Obadiah

OBADIAH

Obadiah

James A. Gunn

Preached on November 2, 2008

Used by permission.

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My theme for this series of messages on the Minor Prophets is the testimony of Jesus from the prophets. Obadiah is the first in this series and the least of the Minor Prophets.

But Obadiah is “least” only in the number of words that he wrote and not in the importance of his prophecy and the message he gives about the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The scholars differ widely on the time of Obadiah’s prophecy with dates ranging from as early as 850 B.C. to as late as 312 B.C. The earlier date puts it before the reign of King Jehoram and the attack on Jerusalem. Most scholars put the date around 587 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem; still others place it as late as 312 B.C.

If we follow the order of the Hebrew Bible which is the same order of the prophets in our Bible we accept the early date of 850 B.C.

Thus I am further persuaded of the early date of 850 B.C because the warnings Obadiah gives to Edom not to gloat over the ruin of Judah would seem to suggest that Obadiah refers to an event future to him rather than a lamentation over an historical event, i.e. when the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem.

As I said in my introduction last week it is not my plan in this series to labor long over such scholarly and interesting matters but rather to go to the heart of the prophecy and then extract what the prophet had to say about Christ. There are several excellent commentaries on the Minor Prophets if your interest goes to that level of detail.

The date of the prophecy would have some bearing on its full interpretation but in my view the date does not alter what it says about the “testimony of Jesus” in his closing verses.

After undertaking this fresh study of the Minor Prophets I may be cutting it too short by giving only one sermon on Obadiah.

Just for curiosity’s sake how many of you have ever heard an entire sermon on Obadiah? Even in the three or four times that I taught through the Bible I do not recall spending an entire lesson on Obadiah.

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.

Who is Obadiah?

Identifying Obadiah the prophet is not possible. Why? Because there are at least twelve other Obadiah’s in the Old Testament and none of them is the writer of this prophecy. So I am going to file the question: “Who is Obadiah?” in the folder along with the question about the date of the prophecy.

The name Obadiah means “Worshipper of Yahweh” or the “Servant of Yahweh.”

The Old Testament references to an Obadiah:

OBADIAH

(o-ba-di'-a) (±obhadhyah, more fully ±obhadhyahu, "servant of Yahweh"):

(1) The steward or prime minister of Ahab, who did his best to protect the prophets of Yahweh against Jezebel's persecution. He met Elijah on his return from Zarephath, and bore to Ahab the news of Elijah's reappearance (1 Kings 18:3-16).

(2) The prophet (Obad 1). See OBADIAH, BOOK OF .

(3) A descendant of David (1 Chron 3:21).

(4) A chief of the tribe of Issachar (1 Chron 7:3).

(5) A descendant of Saul (1 Chron 8:38; 9:44).

(6) A Levite descended from Jeduthun (1 Chron 9:16),

identical with Abda (Neh 11:17).

(7) A chief of the Gadites (1 Chron 12:9).

(8) A Zebulunite, father of the chief Ishmaiah (1 Chron 27:19).

(9) One of the princes sent by Jehoshaphat to teach the law in Judah (2 Chron 17:7).

(10) A Merarite employed by Josiah to oversee the workmen in repairing the temple (2 Chron 34:12).

(11) The head of a family who went up with Ezra from Babylon (Ezra 8:9).

(12) One of the men who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah (Neh 10:5).

(13) A gate-keeper in the days of Nehemiah (Neh 12:25).

The name "Obadiah" was common in Israel from the days of David to the close of the Old Testament. An ancient Hebrew seal bears the inscription "Obadiah the servant of the King."

JOHN RICHARD SAMPEY

So the name Obadiah appears to be about as common a name as Smith or Jones in our day.

The book of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament with its 21 verses. But its brevity is offset by its severity. There is no stronger message of condemnation of the enemies of God anywhere else in the Scriptures. There is no compromise, no hope of recovery, and no deliverance; only judgment – final and forever.

Brother David Ash, Pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church of Gainesville, Georgia, told me about a commentary that fits precisely into my insistence on the absolute necessity of finding out how the NT uses the OT in its presentation of the message of Christ and the Gospel.

Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament

G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, Baker Academic, 2007

This commentary attempts to take every New Testament book, Matthew through Revelation, verse by verse, and documents and comments on the context of every quotation or allusion to the OT.

For example Obadiah is referenced or alluded to at least nine times in the NT. Until I had this resource I could not have given you a single NT use of Obadiah from my memory. We will look at a few of these NT uses of Obadiah’s prophecy in due time.

What or who is Edom?

Edom is a bit of geography named after a person; in the same way that Judah is a region named after a son of Jacob.

Edom, Idumaea or Idumea (red).

The name Edom was given to Esau, the first-born son of Isaac and twin brother of Jacob, when he sold his birthright to the latter for a meal of lentil pottage. The country which the Lord subsequently gave to Esau was hence called "the country of Edom," Gen 32:3, and his descendants were called Edomites. Edom was called Mount Seir and Idumea also. Edom was wholly a mountainous country. It embraced the narrow mountainous tract (about 100 miles long by 20 broad) extending along the eastern side of the Arabah from the northern end of the Gulf of Elath to near the southern end of the Dead Sea. The ancient capital of Edom was Bozrah (Buseireh). Sela (Petra) appears to have been the principal stronghold in the days of Amaziah ( B.C. 838). 2 Kings 14:7. Elath and Ezion-geber were the seaports. 2 Sam 8:14; 1 Kings 9:26.

History. — Esau's bitter hatred to his brother Jacob for fraudulently obtaining his blessing appears to have been inherited by his latest posterity. The Edomites peremptorily refused to permit the Israelites to pass through their land. Num 20:18-21. For a period of 400 years we hear no more of the Edomites. They were then attacked and defeated by Saul, 1 Sam 14:47, and some forty years later by David. 2 Sam 8:13,14. In the reign of Jehoshaphat ( B.C. 914) the Edomites attempted to invade Israel, but failed. 2 Chron 20:22. They joined Nebuchadnezzar when that king besieged Jerusalem. For their cruelty at this time they were fearfully denounced by the later prophets. Isa 34:5-8; 63:1-4; Jer 49:17. After this they settled in southern Palestine, and for more than four centuries continued to prosper. But during the warlike rule of the Maccabees they were again completely subdued, and even forced to conform to Jewish laws and rites, and submit to the government of Jewish prefects. The Edomites were now incorporated with the Jewish nation. They were idolaters. 2 Chron 25:14,15,20. Their habits were singular. The Horites, their predecessors in Mount Seir, were, as their name implies, troglodytes, or dwellers in caves; and the Edomites seem to have adopted their dwellings as well as their country. Everywhere we meet with caves and grottos hewn in the soft sandstone strata.

Edom and Judah: The persons.

We all have certain prejudices and some people, like me, are recovering racists. Some white people who profess to be Christians hate black people; and some black people who profess to be Christians hate white people. Now both white and black will deny that they actually “hate” anyone, but I know a lot of white people that cannot refer to a black person in any other terms except in stereotypes.

When my grandson was in high school he told me about an incident and he said, “John, he’s black, did thus and so.” My question to him was why don’t you identify the race of a white person when you talk about them? George Foreman once suggested that we ask ourselves why we think it is necessary to identify the race of a person when race has no bearing on the story.

Having confessed my pre-Christian and sometimes lingering racism of over 40 years ago, I absolutely maintain that no person, white or black, who hates anyone and who will not repent of that sin, is a Christian. When someone excuses his racial prejudice with, “Well that’s just the way I was raised” he or she is only defending an unrepentant heart.

If the Holy Spirit has shown a person the miry pit, yea the “bottomless pit” of sin from which they were redeemed, and they have received the grace of repentance and the gift of justification, they can no longer have any idea that they are in any way better than another person.

1 Corinthians 4:6-7

6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.

7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

If my comments about racial prejudice disturb you it may be that you harbor racist thoughts. If that is true it may be a warning from a merciful God that you are deceived and yet lost. “The pride of your heart has deceived you” vs. 3

That is how we must understand Obadiah’s prophecy.

Obadiah addresses the prejudice between Edom and Judah.

