The Book of Obadiah

The judgement of God delivered to the nation of Edom by the Prophet Obadiah.
This judgement is against pride.

Oba 1:3  The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? 

 
It is also a vision of deliverance and salvation to the nation of Israel.
 

The Relevance of Obadiah.
 

1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom (We have heard a report from the Lord, And a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying, "Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle"): 

2 "Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You shall be greatly despised. 

3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, You who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Whose habitation is high; You who say in your heart, 'Who will bring me down to the ground?' 

4 Though you ascend as high as the eagle, And though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down," says the Lord. 

5 "If thieves had come to you, If robbers by night-- Oh, how you will be cut off!-- Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to you, Would they not have left some gleanings? 

6 "Oh, how Esau shall be searched out! How his hidden treasures shall be sought after! 

7 All the men in your confederacy Shall force you to the border; The men at peace with you Shall deceive you and prevail against you. Those who eat your bread shall lay a trap for you. No one is aware of it. 

8 "Will I not in that day," says the Lord, "Even destroy the wise men from Edom, And understanding from the mountains of Esau? 

9 Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, To the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau May be cut off by slaughter. 

10 "For violence against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you, And you shall be cut off forever. 

11 In the day that you stood on the other side-- In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for Jerusalem-- Even you were as one of them. 

12 But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother In the day of his captivity; Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah In the day of their destruction; Nor should you have spoken proudly In the day of distress. 

13 You should not have entered the gate of My people In the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction In the day of their calamity, Nor laid hands on their substance In the day of their calamity. 

14 You should not have stood at the crossroads To cut off those among them who escaped; Nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained In the day of distress. 

15 "For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head. 

16 For as you drank on my holy mountain, So shall all the nations drink continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though they had never been. 

17 "But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. 

18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire, And the house of

Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau shall be stubble; They shall kindle them and devour them, And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau," For the Lord has spoken. 

19 The South shall possess the mountains of Esau, And the Lowland shall possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of Ephraim And the fields of Samaria. Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 

20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel Shall possess the land of the Canaanites As far as Zarephath. The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad Shall possess the cities of the South. 

21 Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion To judge the mountains of Esau, And the kingdom shall be the Lord's.

 

Why do we Christians read such books as Obadiah? Do we read them because they are historical books or is there relevance in the prophetic message in these books.

Obadiah is a reminder to the church how deep God’s love is for His Elect people.
God chose a people for Himself.
All through history we see God loving His people, in spite of all their wanderings, their idolatry, their backslidings.
It shows how deep is God’s love. It shows an everlasting love.
 
There are a lot of similarities in the Minor prophets.

Hosea  - The Lord loves Israel despite her sin.  
Joel - Judgment precedes Israel’s future spiritual revival. 
Amos - God is just and must judge sin.
Obadiah - Sure retribution must overtake merciless pride.

The visions and prophecies show:
God’s deep love for His chosen people.
God’s promises of judgement for the wicked and the salvation of His people.
God is just and must judge sin.
God’s retribution against pride.
God’s promises to restore His people to the promises.

 

The author's name is Obadiah, V1 The vision of Obadiah.
The meaning of the name Obadiah is "servant (or worshiper) of the Lord." His was a common name.

This Obadiah is not the only one mentioned in the Old Testament and it is not certain if one of these mentioned is the Minor prophet, the writer of this book.
There are about twelve Obadiah’s in the Old Testament

see (1Ki 18:3-16; 1Ch 3:21; 7:3; 8:38; 9:16; 12:9; 27:19; 2Ch 17:7; 34:12; Ezr 8:9; Ne 10:5; 12:25). 

The time of writing this prophecy could be dated to two times.

The rebellion of Edom against Judah during the reign of Jehoram (853-841 b.c.); see 2Ki 8:20-22; 2Ch 21:8-15. If this is the case, Obadiah would be a contemporary of Elisha.

If it is referring to the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem

605-586). Then Obadiah would then be a contemporary of Jeremiah.
Most scholars lean towards the latter.
However, the message is the same no matter what the date was.

 

When studying this book of Obadiah, I read it first as an historical account of what happened to the nation of Edom at this time in history but as I read, I remembered what I had been taught by other scholars. That, where history was concerned, it was “His Story”, (God’s) and where Israel and prophecy is concerned, history is cyclical.

If you want to know what is going to happen in the future, look at what happened in the past.

Prophets in the Old Testament prophesied for three time frames.
1. They prophesied for the times in which they lived.
2. For the time of the first coming of the Messiah.
3. For the times of the end, for the last days which will include the second coming of Jesus Christ, who is the true Messiah of Israel and the world, which will be followed by the Wrath of God.

