The Book of
OBADIAH
Author: Obadiah
Date: Shortly After 586 B.C.
Theme: God’s Judgment on Edom
Key Words: Day, Day of the Lord
Background. Relations between Israel and Edom were markedby animosity throughout the Old Testament period. The bitterness began when the twin brothers Esau and Jacob parted company in dispute (see Gen. 27; 32; 33). Esau’s descendants eventually settled in the area called Edom, south of the Dead Sea, while Jacob’s descendants continued the promised line, inhabited Canaan, and grew into the people of Israel. Over the years, numerous conflicts between the Edomites and Israelites developed. The events recorded in Numbers 20:14–21 are an example of this hostility.
This bitter rivalry forms the background to Obadiah’s prophecy. Over a period of some twenty years (605–586 B.C.), the Babylonians invaded the land of Israel and made repeated attacks on the sacred city of Jerusalem, which was finally devastated in 586 B.C. The Edomites saw these incursions as an opportunity to quench their bitter thirst against Israel. So the Edomites joined with the Babylonians against their distant relatives and helped to desecrate the land of Israel. Psalm 137:7, Lamentations 4:21, 22, and Ezekiel 25:12–14 decry the participation of the Edomites in the destruction of Jerusalem.
Date. The background of Jerusalem’s destruction places the date of Obadiah’s prophecy shortly after 586 B.C., the year in which the sacred city fell to the Babylonians. The message likely was given during the period of Judah’s exile, as Obadiah warns Edom of God’s impending vengeance and assures Judah of the Lord’s continued concern.
Author. The prophet through whom the denunciation comes is known only as Obadiah, “Servant/Worshiper of Yahweh.” No additional information is available about him. More than ten men bear the name Obadiah in the Old Testament. See 1 Kings 18:3–16; 1 Chronicles 3:21; 7:3; 8:38; 9:16; 12:9. One tradition connects the author of the prophecy with the Obadiah identified as King Ahab’s steward. See 1 Kings 18:3–16. But Ahab reigned in the northern kingdom from 874 through 853 B.C., a period that likely does not coincide with the dating of the prophecy of Obadiah.
Purpose. Obadiah’s prophecy speaks to people mourning over the ruin of their beloved city of Jerusalem and the deaths of family, friends, and relatives. The inhabitants of Judah who had not been carried off into captivity were few in number and confined to a fragment of the territory they once had claimed as their country. They subsisted on a virtual rubbish heap that once had been their sacred city. The Book of Lamentations rehearses the grief experienced by the people of Judah.
Into this setting, Obadiah brings his message of assurance that God has neither forgotten His people nor overlooked the wickedness of the Edomites. He will intervene to redress the situation, to punish Edom, and to restore His people. His message confronts Edom as a severe word of condemnation but comforts the people of Judah with the promise of God’s continued care, His victory, and their eventual restoration.
Content. Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. It begins with a heading identifying the prophecy as “the vision of Obadiah” and attributing the pronouncement to the Lord God (v. 1).
The body of the book divides into two major sections. The first (vv. 1–14) is addressed to Edom and announces her inevitable fall. From her position of pride and false security, God will bring her down (vv. 2–4). The land and the people will be pillaged and plundered, the destruction complete and final (vv. 5–9). Why? Because of the violence Edom undertook against his brother Jacob (v. 10), because Edom rejoiced over the suffering of Israel and joined with her attackers to rob and rape Jerusalem in the day of her calamity (vv. 11–13), and because the Edomites prevented the escape of the people of Judah and handed them over to the invaders (v. 14).
The second major section of the prophecy contemplates the Day of the Lord (vv. 15–21). This Day will be a time of retribution, of reaping what has been sown. For Edom, this is a pronouncement of doom (vv. 15, 16), but for Judah, a proclamation of deliverance (vv. 17–20). Edom will be judged severely, but the people of God will experience blessing and glorious restoration to their land. Mount Zion will rule the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will belong to the Lord (v. 21). See also the footnote on v. 15.
