Spiritual Israelites must learn this lesson—that in handling the holy things of the divine Word, the divine plan, the services of the Truth, the ministry of the Church of Christ, they are not at liberty to do as they please, merely assuring themselves that their motives are good. It is their duty to note carefully the divine will and to follow out the program in the order of the directions of the divine Word. Furthermore it is for us to learn, too, that God designs that not all the services are to be performed by one or two persons, but that there is a part in the service of God for all of the consecrated and that each is to be granted the opportunity for such service, as the Lord has planned. Some may occupy the priestly service, which others may not enjoy, and some may occupy the Levites’ service, and their opportunities are not to be taken from them. Again another important lesson to be learned by Spiritual Israelites is that God is guiding His own affairs; that He is as much interested in them as we are and more, too, and that He is fully capable of their management. Some of the Lord’s people carry great burdens which do not belong to them and which hinder them from the rest and joy which otherwise might be theirs. Others are so active, so zealous, that they fancy that the work of God would not be accomplished at all unless they did it. The Lord wishes us to learn the important lesson, “In all thy ways acknowledge him,” “and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart.” Only by recognizing the Lord as first in every feature of His work and by recognizing ourselves as honored by Him in every opportunity of service shall we be able to bring blessing to ourselves and to others.

Early Christians used the fish as a symbol of Christianity because Jesus called disciples to be “fishers of men” and preached in the area of the Sea of Galilee (Matt. 4:19). In fact, fish are prominently used in the mosaic tiles of that area. In time, Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church absorbed both the name of Christianity and the symbol of the fish, which is seen in the cardinals’ pointed split “fish” hats, portraying the head of a fish. As the Catholic Church rose in power and influence and was recognized by the Roman Empire, the pagan priesthood, seeing which way the wind was blowing, very conveniently converted to supposedly become consecrated Christian priests. They brought with them a lot of their symbols, one of which was the symbol of Dagon. Cardinal Newman tried to explain the compromise and absorption of pagan customs into the Catholic Church in past centuries and how they became sanctified. An influential Protestant at one time, he converted to Roman Catholicism and wrote a book, trying to explain and justify the pagan idiosyncrasies. Incidentally, the word “nun” is an adaptation of “nin,” meaning the female aspect of a fish.

For those of you who are not familiar with today’s most prevalent prophetic news pervading the Christian and Jewish scholarly communities, you should study Ezekiel 38 and 39, with the understanding that it alludes to a nuclear equipped Russian – Iranian led confederacy, which forms to invade the nation of Israel in the end times.

This was a day of vengeance, not the day of vengeance. For now, we will just say that a time frame of 3 1/2 years leads up to Jacob’s Trouble. Therefore, the antitype is the end time of the Gospel Age but not the final battle. A lot of events will take place before Gog and Magog come down.

Chapter 47 is a prophecy of the destruction of the Philistines. In verse 1, God told Jeremiah to prophesy against the Philistines before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, smote Gaza. Then, starting with verse 2, the account seems to radically change, for it talks about a flood coming down from the north with noise, chariots, and a wild commotion, whereas Egypt would attack Gaza from the south. However, the chapter talks about the destruction of the Philistines and not about Egypt.

The judgment was against nations that are Israel’s immediate Arab neighbors today. Is the antitype the Psalm 83 setting prior to the destruction of mystic Babylon?

The voice of mirth, gladness, the bridegroom, and the bride and lighted candles and the sound of millstones were removed not only from Judah but also from the surrounding nations. Right away we can see a spiritual connotation because of Revelation 18:23, “And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.” In other words, the natural picture, from which we can extrapolate valuable information, is a past historical fulfillment that embodies a prophecy of the future. As we continue, we will become more and more convinced that chapter 25 was not wholly fulfilled by the king of Babylon and his confederates, for some of the details did not happen back there but are prophesied elsewhere as events in the near future.

The first chapter of Zephaniah and part of the second chapter speak of the complete desolation that occurred when Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land and left no inhabitants. Although the judgment to occur on the Arabs in the near future will not be utter desolation, there will, nevertheless, be devastating developments to remove the Arab threat. This judgment will solve the problems with Israel’s more local and surrounding enemies, but not with the distant ones, who will be dealt with when God saves the Holy Remnant out of Jacob’s Trouble.

We can fancy the attention which would be given to the Prophet’s message by the people of Israel as they would hear fall from his lips words descriptive of the troubles coming upon surrounding nations which were their enemies. But as the circle grew narrower and narrower, and as the weight of the Prophet’s testimony was found to be especially against themselves, we may be sure that there was intense indignation. If at first they shouted, “A true Prophet!” probably they afterwards gnashed upon him with their teeth.

“We [Jeremiah and Obadiah] have heard a rumour [confidential information] from the LORD.” God originated this information, and He let certain individuals know what He intended to do. Then the trusted individuals, such as Obadiah, transmitted the information to the public. Such confidential information should make us bestir ourselves to righteousness.

The Book of Obadiah is fourth in the listing of the 12 minor prophets. Generally speaking, the listing is in chronological order with the exception of Obadiah, which stands out like a sore thumb as not fitting the sequence. Although no specific king’s reign is mentioned to pinpoint the time setting and Obadiah’s relationship to the chronology of the kings, internal evidence in the book helps us to know when Obadiah gave his message, as will be seen.

We think the reason Ezra, who superintended the compilers of the Old Testament, inserted Obadiah after Amos, rather than much further on, is that this book concerns only Edom (or Esau) from beginning to end. Moreover, it seems to be a sequel to the prophecy of Amos, part of which pertains to Edom, and provides more details with regard to that message of rebuke.