The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Obadiah 1:15-17, “For the day of the LORD draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.
16 “Because just as you drank on My holy mountain, All the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow And become as if they had never existed.
17 “But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, And it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.”

Even the casual student of the Old Testament will recall that brothers Jacob and Esau were virtually always in conflict. They cheated and schemed against each other in the effort to conquer. Such opposition seldom finds termination; thus, Esau (elsewhere described as “the father of Edom”) was noted in the prophecy of Obadiah to have been in conflict with Jacob who led the Israelites.

The stern warning against the Edomites comes in verse 15, where the prophet Obadiah warns that the Day of the LORD is drawing near to all the nations. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to read this warning without sensing its appropriation to the times in which we now live. A hopeful, if not honest, reading of these verses places Christian nations as those who will escape the pride and antisemitism that the LORD so despises. Yet, an honest and truthful examination of our national circumstances leaves us in serious doubt as to our own holiness.

Quite candidly, the passage does say that “the Day of the LORD draws near on all the nations.” It may be that this passage ought not to be considered eschatologically. Still, it is foolish of us to fail to consider it as for our nation, if indeed, we are Divinely included. One thing is certain: the LORD hates pride that denies His involvement in all matters everywhere. For “on Mount Zion there will be those who escape” because they are holy. If you were to choose, would you identify with Edom or with Israel and why? Think carefully before you answer. The day our nation turns against Israel, we will have charted the course for our own
destruction!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom