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Obadiah

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Author

Obadiah meaning = Obad + Yah = Servant of Yahweh (the LORD)
Obadiahs in the Bible:

Housekeeper for King Ahab of Israel - 1 Kings 18 - 874-853 BC

Same time as Elijah
Hid prophets in cave from Jezebel

Others:

1 Chronicles 3:21
1 Chronicles 7:3
1 Chronicles 8:38, 9:44
1 Chronicles 9:16
1 Chronicles 12:9
1 Chronicles 27:19
Ezra 8:9

Official under King Jehoshaphat of Judah - 2 Chronicles 17:7 - 873-848 BC
Overseer of rebuilding under King Josiah of Judah - 2 Chronicles 34:12 - 640-609 BC
Sealer of Covenant - Nehemiah 10:5 - 445-432 BC
Levite Chief - Nehemiah 12:25 - 445-432 BC
Prophet/author of book of Obadiah

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Let’s start with the author. First, his name comes from 2 Hebrews words (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5662.htm) that effectively mean “Servant of the LORD (Yahweh)”.

There are many people with the name “Obadiah” in the Bible. I’ve briefly listed all of the “Obadiahs” in the Bible. Some are generically listed under “Others” since we know little about them (mostly “son of someone”), and they’re considered less likely to be the author. The others whom we know more about are considered to potentially more likely be the author. I’ve placed some approximate dates for those Scripture references (based on dates from a 1990 version of the NSRV published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and a 1996 version of the NLT Life Application Study Bible published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) to give you an idea of possible timeframes (though don’t consider these dates definitive - some of the dating is tough).

We don’t really know much concretely about the “Obadiah” as the author of this book - we know even less than Joel who we just covered the last few weeks (we at least knew Joel’s father from the text). Some Jewish rabbinic tradition and Eastern Orthodox churches think think this prophet Obadiah may have been the same one around the time of Elijah who hid prophets in a cave, but most people tend to think the author of this book is a distinct Obadiah different from any others mentioned in the Bible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obadiah

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Date

Huge date range from previous slide (874-432 BC)
Most common options are:

853-841 BC
627-586 BC

How can we resolve this?

Look at historical events to see what might line up

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Common date ranges based on notes from:

NLT Life Application Study Bible
Amplified Topical Reference Bible

From the previous slide, we can see that there’s a huge date range in which Obadiah could have been written. There are generally 2 common ranges when most people tend to think the book of Obadiah was written. This is based on trying to line up historical events with what’s mentioned in Obadiah (for which we might have a bit more information than Joel). Therefore, to understand why certain dates are believed, what we need to do is look at historical events to see if we can pinpoint a date. I’m not going to try and say we’ll definitively resolve this, but it’s worth looking at the very least since the historical context is relevant to the message in Obadiah regardless of specific date.

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Edom

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Edom - Descendants of Esau

Edom = name of a condiment, connected to “adom” (to be red, possibly related to skin)

The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. - Genesis 25:25 (ESV)
And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) - Genesis 25:30 (ESV)
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, - Genesis 32:3 (ESV)

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Edom - History with Israel

Struggle prophesied from birth:

And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” - Genesis 25:23 (ESV)

Esau is exhausted and sells birthright to Jacob (Genesis 25:29-34)
Jacob steals Esau’s blessing from Isaac (Genesis 27)

Esau plans to kill Jacob, but Jacob flees

Jacob makes peace with Esau in “the land of Seir, the country of Edom” (Genesis 32-33)
Genealogy of descendants of Esau - the Edomites (Genesis 36)

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God’s Command to Israel Regarding Edom

Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own. You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’” - Deuteronomy 2:4-6 (ESV)

Do not despise an Edomite, for the Edomites are related to you. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you resided as foreigners in their country. - Deuteronomy 23:7 (ESV)

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Edom - History with Israel

Edom denies Israelites passage through land (Numbers 20)
King Saul fights against Edom (1 Samuel 14:47)
King David subdues the Edomites (2 Samuel 8, 1 Chronicles 18)
God raises up Hadad the Edomite to attack Israel for Solomon’s sin (1 Kings 11)
Edom has a deputy as king (1 Kings 22:47)
Israel, Judah, and Edom ally themselves against Moab (2 Kings 3)
Edom comes to war against King Jehoshaphat of Judah (2 Chronicles 20)
Edom rebels against Judah’s control (2 Kings 8:20-22, 2 Chronicles 21)
King Amaziah of Judah kills 10,000 Edomites (2 Kings 14:7-10, 2 Chronicles 25)
Edom attacks Judah under King Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:17)

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Similar Prayers/Prophecies Against Edom

Psalm 83 (1000 BC, time of David though possibly later)
Psalm 137 (after 586 BC, Babylonian exile)
Isaiah 34 (755-681 BC)
Jeremiah 49 (627-586 BC)
Ezekiel 25, 35, 36 (597-571 BC)
Joel 3:19 (850-500 BC)
Amos 1 (787-748 BC)
Malachi 1 (475-397 BC)

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Another thing we can look at to potentially help with dating is similar prophecies. After all, if there are other prophecies against Edom for similar reasons and potentially talk about similar consequences, that may provide some other boundaries that could help with dating. Some of these may be less similar/related than others, so exercise caution before jumping to conclusions. As you can see, there’s still a fairly wide variety of potential date ranges - and some of these nations were involved in similar scenarios for hundreds of years.

