retaliation will return

Posted on August 27, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

20240827

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retaliation will return

Obadiah 12-16 (JDV)

Obadiah 1:12 Do not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction; do not boastfully mock in the day of affliction.
Obadiah 1:13 Do not enter my people’s city gate in the day of their disaster. Yes, you — do not gloat over their misery in the day of their misfortune, and do not appropriate their possessions in the day of their disaster.
Obadiah 1:14 Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off their fugitives, and do not hand over their survivors in the day of distress.
Obadiah 1:15 For the day of Yahveh is near, against all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; retaliation will return on your own head.
Obadiah 1:16 As you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and gulp down and be as though they had never been.

retaliation will return

The prophet speaks of a day of Yahveh in which all the nations will be judged based on how they treated other nations. He warns Edom not to do what they are considering. Every one of these thoughts about taking advantage of Judah were plans that the Edomites were actively planning.

How about you. Are you planning how to get ahead by taking advantage of a neighbor’s bad fortune? Are you secretly happy when things don’t go well with one of your local enemies. God’s message for all of us is to stop thinking such thoughts. The day of Yahveh is nerar. Retaliation will return on our own head. Love your neighbor as yourself.

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like one of them

Posted on August 26, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

20240826

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like one of them

Obadiah 1-4 (JDV)

Obadiah 1:9 Teman, your warriors will be terrified so that everyone from the hill country of Esau will be destroyed by slaughter.
Obadiah 1:10 You will be covered with shame and destroyed forever because of violence done to your brother Jacob.
Obadiah 1:11 On the day you stood aloof, on the day illegals captured his wealth, while foreigners entered his city gate and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were just like one of them.

like one of them

Edom stood aloof and cheered when Jerusalem was ransacked. Edom was just like the looters. It would be destroyed because it refused to help when God’s people were being violently attacked.

If someone I know is being abused or harmed, it is my duty to intervene. I cannot turn the other way and stay silent. If I do so, I share in the crime. I will also share in the punishment.

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cleaned out

Posted on August 25, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

20240825

cleaned out

Obadiah 5-8 (JDV)

Obadiah 1:5 If thieves came to you, if destroyers by night — how ravaged you would be! — wouldn’t they steal only what they wanted? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some things to glean?
Obadiah 1:6 How Esau will be turned inside-out, his hidden treasures discovered!
Obadiah 1:7 Everyone who has a treaty with you will drive you to the border; everyone at peace with you will deceive and conquer you. Those who eat your bread will set a trap for you. He will be unaware of it.
Obadiah 1:8 In that day — this is Yahveh’s declaration — will I not eliminate the wise ones of Edom and those who understand from the hill country of Esau?

cleaned out

Edom will be attacked in such a way as to leave them nothing to start over again with. They will be cleaned out — nothing left. Such is the threat to those who oppose God and his people. Jesus says that those thrown into hell will be destroyed body and soul. There will be nothing left. God does not promise eternal life to the wicked even in misery. He promises permanent destruction.

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too significant

Posted on August 24, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

20240824

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too significant

Obadiah 1-4 (JDV)

Obadiah 1:1 The vision of Obadiah. This is what Lord Yahveh has said about Edom: We have heard a message from Yahveh; an envoy has been sent among the nations: “Rise up, and let us go to war against her.”
Obadiah 1:2 Watch, I will make you insignificant among the nations; you will be deeply despised.
Obadiah 1:3 Your arrogant heart has deceived you, you who live in clefts of the rock in your home on the heights, who say to yourself, “Who can bring me down to the ground?”
Obadiah 1:4 Though you seem to soar like an eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down. This is Yahveh’s declaration.

too significant

The nation of Edom saw Judah in danger and gloated. The LORD spoke out against them for their proud assumption that it couldn’t happen to them. We are never in more danger than when we think we are too significant to suffer harm.

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stay set to the standard

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

20240823

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Stay set to the standard

1 Peter 5:12-14 (JDV)

1 Peter 5:12 Through Silvanus, a faithful brother (as I consider him), I have written to you briefly to encourage you and to testify that this is the true favor of God. Stand firm in it!
1 Peter 5:13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son.
1 Peter 5:14 Greet one another with a caring kiss. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Stay set to the standard

Peter’s final word of encouragement is for his readers to stand firm. Throughout this study of 1 Peter, I have been posting each devotional with a picture of stones. The idea is that Peter sees the church as stones set upon the pattern of the cornerstone, Jesus Christ. His final encouragement is for his readers to stay set to the standard so that others see examples of the gospel of God’s favor set against the backdrop of a culture that opposes it. Stand firm, brothers and sisters. The world is watching!

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a temporary lion

Posted on August 22, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

20240822

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a temporary lion

1 Peter 5:8-11 (JDV)

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is walking around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
1 Peter 5:9 Resist that lion, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.
1 Peter 5:10 The God of all grace, who called you to his permanent glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support after you have suffered a little while.
1 Peter 5:11 To him be dominion permanently. Amen.

a temporary lion

Satan is walking around making a lot of noise, and the danger he poses for us is real. But the danger is temporary. Our watchword today is not to hide from this danger, but to actively and consciously resist him. The suffering will be with us for a little while. But God’s victory will come permanently. There are no guarantees that we will be victorious over Satan’s attacks during this little while. But nothing he can do to us will last forever. What God has promised us will last forever.

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humility toward one another

Posted on August 21, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

20240821

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humility toward one another

1 Peter 5:5-7 (JDV)

1 Peter 5:5 In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time,

1 Peter 5:7 casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.

humility toward one another

Peter’s use of homoios (in the same way) points back to the shepherding task as not dictatorial leadership but humbling service to the flock. Likewise, the younger members of the flock should humble themselves – clothing themselves with humility toward one another. Pride can destroy the young as well as the old. We all need to learn mutual reciprocal submission and allowing God to do the exalting.

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a fellow elder

Posted on August 20, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

20240820

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a fellow elder

1 Peter 5:1-4 (JDV)

1 Peter 5:1 I encourage the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed:
1 Peter 5:2 Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but enthusiastically.
1 Peter 5:3 not lording it over those entrusted to you but being examples to the flock.
1 Peter 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading glorious crown.

a fellow elder

Peter could most certainly have encouraged the elders as their superior — as an apostle, called and appointed by Christ himself. But he encouraged them as a fellow elder. In other words, he found common ground with these church and community leaders.

What he encouraged them to do was to shepherd God’s flock. That does not mean they were “pastors” in our modern sense of the word. At this time in church history, elders were not paid professional church managers. The led Christian communities similar to the way Jewish elders led Jewish communities.

Throughout our study of this epistle, we see less emphasis on obedience to a hierarchy and more emphasis on shared faith and a shared future. Peter speaks as a fellow elder who has the sacrificial suffering of Christ as a backdrop, and the second coming in triumph as a future hope.

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the time has come

Posted on August 19, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

20240819

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the time has come

1 Peter 4:14-19 (JDV)

1 Peter 4:14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Breath of glory and of God rests on you.
1 Peter 4:15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a revolutionist.
1 Peter 4:16 But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.
1 Peter 4:17 For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
1 Peter 4:18 And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?
1 Peter 4:19 So then, let those who suffer according to God’s preference entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good.

the time has come

Peter was referring to the persecution he and other Christians were suffering. He told them to glorift God because they were suffering as Christians. The judgment will only begin with God’s household. It will end with the destruction of our enemies. Entrust yourself to your creator. Final victory is his.

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something unusual

Posted on August 18, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

20240818

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something unusual

1 Peter 4:12-13 (JDV)

1 Peter 4:12 Cared for ones, don’t be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you happening to test you as if something unusual were occurring to you.
1 Peter 4:13 Instead, rejoice just as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice intensely when his glory is revealed.

something unusual

No one enjoys fiery ordeals, but we can find joy in knowing that they are only temporary. In fact, as we focus on Christ, we remember how much he suffered for us. We also remember that he overcame and is now triumphant. He is now back at the Father’s side in glory. He is soon to return in glory and we who trust in him will share that glory. That is why we can rejoice as we suffer. Our suffering is not permanent. Our victory will be.

Our perspective on suffering needs to change. We need to stop complaining and acting like something unusual is happening. Suffering does not indicate that we are descending into curse and chaos. Suffering happens because it precedes victory, just as it did in Christ’s case. We do not suffer for the same reason that Christ did. He is sinless, but he suffered as a substitute for the penalty our sins deserved. We suffer — at least some of the time — because the world needs to see our faith amid suffering — to draw them to our Savior. So, rejoice if you suffer!

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