The conflict between Edom and Judah began in the womb of Rebekah.

We have to go back to the book of Genesis where we are given the account of two boys, while yet unborn, were prophesied to be about two nations who would always be in conflict.

Genesis 25:19-28

19 This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begot Isaac.

20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.

21 Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If all is well, why am I like this?" So she went to inquire of the LORD .

23 And the LORD said to her:

"Two nations are in your womb,

Two peoples shall be separated from your body;

One people shall be stronger than the other,

And the older shall serve the younger."

24 So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.

25 And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau.*

26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel; so his name was called Jacob.* Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

27 So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.

28 And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

When these two boys were grown the prophecy of conflict began to be fulfilled. And its fulfillment continued for generations to come.

Genesis 25:29-34

29 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.

30 And Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary." Therefore his name was called Edom.*

31 But Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright as of this day."

32 And Esau said, "Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?"

33 Then Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this day."

So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.

34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Esau is named Edom; Edom in Hebrew is “red” and is memorialized in the event where Esau despised his birthright.

Do not miss the intrigue in this family. Isaac favored Esau and Rebekah favored Jacob. Have you ever known a family situation where there was sibling rivalry?

Who besides me is old enough to remember the Smothers Brothers, Tom and Dick, on TV? One of Tom Smothers’ favorite lines was, “Mother liked him best.”

25:27 So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

At the death of Isaac when in spite of God’s prophecy to the contrary, Isaac would try to overrule God and would have given the blessing to Esau.

But in the providence of God the story is told of how Rebekah instructed Jacob to deceive Isaac.

Genesis 27:30-40

30 Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31 He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, "Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that your soul may bless me."

32 And his father Isaac said to him, "Who are you?"

So he said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau."

33 Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, "Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him — and indeed he shall be blessed."

34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me — me also, O my father!"

35 But he said, "Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing."

36 And Esau said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!" And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"

37 Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, "Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?"

38 And Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me — me also, O my father!" And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

"Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth,

And of the dew of heaven from above.

40 By your sword you shall live,

And you shall serve your brother;

And it shall come to pass, when you become restless,

That you shall break his yoke from your neck."

Be careful that you do not take the side of Esau against Jacob.

One preacher that I will not name preached how likeable a fellow Esau must have been; Esau was just a “good ole boy.” The more a person identifies with Esau the more ungodly that person himself is.

The Puritan, John Owen, said of Esau:

“And the truth is, there are very few in the Scripture concerning whom more evidences are given of their being reprobates. And this should warn all men not to trust unto outward privileges of the church. He was the first-born of Isaac, circumcised according to the law of that ordinance and partaker in all the worship of God in that holy family, yet an outcast from the covenant of grace and the promise thereof.”

An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, vol. 7 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1991, page 298

Esau was a profane* person and the Book of Hebrews warns us that it is possible for a person to be outwardly religious and be a lost person, a reprobate:

* Profane: not connected to religious matters, to treat religious things with contempt.

Hebrews 12:14-17

14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.

17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

Esau was of the seed of the serpent and is an example of the continuing spiritual war that is raging between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

Did you know that Herod, the king of Judah that tried to kill the child Jesus, was an Edomite [an Idumean]? Herod was of the seed of the serpent and Jesus was a descendant of Jacob and the seed of the woman.

When we studied Revelation 12 we saw how this war between Satan and Christ will turn out.

Revelation 12:4-5

4 And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

Herod, the Edomite, is the tool of the dragon, and the seed of the serpent. Jesus, even as a babe, defeated Herod in His flight into Egypt, and Jesus defeated Satan on the cross of Calvary. Genesis 3:15 is fulfilled on the cross!

The nation that sprang from profane Esau was called Edom and their history is one of hatred and spite against their Hebrew brothers.

10 "For violence against your brother Jacob,

Shame shall cover you,

And you shall be cut off forever.

The Edomites dwelt in mountainous country.

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 .

Are you old enough to recall that the first moon landing vehicle was named “Eagle”? “The Eagle has landed” July 20, 1969.

While the astronauts were on the moon I pointed to the moon and told my young niece that what she was seeing right then on TV was actually happening on the moon. She was properly impressed and said, “That moon?”

