Obadiah 1-21
Dear RTB’ers,
Obadiah, our final minor prophet during this stretch of RTB readings. Our STS authors give us a good introduction to Obadiah. I would especially encourage you to read their citation of Numbers 20:14-21. Those verses tell of Edom’s refusal to allow Israel to pass through their territory on their journey from the Wilderness to the Promised Land, even though Edom and Israel were “brother nations” due to their ancestry from Jacob and Esau. You might want to read the long history of Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25, 27, 32-33) for a better understanding of that brotherly relationship.
Obadiah is all about Edom’s destruction. Some scholars read “Edom” to reflect any (or all) of those nations that fought with Israel, but for now we’ll just imagine that Obadiah meant Edom itself, the mountainous nation from the southern tip of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Obadiah tells Edom that it will fall: The pride of your heart has deceived 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?” 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. (vv. 3-4)
The word “day” appears a dozen times in this one chapter. Mostly it is used as “that day” or “the day”, in conjunction with the Lord’s eight “do not…” commands in verses 12-14. That changes in the next verse, however, where “the day of the LORD”, suggests something more eschatological: 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. (v. 15) Again, as with other “end times” prophecies that we have read, the Lord will rule from Jerusalem: But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy… Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s. (vv. 17a, 21) It’s worth noting that the NASB translates “saviors” as “deliverers”, suggesting a time more contemporary than an end-times prophecy. So it’s your call – current or end-times prophecy? Thoughts?
Blessings!
See also: August 11 (2023) / Psalm 137; Obadiah; Jeremiah 52:28-30; Ezekiel 33:1-20.