The Minor Prophets: #9 Obadiah

Do you have the feeling world events are accelerating toward the end, and spiraling out of control? This is how I felt living in the death throes of Judah… judgment was near. It was difficult to tell which people were the real prophets of Yahweh, and which were not. In these last days of the nation, between 640 and 586 BC, God sent some heavy hitting prophets to the country of Judah...

Lately, I HAVE had the feeling world events are spiraling out of control. Covid, fires, protests, violence, corrupt leaders, censorship, and on and on. Also, it seems that lawlessness has intensified on the whole earth, and the earth is groaning in response.

As we encountered with the prophet Habakkuk, many of us have questions. Just like he did. "How can our enemy, who is more wicked than us, be used to bring God's judgment to us? " Obadiah, while not specifically asking this question, unwittingly brings the answer. Their enemies would eventually be judged also. This was the case with their neighboring brothers... the Edomites.

Obadiah had the privilege of bringing the remaining Israelites in Jerusalem and in captivity the news that the Edomites would finally be destroyed. Our dear friend, Royal Harger, narrates Obadiah's story beautifully! Enjoy! Also, don't miss the supporting videos below. (14:38) Click Here to print the scriptures and questions. Click Here for the Worksheet.

Scriptures: Book of Obadiah, Jeremiah 38-43, 2 Chronicles 36:9-21, 2 Kings 24-25, Ezekiel 12, Malachi 1: 1-5, Lamentations 4: 21-22, Genesis 25:23, Romans 9: 11-13, Hebrews 12:16, Genesis 27, Numbers 20:14-21, Deuteronomy 23:7-8, 1 Samuel 21:7, Daniel 9:27

(Lamentations is a funeral song over the city of Jerusalem written by Jeremiah)

Questions:

1. What one thing stands out to you the most about this lesson?

2. Today's Edomites are the Palestinians, who occupy the same territories they did long ago. What does God say will happen to them in the Last Days? How do Obadiah's words, written so long ago, encourage the Israelites today?

3. Although Jacob and Esau were brothers, they never got along. Often times we don't get along with our siblings either. Why do you think it hurts even more when we are betrayed by a brother or sister? Especially one that is in the family of God? What should our response be?

4. What were the major "offenses" or charges that God brought against the Edomites through Obadiah? Have we ever gloated over the fall of a brother or sister?

5. Who are the Edomites in your life today? Do you have relatives who have different political views than your own? Could our fellow Americans end up turning on us in the last days, gloating over our demise, and stealing our goods, turning us in? (Matthew 24:1-14, Mark 13:12.) If we personally encounter this situation, how can the words from the book of Obadiah help us endure it?

6. The hatred of the peoples in the Middle East for each other are deep rooted. How does that help us understand the conflict there today? Does the Bible say they will ever get along? Is there a peace treaty that the Bible talks about?

7. What city in the Bible was the most wicked of all the cities? Read Lamentations 4:6. Ezekiel 23:11. What will the name of the wicked city be in the Last Days?

Watch this Historical Documentary over the Fall of Jerusalem. (7 Min)

Enjoy this dramatization of King Zedekiah and Jeremiah! (5 min.)

Here is the rest of the video text in print....

....Let’s see, there were Nahum and Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, and myself, all with strong messages during this period of time. Most of the kings of Judah, ignored or arrested us! Some of the prophets were taken captive by the Babylonians. Daniel had been deported to Susa, the capital of Babylon, in their first attack on Judah. In the second attack, Ezekiel was taken. But Jeremiah hung in there with us in Jerusalem under King Zedekiah till the end.

Only a small remnant of the people listened to Jeremiah during those last eleven years! His writing was censored and he was thrown into the dungeon. His scrolls were burned. False prophets kept telling the people that Yahweh would protect them from Babylon, while Jeremiah warned that the only way to survive was to surrender. Finally, the Babylonians surrounded Jerusalem with a military siege for three years. By the time it was finished, the entire city was wiped out and the people had died of starvation, the plague, or the sword. The city was burned, along with the temple of Yahweh. A remnant had listened to Jeremiah and surrendered to the Babylonians before the final siege. This group of Israelites was added to the Jewish captives from the first two deportations and was settled in the country of Babylon. Almost everyone else died or was killed.

A handful of people, however, were allowed to remain in Judah, Jeremiah being one of them. It was about this time that the Lord spoke to me. He gave me a word concerning the people of Edom.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Obadiah, which means, “Worshiper of Yahweh.” When I received this word, God’s people were in a total state of disarray. Not only had we been overrun and Jerusalem completely destroyed by Babylon, the neighboring country of Edom had totally betrayed us! Have you ever been betrayed by a brother? Isn’t that the worst thing? Edom formed a confederacy with the enemy! They gloated over the days of our captivity… speaking proudly! They stole from us and looted our goods. They stood at the crossroads out of the city and hindered us escaping, turning us in to our captors. And after all that? They had a drunken party in our streets! Rejoicing over our demise!

Now Yahweh’s prophets had been announcing for years that the people of Edom would receive judgment. Isaiah, Amos, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Joel, along with myself, all gave stern warnings. Judgment was coming to Edom, too! And indeed it happened. Later, following the exile of my people for 70 years in Babylon, the prophet Malachi spoke to the remnant that had returned to Jerusalem. He confirmed my prophecy, stating that God had indeed laid waste the mountains of Esau and his heritage! God vowed at that time that he would have indignation against the people of Edom forever! But I have gotten ahead of myself, telling you the end from the beginning.

Let me explain to you the background of the Edomites. This whole entire conflict began in the womb of their mother and continues even until your times. Abraham had a son, Issac, and Isaac’s wife Rebecca was pregnant with twins. God spoke to her and told her that in her womb there were two nations. One people would be stronger than the other, and the older would serve the younger. (Genesis 25:23). First Esau was born, whose name was later changed to Edom, which means “red.” Jacob was born second. His name means, “One who grabs at the heel.” It also means “deceitful.”

Well, you know the story. Yahweh, according to his calling and election, had chosen Jacob, to be the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, the nation of the Jews. (Romans 9:11-13.) During his Jacob’s life, God changed his name to Israel.

Esau, the older brother, was “godless.” (Hebrews 12:16) These two brothers, honestly, never cared for each other. Remember how Esau sold his birthright for a pot of stew? (Genesis 25:29-34) And then, Jacob tricked his father into believing he was Esau and “stole” his blessing? (Genesis 27) After that… well it’s all there in the book of Genesis chapters 25 and 27 for you to read.

Esau and his family settled in the land of Seir, which is on the west side of the Jordan River, right where the country of Jordan is today. He also had many sons, and truly a nation did come from his descendants. Later, the land was called Edom. In the book of Numbers you can read that when Moses and the Israelites were heading north up the western side of the Jordan toward the promised land of Canaan, the Edomites refused them peaceful passage and came after them with the sword. (Numbers 20: 14-21). This was not brotherly love in action! However, because this nation was Israel’s “brother,” God gave Moses a law that stated they “could not abhor an Edomite!” Abhor? (Deut 23:7-8) The Edomite territory was not part of the Promised Land. Edom was not one of the 7 nations God had promised to give over to the Israelites. Moses and his people eventually had to travel around Edom to get to where they wanted to go! But God did not forget about this snub of his people, either.

Later, King David was betrayed by an Edomite named Doeg when he was fleeing from Saul. (1 Samuel 21:7) I often wondered if this is why David was determined to subjugate the people of Edom. David did indeed conquer the country of Edom, and he built garrisons in that country, subjecting the people to tribute. From then on throughout the years, the two brothers were constantly warring against each other.