When the Hebrews had left Egypt and come to the place where they were about to enter into Canaan they came to where the Edomites possessed the land. The Lord protected Edom in fulfillment of the blessing given to Esau by Isaac.

Deuteronomy 2:1-12

2 "Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.

2 "And the LORD spoke to me, saying:

3 'You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward.

4 And command the people, saying, "You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully.

5 Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.

6 You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.

7 "For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing."'

8 "And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from Elath and Ezion Geber, we turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab.

9 Then the LORD said to me, 'Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.'"

10 (The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim.

11 They were also regarded as giants,* like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim.

12 The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the LORD gave them.)

But after God had protected the Edomites they would not allow the Hebrews passage through their land.

Numbers 20:14-21

14 Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. "Thus says your brother Israel: 'You know all the hardship that has befallen us,

15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers.

16 When we cried out to the LORD , He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border.

17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King's Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.'"

18 Then Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword."

19 So the children of Israel said to him, "We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more."

20 Then he said, "You shall not pass through." So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand.

21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

The animosity between Esau and Jacob was thus continued for generations.

Edom revolted against the Kingdom of Judah fulfilling the prophecy of Isaac that Esau would “break loose” from his brother.

2 Kings 8:16-22

16 Now in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat having been king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat began to reign as king of Judah. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD 19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah, for the sake of His servant David, as He promised him to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.

20 In his days Edom revolted against Judah's authority, and made a king over themselves.

21 So Joram* went to Zair, and all his chariots with him. Then he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; and the troops fled to their tents.

22 Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah's authority to this day. And Libnah revolted at that time.

We have already mentioned the condemnation of Edom in verses 1-7.

The scene is very ugly and the prophecy was that Edom would rejoice over the downfall of Judah. The Lord through Obadiah predicted that Edom would be destroyed never to recover. Where is Edom today? It is a desolate section of geography somewhere in present day Jordan. Edom as a nation was absorbed into Judah under the Maccabees and thus that aspect of Obadiah’s prophecy is fulfilled and Edom is gone from the earth forever.

Vs. 5 Even thieves and grape pickers would leave something but God will leave nothing when He brings judgment on Edom.

Without attempting to explain how each NT reference refers to Obadiah I will give you nine references and leave it to you to do some more study.

From: Commenatary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, Baker Academic, 2007

Obadiah 8-14 [Mark 13:24-27]

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.

Mark 13:24-27

24 "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;

25 the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.

Obadiah 15 [Luke 12:35; 1 Thess 5:2; 2 Thess 1:6; Heb 6:8]

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.

Luke 12:35

35 "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;

1 Thess 5:1-3

2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3

2 Thess 1:6

6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you,

Heb 6:8

8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

Obadiah 16 [Revelation 14:10]

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.

Revelation 14:10

10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

Obadiah 17 [Revelation 14:3]

17 "But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance,

And there shall be holiness;

The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

Revelation 14:3

3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.

Obadiah 18 [Luke 3:17]

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.

Luke 3:17

17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."

Obadiah 21 [Revelation 14:5]

21 Then saviors* shall come to Mount Zion

To judge the mountains of Esau,

And the kingdom shall be the LORD 's.

Revelation 14:5

5 And in their mouth was found no deceit,* for they are without fault before the throne of God.*

At least two-thirds of Obadiah’s prophecy is quite literally fulfilled and history bears out the authenticity of this prophet.

However, the last section of the prophecy reaches beyond the nations of Edom and Judah historically and goes to a future fulfillment in the Church of the Redeemed of the Lord. How so?

First, there is a future judgment.

Obadiah 15

"For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near;

Soon for Edom and without warning for all the nations.

The Day of the Lord in the terms of the prophets was Judgment Day. Judgment came upon Edom but there is a future Day of the Lord for “all the nations.”

Second, “Mount Zion” in the New Testament is the Church.

Obadiah 17 [Revelation 14:3]

17 "But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance,

And there shall be holiness;

The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

Revelation 14:3

As an example of how your eschatology interprets Scripture this is an excerpt from Mr. S. Lewis Johnson on Obadiah 17: Mr. Johnson presents a Dispensational interpretation with an earthly Messianic kingdom.

