Done!

Obadiah 1:15 “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.

As you have noticed, the prophets of the Old Testament were sometimes ruthless in their pronouncements of judgment and their call to repentance. They didn’t pull punches. After all, they were punching for the LORD. It was His fight, not their own fight, that they were waging against the sin of rebellion in its many forms.

That is often what we need today, isn’t it. We yearn for leader who are straight forward talkers. No double speak or half truths, just the truth told because they truly care about their people. The prophets had the heart of God and spoke from that position. They cared deeply about His people, and they wanted restoration of relationship with the LORD.

Obadiah uses the phrase “the day of the LORD” in the same way that it is so often used in the prophetical writings of the Old Testament. The day of the LORD is almost universally connected to judgment of sin and reconciliation of those who repent.

There were small ‘days’ and there were some very large ‘days’ that were predicted. Some of the ‘days’ happened when both Israel and Judah were taken into captivity. Some of the ‘days’ happened when the Jews were returned to their land following the exile and judgment happened on their neighbors.

We as Jesus-followers often only think of the final “Day of the LORD” that is recorded in Daniel, Ezekiel and the Revelation. Heaven and earth are turned right side up and the Garden is restored. We rule and reign with Christ and steward this new place alongside Him.

But I have had some small ‘days’ in my life when He spoke and called be to repentance. These are not the ‘days’ written about in the Scriptures, but they changed the course of my history significantly. When I knew it was His voice, and I knew that He loved me more than I could even imagine, yielding was relatively easy.

But there have also been some ‘days’ that stretched into weeks, when I resisted that submission. And those were hard, painful weeks. I knew it was the LORD, but I wasn’t giving up without a fight. I knew I would lose, but I fought anyway. I was wrestling and struggling with my own selfish desires. I put up roadblocks to obedience.

In our text the way the LORD will bring about one of those ‘days’ is spelled out. He is speaking to the nations about the coming reckoning. They have acted not out of justice, and certainly not with compassion. They have brutally pressed their agenda forward.

And the day is coming when they will have the same brutality pressed against them. They very tactics they used against God’s people will be used against them. Payback hurts! The pain they caused will be visited upon them.

But there is a contrast between these nations and God’s people. It is their turn to get judgment, while Israel with have deliverance and experience holiness. What a day that will be.

So as we watch and see wicked people seemingly getting a free ride while we suffer, remember that there is a “Day of the LORD” coming when all will be made right.

Maranatha!