Glory to God! Hallelujah! As we enter into a new week, we can boldly testify that the Lord our God has been good to us so far in life. The Lord is good to us because He is the One who created us (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7; Psalm 139:14; John 1:3) and He is a compassionate and gracious God (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 103:8; 145:5) and there is no wickedness in him (Psalm 92:15). His promise to His people [including you and I] is that His presence will go with them (Exodus 13:21; 33:14; Deuteronomy 31:6, 8; Joshua 1:9) and He will never leave them nor forsake them (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8; John 14:18; Hebrews 13:5). Prophet Isaiah quoted what the Lord was saying to His people that Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10). He created us in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7a) and breathed into us the breath of life (Genesis 2:7b) and made us a living being (Genesis 2:7c) and promised us that He will care for us with all that is needed for our life on earth, whatever it might be – physical or spiritual or material or mental or emotional or social or religious or political or cultural or anything as such (Genesis 1:29; Matthew 6:8, 31-33; Philippians 4:19; 2 Peter 1:3). The Lord not only cares for the needs of human beings who were created in His image and likeness but He also cares for the rest of His creations too: for instance He provides food for the birds of the air (Genesis 1:30; Job 38:41; Matthew 6:26; Luke 12:24); and other animals (Genesis 1:30; Deuteronomy 11:15; Psalm 104:27-28; 136:25; 145:15-16; 147:9); the plants and trees (1:11-12; Psalm 104:14; Isaiah 55:10-11; Matthew 6:30; Luke 12:27-28; 1 Corinthians 15:37-38); and so on. In short, every member of creation looks unto Him for His provision for their survival, as one f the Psalmists stated: The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made (Psalm 145:9; also refer to 136:1; Matthew 5:45); and we, human beings, are the most benefitted of all of God’s creation, because …    

• • He is the giver of our life [our life belongs to Him] (Genesis 2:7; Job 33:4) He is our heavenly Father [who created us in His image and likeness] (Isaiah 64:8; Matthew 6:9; 23:9; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6)
  • He is the good shepherd of our life (Psalm 23:1; John 10:11, 14)
  • He is the divine healer of our soul and body (Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 7:15; Matthew 9:35)
  • He is our redeemer God  (Psalm 78:35; Isaiah 43:14; 47:4; 48:17)
  • He is the source of unfailing love (Psalm 13:5a; 1 John 4:7, 8)
  • He is a compassionate and loving God (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 103:8)
  • He is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)
  • He is savior of our life (Psalm 13:5b; 96:4; 145:3; Jonah 2:9)
  • He is worthy to receive all our praise and worship and glory and honor and power (Psalm 13:6a; Revelation 4:11)
  • He is the owner of everything in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the seas, and in the entire universe (1 Chronicles 16:25)
  • His great love and His compassions for His people never fail (Psalm 136:1; Lamentations 3:22)

As the children of God (John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Ephesians 1:5; 1 John 3:1-2), we are overwhelmingly excited and filled with great joy that the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding us in the right path in our spiritual journey and, according to the Scripture, when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2b; also refer to John 17:24; Colossians 3:4). Becoming like Jesus is our ultimate hope and that’s our absolute reward for being a faithful follower of Christ Jesus!

The Lord has blessed us with a reassuring Scripture passage for our SftW meditation this week, which is taken from the book of Obadiah 1:15a, which states: The day of the Lord is near for all nations. Prophet Obadiah, the author of this prophetic book Obadiah, prophecies against the Edomites – the descendants of Esau the son of Isaac and brother of Jacob who is also known as Israel (Genesis 25:24-34; 27:41; 32:22-28). The main focus of the passage Obadiah 1:15a disclose the fact that the Lord is planning to repay the Edomites for all the wrongs they did against the descendants of Jacob/Israel (who are known as the Israelites) in the immediate future. At the same time, God is also setting up a day or a season of time [which is specifically known as the day of the Lord] to judge all nations on earth who are wicked and evil (Obadiah 1:15a). Thus, the day of the Lord represents a day (or a season) that the Lord separated from other days (or seasons) to judge the world for its ever-increasing wickedness and evil, especially among the mankind. Some of the events on the day of the Lord will include:

• • the coming of the son of Man in His Father’s glory with His angels (Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 16:27; 25:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
  • there will be a time of judgment (Psalm 96:13; 98:9; Acts 10:42)
  • a time of forgiveness and redemption of the righteous people, starting with the people of Israel (Romans 11:26)
  • the Lord will award the rewards for upright in heart (Matthew 16:27; Revelation 22:12)
  • pass judgement and punishment for the evil and the wicked (Isaiah 2:17a)
  • the haughtiness of man will be humbled (Isaiah 2:11a, 17b)
  • the lofty pride of people will be brought low (Isaiah 2:11b, 17c)
  • fulfillment of many promises (Numbers 23:19; Joshua 21:45; Psalm 89:34; Hebrews 10:23)
  • the Lord God Almighty will be highly exalted (Isaiah 2:11c, 17d; also refer to Psalm 22:27-28; Revelation 5:13)
  • every knee will bow before Him
  • every tongue will swear and confess that He is the Lord God Almighty (Isaiah 45:23; Daniel 7:14; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11)

On that day, the Lord alone will be King over the whole earth, as prophet Zechariah prophesied: The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name (Zechariah 14:9) because the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us (Isaiah 33:22).

