Scripture Text: Obadiah 1:15 -21
For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.
Obadiah 1:15
World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has decided there is no God. In an interview, he suggested that “God” could be defined as “the embodiment of the laws of nature. However, this is not what most people would think of as God. They made a human-like being with whom one can have a personal relationship. When you look at the vast size of the universe and how insignificant an accidental human life is in it, that seems most impossible.” In his book, The Grand Design, he wrote he’s concluded that the universe was not created by a supernatural God but by a wholly natural Big Bang. The idea of a creator is “not necessary.” “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.”
For all those who say in their heart, “There is no God”, a day of reckoning will come. “The day of the LORD is near for all nations” (Obadiah 15). On that day, people will reap what they have sown. Just as Edom had sat drinking and carousing among the ruins of Jerusalem, so also will the nations be forced to drink the cup of God’s wrath on the day of judgment (Obadiah 16). As Paul wrote: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction”.
Thankfully, the day of judgment is also a day of deliverance for those who love the Lord (Obadiah 17). Righteousness will triumph over sin and evil. In terms of the judgment on Edom, in a bit of divine poetic justice Obadiah said that it would be the Israelites themselves who would execute judgment on Edom, specifically that the returnees from exile would occupy the former land of Edom (Obadiah 18-20). In the end, Mount Zion would emerge not as a place of defeat and exile and destruction, but a place of victory and deliverance and power. “And the kingdom will be the LORD’s” (Obadiah 21).
Reflect
From which cup will you drink, the cup of God’s wrath, or the cup of communion in Jesus Christ?
Remember
If we all reaped strictly what we’ve sown, there would be no hope for any of us. Because Jesus died in our stead, however, we no longer owe a penalty of death if we trust in His name (John 3:16). When we take communion, we do so in remembrance of Him—His body, broken for us, and His blood, shed for us . Choose God, love Him and rejoice!
Read
Psalm 14:1; Galatians 6:7-8; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Pray
Heavenly Father, I know that I deserve to drink Your cup of wrath, but I thank You for Your grace that You have not spared Your Son, and save a sinner like me that in Him, I may be able to drink Your cup of communion and rejoice in Him for eternity. To You who is loving, faithful, merciful, gracious, and all satisfying God, I praise. This I pray in Your Son’s Name, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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