Obadiah 0 (Introduction)
3/29/25 2:50 PM
Solitary Man
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Introduction
Have you ever heard a sermon from this book? How many of you can actually tell me what this book is about? If you have no idea, don’t feel bad. I am sure there are very, very few believers out there who would be able to tell you anything about this, the shortest book in the entire Old Testament.
While the New Testament has 4 books that consist of one chapter only, this is the only book in the Old of the same brevity. Thus it does not get much love at all! The author itself is about as obscure as the book. Nothing is known about him. His name is a combination of aw-bad and Yah, a bondslave, or a worshipper, or Yah. This is all we know of him. He was a servant of God, or a worshipper of God. Not a bad way to be remembered, don’t you think?
The name Obadiah is used for 13 different people in the bible. As far as this one goes, no lineage, history, or ancestry is given. All we have to go on are these 21 verses, which begin by stating that this was the vision of Obadiah.
Now, was this the only ‘vision’ or word from Yahweh that this man ever received? We do not know. Whether or not this was a one time thing, this was the only word that Yahweh chose to preserve for all eternity in his most holy and infallible word.
Why this particular message? What was so important in these 21 verses that God chose to inspire men to include it in the canon? Well, we can deconstruct the passage word for word (and we will). We can scrutinize and analyze and try to tease out every nuance of meaning that we can (and we shall). But when it comes down to it, there are some things in the sovereign will of God that we just have to take at face value. To try and arrive at a dogmatic answer about why this message should be preserved for all time will be an exercise that we shall not be able to deduce with any degree of certainty. Still, we shall prayerfully study the text, and let the Holy Spirit lead us where he may, in this year of 2025, and see what things of eternal import are waiting for us to discover at this time and place in God’s calendar.
Alright, let’s begin. Obadiah is one of only 2 prophetic books that exclusively deal with a pronounced judgment on a heathen nation. While Nahum spends 3 chapters prophesying judgment on Assyria, Obadiah’s sole theme is a certain judgment on Edom. Now one can also argue that the book of Jonah solely deals with a judgment on a heathen nation (also Assyria), but since the judgment was averted, and since the main theme of the book was more about God’s dealing with the heart and attitude and antics of Jonah himself, the judgment portion of the work is almost a secondary aspect of that memorable work. Nahum and Obadiah suffer from no such complexities. They are pronouncements of doom, and nothing else.
Since we have no date given, nor any clear indication of the time period when this was written, such as the name of any king’s reign, we must try and deduce the most likely time period from the text itself. About the only clue to go on is the fact that the city of Jerusalem itself was experiencing some serious invasion and calamity by an invading force, and that Edom was present, observing and giving their most hearty approval.
Liberal scholars always try to denigrate the supernatural aspects of the scripture, trying to date things far later than they were actually written, in order to turn prophecy into history. Of course, I always reject such blatant nonsense. If a liberal scholar, known for their unbelief and blasphemy, try to convince us of something, you can rest assured that it is always the wise thing to run as far from their demonic babblings as you can! Thus, when they try to date this as sometime after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC by the Babylonians, we may confidently ignore such attempts at scholarship, which was based on nothing more than unbelief. All classical conservative scholars would date this work as much earlier.
The most telling clue is the position of the book in the canon. All the 12 so called minor prophets are placed in the canon in a rough chronological order. That is, the oldest books come first, and generally the more recent ones come last, culminating in the latest work by Malachi. Obadiah is the 4th of 12, after Amos, and before Jonah. Amos was clearly dated around 770-755 BC. Jonah was mentioned in 2 Kin 14:25, during the reign of Jeroboam II (793-752 BC). So, we should look for a serious attack upon Jerusalem as close to that era as possible. This, of course, rules out the 586 BC destruction.
The closest we come is what is found in 2 Chr 21, during the reign of Jehoram (848-841 BC). During that time, Jerusalem was indeed sacked (2 Chr 21:17). Sometime before that, Edom had been attacked by Judah (2 Chr 21:9), thus the ancient enmity would have been fresh in Edom’s heart.
Let us reproduce this chapter in its entirety, in order to get the feel of the time and place that led to this judgment being given to this prophet:
2Ch 21:1 Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
2Ch 21:2 And he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.
2Ch 21:3 And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn.
2Ch 21:4 Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel.
2Ch 21:5 Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
2Ch 21:6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.
2Ch 21:7 Howbeit the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light to him and to his sons for ever.
2Ch 21:8 In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah, and made themselves a king.
2Ch 21:9 Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him in, and the captains of the chariots.
2Ch 21:10 So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.
2Ch 21:11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.
2Ch 21:12 And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
2Ch 21:13 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself:
2Ch 21:14 Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:
2Ch 21:15 And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.