From the prophecies of prophet Obadiah, we can understand that the Lord will bring the Edomites before His judgement throne and punish them for all the harm they did to the Israelites their close relatives. In addition, the Lord set apart a day (or a season), which is widely known as the day of the Lord, to judge and punish all the nations on earth for their wickedness and evil. According to Isaiah 7:18-25, the Lord will judge the wicked and ungodly:

• • On the day of the Lord, the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt (7:18a)
  • On the day of the Lord, the Lord will whistle for bees from the land of Assyria (7:18b)
  • On the day of the Lord, the flies and bees the Lord called in will come and settle in all the steep ravines (7:19a)
  • On the day of the Lord, the flies and bees the Lord called in will come and settle in all the crevices in the rocks (7:19b)
  • On the day of the Lord, the flies and bees the Lord called in will come and settle on all the thorn-bushes (7:19c)
  • On the day of the Lord, the flies and bees the Lord called in will come and settle at all the water holes (7:19d)
  • On the day of the Lord, the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River, the king of Assyria, to punish the wicked (7:20)
  • On the day of the Lord, there will be abundant blessings with limited resources (7:21-22)
  • On the day of the Lord, the fertile land will turn out to produce only briers and thorns 7:23)
  • On the day of the Lord, the hunters will go there with bow and arrow because of briers and thorns (7:24)
  • On the day of the Lord, the hills once cultivated by the hoe will not be able to do the same because of the briers and thorns (7:25a)
  • On the day of the Lord, the fertile farm land will turn out to be gracing land for cattle and sheep because of the briers and thorns (7:25c).

We can understand that the day of the Lord will bring joy and happiness in the camp of the righteous and godly and, at the same time, it will bring fear and terror in the camp of the evil and wicked people, as the Lord is coming to judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity (Psalm 96:13; 98:9; Isaiah 11:4). In fact, the day of the Lord will cause terror on all who are alive in the world in those days, as it is mentioned by some of God’s prophets – a few of such Scripture passages are mentioned below for our reference …

Prophet Isaiah stated:

6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty … 9 See, the day of the LORD is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger— to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. I will make people scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger (Isaiah 13:6-13).

See, the LORD is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For with fire and with his sword the LORD will execute judgment on all people, and many will be those slain by the LORD (Isaiah 66:15-16).

Prophet Jeremiah stated:

But that day belongs to the Lord, the LORD Almighty— a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour till it is satisfied, till it has quenched its thirst with blood. For the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will offer sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates (Jeremiah 46:10).

Prophet Ezekiel stated:

The word of the LORD came to me, saying, Son of man, prophesy and say: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Wail and say, Alas for that day! For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near – a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations (Ezekiel 30:2-3).

Prophet Zephaniah stated:

The great day of the LORD is near— near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the LORD is bitter; the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry. That day will be a day of wrath— a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness—a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers (Zephaniah 1:14-16).

Prophet Amos stated:

Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light— pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness (Amos 5:18-20)

Prophet Joel stated:

Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty (Joel 1:15).

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand – a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come (Joel 2:1-2).

I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls (Joel 2:30-32).

Prophet Malachi stated:

Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, says the LORD Almighty. Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves … See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes (Malachi 4:1-2, 5).

Apostle Peter quoted from Joel 2:30-32:

I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:19-21).

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare (2 Peter 3:10)

One of the most important things we, as His chosen people, need to know about the day of the Lord is that it reassures us our Lord’s return to earth is a sure thing and it is imminent (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Hebrews 9:28; Revelation 1:7; 22:12). When He returns, He will judge the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity (Psalm 9:8; 96:13; Acts 17:31). He will reward the righteous people as per their word and deed deserve and they will receive their reward for being faithful to Him (Psalm 62;12; Ecclesiastes 12:14; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:12); and the wicked will face consequences for their wicked deeds (Psalm 58:11; Proverbs 11:18, 31; Isaiah 3:10-11) and they will face the punishment as per their word and deed deserve (Psalm 9:17; Matthew 7:23; 25:41; Luke 13:27). The godly will continue to live with Him in the everlasting Kingdom of God for ever and ever (Psalm 37:29, 38; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 John 4:9; Revelation 21:3) and the ungodly and the wicked will be cut off from God’s presence and will be tormented in the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels for endless ages (Psalm 37:20, 38; Proverbs 2:22; Malachi 4:1; Matthew 25:41).

Dear friends in the Lord, as we are about to conclude this week’s meditation, let me ask those who are not yet sure about their calling in a similar way prophet Elijah asked the people of Israel who were simultaneously worshipping the God of their fathers and burning incense before the gods of the nations around them (2 Kings 17:7-9), as prophet Elijah confronted the king Ahab and the people of Israel alike: Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table. So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him (1 Kings 18:20-21). At the end of his confrontation with the king and the people, prophet Elijah, being faithful to the God of his fathers, proved himself that the God of Israel is the true God and the gods of the nations are no god at all (1 Kings 18:36-39). Remember, the Lord will hold every person (dead or alive) accountable for the life they lived on earth and He will bring their deed into judgment, as it is mentioned: For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:14). It is unmistakably true to the word that the Lord will reward all those who lived a righteous life on earth and punish the guilty and cause them to bear the consequences of their wrong motives and actions (Isaiah 3:11; 13:11; Proverbs 11:21). Therefore, as the faithful followers of Christ, it is time for us to embrace the truth of the gospel and hold fast unto Him who created us and sustained us and redeemed and saved us and promised us an abundant life with Him in eternity, which will continue for ever and ever, before the great and dreadful day of the LORD comes (Malachi 4:5). May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!