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Episodes
Wednesday Aug 20, 2025
Wednesday Aug 20, 2025
Wednesday Wisdom
Proverbs 17
G’day! Welcome to Partakers and to Wednesday Wisdom, where we are listening to what the Bible has to say through the Wisdom literature of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Come on in!
Today we are listening and learning from Proverbs 17.
1 Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than a house full of sacrifices with strife.
2 A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causes shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.
3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord tries the hearts.
4 A wicked doer gives heed to false lips; and a liar gives ear to a naughty tongue.
5 Whoso mocks the poor reproaches his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.
6 Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.
7 Excellent speech becomes not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.
8 A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that has it: where ever it turns, it prospers.
9 He that covers a transgression seeks love; but he that repeats a matter separates very friends.
10 A reproof enters more into a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool.
11 An evil man seeks only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.
12 Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
13 Whoso rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.
14 The beginning of strife is as when one lets out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
15 He that justifies the wicked, and he that condemns the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.
16 Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he has no heart to it?
17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
18 A man void of understanding strikes hands, and becomes surety in the presence of his friend.
19 He loves transgression that loves strife: and he that exalts his gate seeks destruction.
20 He that has a perverse heart finds no good: and he that has a perverse tongue falls into mischief.
21 He that brings a fool does it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool has no joy.
22 A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones.
23 A wicked man takes a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
24 Wisdom is before him that has understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
25 A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.
26 Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.
27 He that has knowledge spares his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.
28 Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise: and he that shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
That’s it for today! Come back every day to Partakers Podcasts to hear something to encourage and uplift you as a Christian disciple, regardless of where you are in the world. You can also purchase our books via Amazon at Pulptheology.com
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Tuesday Aug 19, 2025
Tuesday Aug 19, 2025
Psalm 47
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
47:1 Oh clap your hands, all you nations.
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
47:2 For Yahweh Most High is awesome.
He is a great King over all the earth.
47:3 He subdues nations under us,
and peoples under our feet.
47:4 He chooses our inheritance for us,
the glory of Jacob whom he loved.
Selah.
47:5 God has gone up with a shout,
Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.
47:6 Sing praise to God, sing praises.
Sing praises to our King, sing praises.
47:7 For God is the King of all the earth.
Sing praises with understanding.
47:8 God reigns over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
47:9 The princes of the peoples are gathered together,
the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God.
He is greatly exalted!
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Monday Aug 18, 2025
Monday Aug 18, 2025
Psalm 136 to Psalm 140
Often we hear the Psalms one by one, but today we offer you the chance to hear a group of Psalms read as a collection!
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Psalm 136
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures for ever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures for ever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures for ever.
4 to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures for ever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures for ever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures for ever.
7 who made the great lights –
His love endures for ever.
8 the sun to govern the day,
His love endures for ever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures for ever.
10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures for ever.
11 and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures for ever.
12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures for ever.
13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder
His love endures for ever.
14 and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures for ever.
15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures for ever.
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness;
His love endures for ever.
17 to him who struck down great kings,
His love endures for ever.
18 and killed mighty kings –
His love endures for ever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures for ever.
20 and Og king of Bashan –
His love endures for ever.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures for ever.
22 an inheritance to his servant Israel.
His love endures for ever.
23 He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures for ever.
24 and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures for ever.
25 He gives food to every creature.
His love endures for ever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures for ever.
Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’
4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD
while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.
7 Remember, LORD, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
‘Tear it down,’ they cried,
‘tear it down to its foundations!’
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.
Psalm 138
f David.
1 I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart;
before the ‘gods’ I will sing your praise.
2 I will bow down towards your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
that it surpasses your fame.
3 When I called, you answered me;
you greatly emboldened me.
4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, LORD,
when they hear what you have decreed.
5 May they sing of the ways of the LORD,
for the glory of the LORD is great.
6 Though the LORD is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
though lofty, he sees them from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.
8 The LORD will vindicate me;
your love, LORD, endures for ever –
do not abandon the works of your hands.
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,’
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand –
when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 140
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 Rescue me, LORD, from evildoers;
protect me from the violent,
2 who devise evil plans in their hearts
and stir up war every day.