Personal Application. Obadiah forcefully addresses the matter of relationships. How easy it is for those we know best to become the objects of our most bitter resentment. Logically, Edom should have sided with Judah against Babylonia, but years of hatred caused emotions to override good sense. Such fractured relationships almost inevitably result from personal pride, pride that prevents our seeing the error of our own ways, pride that builds barriers to block the way to reconciliation. The Book of Obadiah calls us to confront the incredible cost of pride, and to realize that the importance of preserving our pride fades into oblivion when we must stand face-to-face with an angry God and try to justify our arrogance. The book calls us to repent of our pride, to seek reconciliation in broken relationships, and to model a life-style of forgiveness and acceptance. See Matthew 5:21–26.
The prevailing theme of Obadiah is well stated by Paul in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Or, in the words of Obadiah himself, “As you have done, it shall be done to you” (v. 15). Retribution is a reality. God is just, and He will punish injustices perpetrated against other people, both individuals and nations. The Lord takes very seriously the covenant promises He makes. In Genesis 12:1-3 He had promised to bless those who bless His people and curse those who curse them. The Lord so closely identifies Himself with His people, that to curse His people is to curse Him, to reject them is to reject Him. Edom’s end then foreshadows the fate of all who abuse the people of God. The Lord is determined to keep faith with His people, even when His people are faithless and disobedient.
And He will keep faith—in spite of appearances. The desecration of Jerusalem and the people of Judah sent a message to the world of Obadiah’s day: The God of Israel had been defeated by the gods of Babylon, Edom, and the other oppressing nations. But that was a false message, because appearances can be deceiving. In His sovereignty God uses circumstances to accomplish His purposes, to purify and protect His people. As Lord of all the Earth He was already masterminding Edom’s doom, announcing victory in the face of smoldering defeat, and controlling the course of the future in order to accomplish His plan. The Lord who did all that for Israel is the Lord who still works for His people today.
Christ Revealed. The final verse of Obadiah makes reference to “saviors” through whom God would exercise His dominion over the mountains of Esau. They would function as “judges” or “deliverers” from their center at Mount Zion or Jerusalem. Hebrew judges were “saviors” for the people. They liberated them from the oppression of foreigners, provided help for the widows and orphans, and executed justice in disputes among men. These saviors foreshadow God’s ultimate Deliverer, Jesus Christ Himself, the Messiah who comes as the final Judge, both to be and to bring God’s most glorious Word concerning the kingdom. Through Jesus, God offers His lordship and His dominion to all mankind. Especially to the downtrodden and oppressed does He carry the message of deliverance (see Luke 4:16–21).
The “day of the LORD” (v. 15) and the kingdom of God (v. 21) proclaimed by Obadiah anticipate the entry of Jesus Christ into the world. The prophet’s announcement that “the kingdom shall be the LORD’s” (v. 21) is a theme that occupied much of the teaching of Jesus Christ. Time and again He spoke of the “kingdom of God” (see Luke 6:20; 9:27; 13:18–21) or the “kingdom of heaven” (see Matt. 5:3; 13:1–52). The nature of that kingdom and the manner of its coming are different from the image of Obadiah. Jesus ushers in a quiet kingdom of peace, a spiritual kingdom entered by faith in the Person of Christ. But truly, the “day of the LORD” and the coming of His kingdom are inseparable from Jesus Christ. The Second Coming of Jesus will conform more closely to the picture painted in the prophecy of Obadiah than did His first coming. See the note on verse 15.
The Holy Spirit at Work. Nowhere in Obadiah is there specific reference to the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God. His working, however, must be assumed. He serves as Obadiah’s source of inspiration, as the One who imparts the “vision” (v. 1) that constitutes Obadiah’s message. In addition, although not specifically identified as such, He functions as the One who instigates the judgment of Edom, calling forth the nations to rise up against the enemy of God’s people. Though God uses human agents to carry out His justice, behind it all is the working of His Spirit, pushing, prompting, and punishing according to the plan of God.
