Listen up, little ones
Listen for the words disaster or calamity.
Reading
Obadiah—This Is the Lord’s Declaration
Keys for kids
- Edom rejoiced in the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon.
- God said he would judge Edom.
- We have to be cautious about rejoicing in God judging others.
Questions
- Why did Jerusalem fall to Babylon?
- Why was God judging Edom?
- Who will face God’s ultimate judgment?
Notes
(See last day for authors. Today’s notes are from a commentary on Obadiah by Allan Moseley)
All adults over twenty-five or so remember what happened on September 11, 2001. It’s such a common topic of conversation that we … we just say, “9/11.” Almost three thousand people died that morning. We saw the buildings burning and falling and people running and screaming. Those images are indelibly etched in our memories. That evening or the next evening I saw something else I’ll never forget. On the news I saw video footage from Palestinian cities in the West Bank area of Israel … on September 11, the people of Ramallah, Nablus, and other Palestinian cities were literally dancing in the streets, waving flags, giving out sweets, firing guns into the air, and shouting for joy. Three thousand innocent people died, and they were celebrating.
During the lifetime of Obadiah, Israel had their own 9/11. Not to diminish the pain of ours, but theirs was worse. In 586 BC, the Babylonians besieged and destroyed Jerusalem. They burned the whole city to the ground. … Solomon’s magnificent temple that had stood for 350 years was in Jerusalem. It was the most sacred space in the world to the Jews, but it was burned to the ground …
When Jerusalem fell, the Jews mourned, but the Edomites did not. Like the people in Ramallah and Nablus, they rejoiced over the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Thousands of people in Jerusalem died, and thousands more were carried into exile, but the Edomites rejoiced. So God sent Obadiah to announce his judgment on the nation of Edom.
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 137a, 88a
Prayer
- Give thanks that God will judge justly.
- Pray for the hearing of God’s word preached this Sunday.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.