25 And1 they took strong cities and a arich land, And possessed bhouses full of all goods, Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, And fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and cgrew fat, And delighted themselves in Your great dgoodness.
26 “Nevertheless they awere disobedient And rebelled against You, bCast Your law behind their backs And killed Your cprophets, who testified against them To turn them to Yourself; And they worked great provocations.
27aTherefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, Who oppressed them; And in the time of their trouble, When they cried to You, You bheard from heaven; And according to Your abundant mercies cYou gave them deliverers who saved them From the hand of their enemies.
28 “But after they had rest, aThey again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies, So that they had dominion over them; Yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven; And bmany times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29 And1 testified against them, That You might bring them back to Your law. Yet they acted1 proudly, And did not heed Your commandments, But sinned against Your judgments, a‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’ And they shrugged their shoulders, 1Stiffened their necks, And would not hear.
30 Yet for many years You had patience with them, And1 testified aagainst them by Your Spirit bin Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; cTherefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless in Your great mercy aYou did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; For You are God, gracious and merciful.
32 “Now therefore, our God, The great, the amighty, and awesome God, Who keeps covenant and mercy: Do not let all the1 trouble seem small before You That has come upon us, Our kings and our princes, Our priests and our prophets, Our fathers and on all Your people, bFrom the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.
33 However aYou are just in all that has befallen us; For You have dealt faithfully, But bwe have done wickedly.
34 Neither our kings nor our princes, Our priests nor our fathers, Have kept Your law, Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies, With which You testified against them.
35 For they have anot served You in their kingdom, Or in the many good things that You gave them, Or in the large and rich land which You set before them; Nor did they turn from their wicked works.
36 “Here awe are, servants today! And the land that You gave to our fathers, To eat its fruit and its bounty, Here we are, servants in it!
37 And ait yields much increase to the kings You have set over us, Because of our sins; Also they have bdominion over our bodies and our cattle At their pleasure; And we are in great distress.
38 “And because of all this, We amake a sure covenant and write it; Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests bseal it.”
As Nehemiah recounts in his prayer to God, these saviors were people like Gideon, Samson, Ehud, Joshua, and Moses. God gave them leaders that He inspired to deliver Israel from the terrible circumstance they were in.
Now put this verse—and the thought found in Obadiah 21 into a Millennial setting and our responsibilities as kings and priests—into the concepts of saving, judging, and teaching, all of which are involved in what God will be doing then. Remember also that God prophesies that Israel will go into captivity at the beginning of the Tribulation. They will be scattered all over the world in slavery, but God will regather them and bring them back to Israel, weeping, in a repentant state. Then what happens? Who will be their saviors, their deliverers? Who will judge them? Who will teach them?
Of course, all praise, honor, and glory for these things goes to God. But why—for what reason—is He preparing us? He is not going to do it all Himself. He will follow the patterns He established in the past, only this time He will accomplish His purposes with servants who are greater than Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Ehud—greater even than John the Baptist! He will work through saviors, judges, teachers—king-priests who are just like Him. Indeed, they will be His sons!
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