Jack W. Hayford, Spirit Filled Life Study Bible
OBADIAH
Author: Obadiah
Date: Shortly After 586 B.C.
Theme: God’s Judgment on Edom
Key Words: Day, Day of the Lord
Background. Relations between Israel and Edom were markedby animosity throughout the Old Testament period. The bitterness began when the twin brothers Esau and Jacob parted company in dispute (see Gen. 27; 32; 33). Esau’s descendants eventually settled in the area called Edom, south of the Dead Sea, while Jacob’s descendants continued the promised line, inhabited Canaan, and grew into the people of Israel. Over the years, numerous conflicts between the Edomites and Israelites developed. The events recorded in Numbers 20:14–21 are an example of this hostility.
This bitter rivalry forms the background to Obadiah’s prophecy. Over a period of some twenty years (605–586 B.C.), the Babylonians invaded the land of Israel and made repeated attacks on the sacred city of Jerusalem, which was finally devastated in 586 B.C. The Edomites saw these incursions as an opportunity to quench their bitter thirst against Israel. So the Edomites joined with the Babylonians against their distant relatives and helped to desecrate the land of Israel. Psalm 137:7, Lamentations 4:21, 22, and Ezekiel 25:12–14 decry the participation of the Edomites in the destruction of Jerusalem.
Date. The background of Jerusalem’s destruction places the date of Obadiah’s prophecy shortly after 586 B.C., the year in which the sacred city fell to the Babylonians. The message likely was given during the period of Judah’s exile, as Obadiah warns Edom of God’s impending vengeance and assures Judah of the Lord’s continued concern.
Author. The prophet through whom the denunciation comes is known only as Obadiah, “Servant/Worshiper of Yahweh.” No additional information is available about him. More than ten men bear the name Obadiah in the Old Testament. See 1 Kings 18:3–16; 1 Chronicles 3:21; 7:3; 8:38; 9:16; 12:9. One tradition connects the author of the prophecy with the Obadiah identified as King Ahab’s steward. See 1 Kings 18:3–16. But Ahab reigned in the northern kingdom from 874 through 853 B.C., a period that likely does not coincide with the dating of the prophecy of Obadiah.
Purpose. Obadiah’s prophecy speaks to people mourning over the ruin of their beloved city of Jerusalem and the deaths of family, friends, and relatives. The inhabitants of Judah who had not been carried off into captivity were few in number and confined to a fragment of the territory they once had claimed as their country. They subsisted on a virtual rubbish heap that once had been their sacred city. The Book of Lamentations rehearses the grief experienced by the people of Judah.
Into this setting, Obadiah brings his message of assurance that God has neither forgotten His people nor overlooked the wickedness of the Edomites. He will intervene to redress the situation, to punish Edom, and to restore His people. His message confronts Edom as a severe word of condemnation but comforts the people of Judah with the promise of God’s continued care, His victory, and their eventual restoration.
Content. Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. It begins with a heading identifying the prophecy as “the vision of Obadiah” and attributing the pronouncement to the Lord God (v. 1).
The body of the book divides into two major sections. The first (vv. 1–14) is addressed to Edom and announces her inevitable fall. From her position of pride and false security, God will bring her down (vv. 2–4). The land and the people will be pillaged and plundered, the destruction complete and final (vv. 5–9). Why? Because of the violence Edom undertook against his brother Jacob (v. 10), because Edom rejoiced over the suffering of Israel and joined with her attackers to rob and rape Jerusalem in the day of her calamity (vv. 11–13), and because the Edomites prevented the escape of the people of Judah and handed them over to the invaders (v. 14).
The second major section of the prophecy contemplates the Day of the Lord (vv. 15–21). This Day will be a time of retribution, of reaping what has been sown. For Edom, this is a pronouncement of doom (vv. 15, 16), but for Judah, a proclamation of deliverance (vv. 17–20). Edom will be judged severely, but the people of God will experience blessing and glorious restoration to their land. Mount Zion will rule the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will belong to the Lord (v. 21). See also the footnote on v. 15.
