Posts Tagged ‘ Omnipotent ’
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Romans 16:20, CSB
God is faithful, and His faithfulness flows from the peace that He is. He is not hurried, surprised, or worried. He knows all things for all time in all places, so He has peace and thus remains faithful.
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.
Psalm 19:1, CSB
God is our Creator and Savior, freeing us from worry by knowing that the universe itself shows His faithfulness and power.
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7, CSB
God is our Creator and Savior, the one whom we can trust and call on in any and all circumstances and offers us His peace and saves us from worry, knowing He is sovereign and all-powerful.
Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us — to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21, CSB
God has come to us. He can change the worst of us to be good and faithful, and we have hope for eternity.
During a recent daily reading plan, I read a passage that made me stop and make an unexpected connection between the Old Testament and the Birth Story of Jesus. Amazingly, an online friend of mine, SlimJim over at Veritas Domain (Domain for Truth), made the same connection. Thankfully for me, he did a lot of the hard work of study, so go read his take on this.
As for my take, here is …
I suggest reading all 21 verses of Obadiah before continuing.
It should be pointed out that there are no direct references to Obadiah anywhere in the New Testament.
The book of Obadiah is the prophecy that because of Edom’s treachery toward Israel, specifically not only not helping Israel and Judah but even aiding other people – most importantly Babylon – in attacking God’s people, Edom now faces impending destruction, and that Israel will be restored and glorified.
As Genesis 25 told us, Edom was the other name of Esau, Jacob’s brother, and they were in contention from the womb and forward. Genesis 28 also tells us that Esau married the daughter of Ishmael, his uncle through Hagar. This shows a two-fold animosity toward the people of Israel, descendants of the two brothers who did not receive the Abrahamic promises.
Edom lived in the area southeast of the Dead Sea, and they were later called in Greek the Idumeans (we can see the similar sounds to catch the same name) with an area that then extended west toward the Mediterranean Sea. We learn from Josephus’ Antiquities, primarily in Book 14, chapters 7-8, that Herod the Great has Greek, Jewish, and Edomite heritage.
Herod played up his Jewishness by his ordering construction of great buildings, most especially expanding the Temple to the biggest yet! He also played favorites with Roman Empire, showing his allegiances lied outside of worship to God.
Well, he continued the historical trend of sibling rivalry. As we see in Matthew 2, he was scared of someone becoming king over him, so he connived and made a decree to kill all of the Jewish boys in and around Bethlehem.
An Edomite was ruling over Judah and attempting to keep Jews under his control, just like Esau did centuries earlier with Jacob, and just like Esau’s descendants for centuries in between.
And this king is trying to kill the True King by slaughtering all the local boys, just like the king of Egypt 1,400 years earlier.
After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.
Matthew 2:13-18, CSB
Then Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men. Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
and she refused to be consoled,
because they are no more.
And we see further fulfillment of v. 10,
You will be covered with shame
Obadiah 10, CSB
and destroyed forever
because of violence done to your brother Jacob.
You see, in another 40 or so years, his grandson Agrippa kills James the brother of John and tried to imprison Peter (Acts 12:1-19). After Peter is released by an angel, Agrippa leaves Jerusalem for Caesarea, and here he accepts worship from the people.
On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.
Acts 12:21-23, CSB
We see Herod’s house, leadership of Edom, being wiped out, just as promised.
The very next verse shows the Christmas promise, as well:
But the word of God increased and multiplied.
Acts 12:24, CSB
So, Obadiah can be considered a Christmas prophecy. You heard it here first (and from SlimJim, I guess.)
More importantly, we see how all of Scripture is connected.
We see that God is sovereign over history.
We see that God knew what was going to happen from eternity past.
We see that God keeps His promises of restoration as well as wrath.
So, we can trust Him and celebrate His redemptive work through the Son who dwelt among men, our Emmanuel, who now dwells in all believers by the Holy Spirit to the glory of the Father.
“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Deuteronomy 31:8, ESV
Trust God. Being omnipresent and omnipotent, He is always with us and caring for us.
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:4, ESV
God can do anything, and He saves and sustains us by the power of His Word. He provides for all of our needs as we seek Him, most importantly our redemption and restored relationship with Him.
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ
Philippians 1:9-10, ESV
God can do anything, even reveal Himself to lowly humanity. He does this through His Word and by His Holy Spirit to those who seek Him.
But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:3, ESV
Our God is omnipotent and omniscient, and He has promised to save those who put their faith in Christ. We can trust in Him to deliver us.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8, ESV
God is omnipotent and omniscient because He is outside of space and time, yet He came into time as one of us to show that power. He may have taken on a physical body, but His essence and majesty never changed. We can trust in Jesus.
a simple man of God 