Obadiah 1
December 30
Reading: 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:
"Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!"
2 Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
you shall be utterly despised.
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
in your lofty dwelling,
who say in your heart,
"Who will bring me down to the ground?"
4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
though your nest is set among the stars,
from there I will bring you down, declares the LORD.
5 If thieves came to you,
if plunderers came by night—
how you have been destroyed!—
would they not steal only enough for themselves?
If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
6 How Esau has been pillaged,
his treasures sought out!
7 All your allies have driven you to your border;
those at peace with you have deceived you;
they have prevailed against you;
those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you—
you have no understanding.
8 Will I not on that day, declares the LORD,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of Mount Esau?
9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
do not boast in the day of distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity;
do not gloat over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
do not loot his wealth
in the day of his calamity.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
in the day of distress.
15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
your deeds shall return on your own head.
16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,
so all the nations shall drink continually;
they shall drink and swallow,
and shall be as though they had never been.
17 But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,
and it shall be holy,
and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.
18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,
for the LORD has spoken.
19 Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,
and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 The exiles of this host of the people of Israel
shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
shall possess the cities of the Negeb.
21 Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau,
and the kingdom shall be the LORD's.
Obadiah is an unusual prophecy. It is very short. It is not addressed to Israel or Judah. This prophesy is delivered to Edom and about Edom. Edom was not part of God’s chosen people. They were a people who lived across the Dead Sea and the wilderness to the southeast of Jerusalem. At times they were Israel’s friend. At other times they were enemies.
This short prophesy comes in three parts:
1. The judgment upon Edom (vss. 1-9)
2. The reason for the judgment upon Edom (vss. 10-14)
3. The place of Israel in God’s plan and judgment upon Edom (vss. 15-21)
The sentence upon Edom is that their arrogance will be turned to shame. (vss. 1-4) They will be looted and laid waste. (vss. 5-7) Their wisdom will be destroyed, and their might dismayed. They will be slaughtered. (vss. 8-9)
Why? And this is the key to understanding the place of this prophesy. The reason that God is going to visit them in His wrath is that they have harmed His people, Israel. They ignored Israel when God’s people needed help. They gloated when Israel was ruined. God loves His people, even when they misbehave. Even though He uses others to discipline His people, woe to those who do so.
The final section (vss. 15-21) makes clear that God will raise Israel up and humble all other nations. You and I do not want to be on the wrong side of that! So, here is God’s message to all the peoples of the earth: He rules the universe. He is Israel’s God, the true Israel made up of those who love and follow the Lord. If you do not want to end up on the wrong side of history, you must get with God’s people, support them, and become one of them.
We learn a few important lessons from this prophesy. First, God is not only the God of Israel, but He reigns over all nations at all times and will bring every person and people to account. Second, God is always watching to see how others treat His covenant people. If you do not treat God’s children well, no matter who you are, God will avenge His people upon you in anger. Third is the lesson of sowing and reaping, again, as in Hosea 8:7 and Hosea 10:12. You might call it the divinely delivered “what goes around comes around.” We see this expressed in Obadiah 15, “As you have done, it will be done to you.” It is the other side of the teaching of Jesus, “Do unto others what you would have them to unto you.” It is a warning to us all.