So, I was called, once again, to prophesy the downfall of Edom. I was to present their crimes, their judgments, and give a word about their total destruction. As to their crimes, I already mentioned earlier how they aided the Babylonians and gloated over the fall of Jerusalem. These were the very things that Yahweh was judging them for. They had joined the enemy, looted, betrayed their brothers, and gloated over their fall. While it seemed to us that the Edomites constantly got away with poor behavior, God did warn them that his mercy was coming to an end.

The basic message I was to deliver was this. “What they had sown, they would now reap.” (Obadiah 15) What they had done to Israel, would one day be upon their own heads. They had become prideful, forgetting that Yahweh was God. He charged that Edom’s rock cities being carved into the high mountains was symbolic that they were “living high” and had become prideful. (Obadiah 3) He warned that men at peace with them would deceive them and prevail against them. Their close friends would lay a trap for them, and they would fall into it! Their wise men would be destroyed. And finally, that there would be a slaughter in the mountains of Esau. (Obadiah 7-9)

This indeed did happen. In 553 BC. King Nabonidus, of Babylon, attacked and destroyed much of Edom, just 33 years after they gleefully celebrated the fall of Jerusalem. The remnant of the Edomites that remained fled to the southern part of Judah. They mixed with the local people, the Philistines, and built their capital at Hebron. This new breed of people were named the Idumeans, (Id dee you me ans) and their territory was called Idumea, (Id dee you me ah) the very same land that used to be the country of Judah! During the time of Christ, both of the King Herods were actually Edomites, not not of Jewish decent! Later, the Romans changed the name of the country from Idumea to Palestine. So, the Palestinians of your day are a mix of the ancient Edomites and the ancient Philistines. See! I told you the conflict was still going on today! The biblical “Edomites” are the Palestinians!

But then my prophecy took a turn. I began to prophesy (prof feh sigh) about the “Day of the Lord.” Now I know it says “day”, but it really means a period of time. In the latter days, the world will see the revelation of the Lord Jesus as the ruler of the world and behold his millennial reign on the earth. In THAT day, all nations will be judged by Christ from Jerusalem! Remember, the Prophet Joel spoke of this.

God told me to write that what Edom had done to Israel, would then be done to Edom! (Obadiah 15) This has not happened yet! But in THAT day, on Mt. Zion, in Jerusalem, there will be deliverance and holiness for Israel. The house of Jacob shall possess Edom’s, the Palestinian’s, possessions! (Obadiah 17) Israel’s power will be like a fire that will destroy the house of Esau, and burn it like stubble. NO survivor of the house of Esau will remain. Then God said, “For the Lord has spoken.” His judgment is final! (Obadiah 18)

In the Day of the Lord, Israel will be given all the territory of Edom and also the land God promised her long ago. She will possess the mountains of Esau (Jordan) and the territory of the Philistines, (the Gaza Strip). She will regain Gilead (The Golan Heights), all of Canaan, (including the West Bank), and the cities of the south. What is amazing about the message I brought so long ago, is that many of these areas are the very territories that are either places the Palestinians still occupy in your day, or were the traditional lands of the Edomites. The kingdom would be the Lord’s!

I had to be careful not to gloat over this prophecy! I certainly was relieved that the Edomites would be judged! But I remembered that Yahweh does not like us gloating over our enemies’ fall, especially our “brother’s” fall. How many times have we rejoiced over the fall of a Christian brother or sister, and said, “I told you so!” How many times have we seen God discipline others and we have gloated over their demise rather than praying for their repentance and deliverance? Could we perhaps be jealous of the financial position, the career, or even the spiritual gifts of a fellow believer, and then when they stumble or fall, we are secretly happy? Certainly, this is a chance for each one of you to examine your hearts carefully!

A final thought for you to ponder. In your current day, could the Lord Jesus be disciplining his church, shaking and sifting it, preparing for a great revival which will bring his people back to him, and draw others to himself? While this is happening, the secular world seems to be gloating over the attacks on the churches and people of the Lord. Be assured, in the end, God will take care of the “Edomites.” He is in control! What they have sown, they will reap.

The Kingdom shall be the Lord’s! Comfort each other with these words!