2Ch 21:16 Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:
2Ch 21:17 And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
2Ch 21:18 And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.
2Ch 21:19 And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.
2Ch 21:20 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.
I think it is useful to carefully read the entire chapter above. Jehoram followed good king Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was a mixture of a man. The bible generally speaks positively of this king. He had great trust in the Lord, relying on the words of a prophet to go into battle with just a song (2 Chr 20:14-24). During this battle, Edom was a part of the enemy alliance that was destroyed. However, he also had this obsession with making political alliances with the house of Ahab, the worst of the wicked rulers that the house of Israel had ever produced. Not only did he ally himself with them, but had his successor Jehoram marry into this bloodline (2 Chr 21:6). Jehoshaphat even had a prophet rebuke him for these things (2 Chr 20:35-37).
Both Jehoshaphat and Jehoram had wars against Edom. Although Israel was told not to harm Edom (Dt 2:4-5), the eternal enmity was created right from when Esau and Jacob shared the same household. Esau committed what God considered an unforgivable sin when he sold his birthright for a single bowl of stew. Such a despising of one’s birthright was of such a grave offence, that many, many years later, the prophet Malachi communicated God’s feelings to us:
Mal 1:2 I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
Mal 1:3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
God does hate certain people. Esau was one of them. Not only as a type of a certain sort of sinner, but the man himself was hated by God. Yet God did choose to bless him with his own land, and initially did not allow Israel to touch him.
As history progressed, we will find more than one occasion where Israel and Edom fought. As a result, there are several portions of scripture that are dedicated to the judgment of Edom (Ob 1-25, Is 34:5-17, Jer 49:7-22, Ez 25:12-14, Ez 35:1-15, even Is 63:1-6 as well).
Obadiah 18 promises that no Edomite shall survive. There are other verses in the above passages that speak of this sort of total annihilation as well. Today, Edom is no more.
And what was the specific sin that God was so all fired up about in Edom’s case? Out of all the neighboring nations of Israel, why does Edom get its own special book of woe? In essence, it was gloating over the misfortune of the Jews. When we get to the relevant verses, we shall study this phenomenon in quite some detail. But let us be forewarned: the mocking of and rejoicing over the calamity of the Jewish people is a sure recipe for the certain guarantee of destruction of an individual, and/or of a nation. Whether or not we see that judgment manifested in our lifetimes, rest assured that the judgment of the Lord does not slumber or sleep. God never forgets those who rejoice over the punishments inflicted on his people. It is the height of folly to engage in such behavior.
This is a concept that carries beyond the mocking of the Jew. God is particularly sensitive when anyone rejoices over the suffering of others. While God hates the wicked, and expects us to hate the truly wicked also, he never encourages us to rejoice over their demise. While a Psalmist, in their extreme sorrow, may write of the happiness of a man who sees his enemy thrown down (such as in Ps 137), yet even there the Psalmist is simply stating that the one chosen by God to carry out the judgment on the wicked shall be happy. He does not state that he rejoices himself.
Psa 137:7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
Psa 137:8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
Psa 137:9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
I believe that this psalmist would have been quite familiar with the book of Obadiah, as he compares the promise of total destruction of Edom with a fervent wish that the same fate awaits the latest of God’s enemies, the Babylonians. While the psalm itself is very bloodthirsty for our ‘cultured’ western sensibilities, we should not be too quick to judge the psalmist. If we had experienced the total destruction of our nation, I think many of us would feel the same way. The psalmist is aware of God’s promise of judgment on Edom, but also on Babylon. These are wicked nations, who may have been used by God to punish Israel (especially in Babylon’s case), but the fact that they rejoiced exceedingly in Israel’s demise was the thing that angered Yehovah greatly. God may call on you to do some great thing, but take no excessive pride in your work, lest you too incur the displeasure of the Almighty.
Going back to the above chapter from 2 Chronicles, I wanted to show that it was not relevant that Judah had begun a slide into apostasy. King Jehoram was an evil king. A prophet prophesied that he would die by an evil disease. Jerusalem ended up being sacked during his reign. And yet God decided to give a message to an anonymous prophet named Obadiah, stating the fact that because Edom as a nation rejoiced so gleefully when Jerusalem was being overrun, they would themselves be wiped out as a nation. It did not matter that Judah was now in the hands of wicked rulers. It did not matter that God had sent other nations to punish it. When God saw Edom rejoicing, and aiding the marauders, his wrath was greatly kindled.
I wonder what he thinks of our nations, where we are allowing every muslim, and so many of our university children, to rejoice and celebrate the atrocities done on October 7, 2023 in Israel. Can we stop and consider for one moment that perhaps one of the reasons Obadiah is in our bible is to make us aware of the severe consequences awaiting those that are rejoicing in the destruction of God’s chosen people?