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s;
the poison of vipers is on their lips.
4 Keep me safe, LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from the violent,
who devise ways to trip my feet.
5 The arrogant have hidden a snare for me;
they have spread out the cords of their net
and have set traps for me along my path.
6 I say to the LORD, ‘You are my God.’
Hear, LORD, my cry for mercy.
7 Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer,
you shield my head in the day of battle.
8 Do not grant the wicked their desires, LORD;
do not let their plans succeed.
9 Those who surround me proudly rear their heads;
may the mischief of their lips engulf them.
10 May burning coals fall on them;
may they be thrown into the fire,
into miry pits, never to rise.
11 May slanderers not be established in the land;
may disaster hunt down the violent.
12 I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor
and upholds the cause of the needy.
13 Surely the righteous will praise your name,
and the upright will live in your presence.
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Thursday Aug 14, 2025
Thursday Aug 14, 2025
Haggai
Hello, welcome back to our minor prophets series. This week we are looking at the book of Haggai. This is another short book, consisting of just 2 chapters.
As with several of the other minor prophets, we don’t know much about Haggai himself. We can be quite sure about the dating of the book though, because Haggai included precise dates for the oracles he received from God. These details place the book in the year 520 BC, and between the months of August and December. Haggai was a contemporary of the prophet Zechariah.
In 539 BC Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered and overthrew Babylon. One of the first things Cyrus did was make an edict that allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the temple. This action was predicted by the prophet Isaiah and recounted in the first two chapters of the book of Ezra
About 50 000 Jews, including Ezra, returned to Jerusalem in 536 BC and they began to rebuild the city. Ezra encountered significant opposition to his work and the building work stalled. Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem 13 years later to spearhead another major push to rebuild the walls. His building team managed to complete the building of the walls but they also faced hostile opposition and the population of Jerusalem was still relatively small and vulnerable. The people had a dramatic experience of repentance and revival under Nehemiah’s leadership but after he’d left them to go back to his job in Babylon the people quickly slipped into sinful ways.
By the time we reach the prophecy of Haggai, 16 years have passed since the origin return of the first exiles to Jerusalem.
King Darius is ruling the kingdom of Persia, which now includes the territory of Judah. The people of Jerusalem have settled back into their city and they have built houses for themselves. But there is a problem. They have left the temple in a state of decay and ruin.
God sends his word via Haggai to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the high priest:
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.”
(Haggai 1:2)
The people have busied themselves in the building of their own houses but they have procrastinated about rebuilding God’s house, the symbol of God’s presence amongst them. God explains to the people that because of their indifference and neglect of his house, he has frustrated their efforts to be fruitful and productive in their farming and manufacturing. They have been working hard to produce clothes and food but yet they cannot seem to get warm or satisfied. God cannot stand by and allow his house to be neglected in this way whilst the people simply pursue their own interests.
Once the people hear this and realise the source of their failure, they obey God and commence the work on the temple. They have physical work to do and also emotional work to do, turning their hearts back towards God. The people respond with respect and fear of God and God reassures them:
Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD's message, “I am with you, declares the LORD.” (Haggai 1:13)
Some of the people of Jerusalem would have been old enough to recall Solomon’s temple in the days before the fall of Jerusalem and the exile to Babylon. Once the building work got underway it became obvious to them that the rebuilt temple would be nothing like the old temple; it would be much plainer and far less glorious. So God sends word to Haggai again to encourage the people.
‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. (Haggai 2:3-5)
God speaks with great comfort and love to his people and assures them that he is not going to leave them and they have no need to be afraid. God promises that he will fill the temple with the treasures of the nations and, more than that, he will fill it with his very presence, making it more glorious than the first temple.
God’s next word is to the priests, three months after the rebuilding began. He reminds them that something that is ceremonially clean cannot make an unclean thing holy by touching it, but something unclean is capable of defiling something holy. In the same way, the ruin of the temple has rendered all of the offerings of the people unholy and inadequate. Although God has punished his people by limiting the fruitfulness of their produce, he promises to bless them again, once the temple is rebuilt.
The final part of the book is addressed to Zerubbabel the governor.