The narrative of Obadiah is that God sent Obadiah to prophecy the downfall of Edom because of their failings to help Israel in their time of need.

V1 Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom (We have heard a report from the Lord, And a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying, "Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle"): 

Speaking to Edom the descendents of Esau, the brother of the Patriarch Jacob.
 

V 2 "Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You shall be greatly despised. 
 

God does not tolerate disobedience and whoever rejects the Word of God will be brought low.

God is against pride.

Obadiah 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, You who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Whose habitation is high; You who say in your heart, 'Who will bring me down to the ground?' 

God opposes the proud. Anyone who thinks they are untouchable or who thinks they can oppose God because of position or rank, are very much mistaken.
 

God tells us in James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
 

Even Lucifer was brought down because of his pride.

Ezekiel 28:17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your

splendour. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.
 

Isaiah 14:12-14 How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of  Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High"

Pride is at the top of the list of sins that God hates.

Proverbs 6: 16-18. There are six things which the LORD hates; Yes, seven which are an abomination unto Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood
18. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

God does not want to see pride anywhere.

We all struggle with pride in life! Sadly, many of us do not realize the potential that waits for us if we just let go of our pride and move forward in God's plan. In fact, the Bible goes so far as to warn us that God hates the sin of pride and will discipline the proud! Let us not see ourselves as "wise in our own eyes" but let us become humble and willing to learn from God and others!

1Tim 3:6 not a novice, lest being puffed up he fall into the condemnation of the Devil
Galatians 6:4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else,

James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Phil 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above

 

1 Cor 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

This is what God was saying to Edom through the prophet Obadiah.

4 Though you ascend as high as the eagle, And though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down," says the Lord. 

It doesn’t matter where you hide, how high you think you are. The higher you are the greater will be your fall.

God was making this very clear to Edom by the prophet. Great will be your downfall.

5 "If thieves had come to you, If robbers by night-- Oh, how you will be cut off!-- Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to you, Would they not have left some gleanings? 

6 "Oh, how Esau shall be searched out! How his hidden treasures shall be sought after! 

The completeness of the destruction and desolation of Edom is depicted by a double contrast.
God through Obadiah uses two examples that show the devastation that would come to Edom.
If a robber comes to steal, one would suppose something would be left behind. The thief or the robber would take what he wanted and depart:
The grape-gatherer would not strip every cluster from the vine. But the enemies of Edom would do worse than either of these. They would spare nothing, nor stay their hand till they had left her utterly desolate and bare.

V5 “Oh, how art thou cut off”.

The prophet foresaw this utter devastation of Edom, and it forced from him this exclamation because of the prophetic vision he sees before his eyes. 
This is no work of an ordinary thief.

7 All the men in your confederacy Shall force you to the border; The men at peace with you Shall deceive you and prevail against you. Those who eat your bread shall lay a trap for you. No one is aware of it. 
 

"All the men of thy confederacy ..." This refers to the allies of Edom. Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon; there may have been others.
Not only were the formal allies of Edom to prove undependable, even members of their own society itself would revolt against them and contribute to their overthrow.

Many great nations of history that have been overthrown have likewise been confronted with this defection of significant segments of their own populations.
Fifth column tactics, the Trojan horse scenario.
 

"The men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee ..." 

Even those who were not openly hostile to Edom and who lived peaceably with them, would, in the great crisis, Join the enemy.

"They that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee ..." 

Even the servants and members of their own households would turn against them and join the enemy that has come to destroy.

Usually were pride is concerned, the one that is proud and arrogant is completely unaware of the danger of their fall.
Their pride seems to blind their eyes to the oncoming downfall.

"There is no understanding in him ..." .

The pride and arrogance of the wealthy and powerful Edomites, leave them totally and blissfully ignorant of

the danger and the hatred that was bubbling beneath the surface of their precarious prosperity.
 

8 "Will I not in that day," says the Lord, "Even destroy the wise men from Edom, And understanding from the mountains of Esau? 

9 Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, To the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau May be cut off by slaughter. 

The reason why God is coming against Edom was because of Esau’s hatred of his brother Jacob.
 

10 "For violence against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you, And you shall be cut off forever. 

Edom not only did not come to help but stood against Israel and actually joined the enemy.

11 In the day that you stood on the other side-- In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for Jerusalem-- Even you were as one of them. 

Not only for their failing to help, but because they helped the enemy of Israel.