Now, here we have the beginning of Obadiah's prophecy of the Messianic kingdom. The first thing that he states is that there will be on Mount Zion those who escape. In other words, the day of the Lord is coming but nevertheless the day of the Lord is not going to touch a significant group of people and they shall reach Mount Zion in safety. He speaks of the remnant that shall come through the time of the great tribulation and shall be given the kingdom promised in the Old Testament, so there is deliverance. Then he states in verse 17, "and it will be holy," that is Mount Zion will be holy. This is possibly rendered, "and there will be sanctuary there," but holiness is the idea.

My eschatology holds to a realized or inaugurated kingdom that is spiritual and not geographical and is present in the heart of believers and is fulfilled in the Church of the redeemed.

Some commentators point out the people of God being restored to the land. But if it stops there it misses the fulness of the prophecy. The last verses are about a universal kingdom that is worldwide [15-17].

John Calvin wrote that the conclusion of Obadiah can only be fully understood through the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

“It does not unquestionably appear that the prophet speaks here of the Kingdom of Christ.” The prophetic promise of Obadiah that the “kingdom will be the Lord’s is fulfilled in the church of Jesus Christ, which is the visible manifestation of the Kingdom of God. See Obadiah 17 which may be translated “there shall be holiness.”

Matthew Henry comments on verse 17:

“There upon Mount Zion, in the gospel-church, shall be holiness; for that is it which becomes God’s house forever, and the great design of the gospel and its grace is to plant and promote holiness. There shall be the Holy Spirit, the holy ordinances, the holy Jesus, and a select remnant of holy souls, in whom, and among whom, the holy God will delight to dwell… Where there is holiness there shall be deliverance.”

Was there ever a time that the people of earthly Jerusalem could be called holy?

Who are the holy people? They are the redeemed of the Lord, the Church.

Hebrews 12:14

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

Hebrews 12:22-24

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,

23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,

24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Third, there is a promise of an inheritance of land to the “house of Jacob.” The promise was literally fulfilled, squandered, and lost due to disobedience.

But there is a promise to Abraham that was fulfilled after the death of Abraham to him and that is future for the saints of God who are the seed of Abraham.

Hebrews 11:8-10

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Judgment fell on Edom and final judgment fell on Jerusalem in 70 A.D. And I fear that the judgment of God is very near for America.

The sin of Edom was pride; pride evidenced in thinking they could live without God. They boasted that their defenses were impregnable being nested in the high mountains like the nest of an eagle. The physical structure was a narrow pass between vertical cliffs. The entrance was so narrow that a few men could hold off an army.

Obadiah chastened Edom because it exulted over the downfall of Judah.

Are there spiritual equivalences between America and Judah; the Islamic terrorists and Edom, who bombed the World Trade Towers? I will never forget watching some of the people in the Middle East, dancing in the streets and especially the women ululating; celebrating the wanton killing of Americans.

There must be a warning here to America, who likewise in her secular pride, wants to live without God. American law has taken God out of every aspect of civil government and public education.

The god of American public education is “time and chance” evolution and pseudoscience.

The answer to an inconvenient pregnancy is to kill the unborn baby by abortion.

Almost all of abortions are done to avoid the expense of raising the child, embarrassment, and inconvenience. Abortion is birth control pure and simple.

Marriage is being redefined as any pairing of people and the Sodomites are winning with the enthusiastic support of most of the movies and shows on television.

Need I continue?

America, Repent! Jim, Repent!

2 Chronicles 7:14 is often misapplied to America. IN context it cannot be America but the principles do apply:

1) Humble ourselves;

2) Pray;

3) Seek God’s face {His will};

4) Repent.

I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

Revelation 19:10

My hope is that you have seen how Obadiah was given a prophecy that had relevance to Edom and Judah; but goes beyond ancient history to the promise of deliverance to the Church through the blood of Jesus Christ in His atonement for the sins of His people.

Jacob and Esau are two nations and represent the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

From whose seed are you?

Obadiah.pdf