On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts.” (Haggai 2:23)
Zerubbabel was a descendent of king David. In this section God is confirming his promise to bless his people, and eventually the whole world, through the house of David. A signet ring was a used to make a mark in wax or other soft material as an official seal and sign of royal approval and authority. God sets Zerubbabel over his people as his chosen instrument. And, lo and behold, if we look ahead into Matt 1:12-13, we find Zerubbabel’s name in the genealogy of Jesus.
So what can the prophet Haggai teach us today?
Firstly, although the focus of the prophecy is on the rebuilding of the temple, the message is not primarily about a building, it’s about a relationship. God was concerned with the neglect of the temple because it was a sign of the people’s neglect of their relationship with God. God is not pursuing and saving and loving bricks – he’s interested in people.
Sometimes we are called to embark on literal building projects for the sake of God’s kingdom. There is often hard physical work to be done and practical things to be arranged, but the point of it is to bring people into a relationship with God. It’s all for his glory and his name.
Sometimes our labours are less about bricks and mortar and more about learning and teaching or writing and blogging. Sometimes they are about planning or hosting events or arranging meetings and conferences. These things can be very important in building up the body of Christ, but they are not to exist simply for their own benefit. It is not primarily about the well-written lesson or sermon or book or blog. Neither is it just about the successful event, the well-attended talk or the popular conference. It’s about a relationship with the creator of the universe. No matter how hard we slave away under the guise of working for God, if we’ve neglected our relationship with him, the works will be useless. God wants our hearts and our minds first of all. He wants our love. We cannot prove our love in our works, we need to experience it as a reality in our relationship with God, and from this our works will follow.
Paul says it like this in 1 Corinthians 13:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.(1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
Secondly, God wants our work for him to take a place of highest priority in our lives. When Jesus teaches his disciples about worry, he tells them to stop being so concerned with what they are going to eat or drink or wear. He then says:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
Jesus says that God knows what we require and he understands our physical needs, but if we will only make his kingdom work our first priority, he will see to our other needs as well. Haggai reminds us that all things come from God in the first place, so it really is quite foolish to hang onto our stuff so tightly, when it all came from God’s generous hand in the first place.
Finally, Haggai reminds us that a more glorious temple is coming, and in fact has already come. Haggai spoke God’s prophecy about a temple that would be filled with God’s glory, more glorious than the first temple. When Jesus died on the cross the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The way to God was opened and there was no longer a need for God’s people to meet him within the confines of the physical temple, through the mediation of a priest.
The old temple became obsolete and the new temple is now made up of living stones, the individual believers in Christ. Peter describes it like this:
You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)
In the book of Haggai, God promises to the people of Judah that he is in their midst. In the book of Revelation we see the ultimate realisation of this promise. In chapter 21 of Revelation the apostle John writes about his vision:
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it.
(Rev 21:22-26)
Next week we’re going to be looking at some selected highlights from the longer book of Zechariah. It’s one of the Old Testament prophetic books that is quoted numerous times in the New Testament and there is some incredible prophecy that we see fulfilled in the life of Jesus. Join me again next week to find out more!
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Wednesday Aug 13, 2025
Wednesday Aug 13, 2025
Wednesday Wisdom
Proverbs 16
G’day! Welcome to Partakers and to Wednesday Wisdom, where we are listening to what the Bible has to say through the Wisdom literature of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Come on in!
Today we are listening and learning from Proverbs 16.
1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord.
2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weighs the spirits.
3 Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts shall be established.
4 The Lord has made all things for himself: yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.
5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.
7 When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
9 A man’s heart devises his way: but the Lord directs his steps.
10 A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresses not in judgment.
11 A just weight and balance are the Lord’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.
12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.
13 Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaks right.
14 The wrath of a king is as messengers of death: but a wise man will pacify it.
15 In the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.
16 How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!
17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keeps his way preserves his soul.
18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
19 Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
20 He that handles a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusts in the Lord, happy is he.
21 The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increases learning.
22 Understanding is a wellspring of life to him that has it: but the instruction of fools is folly.
23 The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips.
24 Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
26 He that labours labours for himself; for his mouth craves it of him.
27 An ungodly man digs up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.
28 A perverse man sows strife: and a whisperer separates chief friends.
29 A violent man entices his neighbour, and leads him into the way that is not good.
30 He shuts his eyes to devise perverse things: moving his lips he brings evil to pass.
31 The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.
32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city.
