OpenTheo

Obadiah: Chapter-by-Chapter Commentary

Alastair Roberts
00:00
00:00

Obadiah: Chapter-by-Chapter Commentary

February 18, 2022
Alastair Roberts
Alastair Roberts

*CONTENTS*

00:00:00 - Chapter 1: Judgment on Edom

If you have enjoyed my videos and podcasts, please tell your friends. If you are interested in supporting my videos and podcasts and my research more generally, please consider supporting my work on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/zugzwanged), using my PayPal account (https://bit.ly/2RLaUcB), or by buying books for my research on Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/36WVSWCK4X33O?ref_=wl_share).

The audio of all of my videos is available on my Soundcloud account: https://soundcloud.com/alastairadversaria. You can also listen to the audio of these episodes on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/alastairs-adversaria/id1416351035?mt=2.

Share

Transcript

Obadiah is a difficult book to get a handle on. It is the fourth of the prophets in the Book of the Twelve, but historically placing the book presents challenges. Obadiah verse 17 is seemingly cited in Joel chapter 2 verse 32, For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
Presumably then Obadiah preceded Joel. There are also points of contact between Jeremiah chapter 49 verse 7 to 22 and its description of the judgment on Edom and the judgment of Edom in the Book of Obadiah. Some scholars historically have identified the figure of Obadiah with the Obadiah that was over Ahab's household, an Elijah's contemporary.
Yet
such an identification is incredibly difficult to maintain when we consider other details about the book. The book speaks of Edom's plundering of Judah and Jerusalem and the judgment that it would receive in consequence. Given that many texts of the Old Testament speak to Edom's involvement in the overthrow of Judah and Jerusalem, this strongly points to Obadiah being a response to Edom's part in the downfall of the Southern Kingdom around 586 BC.
Judah had already largely lost possession of the Negev, presumably to the Edomites,
prior to the final overthrow of Jerusalem. Jeremiah chapter 13 verse 19 suggests this. 1 Ezra chapter 4 verse 45 says that the Edomites burned down the temple in Jerusalem and verse 50 of that chapter says that the Edomians had taken over much of the territory of Judah by the period of Darius I. By the time of Malachi chapter 1 verses 2 to 5 however, Edom was devastated.
I have loved you, says the Lord. But you say, How have you loved us? Is not
Esau Jacob's brother, declares the Lord? Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.
If
Edom says, We are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins, the Lord of hosts says, They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called the wicked country and the people with whom the Lord is angry forever. Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel. Other scriptures single out Edom for judgment in connection with their role in the destruction of Jerusalem.
Lamentations chapter 4 verses
21 to 22. Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. But to you also the cup shall pass.
You shall become drunk, and strip yourself bare. The
punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished. He will keep you in exile no longer.
But your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish. He will uncover your
sins. Ezekiel chapter 25 verses 12 to 14.
Thus says the Lord God, Because Edom acted
revengefully against the house of Judah, and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them. Therefore thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and cut off from it man and beast, and I will make it desolate, from Timan even to Dedan. They shall fall by the sword, and I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel.
And they shall do in Edom according to my anger, and according to my wrath. And
they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God. Ezekiel chapter 35 contains an even more extensive condemnation and declaration of judgment upon Edom.
Psalm 137 verse 7 also speaks to the Edomites sins. Remember, O Lord, against the
Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations. It seems most natural then to read the book of Obadiah as a response to these same events, in which case it needs to be dated earlier than the completion of the book of Joel, but almost certainly after the destruction of Jerusalem, as it is responding to the Edomites actions in Jerusalem's downfall, and prophesying reversal.
As in other parts of the book of
Joel, the theme of the day of the Lord is an important and prominent one in the book of Obadiah. This great day of reversal would be one in which the Lord repaid the enemies of his people for their wrongs. The book of Obadiah is introduced as a vision or revelation, it's a message received from the Lord, and it begins with a report of a summons to battle against Edom, a report that had been spreading among the nations.
Edom is condemned to being greatly diminished among the nations and the peoples. They imagine themselves secure, sheltered in the clefts of the rock, presumably referring to the capital of Edom, Sela, which is a natural rocky highland stronghold. The pride of the Edomites is expressed in their boast that no one would be able to bring them down.
However the Lord is able
to bring them down, and to humble their exalted pride. Their lofty dwelling is connected with their pride, and also with their hubris, that they believe that they can raise themselves up to heaven, soaring aloft like the eagle, or setting their nest among the stars. Verses 5 and 6 describe the completeness of the sentence that would fall upon Edom.