Edom, meaning red is the brother Esau of Jacob, his twin, the two sons of Isaac.
Esau was the father of the Edomites and Jacob, the son of the promise to Abraham, father of the Jews.
There was hatred towards Jacob by Esau, which we see played out in this book of Obadiah.

Obadiah 1:10 "For violence against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you, And you shall be cut off forever. 
 

This hatred began in the Garden of Eden when God said to Lucifer:
 

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 

Edom was the ancient land bordering ancient Israel, in what is now south western Jordan, between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. The Edomites probably occupied the area about the 13th century BC.
The landscape was the towering mountains of Edom. Those mountains are made of granite and are a notable colour of red. The Edomites thought they were impregnable and this made them proud.

Adam – Edom (אדם) literally means "red"
Esau – Genesis 25:25 And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau.
Edom – red

Obadiah is not just an historical account but a Prophetic word from God.
Obadiah announces Edom's downfall to Babylon, which is an image of how God will bring down all arrogant and pride and violent nations.

Satan was judged in the Garden, he was judged at the cross and he will be judged at the coming of Christ.

Ultimately, Satan will be judged at the end of the reign of Christ on the earth.

Revelation 20:7-15 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The prophecy is against Edom for being proud and their standing by whilst their brother Israel was being attacked .

10 "For violence against your brother Jacob,
11 In the day that you stood on the other side-- In the day that strangers carried captive his forces,When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for Jerusalem-- Even you were as one of them. 

12 But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother In the day of his captivity; Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah In the day of their destruction; Nor should you have spoken proudly In the day of distress. 

13 You should not have entered the gate of My people In the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction In the day of their calamity, Nor laid hands on their substance In the day of their calamity. 

14 You should not have stood at the crossroads To cut off those among them who escaped; Nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained In the day of distress. 

Not only did they stand by, without helping Israel but they cut off the escape of some and delivered them up to the enemy.

15 "For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head. 

As you have done, it shall be done to you;

This verse reminds us of the promise to their grandfather Abraham.

Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

God’s Words and prophecies are cyclical.

This is God’s cyclical word to all those down through the ages that hate and curse the nation of Israel.

This has happened time and time again throughout history.
From the Egyptians to the Babylonians, to Media Persia, from Greece, to Rome, from Spain, to Germany, from Russia and all the other nations that have hated and persecuted Israel.
All of these nations suffered downfall. They suffered the wrath of God.

All the “ites” of the Bible, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the Amorites and of course the Edomites.

Where are they all today? Gone, and who remains, the Israelites and where are the Israelites today. Exactly where God said they should be, in the land that God gave to their father Abraham.

The Jews have always been a hated people. Although generally the Jews rejected Messiah, there is still a remnant that will come to Him in the last days.
Even the church has persecuted the Jews. The Roman Catholic Church has persecuted the Jews, Martin Luther wrote a book called “The Jews and their Lies” causing many Christians to blame the Jews for all the world’s problems.
Even Adolph Hitler quoted Martin Luther in his persecution of the Jews.
They have been called Christ killers, even though Jesus Himself was a Jew and all the first Christians were Jews.
The greatest preacher of the Gospel, the Apostle Paul was a fervent Jew.
They never stopped being Jews, when they were converted and they embraced converted Gentiles as brothers in Christ.
Jewish and Gentile Christians are two sides of the same coin. Heads and Tails, but part of the same coin.
A Gentile Christian will never be Jewish and a Jewish Christian will never be a Gentile.

Galations 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

God has not finished with the nation of Israel.
The Bible is clear: God is not finished with the Jewish people!

Romans chapters 9-11 confirm that the Jews are still His chosen people. Of course that doesn’t mean all of them are devoutly following the God of the Old Testament or that they are saved (except those who have accepted Jesus as their Messiah, Lord and Saviour), but their failure to receive Jesus as their long-foretold Messiah doesn’t mean God is done with them. Remember, the Abrahamic Covenant, was an unconditional covenant, (Genesis 12:2-3, 15, and 17:7).

Many Old Testament covenants had conditions, but this one had none. It rests not on man’s performance but on God’s character—and His eternal plan.
God does not go back on His word.

2 Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
 

After the Rapture of the church, God will return His attention to the nation of Israel.

Obadiah 1:15 "For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near;

​

The wrath of God came upon Edom and Babylon and they are no more.
The wrath of God came upon Egypt, Greece, Rome, Spain, Germany and Russia and God’s wrath will come on any nation that comes against His people Israel and the church of Jesus Christ.