33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.
That’s it for today! Come back every day to Partakers Podcasts to hear something to encourage and uplift you as a Christian disciple, regardless of where you are in the world. You can also purchase our books via Amazon at Pulptheology.com
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Tuesday Aug 12, 2025
Tuesday Aug 12, 2025
Psalm 112
Hallelujah! Blessed man, blessed woman, who fear God,
Who cherish and relish his commandments,
Their children robust on the earth,
And the homes of the upright—how blessed!
Their houses brim with wealth
And a generosity that never runs dry.
Sunrise breaks through the darkness for good people—
God's grace and mercy and justice!
The good person is generous and lends lavishly;
No shuffling or stumbling around for this one,
But a sterling and solid and lasting reputation.
Unfazed by rumor and gossip,
Heart ready, trusting in God,
Spirit firm, unperturbed,
Ever blessed, relaxed among enemies,
They lavish gifts on the poor—
A generosity that goes on, and on, and on.
An honored life! A beautiful life!
Someone wicked takes one look and rages,
Blusters away but ends up speechless.
There's nothing to the dreams of the wicked.
Nothing.
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Monday Aug 11, 2025
Monday Aug 11, 2025
Psalm 121
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,
from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the LORD,
which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:
he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper:
the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil:
he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and
thy coming in from this time forth,
and even for evermore!
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Saturday Aug 09, 2025
Saturday Aug 09, 2025
Psalm 111
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2 Great are the works of the LORD;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
giving them the lands of other nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are steadfast for ever and ever,
done in faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever -
holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.
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Thursday Aug 07, 2025
Thursday Aug 07, 2025
Psalm 124
A song of ascents. Of David.
1 If the LORD had not been on our side - let Israel say:
2 if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us,
3 when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive;
4 the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us,
5 the raging waters would have swept us away.
6 Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare;
the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
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Thursday Aug 07, 2025
Thursday Aug 07, 2025
Thursday with Tabitha
9. Obadiah by Tabitha Smith~
Obadiah means “one who serves Yahweh”. We’re not told anything else about the prophet himself. In the course of the prophecy, the fall of Jerusalem (which happened in 586 BC) is referred to as a past event and the fall of Edom (which happened in 553 BC) as a future event. So it is likely that the book was written between these events.
~
To understand the background to Obadiah, we need to head back to Genesis, to the account of the brothers Jacob and Esau. These two non-identical twins were born to Isaac and Rebekah. Even from their birth, they showed signs of not exactly getting along. Esau was born first, all red and hairy, and Jacob followed after him, grasping his heel. They grew up to be very different. Esau was a skilled hunter, favoured by his father, whilst Joseph was an introverted man who preferred to stay with his mother in the proximity of the family tents.
~
Jacob famously tricked the hungry Esau out of his birth rite and later stole his father’s blessing by disguising himself as his older brother and fooling the elderly, blind Isaac. So Esau swore revenge on his brother and fully intended to kill him. Rebekah helped Jacob to escape and he fled to the territory of his uncle Laban. There he met and married his wives, Leah and Rachel. Esau, who was also called Edom, married several wives, including an Ishmaelite woman (that is, a descendent of Abraham’s first son by the slave girl Hagar).
~
Jacob and Esau did meet again some years later, and much to Jacob’s relief and surprise, Esau didn’t kill him on the spot but appeared to have forgiven him. Jacob still didn’t trust him though, and he took his family off in a different direction to avoid having to be in close proximity to his brother’s family.
Jacob had 12 sons by his two wives and their two servants. His 4th son, one of Leah’s children, was Judah, and from his line the tribe of Judah came into existence. From Esau’s line came the tribe of the Edomites.
The Edomites lived in the hill country of Seir. This was a mountainous region about 1500m above sea level. Their territory appeared to be impenetrable and they felt quite safe in their high dwellings. In Numbers 20 we read that after the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites asked the Edomites for permission to pass through their territory along the King’s Highway. The Edomites refused, adding to the tensions between these two tribes. However, in Deuteronomy 23:7-8, God commanded the Israelites that they should not hate an Edomite in view of the brotherly connection between the two tribes.
