Restoration

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What does victory like? What we are hoping for?

1)     v. 17 – Israel will possess Mt. Zion.

A)   “The day of the Lord would mean different things to different people. For Edom and the nations it would be a day of judgment. For the house of Jacob it would be a day of deliverance. For the people of Israel it would be a day of restoration and expansion under the Lord’s rule.”[1]

B)    Deut. 30:1-5 – God promised that he would restore the land to Israel.

1)     cf. Ob. 17c – “the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.”

C)    “and it shall be holy”

1)     NOTE: God’s promises of restoration are conditional.

2)     Deut. 30:2 – God’s restoration is conditional and based upon Israel’s repentance.

3)     Deut. 30:6 – Isreal will love God.

4)     Deut. 30:8 – Israel will obey God.

5)     Deut. 30:10

2)     v. 18 – Israel will consume her enemies.

A)   Ob. 2 – The enemies of God and his people will be defeated.

1)     Justice will be served. In part, this is judgement for God’s enemies; but in part is salvation for God’s people.

2)     This is basically the point of vv. 1-16.

B)    Deut. 30:7 – “And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you.”

C)    God’s judgement is often portrayed as fire.

1)     Ex. 15:7

2)     Is. 10:17 – “The light of Isreal will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day.”

3)     Zech. 12:6

4)     Jer. 5:14 – “I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.”

3)     vv. 19-20 – Israel will possess her enemies’ lands.

A)   I made an AI map of this text. It’s not perfect, but the general idea of the map is that Israel is moving outward and expanding into enemy territory.

Messianic Restoration

1)     Before we look at the last promise in v. 21, it’s important to see how God’s promises of restoration work in the Old Testament.

2)     God promises restoration to his people, but sometimes that restoration goes over the top to the next level.

3)     Example: Dan. 2 – esp. vv. 34-35, 44-45.

A)   God told Israel that they would be in Babylonian captivity for 70 years, but when they repent, he will restore them and let them go back to their land and they did.

B)    There will be a stone “cut out by no human hands” – this is not a normal human, but a messianic figure.

C)    He’s going to break all the empires of the world: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

D)   He’s going to become a mountain that fills the whole earth.

E)    This new kingdom will never be destroyed. It will stand forever.

F)    POINT: This is way more than just restoration!

4)     We know how this story ends and that everything points to Jesus.

A)   Israel possessing Mt. Zion points to the big theme of the Bible: To be in the presence of God.

B)    Isreal defeating all her enemies is to stomp on the head of the snake and his offspring, and the final enemy to be destroyed is death.

C)    The kingdom of God that spreads out into foreign territories is the spread of the Gospel to all humanity (Acts 1:8).

5)     IMPORTANT NOTE: These promises are not in any way connected to modern-day Israel and their efforts to steal and expand the land of “greater Israel.” These are shadows and physical pictures of spiritual realities that are fulfilled in Christ.

4)  Ob. 21

A)   “Saviors”

1)     Hos. 13:4 – “I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior.”

B)    “and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s”

C)    “The day of the Lord will mean the defeat of God’s enemies, the restoration of his people, and the establishment of his universal rule. God’s people may suffer temporary defeat for their sins, but God will intervene to rescue them, to judge his enemies, and to establish his kingdom. In the end God’s kingdom will come, and he will reign over all peoples of the earth.”[2]

Conclusion

1)     The story of Jacob and Esau (Israel and Edom) is perfect for the Gospel story.

A)   Jacob and Esau were enemies, but they were eventually reunited as brothers.

1)     Just as God did not want Edom to destroy Judah, he also did not want Judah to destroy Edom. He wanted them to be reunited.

2)     Prov. 16:7 – “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

3)     Rom. 12:18 – “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

4)     Heb. 12:14 – “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

2)     Amos 9:9-15 (esp. vv. 11-12)

A)   Acts 15:13-17

B)    KEY: The first rule of Bible study is that the Bible interprets the Bible. James is telling us what Amos means. He’s telling us what the full messianic understanding of this text is.

C)    POINT

1)     God wasn’t happy with Israel, so he raised up the Babylonians to send them into captivity.

2)     God wasn’t happy with Edom because they turned on their brother, Israel, in their time of need.

3)     The thing that God wants from all people is for them to ALL turn to HIM, and come together to be a part of HIS kingdom.

D)   What does this look like?

1)     Are you ethnically Jewish – bow to King Jesus and submit your life to him.

2)     Are you a Gentile / and Edomite – bow to King Jesus and submit your life to him.

What is the alternative? Is. 34:1-5.

[1] Billy Smith, NAC.

[2] Billy Smith, NAC.