Of course, all of us who have embraced Christ have now been grafted into the household of God. Jew and Gentile alike are one in Christ, if we have truly believed. This book is a reminder that God notices who is rejoicing over the destruction of his children. With so many believers suffering unspeakable horrors at the hands of the muslim and the communist and the cabal and the satanist, let us take comfort and have faith in the fact that these acts of wickedness shall not remain unpunished forever.
The history of Edom after the fall of Jerusalem by the Babylonians is an interesting one. During the 5th century BC, the Edomites were forced to flee their territory by the Nabateans. They moved to the area of southern Palestine and became known as Idumeans. Herod the Great, and Idumean, became king of Judea under Rome (in 37 B.C.). In a sense, the enmity between Esau and Jacob was continued in Herod’s attempt to murder Jesus.
The Idumeans participated in the rebellion of Jerusalem against Rome and were defeated along with the Jews by Titus (in 70 A.D.). Ironically, the Edomites applauded the destruction of Jerusalem (in 586 B.C.; compare Psalm 137:7), but died trying to defend it (in 70 A.D).
After that time, they were never heard of again.
As Obadiah predicted, they would be ‘cut off forever’ (Ob 10); and there would be ‘no survivor of the house of Esau’ (Ob 18).
One can make a strong case that the Idumeans, as represented by the likes of Herod the Great, could be counted as those who say that they are Jews, but are not (Rev 2:9, 3:9). One could go down all sorts of rabbit trails. Some like to speak of the Ashkenazi Jews, as some sort of fake satanic Jews, that have said to have returned and infiltrated all levels of Jewish society. After studying the claims of those who spin this theory, I have come to conclude that this is simply another plot by the anti-Semites out there, (of which the world never seems to lack), to try and get the church (and everyone else), to reject the Jews of Israel, in order to justify their extermination. It is, in fact, just another attempt, as the debunked ‘protocols of the Elders of Zion’ pamphlet, to get the world to turn against the Jewish people.
Instead of listening to these people who are truly full of hate (unlike us normal people who object to the woke agenda, whom the media labels us as haters), let us listen to the words of Obadiah. This book serves as a stark warning to those who rejoice when misfortune falls upon God’s people. Let us learn not to rejoice whenever misfortune falls on anyone, especially on those whom we don’t like in the first place.
I want to touch on one additional point. Think about this book. Only 21 verses, written by some guy over 2800 years ago. Totally unknown, totally forgotten. No one knows who the individual is. Was he married? Did he have children? What was his lineage? Did he come from someone important? Did his bloodline survive to this day?
How about his ministry? Was this the only time that he ever heard a message from God? Or did he really have a strong relationship with him, but God chose only to preserve this one message? The same could also be asked of all the prophets in the word. Did they receive more messages? Did they always hear precisely and accurately? Did God only choose to preserve a subset of all the messages received, or did he preserve them all?
The point I am trying to make is that this man may be totally unknown to us, yet he was created and chosen by God to do this one thing for all eternity. No matter what, Obadiah will be eternally known for this one short chapter of revelation that Yehovah chose to give to him. Let us assume that his was a one time thing. That God somehow spoke to him by some sort of vision one time, and one time only. He, or someone else, chose to write it down. Maybe he shared it with his family. Maybe he took it to the temple, and showed it to a priest or a Levite. Some way, some how, the message was preserved. It eventually became part of the bible.
Even though relatively few bother to take the time to read, let alone study, this brief work, God wanted it preserved. So here we find it, in the sacred text. We may not appreciate why, but nonetheless, it is so.
So too, God may call us to do just one really significant thing in our life. You may be living the most anonymous, nondescript life imaginable. Day after day, year after year, your life, in comparison, makes the effort of watching paint dry seem exciting. But one day, perhaps one moment only, God does something in your life that changes something forever. Perhaps it is not even you that changes. Perhaps you are not even aware as to how you have affected some thing, or some one. But God knows. And even though your part in his plan seems to be the most infinitesimal thing imaginable, yet without that part, God’s plan would not be complete. It may have been as crucial as the most popular person’s part, portrayed preeminently, with presumptuous pomposity, yet your task was meant to be done in the uttermost reaches of obscurity and ambiguity. But when we all reach the eternal abode, only then will all be revealed that our life had as much meaning and importance as the most famous personages of our day.
Let the obscurity of Obadiah serve as an inspiration for the vast majority of us that labor in relative anonymity. Let us not be concerned with the recognition and praises of men. Only in discovering and doing the will of God that he has chosen for us will we find true fulfilment and peace.
Let us now take the plunge and see what there is to see in this ancient text. May the Holy Spirit make this short journey one of great reward that far exceeds the effort made in investigating this succinct tome.
Solitary Man
Photos courtesy Depositphotos
