Text: Obadiah 1: 15-18.
For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it
shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen
drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they
shall be as though they had not been.
But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and
the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour
them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD
hath spoken it.
Edom was to be destroyed because of the evil way it had treated its brother Judah. Obadiah expressed the consequences of Edom's sin in a memorable way when he said, “As you have done, it will be done to you”. He was reiterating a principle taught by biblical examples and by Old Testament prophets. This principle of sowing and reaping is also found in the New Testament (Galatians 6:7). It seems to be a rule governing the affairs of people everywhere in every age. Those who lie are lied to, the violent experience violence. In contrast, those who are kind and generous are likely to receive kindness and generosity from others. Often it may seem to us that evil people do not "reap what they sow," but we must remember that judgment will come someday.
Eventually, on the day of the Lord, those who have apparently escaped punishment for their deeds in this life will have the opportunity to experience it in eternity. “We sow a thought and reap an act. We sow an act and reap a habit. We sow a habit and reap a character. We sow a character and reap a destiny. We cannot sow weeds and reap wheat, nor can we sow thorns and reap strawberries. Hosea tells us if we sow wind, we will reap a whirlwind, and if we sow to sin, we will reap destruction, not righteousness. In keeping with what Obadiah said "as we have done, it will be done to us". Let us therefore sow to the Spirit so that we might by the Spirit reap eternal life (Galatians 6:8).