Obadiah Introduction

Very little is known about the Prophet Obadiah. Many efforts have been made to associate him with one of the other 7 Obadiahs in the Old Testament, but to no avail. The date of the book is not clear also. Estimates run anywhere from 586 to 400 B.C. It is a common belief that two Authors had a hand in the writing of this book.

The "theme" of this book is a denunciation of the Edomites. The Edomites had taken part in the destruction of Judah by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. The amenity between Edom and Israel goes back to Esau and Jacob. Jacob stole the "birthright" from Esau by posing as Esau before his blind father, Isaac. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau and the Israelites were the descendants of Jacob.

Here, the Edomites are described as "dwelling in the clefts of the rock". This refers to their capitol city of Sela, called Petra by the Greeks because it was literally hewed from the rose-red rock of the mountains where it was built, southeast of the Dead Sea. It was supposed to be impregnable.

The Prophesies of Obadiah

Click here to read Obadiah 1.

The book is the shortest of the "prophetic books" consisting of only 21 verses. It can be divided into two parts:

  1. The Denunciation of Edom, verses 1 thru 14.
  2. The Restoration of Israel, verses 15 thru 21.

Visioned in the first 9 verses is the war against Edom and the success of that war. Prophesied is:

  1. The Humbling of the "great pride" of the Edomites.
  2. The plundering of their great wealth.
  3. The "putting to shame" their so-called "great wisdom".
  4. The revenge for their spiteful behavior toward Israel.

Verse 10 says, "It is for your violence against your brother Jacob that you shall be cut off forever."

Verses 17 thru 21 lists the promises that the Lord makes to Israel:

  1. They shall be restored and reformed.
  2. They shall be victorious over the Edomites.
  3. They shall set up a kingdom, a Messianic Kingdom that will bring salvation to all.

These verses are written in "apocalyptic language", the language of the last 6 chapters of Daniel and the Book of the Revelation. This is a prophecy of a "spiritual kingdom" mistaken by the Jews to be an earthly kingdom.


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