"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.
DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH,
1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION
Obadiah 1:21 "The Kingdom shall be the Lord's." This short one-chapter prophetic book of Obadiah expresses here the ultimate hope of people whose faith is in the Lord God. The prophets of God have always insisted upon His present and active sovereignty, but have also declared with perfect unanimity that the day will come when God's sovereignty will have its perfect victory in the subjugation of all things to Himself in the human mind, heart, and will. That victory is not yet. All people are in His Kingdom or domain, but not willingly. They fight against righteousness and so fail to find peace and joy because righteousness fights against them. When in the last day righteousness is the condition of human life, peace and joy will inevitably follow. That is the intention of the prayer Jesus taught in this petition: "Your Kingdom come" (Matthew 6:10). Faith is the assurance that this prayer will be answered. These final words of Obadiah see way past his immediate message of doom for Edom, the people who had persistently opposed Israel and gloated over their neighbor's downfall. For this sin God would bring Edom down from its high and proud place and eliminate it as a nation. Having given this message, Obadiah rises to a greater height by presenting the eventual outworking of divine sovereignty: "out of Zion saviors will come to judge the Mount of Esau." The people of Messiah Jesus, the Savior of the world, will come and see Him return to the Mount of Olives from where He ascended to defeat all the forces of evil represented by the Mount of Esau. Then "the Kingdom shall be the Lord's." That remains the one hope for the world and source of confidence in all the days of darkness that lead to final victory. |
| How Obadiah (perhaps around 580 to 565 B.C.) relates to other prophetic writings and historical events. |
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