Obadiah 1:1-21
Obadiah’s Vision
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”—
2“See, I Will Make you small among the nations;
you will be utterly despised.
3The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocksa
and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
4Though you soar like the eagle
and make your nest among the stars,
from there I Will Bring you Down,”
Declares The LORD.
5“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?
6But how Esau will be ransacked,
his hidden treasures pillaged!
7All 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,b
but you will not detect it.
“Will I Not Destroy the wise men of Edom,
those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
9Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified,
and everyone in Esau’s mountains
will be cut down in the slaughter.
10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,
you will be covered with shame;
you will be destroyed forever.
11On 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.
12You 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 so much
in the day of their trouble.
13You should not march through the gates of MY people
in the day of their disaster,
nor gloat over them in their calamity
in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth
in the day of their disaster.
14You should not wait at the crossroads
to cut down their fugitives,
nor hand over their survivors
in the day of their trouble.
15“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.
16Just 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.
17But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;
it will be holy,
and Jacob will possess his inheritance.
18Jacob will be a fire
and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
and they will set him on fire and destroy him.
There will be no survivors
from Esau.”
The LORD Has Spoken.
19People from the Negev will occupy
the mountains of Esau,
and people from the foothills will possess
the land of the Philistines.
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will possess Gilead.
20This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
will possess the land as far as Zarephath;
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will possess the towns of the Negev.
to govern the mountains of Esau.
And The KINGDOM Will Be The LORD'S.
Obadiah
Obadiah, the shortest book in the Old Testament, is the pronouncement of doom against an ancient and long-forgotten nation, the land of Edom. But there is more to this book than that. The Scriptures have that beautiful faculty of appearing to be one thing on the surface, but on a deeper level, yielding rich and mighty treasures. That is certainly true of this amazing book of Obadiah.
We know very little about Obadiah except that he was one of the minor prophets (the twelve). There is a reference to a prophet Obadiah in the days of Elijah and Elisha and there is some thought that perhaps he is the same man. The name Obadiah was a very common name among the Hebrews though, and it is very likely this is not the same prophet, for in this book Obadiah mentions the day when Jerusalem was destroyed, captured by the alien armies, and that occurs long after the time of Elijah and Elisha. So most Bible commentators believe the author of this book was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah, the last of the prophets before Israel went into captivity.
The name Obadiah means "the servant of Jehovah;" he fulfills the position of a servant. He comes and does his work and fades into the background; he delivers his message and he is gone. And that is about all we know about the man behind this book.
The book of Obadiah tells the story of two nations, the nation of Israel and the nation of Edom, the country to the south of Israel that is now usually referred to as the Negev or Negeb. Through this ancient land of Edom the Israelites marched as they came into the land of Israel out of the captivity and slavery of Egypt. As they came into the land they had difficulty with the Edomites; they were enemies of Israel from its very beginning.
1:1-16 This prophecy is against Edom. Its destruction seems to have been typical, as their father Esau's rejection; and to refer to the destruction of the enemies of The KINGDOM of CHRIST.
See the prediction of the success of that war; Edom shall be spoiled, and brought down. All the enemies of GOD'S Kingdom shall be disappointed in the things they stay themselves on. GOD Can easily Lay those low who magnify and exalt themselves; and will do it. Carnal security ripens men for ruin, and makes the ruin worse when it comes.
Treasures on earth cannot be so safely laid up but that thieves may break through and steal; it is therefore our wisdom to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Those that make flesh their trust, arm it against themselves. The GOD of The Covenant will never deceive us: but if we trust men with whom we join ourselves, it may prove to us a wound and dishonor.
All violence, all unrighteousness, is sin; but it makes the violence far worse, if it be done against any of GOD'S people. Their barbarous conduct towards Judah and Jerusalem is charged upon them. Those have a great deal to answer for who are idle spectators of the troubles of their neighbors, when able to be active helpers.
1:17-21 There should be deliverance and holiness at Jerusalem, and the house of Jacob would again occupy their possessions. Much of this prophecy was fulfilled when the Jews returned to their own land. But the Salvation and Holiness of The Gospel, its spread, and the conversion of the Gentiles, seem also to be intended, especially the restoration of Israel, the destruction of antichrist, and the prosperous state of the church, to which all the prophets bear witness.
When CHRIST Is Come, and not till then, shall The KINGDOM Be The LORD'S in the full sense of the term. As none that exalt themselves against The LORD Shall Prosper, and all shall be brought down; so none who wait upon The LORD, and put their trust in HIM, shall ever be dismayed.
Blessed be The SAVIOR and Judge on Mount Zion! HIS WORD shall be a savor of life to life to us, while it judges and condemns obstinate unbelievers.