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I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I hope we can continue worshipping together this year. In 2026, this is a Bible verse I would like to put into practice. 1 Corinthians 6:20: “you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” I want to remember this and do things that will honor God throughout this new year. How about you, brothers and sisters? Is there a word of God that you want to live by this year?
I have two children. In high school, my son had difficulty with English and my daughter with math. I’m sure each of you had subjects that were difficult for you or easy for you. It’s normal to give up trying to learn something you are not good at. I remember saying this to my children: It’s better to try hard and still get bad grades than to get bad grades from not trying at all. One thing that God desires of us, especially believers, is to live with all our effort and for the purpose of bringing God glory. I don’t know how much impact my words had on my children, but when I was in high school myself and became a believer, my pastor gave me a similar challenge. He said that God wants us to live with all our might and for his glory. I remember taking those words to heart and that was around the time I got ready take my university entrance exams. I prayed when I took the exams that God would reveal his glory through my life, and I believe that he granted a chance to study at the best university for me.
The Book of Obadiah, which we will read from today, contains one of the Bible’s central themes: “Love God and your neighbor.” Let’s read this book with a New Testament perspective in mind.
God made humans in his image. But when humans sinned and became separated from God, he put into effect his plan of salvation by choosing the people of Israel. God planned to accomplish his will through the people of Israel. Unfortunately, as their history shows in the Old Testament, Israel did not follow God’s will. At the same time, the Old Testament prophesied the birth of a Savior. The Savior Jesus was then born as a descendant of King David. Jesus Christ carried out God’s great plan of salvation by dying on the Cross for the sins of humanity and giving believers the promise of everlasting life. Those of us who believe in Jesus’ redemption look forward to living together with God in the new heavens and new earth. At the end of time, on the Day of the Lord, God’s righteous judgment will come upon all people, and the story of God’s salvation will be completed.
Let’s now read Revelation 21:1-2. “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” This prophecy in the book of Revelation shows a New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. New Jerusalem is where we will live.
With that, let us now turn to the book of Obadiah. The father of the people of Israel is Jacob. Jacob had a brother called Esau. The prophet Obadiah describes the people of Edom as descendants of Esau. Unfortunately the Edomites hated their distant relatives the Israelites. Their conflict with the Israelites started after Israel escaped from Egypt and were going to the Promised Land. Edom was temporarily conquered by Israel during the time of King David, but later rebelled and re-established a nation that was hostile to Israel.
The Edomites built a fortified city in a rocky cleft on a mountain that was 1,000m high. And they were arrogant. Obadiah verses 3 and 4 say this: “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord. Not only did Edom fail to love their relatives but their arrogance was obvious. They sought to do evil to their brother Israel. Above all, when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem, Edom sided with Babylon, plundered Jerusalem’s wealth, and captured Israelites who tried to flee and handed them over to Babylon as captives.
Knowing this context, we can understand the meaning of these verses. Let’s read verse 12: “You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble.”
The main point of today’s message is that our lives should demonstrate this: “Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.” The people of Edom were hostile towards their relatives, the people of Israel. That was not God’s will for them. Looking at our world today, we see dictators who call others “fellow countrymen” and yet casually provoke conflict. Though many of their own people suffer and die, these foolish conflicts never end. The world is filled with such meaningless conflict. Just like Japan experienced during wartime, we see the consequences of human sin unfolding in world history. On the Day of the Lord, these things will be brought to light, and the Lord will carry out his righteous judgment.
Let us recall briefly what we learned before. From the Book of Joel, we learned that the Day of the Lord, the day of God’s judgment, will come upon each of us. In Joel, the Day of the Lord is depicted as the day when God’s people and all nations will be judged. But it is also a day of blessing for those who live in repentance. Furthermore, Joel had a vision that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on that day. So, to summarize: The Day of the Lord is a day of severe judgment, but also a day when abundant blessings are poured out upon those who live in repentance. Joel warns of judgment, not only for the people of Israel but for the entire world. We are to love God with all our hearts and, on the other hand, to worship an Almighty God with fear and reverence. We must not forget both sides.
On the day Jesus returns, many will realize their foolishness and repent, saying, “Lord Jesus, I believe in Your Cross and want to follow You.” The Day of the Lord will surely come. Today’s passage also warns of this. Let us read it now. Verse 15 says, “The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.” On the day of the Lord, each person will be asked how they have lived.
Verse 17 says, “But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance.” On Mount Zion, believers will experience restoration. They will find a place where they belong. The Day of the Lord is also a day of restoration for believers who have been persecuted.
Furthermore, the Lord’s people will sit with him on the throne of his judgment. The final verse, verse 21, says, “Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.” Here, Obadiah’s prophecy concludes with the words “the kingdom will be the Lord’s.” Alongside the prophecy of Jerusalem’s restoration, it shows that believers will reign with God over the world. This prophecy will be fulfilled on the day Christ returns. As Revelation 11:15 says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
When will God tell us, “Well done, faithful servant”? Jesus tell us in his parables how we will be judged in the end times. Have we loved others in brotherly love, as we love Jesus? Have we helped people in need? Have we visited the sick? Do we do these small things, out of our love for Christ? God sees the love we show our neighbors. I will conclude today’s message by reading a passage from Scripture about this. Loving our brothers. Giving glory to God. I desire to be a person who faithfully walks this path.
Matthew 25:31-40:
31 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
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