Had they merely been set upon by thieves, they would lose only those things that the thieves wanted for themselves. If they were a great vineyard in which people were gathering grapes, there would be many left over as gleanings. The Edomites, however, would be stripped, utterly bare, nothing would be left behind.
The severity of the judgment falling upon
Edom was in large part due to Edom's treachery. Edom, descended from Esau, had betrayed his brother Israel, stabbing him in the back. Now Edom itself would suffer similar betrayal.
It would discover that its allies, and those with whom it thought itself to be at peace, had deceived them. Even though the Edomites might have shown favour to these people, the people are going to turn upon them and destroy them. Edom prides itself in its might and also in its wisdom.
When thinking about the wisdom
of Edom, we might think about the character of Job, Job being associated with the land of Uz, which many have identified with territory within the land of Edom. Eliphaz the Temanite, a character within the Book of Job, is also from the region of Edom. Edom's wisdom, however, would be confounded and cut off.
Likewise, their mighty men would fall by the sword.
Priding themselves in their military might and in the impregnability of their capital, they would find themselves dragged down to earth, and their military might greatly humbled. All of this is on account of the way that they had betrayed their brother Jacob.
In
verse 11 they begin by standing aloof in the day of Jerusalem's destruction. However, they don't stand aloof for long, like carrion birds and scavengers. Once the great lion of Babylon brought their brother down, they swooped in to take what they could from the scraps.
All of this seems to have fed their pride because the prophet goes on to warn them
not to gloat. As they had boasted and gloated in their brother's ruin, they would discover that their pride went before their fall. There is likely some play upon the word Edom in the use of the word calamity in verse 13.
Similar plays upon Edom and calamity and blood
are found in Ezekiel 35, verses 5-6. By entering into the gate of Judah and looting the wealth of Judah in the day of his calamity, Edom now has Judah's blood upon its hands. Verse 14 suggests that Edom's involvement was far more extensive.
They were complicit with the
enemies of Judah, handing over fugitives into their hands. All of this occurred in the day of Judah's calamity, in the day of the Lord as it came upon Jerusalem. There is, however, another day of the Lord approaching, a day of the Lord which will come near upon all of the nations, a day prophesied by such as Jeremiah, who spoke about the cup of the Lord being handed around among the nations.
On this rapidly approaching day, they would
experience their comeuppance. They would suffer retribution for what they had done. We find similar statements to those of verses 15 and 16 in Isaiah 51, verses 21-23.
Verses 17 and 18 speak of the reversal that would follow. Mount Zion would be the place of a restored remnant who had escaped the earlier disaster. They would be set apart as holy to the Lord and their land would be restored to them once more.
Beyond this,
the house of Jacob and of his firstborn Joseph would be raised up above the house of his brother Esau. The house of Jacob would be like a consuming fire, the great agent of the Lord's wrath. The house of Esau, particularly as a political body, would then be cut off.
The Edomites had taken possession of the Negev, but now that situation would be reversed. Those of the Negev would take possession of Mount Esau, and other parts of the land would be restored to the people. Those of the Sheffler would possess the land of the Philistines, and the nation would once more expand into the region of the Transjordan.
This statement
of the Lord's vengeance upon Edom might remind us of Ezekiel 25, verse 14. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God. These concluding verses serve to fit the account of the Lord's vengeance upon Edom into the larger picture of the coming day of the Lord, and the broader eschatological framework of the prophets.
We should recognise something of a broadening of the frame here then. The
frame is not merely upon Edom by itself, but dealing with the nations more generally, and the larger reality of the Lord restoring his people and establishing his kingdom. Paul Raab notes the implicitly two-stage process of the final verse, saviours going up to Mount Zion and then ruling Mount Esau.
He suggests that we think of the saviours here like the
deliverers of the judges. First Mount Zion is going to be liberated, and then second its rule is going to spread out, extending the rule of the Lord over the surrounding nations, and this is all going to be a means by which the kingdom shall be the Lord's. Within the book of the Twelve, although the successive prophets don't naturally follow from each other chronologically, there are thematic connections, and in this respect we should probably connect the book of Obadiah with the end of the book of Amos, in Amos 9 verses 11-12.
In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name, declares the Lord who does this. In those verses Jacob's brother Edom is seen as the first example of the wider nations. Its remnant is to come under the reign of the Lord, that remnant of Edom becoming the first of the wider nations that would be called by the Lord's name.
A question to consider, what are some of the ways in which the kingdom of Edom relates to the people of Israel over the course of their respective histories?