Personal Application. Obadiah forcefully addresses the matter of relationships. How easy it is for those we know best to become the objects of our most bitter resentment. Logically, Edom should have sided with Judah against Babylonia, but years of hatred caused emotions to override good sense. Such fractured relationships almost inevitably result from personal pride, pride that prevents our seeing the error of our own ways, pride that builds barriers to block the way to reconciliation. The Book of Obadiah calls us to confront the incredible cost of pride, and to realize that the importance of preserving our pride fades into oblivion when we must stand face-to-face with an angry God and try to justify our arrogance. The book calls us to repent of our pride, to seek reconciliation in broken relationships, and to model a life-style of forgiveness and acceptance. See Matthew 5:21–26.
The prevailing theme of Obadiah is well stated by Paul in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Or, in the words of Obadiah himself, “As you have done, it shall be done to you” (v. 15). Retribution is a reality. God is just, and He will punish injustices perpetrated against other people, both individuals and nations. The Lord takes very seriously the covenant promises He makes. In Genesis 12:1-3 He had promised to bless those who bless His people and curse those who curse them. The Lord so closely identifies Himself with His people, that to curse His people is to curse Him, to reject them is to reject Him. Edom’s end then foreshadows the fate of all who abuse the people of God. The Lord is determined to keep faith with His people, even when His people are faithless and disobedient.
And He will keep faith—in spite of appearances. The desecration of Jerusalem and the people of Judah sent a message to the world of Obadiah’s day: The God of Israel had been defeated by the gods of Babylon, Edom, and the other oppressing nations. But that was a false message, because appearances can be deceiving. In His sovereignty God uses circumstances to accomplish His purposes, to purify and protect His people. As Lord of all the Earth He was already masterminding Edom’s doom, announcing victory in the face of smoldering defeat, and controlling the course of the future in order to accomplish His plan. The Lord who did all that for Israel is the Lord who still works for His people today.
Christ Revealed. The final verse of Obadiah makes reference to “saviors” through whom God would exercise His dominion over the mountains of Esau. They would function as “judges” or “deliverers” from their center at Mount Zion or Jerusalem. Hebrew judges were “saviors” for the people. They liberated them from the oppression of foreigners, provided help for the widows and orphans, and executed justice in disputes among men. These saviors foreshadow God’s ultimate Deliverer, Jesus Christ Himself, the Messiah who comes as the final Judge, both to be and to bring God’s most glorious Word concerning the kingdom. Through Jesus, God offers His lordship and His dominion to all mankind. Especially to the downtrodden and oppressed does He carry the message of deliverance (see Luke 4:16–21).
The “day of the LORD” (v. 15) and the kingdom of God (v. 21) proclaimed by Obadiah anticipate the entry of Jesus Christ into the world. The prophet’s announcement that “the kingdom shall be the LORD’s” (v. 21) is a theme that occupied much of the teaching of Jesus Christ. Time and again He spoke of the “kingdom of God” (see Luke 6:20; 9:27; 13:18–21) or the “kingdom of heaven” (see Matt. 5:3; 13:1–52). The nature of that kingdom and the manner of its coming are different from the image of Obadiah. Jesus ushers in a quiet kingdom of peace, a spiritual kingdom entered by faith in the Person of Christ. But truly, the “day of the LORD” and the coming of His kingdom are inseparable from Jesus Christ. The Second Coming of Jesus will conform more closely to the picture painted in the prophecy of Obadiah than did His first coming. See the note on verse 15.
The Holy Spirit at Work. Nowhere in Obadiah is there specific reference to the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God. His working, however, must be assumed. He serves as Obadiah’s source of inspiration, as the One who imparts the “vision” (v. 1) that constitutes Obadiah’s message. In addition, although not specifically identified as such, He functions as the One who instigates the judgment of Edom, calling forth the nations to rise up against the enemy of God’s people. Though God uses human agents to carry out His justice, behind it all is the working of His Spirit, pushing, prompting, and punishing according to the plan of God.
Jack W. Hayford, Spirit Filled Life Study Bible