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Edom was defeated by king Saul in the 11th century BC and subdued again by king David 40 years later. Edom became a vassal state of Israel but it was never completely de-stroyed.
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Fast forward to the time of Obadiah, and we find that the tribe of Judah, the sole remnant of the original 12 tribes of Israel, had been conquered and the capital city of Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians. During the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, some of the Judeans had tried to escape from the city and flee into the surrounding coun-tryside. The Edomites, rather than helping their neighbours and brothers in the time of their distress, sided with the foreign invaders and handed over the fleeing Israelites to the Babylonians. Psalm 137:7 recalls how the Edomites gloated over the destruction of Jeru-salem: Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”
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The main theme of Obadiah is the judgement of the Edomites for the way they betrayed the people of Judah during the Babylonian invasion.
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The first 15 verses of the book are addressed to the people of Edom. God scorns the pride and arrogance of the Edomites, who say to themselves, “who will bring me down to the ground?” (v3), referring to their perceived safety in their high mountain region. But God will bring them down and they will be punished for their evil deeds. The prophet mixes both past tense and future tense verbs when describing Edom’s fate. This is a technique that can be found in prophetic writing, when future events are sometimes described as if they had already happened.
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God’s message through Obadiah is that Edom will be completely destroyed, with not a trace left behind. The main charges against Edom are found in verses 12-14: "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 day 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."
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The judgement is summarised in verse 15: "As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head."
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The final part of the book relates to the people of Jerusalem. God promises that he will preserve a remnant of his people who will survive the exile and reclaim the land that is theirs, according to his plans and promise. To the devastated people of Judah, this would have been an incredible promise of hope. It seemed, to all intents and purposes, that their future was doomed and that God’s promises to Abraham had come to nothing. But God promises that Judah will become like a raging fire once more, whilst Edom is reduced to stubble. Judah’s time of judgement for her own sin would be over, and then God would judge her enemies.
The final words of the book, in verse 21, declare that “the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” The promised land of the Old Testament foretells the reality of the greater promised land, which is the coming kingdom of God. Matthew’s gospel in particular speaks of this prom-ised kingdom, which Jesus ushered in during his time on earth. The whole of the Bible is the story of this ultimate kingdom, reaching its climax in the book of Revelation. The king-dom of God is already here, but it is not yet fully here. That won’t happen until Jesus re-turns.
In chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews, the writer recounts the names of the men and women of the Old Testament who trusted in God’s promises to them regarding the coming kingdom.
He then writes in verse 13-16: “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
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This city is the new Jerusalem, the heavenly kingdom. Jesus used several metaphors to try to help his listeners grasp the nature of the kingdom of God. He described it as a tiny mustard seed which grew into a huge tree, or as a tiny amount of yeast which could make a whole batch of dough rise. From tiny, seemingly in-consequential beginnings, something great grows. When all seemed lost to the exiled people of Judah, God says “just wait and see what I will do”. And the glory of the final kingdom is made all the greater by the trial of the journey.
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You and I are invited to be part of this coming kingdom of God. No matter how small and insignificant we might feel in the great plan of God, and no matter how dire our circumstances seem to be, we can be assured that God’s kingdom is coming and we can be part of it. It is surprising and mysterious, hidden and yet revealed, wonderful and awesome. It is something new, something different, something glorious. It is possible for the wisest brains to miss it completely whilst little children understand and embrace it.
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God is doing a new thing and he invites us to come and see. The prophet Isaiah recorded God’s words to his exiled people: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)
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Some 700 years after Isaiah, Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem and declared: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
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Even the seemingly obscure prophecy of Obadiah is part of Jesus’ great story. It’s all about him. Between the lines of prophecy about Edom and Judah we see the greater picture of God’s redemption plan and his justice, mercy and grace. When the risen Jesus walked on the road to Emmaus and explained to the amazed disciples how the Law and all the prophets spoke about himself, I like to think that he said a bit about Obadiah.
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We’ve got four more books to look at before this series draws to a close, and there are lots more interesting things to come as we look at Haggai, Zechariah, Joel and Malachi. Join me next week if you can! ~
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