More on OpenTheo

What Are the Top Five Things to Consider Before Joining a Church?
What Are the Top Five Things to Consider Before Joining a Church?
#STRask
July 3, 2025
Questions about the top five things to consider before joining a church when coming out of the NAR movement, and thoughts regarding a church putting o
What Would You Say to Someone Who Believes in “Healing Frequencies”?
What Would You Say to Someone Who Believes in “Healing Frequencies”?
#STRask
May 8, 2025
Questions about what to say to someone who believes in “healing frequencies” in fabrics and music, whether Christians should use Oriental medicine tha
No One Wrote About Jesus During His Lifetime
No One Wrote About Jesus During His Lifetime
#STRask
July 14, 2025
Questions about how to respond to the concern that no one wrote about Jesus during his lifetime, why scholars say Jesus was born in AD 5–6 rather than
Are Works the Evidence or the Energizer of Faith?
Are Works the Evidence or the Energizer of Faith?
#STRask
June 30, 2025
Questions about whether faith is the evidence or the energizer of faith, and biblical support for the idea that good works are inevitable and always d
More on the Midwest and Midlife with Kevin, Collin, and Justin
More on the Midwest and Midlife with Kevin, Collin, and Justin
Life and Books and Everything
May 19, 2025
The triumvirate comes back together to wrap up another season of LBE. Along with the obligatory sports chatter, the three guys talk at length about th
Full Preterism/Dispensationalism: Hermeneutics that Crucified Jesus
Full Preterism/Dispensationalism: Hermeneutics that Crucified Jesus
For The King
June 29, 2025
Full Preterism is heresy and many forms of Dispensationalism is as well. We hope to show why both are insufficient for understanding biblical prophecy
Licona vs. Shapiro: Is Belief in the Resurrection Justified?
Licona vs. Shapiro: Is Belief in the Resurrection Justified?
Risen Jesus
April 30, 2025
In this episode, Dr. Mike Licona and Dr. Lawrence Shapiro debate the justifiability of believing Jesus was raised from the dead. Dr. Shapiro appeals t
Jay Richards: Economics, Gender Ideology and MAHA
Jay Richards: Economics, Gender Ideology and MAHA
Knight & Rose Show
April 19, 2025
Wintery Knight and Desert Rose welcome Heritage Foundation policy expert Dr. Jay Richards to discuss policy and culture. Jay explains how economic fre
Licona vs. Fales: A Debate in 4 Parts – Part Three: The Meaning of Miracle Stories
Licona vs. Fales: A Debate in 4 Parts – Part Three: The Meaning of Miracle Stories
Risen Jesus
June 11, 2025
In this episode, we hear from Dr. Evan Fales as he presents his case against the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection and responds to Dr. Licona’s writi
Why Do Some Churches Say You Need to Keep the Mosaic Law?
Why Do Some Churches Say You Need to Keep the Mosaic Law?
#STRask
May 5, 2025
Questions about why some churches say you need to keep the Mosaic Law and the gospel of Christ to be saved, and whether or not it’s inappropriate for
Licona and Martin: A Dialogue on Jesus' Claim of Divinity
Licona and Martin: A Dialogue on Jesus' Claim of Divinity
Risen Jesus
May 14, 2025
In this episode, Dr. Mike Licona and Dr. Dale Martin discuss their differing views of Jesus’ claim of divinity. Licona proposes that “it is more proba
Sean McDowell: The Fate of the Apostles
Sean McDowell: The Fate of the Apostles
Knight & Rose Show
May 10, 2025
Wintery Knight and Desert Rose welcome Dr. Sean McDowell to discuss the fate of the twelve Apostles, as well as Paul and James the brother of Jesus. M
Can a Deceased Person’s Soul Live On in the Recipient of His Heart?
Can a Deceased Person’s Soul Live On in the Recipient of His Heart?
#STRask
May 12, 2025
Questions about whether a deceased person’s soul can live on in the recipient of his heart, whether 1 Corinthians 15:44 confirms that babies in the wo
Can Historians Prove that Jesus Rose from the Dead? Licona vs. Ehrman
Can Historians Prove that Jesus Rose from the Dead? Licona vs. Ehrman
Risen Jesus
May 7, 2025
In this episode, Dr. Mike Licona and Dr. Bart Ehrman face off for the second time on whether historians can prove the resurrection. Dr. Ehrman says no
Pastoral Theology with Jonathan Master
Pastoral Theology with Jonathan Master
Life and Books and Everything
April 21, 2025
First published in 1877, Thomas Murphy’s Pastoral Theology: The Pastor in the Various Duties of His Office is one of the absolute best books of its ki