There is coming a day that is yet future when the armies that surround Israel will come against Israel and God will intervene and His wrath will be poured out on these aggressors.

Finally, Jesus will come again and receive the believing church made up of  both Jew and Gentile at the Harpazo, the Rapture and then shall God’s wrath be poured out on an unbelieving world.
 

1 Thess 1:10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

 

Obadiah 1: 21 And the kingdom shall be the Lord's.

Obadiah is not only an historical account of what happened in the past but a prophecy of what is happening today and what will happen in the future.

There is a universal theme that runs through the prophecy of Obadiah.

The danger of Pride.

Pro 3:34  Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. 

Luk 1:51  He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 
52  He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
 

Jas 4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 

1Pe 5:5  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 

Obadiah 3–4: “The pride of your heart has deceived you,
 

Where sin is, we usually find pride is at its root.

God will Judge and punish.

Obadiah 15, “it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.”

Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:

2Th 1:6  Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 
 

This is a severe reminder for those who oppose the people of God. Whatever is done by them who are hostile to the Gospel will one day be repaid by God himself.

The message of Obadiah gives Hope to God’s
people.

Yet it also gives great hope to God’s people as they experience affliction of various kinds around the world.

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 2 Samuel 22:2
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2
You are my help and my deliverer; Psalm 40:17
My high tower and my deliverer, Psalm 144:2
Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.

Obadiah reveals God’s love for His Elect and His faithfulness to His Promise.
 

16 For as you drank on my holy mountain, So shall all the nations drink continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though they had never been. 

17 "But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. 

18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau shall be stubble; They shall kindle them and devour them, And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau," For the Lord has spoken. 

19 The South shall possess the mountains of Esau, And the Lowland shall possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of Ephraim And the fields of Samaria. Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 

20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel Shall possess the land of the Canaanites As far as Zarephath. The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad Shall possess the cities of the South. 

21 Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion To judge the mountains of Esau, And the kingdom shall be the Lord's.
 

The best way to communicate his love is to prophesy in graphic detail how God plans to remove their enemies.
For the people of God to know that they can have confidence in God’s protection is to know His love.
This is the extent to which God is willing to go to show just how much He loves His people.
The love of God and that because of that love, God would deliver His people out of the hand of the enemy.

It foreshadows the delivery from sin and the enemy, Satan
 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes on His should not perish but have everlasting life.

The wonderful message is that God set His affections on His chosen people before the world began and because of this, He manifested Himself in the flesh and paid the price of their salvation.

Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

On Mount Zion there shall be deliverance:
There was deliverance for the children of Israel from Egypt.
There was deliverance for Judah from the Edomites.
There was deliverance from Babylon.
There was deliverance at Calvary.
God will ultimately deliver the remnant of Israel in the last days.

The trials and burdens among God’s people are only temporary, because among them there shall be deliverance.

We see how God brought Pharaoh low.
We see how God brought Edom low.
We see how God brought Nebuchadnezzar low.
We see how God defeated Satan and sin low.

Ultimately we can have confidence that the house of Jacob will inherit the promises of their father Abraham.
Just as we are told in Ephesians 1:3, that every believer in Jesus receives the rich heritage of every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.

 

Obadiah 21 Then saviours shall come to Mount Zion To judge the mountains of Esau, And the kingdom shall be the Lord's.

No matter what the struggle, no matter who the enemy, the persecution, the suffering is only temporary. This prophecy of Obadiah ends on a high.
The Lord will have His day.
Obadiah tells all God’s people what He has told us many

times in many places in His word. Be not afraid or dismayed for the battle is not yours but God’s. Those people who scoff and scorn and rejoice at your problems. Those who would take advantage of your tribulation. All those who band together to attack you.
God says, leave it to Me, I will deal with it.”

God’s love is not temporary.

God has a permanent love for His Elect people, it is an eternal, an everlasting love. It is not the kind of love that is withdrawn when His people do something wrong.
Obadiah’s contemporary, Jeremiah writes:
 

Jer 31:3  The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 

 

From Jeremiah who told us that God’s love is from old,
hath appeared of old unto me, saying.

To the Apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesians, and says:

Eph 3:17  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 

18  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 

19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 
 

David in Psalms also tells us:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His faithfulness is everlasting” (Psalm 136:1).

 

God’s love spans the whole of time and even pre time, from eternity to eternity.

God preloved, set His affections on us from before the foundation of the world.
 

Rom 8:29-30 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified”

 

God’s love is Eternal and those whom He loves shall never be separated from it.
 

Rom 8:37-39 “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” .
 

​

​

​

​