Obadiah: Introduction Part 2

The book of Obadiah can be divided into four major interrelated sections.

Verses 1-9 constitute the first major section of the book which announces God’s intention to judge the kingdom of Edom and can be broken out into two sections.

Verse 1 contains the heading of the book which identifies Obadiah as the prophet receiving a vision from God to be communicated to the remnant of Judah.

This verse also contains the introduction to the book in which Edom is identified as being the subject of the prophecies in this book.

Obadiah asserts that he received a prophecy from the God of Israel which he was to communicate to the nations.

Verses 1b-9 contain prophecies which predict the defeat of the kingdom of Edom.

The second half of verse 1 contains God’s call to the nations to destroy Edom.

Verses 2-9 contain the prophecy of this nation’s destruction and within this section, Edom would be judged because of her pride (verses 2-4) and her wealth plundered (verses 5-7) and her citizens slaughtered (verses 8-9).

Verses 10-14 constitute the second major section which describes the sins committed by the nation of Edom against her blood relatives, the southern kingdom of Judah whereas verses 15-16 form the third major section, which announces the day of the Lord.

God’s righteous indignation will be directed against Edom for her crimes during this period.

Lastly, verses 17-21 form the fourth and final section of the book which contains the announcement of the Lord’s intention to bless His people Israel in the future.

This final section can be broken out into three parts with verses 17-18 announcing that the Lord will deliver Israel from her enemies whereas verses 19-20 describe boundaries of the various territories of Israel during the millennial reign of Christ.

In verse 21, the Lord announces through the prophet Obadiah that He will establish His kingdom on the earth and will rule over both Israel and Edom.

The book of Obadiah contains a three-fold purpose.

The first is obvious from the first fourteen verses of the book, which is that God will judge the nation of Edom as a result of their poor treatment of the southern kingdom of Judah when they fell to the Babylonians.

Judgment against Edom is pronounced in more Old Testament books than against any other foreign nation or enemy of Israel (cf. Is. 11:14; 34:5-17; 63:1-6; Jer. 9:25-26; 25:17-26; 49:7-22; Lam. 4:21-22; Ezek. 25:12-14; 35; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11-12; Mal. 1:4; Obad.).

Secondly, the book of Obadiah was written to encourage the remnant of Judah that the God of Israel is sovereign ruler over the nations who are accountable to Him.

Lastly, the third and final purpose is to announce that the God of Israel will establish His kingdom on the earth and rule over both Jerusalem and Edom in the future.

Obadiah reflects the culmination of a conflict between the nation of Israel and the nation of Edom and which conflict dated back to the patriarchal period and specifically with Jacob and Esau.

The former was the progenitor of the nation of Israel while on the other hand the latter was the progenitor of the nation of Edom and the two had been at odds but then made peace with each other later in life.

However, their descendants fought often (Num. 20:14-21; 1 Sam. 14:47; 1 Kgs. 11:14; Is. 34:5).

Three great themes are present in Obadiah.

The first is of course judgment for the nation of Edom as a result of their cruel treatment of the southern kingdom of Judah.

Secondly, the restoration of the nation of Israel to the land promised to their progenitors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Lastly, there is the kingdom of the Lord being established on the earth with the Jewish Messiah ruling over both Jerusalem and Edom in the future.

Connected to this theme of the judgment and restoration of Israel and the establishment of God’s kingdom on the earth is the prophetic theme seen throughout both the Old and New Testaments, namely “the day of the Lord.”

In fact, this prophetic theme appears in Obadiah 15.

The term “Day of the Lord” occurs in the following passages: Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Amos 5:18 (twice), 20; Obadiah 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14 (twice); Zech. 14:1; Mal. 4:5; Acts 2:20; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:10.

The term “Day of the Lord” and the phrases “that day” or “the day” or the “great day” are used with reference to Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Isaiah 13:5-6; Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 29, 31; 38:10-19; 39:11, 22; Obadiah 14-15; Zephaniah 1:14, 18; 2:2-3; Zechariah 12:3-4, 6, 8-9; Malachi 4:5), the Second Advent of Christ (Zechariah 12:11; 14:4, 6, 8), millennium (Ezekiel 45:22; 48:35; Joel 3:18; Zechariah 14:9; Zephaniah 3:11), and the creation of the new heavens and earth (2 Peter 2:10).

