's beloved son because in his kingdom there is redemption there is forgiveness of sins there is an inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled fades not away reserved in heaven for us the book of obadiah not saying it's the easiest book to look that but it's the tale of two brothers the story of two nations a message of two kingdoms which kingdom are you in may the lord bless these thoughts let us pray oh lord help us we plead to see how wonderful the kingdom of god is and to see that every promise is yea and amen in christ help us oh lord to cling to thy truth help us to study it diligently and to see that there is so much hidden and so much to be found in the pages of thy truth it's no wonder that it is called the unsearchable riches for it is inexhaustible but oh lord that thou wouldst give to us a hunger and a thirst to learn more about thee and to know that thou art the god who has provided a way of salvation in and through jesus christ bless us we pray watch over us and do us good for jesus sake amen we shall conclude by singing in psalm 145 psalm 145 it's the second version of the psalm page 444 psalm 145 psalm 145 from verse 8 down to the verse marked 14 the lord our god is gracious compassionate is he also in mercy he is plenteous but unto wrath and anger slow down to the verse marked 14 thy kingdom hath none end at all it doth through ages all remain the lord upholdeth all that fall the castor and raiseth up again these verses to god's praise the lord our god is

[46:53] gracious compassionate is he also in mercy he is plenteous but unto wrath and anger slow who come to all may is the lord for all his works his mercy is thy works of grace to thee the lord thy saints o lord my angel blessed the glory of thy kingdom shall they shall lay upon thy power tell thy power tell that soul and sons his deeds may know his kingdom's great the love excel thy kingdom and thy kingdom thy kingdom at night end at all it is done through ages all remain the lord upholdeth all that fall and call that more the cast of raisin up again

[49:02] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore Amen