Us and Them

March 21, 2020

Lent 2020

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“…And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.” (Obadiah 21b)

Our passage for today is not light reading. Did you know that Obadiah is the least read book of the Bible?6 There’s not much cheer found in these 21 verses. It’s about those “bad guys,” Edom. “Them.”

I live in Jerusalem, where everyone talks about “Us” and “Them.” The Holy Land is fueled by hatred in every direction. I see it everyday. We want the “bad guys” to get what’s coming to them! They deserve what they get! Let Edom have it! But in v. 15 it says “The day of the Lord is near for all nations, as you have done it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.”

Wait. Who are the bad guys again?

In Hebrew,”edom” is the same root letters as “adam” which is the word for mankind. Edom’s wickedness is an example of the human condition. Mankind is the “bad guys,” there really is no “Us” and “Them,” the judgment is ours.

But there is hope…

In verse 17 we read, “But on Mount Zion there will be deliverance,” and verse 21 says, “…and the Kingdom will be the Lord’s.” Amos 9 and Joel 2 also talk about The Day of the Lord, stating God’s plan to rebuild a Kingdom from David’s seed; a Kingdom of salvation where everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be included! Even a remnant of Edom will be there, praising the Lord.

There is no “Us” and “Them” in God’s Kingdom. The New Jerusalem will be re-populated with all the faithful and humble, all who have given their hearts to the Him…and the Kingdom will be the Lord’s! As we read in Revelation 11:15:”The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever!”

DIG DEEPER: