===
Morning
"He was heard in that he feared."
Hebrews 5:7
Did this fear arise from the infernal suggestion that he was utterly forsaken. There may be sterner trials than this, but surely it is one of the worst to be utterly forsaken? "See," said Satan, "thou hast a friend nowhere! Thy Father hath shut up the bowels of his compassion against thee. Not an angel in his courts will stretch out his hand to help thee. All heaven is alienated from thee; thou art left alone. See the companions with whom thou hast taken sweet counsel, what are they worth? Son of Mary, see there thy brother James, see there thy loved disciple John, and thy bold apostle Peter, how the cowards sleep when thou art in thy sufferings! Lo! Thou hast no friend left in heaven or earth. All hell is against thee. I have stirred up mine infernal den. I have sent my missives throughout all regions summoning every prince of darkness to set upon thee this night, and we will spare no arrows, we will use all our infernal might to overwhelm thee: and what wilt thou do, thou solitary one?" It may be, this was the temptation; we think it was, because the appearance of an angel unto him strengthening him removed that fear. He was heard in that he feared; he was no more alone, but heaven was with him. It may be that this is the reason of his coming three times to his disciples--as Hart puts it--
"Backwards and forwards thrice he ran,
As if he sought some help from man."
He would see for himself whether it were really true that all men had forsaken him; he found them all asleep; but perhaps he gained some faint comfort from the thought that they were sleeping, not from treachery, but from sorrow, the spirit indeed was willing, but the flesh was weak. At any rate, he was heard in that he feared. Jesus was heard in his deepest woe; my soul, thou shalt be heard also.
Evening
"In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit."
Luke 10:21
The Saviour was "a man of sorrows," but every thoughtful mind has discovered the fact that down deep in his innermost soul he carried an inexhaustible treasury of refined and heavenly joy. Of all the human race, there was never a man who had a deeper, purer, or more abiding peace than our Lord Jesus Christ. "He was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows." His vast benevolence must, from the very nature of things, have afforded him the deepest possible delight, for benevolence is joy. There were a few remarkable seasons when this joy manifested itself. "At that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth." Christ had his songs, though it was night with him; though his face was marred, and his countenance had lost the lustre of earthly happiness, yet sometimes it was lit up with a matchless splendour of unparalleled satisfaction, as he thought upon the recompense of the reward, and in the midst of the congregation sang his praise unto God. In this, the Lord Jesus is a blessed picture of his church on earth. At this hour the church expects to walk in sympathy with her Lord along a thorny road; through much tribulation she is forcing her way to the crown. To bear the cross is her office, and to be scorned and counted an alien by her mother's children is her lot; and yet the church has a deep well of joy, of which none can drink but her own children. There are stores of wine, and oil, and corn, hidden in the midst of our Jerusalem, upon which the saints of God are evermore sustained and nurtured; and sometimes, as in our Saviour's case, we have our seasons of intense delight, for "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our God." Exiles though we be, we rejoice in our King; yea, in him we exceedingly rejoice, while in his name we set up our banners.
===Obadiah
[Ōba dī'ah] - servant or worshiper of jehovah.
Among the Semitic peoples many names, such as the one before us, were common, occurring frequently in the Old Testament. Little or nothing is known about the Obadiahs of the Bible, but the name has also been found on an ancient Hebrew seal.
1. The pious governor of Ahab's palace who hid one hundred of Jehovah's prophets (
2. The founder of a family of the lineage of David (1 Chron. 3:21).
3. A man of Issachar of the family of Tola (1 Chron. 7:3).
4. Son of Azel, a descendant of king Saul (1 Chron. 8:38; 9:44).
5. Son of Shemaiah, a Levite of Netophah (1 Chron. 9:16).
6. A Gadite who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chron. 12:9).
7. Father of Ishmaiah, prince of Zebulun in David's time (1 Chron. 27:19).
8. A prince of Judah, sent by Jehoshaphat to teach the people (2 Chron. 17:7).
9. A Levite, one of the overseers of the workmen who repaired the Temple in Josiah's time (2 Chron. 34:12).
10. Son of Jehiel, a descendant of Joab who returned from exile with Ezra (Ezra 8:9).
11. A priest who, on behalf of his father's house, sealed the covenant (Neh. 10:5).
12. A Levite, founder of a family of sanctuary porters (Neh. 12:25).
13. The prophet of Judah who lived over 550 years before Christ (Obad. 1).
The Man Who Prophesied Disaster
This Minor Prophet cannot be identified. His book, the briefest in the Old Testament, gives his name, but there the record ends. Pusey says, "The silence of Scripture as to Obadiah stands in remarkable contrast with the anxiety of man to know something about him." His origin, age, life, country, parents and grave are all unknown. His is the voice of a stranger. He has been identified with the Levite of the same name sent by Jehoshaphat to teach in the cities of Judah [See No. 8]. He has also been linked with the pious Obadiah of Ahab's house [See No. 1]. Of the prophet's personal history not a single incident or even tradition has been preserved. The work is more important than the worker.
It would seem as if the prophet lived and labored between the taking of Jerusalem and the destruction of Idumea, since he speaks of "foreigners" entering Jerusalem and the day of Judah's destruction and distress (Obad. 11-14). Although his book is the shortest in the Hebrew Canon, consisting of only twenty-one verses, yet it demands more of our attention, proportionately, than any other book. Looking at it from the aspect of size, it is little, but weighty. Multum in parvo.
Obadiah's prophecy has always been a favorite one with the Jews. It is principally from Obadiah that they learned to apply the name Edom to Rome. "Edom" stands as the typical designation for all the deadliest foes of the House of Israel.
Edom was descended from Esau, the brother of Jacob, and thus the people were akin to the Children of Israel. Since the days of the Exodus there has been frequent conflict between the two races. The Edomites had shown themselves unfriendly to Moses and the Israelites, refusing them passage through their territory when marching towards Canaan, and this bitterness still continues, accounting for the present animosity of the Arab world toward the Jew.
Obadiah's style in writing is full of individuality. It is animated and vigorous, abounding in appeals and having the preponderance of interrogation of great point and vehemence. His language is simple and pure, with utterance often highly poetic.
The lessons to be gathered from Obadiah's description of the character and career, the downfall and doom of Edom; are clearly evident:
I. The similarity of sin and punishment.
II. God will not cast off His people forever.
III. Greed and cruelty are hateful to God.
IV. Pride goes before a fall.
V. The ultimate kingdom is the Lord's.
===Today's reading: Joshua 16-18, Luke 2:1-24 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Joshua 16-18
Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh
1 The allotment for Joseph began at the Jordan, east of the springs of Jericho, and went up from there through the desert into the hill country of Bethel. 2 It went on from Bethel (that is, Luz), crossed over to the territory of the Arkites in Ataroth, 3descended westward to the territory of the Japhletites as far as the region of Lower Beth Horon and on to Gezer, ending at the Mediterranean Sea.
4 So Manasseh and Ephraim, the descendants of Joseph, received their inheritance....
...read the rest on Bible Gateway
Today's New Testament reading: Luke 2:1-24
The Birth of Jesus
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them....
===Today's Lent reading: Mark 4-6 (NIV)
View today's Lent reading on Bible GatewayThe Parable of the Sower
1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times...."
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