The prophetic theme of the day of the Lord is found in Obadiah 15 where it is used of God’s judgment of Edom which had a near fulfillment through Nebuchadnezzar, which is indicated by the statements in Obadiah 1-14 which address only Edom.

However, this phrase also pointed to Obadiah 15 being fulfilled in the far distant future and the establishment of Christ’s millennial kingdom which is indicated by Obadiah 15-21.

In verses 15-16 there is an abrupt shift to the prophet addressing all the nations and thus, Edom becomes the pattern for future nations.

Also, the destruction of the nations in verse 16 is a future event and has not taken place in human history to this point.

Furthermore, verses 17-21 speaks of Israel’s restoration which will occur during the millennial reign of Christ.

Lastly, verse 21 says that this kingdom will be the Lord’s which is a reference to Jesus Christ’s millennial kingdom.

There are several great doctrinal themes mentioned in the book of Obadiah with the first being pride since the book condemns the pride of the nation of Edom (Obad. 3-4, 10-14), which would in fact result in her downfall as a nation.

The book of Obadiah refers to the God of Israel’s sovereignty over Israel and all the nations of the earth such as Edom (Obad. 15-18), which connotes a situation in which a person, from his innate dignity, exercises supreme power, with no areas of his province outside his jurisdiction.

As applied to God, the term “sovereignty” indicates His complete power over all of creation, so that He exercises His will absolutely, without any necessary conditioning by a finite will or wills (Is. 40:15, 17; Dan. 2:19-23; Acts 17:22-34).

Obadiah also describes the God of Israel as intervening in the affairs of mankind since it speaks of God judging Edom and those pagan nations who opposed Israel.

This is called the “immanency” of God, which means that He involves Himself in and concerns Himself with and intervenes in the lives of members of the human race, both saved and unsaved.

Obadiah also speaks of the God of Israel’s wrath or we can say His righteous indignation (Obad. 8-9, 15-18), which refers to His legitimate anger towards evil and sin since both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature.

In fact, God’s righteous indignation expresses His holiness, which pertains to the absolute perfection of God’s character.

He is totally separate from sin and sinners unless a way can be found to constitute them holy and that way has been provided based upon the merits of the impeccable Person and Finished Work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross.

The book of Obadiah also describes the God of Israel as the judge of all mankind (Obad. 15-18).

Another critical doctrine found in the book of Obadiah is that of the remnant, which speaks of a remainder of righteous people in the nation of Israel who survive judgment or catastrophe (Obad. 17, 21).

This doctrine asserts that within the Jewish nation, God will always set aside a certain number of Jews who will believe in Him in every dispensation and in every generation of human history.

It is based upon the unconditional promises contained in the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic and New covenants.

The concept of the remnant appears several times in the book of Zephaniah (2:3, 7, 9; 3:11-13) and is mentioned in Obadiah 17.

The last great doctrine presented in the book of Obadiah which is found in the last verse of this book is the kingdom of God which denotes that God is sovereign over Israel and over the whole earth (Psalm 47:7-8; cf. Exodus 15:18; 1 Samuel 12:12; 1 Chronicles 16:31; 28:5; 29:11-12; Psalm 9:7-8; 45:6; 93:1-2; 103:19; 145:11-13; Isaiah 37:16; Daniel 4:34-35).

The Scriptures express an expectation of the kingdom of God on earth (Isaiah 51:4-5; Mark 15:43; Luke 23:51; cf. Isaiah 2:2-4l; Micah 4:1-3; Isaiah 32:1; Jeremiah 3:17; Daniel 2:44; 7:18, 21-22, 27; Zechariah 8:22; 14:9; Mark 11:10).

It is associated with the First and Second Advents of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 7:14; cf. Isaiah 11:1-9; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Micah 5:2).