Note that the prophecy in Malachi suggests that Edom may have been in ruin at that time. They may have become Idumaea (from which Herod - Matthew 2 - may have been from), though appear to have disappeared after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Amplified Topical Reference Bible
The Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edom

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Support for Different Dates

Earlier date:

2 Kings 8:20-22, 2 Chronicles 21 (853-841 BC)

Edom rebels against Judah

Amos 1 (787-748 BC)

Mentioning of Edom attacking Israel with sword

2 Chronicles 28:17-18 (735-716 BC)

The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away prisoners, while the Philistines had raided towns...They captured and occupied...

Isaiah 34 (755-681 BC)

it descends for judgment upon Edom...For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

Later date:

Psalm 137 (after 586 BC)

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion...Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”

Jeremiah 49 (627-586 BC)

Very similar prophecy

Ezekiel 25, 35, 36 (597-571 BC)

Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them
Because you cherished perpetual enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity

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Neutral:

Joel 3:19 (850-500 BC)

Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah

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Reading

Obadiah 1:1-4

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Discussion Questions (Obadiah 1:1-4)

Why is Edom being punished?

What is God saying He’ll do to Edom?

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In this opening, we see in the message that God’s given Obadiah that a message has been sent out to other nations to go and make war against Edom.

2 discussion questions to this section:

Why is Edom being punished? What is their sin?

From this section, we see a pretty generic description of their sin of pride/arrogance/presumptuousness (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2087.htm). Keep this in mind for later when we’ll get more detail.

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?” - Obadiah 1:3 (ESV)

Also note the reference to Edom’s dwelling in high mountains. There may be a bit of a play on words here in the Hebrew (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5553.htm for cliff is also the name of an Edomite town - 2 Kings 14:7).

What is God saying He’ll do to Edom?

He’ll humble them:

Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised. - Obadiah 1:2 (ESV)
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. - Obadiah 1:4 (ESV)

That’s the basic scenario - the basic setup - for the rest of this book.

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Reading

Obadiah 1:5-9

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Discussion Question (Obadiah 1:5-9)

How is God going to punish Edom?

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Looking at this next section, exactly how does God say He’ll punish Edom?

This section was a little confusing to me at first, but I think it starts off talking by contrast in verse 5. In other words, if regular thieves, plunderers, grape gatherers came, there is a limit to what they’d take - there’d still be something left over. However, then it moves onto describing how much more severe this punishment from God will be in the next few verses:

We see how hidden treasures will be pillaged (verse 6).
Allies will betray Edom, deceiving and attacking them (verse 7).
Wise men will be eliminated (verse 8).
Mighty warriors will be dismayed (verse 9).

In many ways, this punishment is tackling many foundational pillars of society - wealth, trust in peaceful relationships, food, wisdom, warriors.

Wiseman, D. J., Alexander, T. D., & Waltke, B. K. (1988). Obadiah, Jonah and Micah: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 26). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

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Reading

Obadiah 1:10-14

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Discussion Question (Obadiah 1:10-14)

What sins are being charged to Edom?

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Discussion Question (Obadiah 1:10-14)

How can we guard against pride?

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So this sin of “pride” seems to be a significant topic warned against here in Obadiah, I wanted to take some time to discuss that. How can we guard against pride in our own lives?

Word for pride earlier in Obadiah - https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2087.htm

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. - Deuteronomy 7:7-8 (ESV)
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. - Deuteronomy 8:3 (ESV)
lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. - Deuteronomy 8:12-18 (ESV)
“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. - Deuteronomy 9:4-6 (ESV)
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. - Romans 11:17-22 (ESV)
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. - Romans 12:3-5 (ESV)
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ESV)
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. - Philippians 2:3-7 (ESV)
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, - Titus 3:3-6 (ESV)
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. - James 4:13-17 (ESV)

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Reading

Obadiah 1:15-21

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Obadiah 1:19-21 Locations

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Discussion Questions (Obadiah 1:15-21)

Why do these verses appear here in Obadiah?

What is their purpose?

What would the message in Obadiah be without them?

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There are a number of themes toward the end of Obadiah that we’ve already discussed recently through Joel, so rather than necessarily revisit them directly, I want to ask what the purpose of this ending of Obadiah is. A large part of it seems unrelated to the direct prophecy against Edom earlier in the book, so let’s think about why these verses are here.

I think part of the reason for these verses is to help the audience keep the bigger picture in mind and not get too focused on Edom. The prophecy against Edom is important (hence still mentioning “Esau” in verse 18). But the sins of Edom could happen to anyone - and God will indeed judge all nations fully and justly. So this serves as a reminder that we are not to be too proud either.

Another aspect of keeping the bigger picture in mind is the ultimate restoration God has in store for His people. The judgment God gives due to sin is part of a bigger picture of the work that He’s doing to ultimately make all things right. And having that hopeful picture in mind for the future when God will indeed set all things right (Revelation 21:1-4) can he helpful in focusing our actions during the intervening time. And even if we experience suffering and hardship in this world, we can have confidence in God faithfully fulfilling His promises (Hebrews 11:32-40).