Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament and is to the point. It was originally written to the Edomites, the descendants of Esau. Esau elected not to receive his inheritance although he was the older of his twin brother Jacob. Since that time he has been a thorn to the descendants of Jacob. However, God still made provisions for him as the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham. He gave Israel (Jacob) was the Promised Land. Esau was given a piece of land as well. The only way to get there was through a small canyon, so they were well protected.
Yet when it came down to it, Edom refused to help Israel when the needed to go through their land. Obadiah brings to light their failure to help. They look advantage of Israel in their time of trouble and lost their possession.
It is of utmost urgency to hold fast our possessions. Israel lost their possession because of Edom and their sin and backsliding. We must count on the Lord to help us to maintain and keep the possession God has given us. Hold fast and don’t let the enemy take it away.
Obadiah verse 17-But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
There is no greater assurance than we can continue to keep what God has given. We can possess our possessions. It’s a good feeling to own something. It feels good to hold the title in our hands. The possession in this scripture is about the inheritance given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They came out of Egypt for a country they had never seen; they were going to their inheritance. They did nothing to earn it. It was given to them.
Jesus did the work for us to possess our inheritance. It is shared with the Lord as God’s son. There is plenty to have. We may be on the low end of assets in this world, but we have the blessing of God. In this day and time, it is such a privilege to know the Lord. Sin is rampant. The love gates of the Lord open wide to help his people in their spiritual side of life.
Verse 17 says “the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.” We don’t belong to the world. We don’t belong to our old self. We are a child of God by faith. Just as the children of Israel received an inheritance not of their own doing, we received an inheritance from the Lord not of our own doing. We will continue to possess our possessions unless we give them away. Look at what we have.
- We have Mount Zion. During the reign of Jehoram, the enemy came in and crushed Israel. The king didn’t fight back and allowed them to take Mount Zion from them. In Abraham’s time, the mount was Jehovah-jireh. In David’s time it was the place for the temple. Israel turned it over. If they turned back to God they could again possess their possession. Christ in us is our hope of glory. Never take for granted the mountain of the Lord. Jesus died for it. There is no reason to give it to the enemy. Our temple of God, our body, doesn’t belong to anyone but God.
- There shall be deliverance. The precious presence of God comes with deliverance. The first deliverance is from sin. They have been removed, and we have been removed from them. We live as if wading through a field of weeds covered in ticks. They want to possess us. The ticks of the devil can’t get to us if we live by faith and possess our possessions. With deliverance comes victory over sin. When we keep the Lord on our Mount Zion we have that victory.
- There shall be holiness. The blessings of God come under two categories, deliverance and holiness. The effect of deliverance from sin made us right in the sight of God. This is the experience of holiness. We never felt as pure as the day we accepted Jesus as Savior. Our own attempts at holiness fail outside of the Lord in our heart. No matter what the devil does, we don’t have to give up our possession of holiness.
We can forfeit and give away our inheritance as Israel did by not defending Zion. The devil would love to ruin our life and take away our deliverance and holiness. Instead of giving in to the devil, let’s possess it. We can keep and maintain it. We don’t have to be dispossessed. When we give in and compromise for little things of the world we lose and become dispossessed. Israel was taken from their land into captivity. It can happen to any of us. Hold it. Hold it tight. Whatever tries to take it away, let’s fight and raise the banner of God. We still have deliverance and holiness of God. Though sin is all around, we have our Mount Zion. We have our Savior, Friend and King. He shows us how to possess our possessions.
Are you in control of your possessions? Do you need to pray for God to help you hold onto it? Whatever may have taken it away, you can get it back. When we are the Lord’s we can truly possess our possessions.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 