Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. Matthew 17:1-2 NKJV.

The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and will make me to walk (not to stand still in terror, but to walk) and make (spiritual) progress upon my high places (of trouble, suffering, or responsibility)! Habakkuk 3:19 AMP.

Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body. Philippians 3:20-21.

Our chapter, Obadiah, is one chapter of 21 verses. It’s divided into the first part dealing with Edom; and the second part dealing with Israel’s restoration. In the introduction to the chapter, it said: “Obadiah, the shortest book in the Old Testament, is a dramatic example of God’s response to anyone who would harm His children. Edom was a mountainous nation, occupying the region southeast of the Dead Sea including Petra, the spectacular city discovered by archaeologists, a few decades ago. As descendants of Esau (Genesis 25:19-27; 45), the Edomites were blood relatives of Israel, and like their father, they were rugged, fierce, and proud warriors with a seemingly invincible mountain home. Of all people, they should have rushed to the aid of their northern brothers. Instead, however, they gloated over Israel’s problems, captured and delivered fugitives to the enemy, and even looted Israel’s countryside.” Edom descended from Esau, Jacob’s twin brother; grandson of Isaac, great-grandson of Abraham. The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom – We have heard a message from the Lord: An envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Rise, let us go against her for battle” – “See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord. “If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night – oh, what a disaster awaits you! – would they not steal only as much as they wanted? If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged! All your allies will force you to the border; your friends will deceive and overpower you; those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not detect it…Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever. On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast in the day of their trouble.” v. 1-7. 10-12. And then God links their activities against Judah with the day of their own disaster: “You should not march through the gates of My people; nor gloat over them in their calamity; nor seize their wealth; You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors…v. 13-14. “The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. Just as you drank on My holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been.” v. 15-16.

How do we understand verses like these? Peter, James and John saw what Jesus looks like when their eyes were opened to His glory. One day we will all see the glory of Jesus, the Son, when He returns. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left…Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.” Matthew 25:31-33, 40. What are we doing to one another? What are doing for one another? It matters. As we let the love of Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, teach us, we undergo a transformation of our hearts. Because Creator God is love. His love transforms us as we let Him in. I long for that day when Jesus returns. Teaching that is real and so needed will begin for those on His left who never had the chance to learn. I can’t imagine our learning about God’s love will ever come to an end! It is written in the Prophets: “They will all be taught by God”…John 6:45; All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace…Isaiah 54:13.