DCLM Daily Manna Sunday, August 7, 2022
TOPIC: We Shall Laugh Last
TEXT: OBADIAH 1-21
KEY VERSE
“For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head”
(OBADIAH 15).
DCLM Daily Manna Sunday, August 7, 2022 OUTLINE
For centuries, Christians have paced almost the entire world warning that a day of reckoning would dawn on the entire human race to reveal the fury of a God whose laws have been overturned. Quoting from the Scriptures, they have solemnly declared that it would cease to be business as usual, once their cup was full. They have referred to such supernatural instances as when a great universal flood destroyed man and the localised judgment of fire on transgressing Sodom and Gomorrah.
Through Obadiah, the Lord assured His people that deliverance was near. The Assyrians were tormenting God’s people while the Edomites, Israel’s kinsmen, were also taking part in the plundering of the Holy Land. They took delight in the hardships of Judah. And when the children of Jacob fled from their aggressors, Esau blocked them and sold them into slavery.
Yet, the word of God was that Judah would have the last laugh, no matter how long their persecution. “But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness, and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.” Earlier, the Lord had spoken of a day when the wickedness of the enemy would be returned unto him. God honoured His promise to restore Israel’s possessions as they returned from captivity.
Knowing that we are going to celebrate as triumphant followers of Jesus Christ in the end, we must not fail to preach His gospel despite persecutions and rejection. Christ wants us to continue to display a lifestyle of holiness, even if others do not see it as fashionable in this world of sunken moral values and godlessness.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: God’s final deliverance is only for those who stick to His ways to the end.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JOHN 16-18
