Obadiah &
Jonah
Two
short books will comprise today's reading. Both books speak of judgment on a
particular nation.
Obadiah
– Judgment on
Edom. The nation of Edom is the descendents of
Esau, the brother of Jacob.•Coming of judgment: this
included the command for the coming (God orders it); the
certainty of its coming (in spite of Edom's secure location); the
conspiring in its coming: (Edom's allies betrayed and conspired against
Edom); the casualties in the coming (judgment brings a great
slaughter); •Cause of judgment. Edom mistreated the Jews by their
refusal to help them; by their rejoicing when Israel fell; by
their robbing the Jews after Israel was defeated; and by their
roadblocks to stop those Jews trying to escape captivity. •Climax
of judgment: it includes the return of the Jews to their land; and
the retribution upon Edom when the Jews are restored.
Jonah
– Judgment on
Nineveh. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach a message of
judgment to that wicked city, but Jonah refused to obey God and got on a ship
and headed the opposite direction for Tarshish instead. •Punishment of
Jonah (chapter
1): the disturbance in the punishment (God sent a storm on the sea
that jeopardized the ship on which Jonah was a passenger); the
detection for the punishment (the sailors cast lots to see who was to
blame for the storm, and the lot fell on Jonah); the debarkation in the
punishment (Jonah was thrown overboard); the drowning in the
punishment (Jonah drowned and a specially prepared fish became his
tomb). •Praying of Jonah (chapter 2): in the fish
he came back to life and prayed to God—the portrayal in the prayer (he
described his drowning); the petition in the prayer (for deliverance);
the praise in the prayer (for deliverance); the product of the
prayer (the fish vomited Jonah on dry land). •Preaching of Jonah (chapter 3): the
dedication in it (seen in his earnestness in travel and preaching); the
declaration in it (that Nineveh had forty days to repent); the
decisions from it (the king and people repented). •Pouting of
Jonah (chapter
4): the cause of the pouting (Jonah was upset that God spared
Nineveh the arch enemy of Israel); the chastening for the pouting (God
smote the vine shading Jonah and God spoke a rebuke to
Jonah).