Obadiah: Obadiah 10-Edom Will Be Covered with Shame and Destroyed as a Nation Because of the Violence She Committed Against Judah

Obadiah 10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever. (NIV)

Obadiah 10 “You will be covered with shame because of the sinful violence committed against your relative, the descendants of Jacob. Indeed, you will certainly be cut off forever.” (Pastor’s translation)

Obadiah 10 begins a section in this tiny book which ends in Obadiah 14.

This paragraph presents the God of Israel presenting the indictments against the nation of Edom.

In other words, these verses present the reason why the God of Israel will judge this nation.

In fact, verse 10 summarizes what verses 11-14 detail in the same way verse 1 did in relation to verses 2-9.

Furthermore, Obadiah 10-14 fills in some of the blanks of Jeremiah 52 and 2 Kings 25.

In other words, they give us information regarding the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and reveals the nation of Edom’s role in this destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon.

Verse 10 contains two prophetic declarations which reveal that God will destroy this nation because they sinfully committed violence against the descendants of Jacob who were the Israelites.

Specifically, they committed violence against the southern kingdom of Judah during the Babylonian invasions of Judah which took place in the sixth century B.C.

The first prophetic declaration asserts that the nation of Edom will be covered with shame because of the sinful violence they committed against their relative, who were the descendants of Jacob.

The second advances upon the prophetic declaration recorded in Obadiah 9, which predicts the Edomite people will be violently executed like criminals because of the slaughter as a result of their wise men being killed and their mighty warriors experience dismay because of this.

When God says that they will be cut off, He means that He will cause them to be cut off from the nations of the earth.

In other words, they will no longer be a national entity with geographical boundaries because of God judging them for their sinful treatment of the southern kingdom of Judah in the sixth century B.C.

These two prophetic declarations express God’s wrath or righteous indignation against the nation of Edom for their sinful treatment of their relatives, the Israelites.

They also express His sovereignty over the nation of Edom and the nations of the earth.

They also express the fact that the God of Israel is the judge of every Gentile nation on the earth.

The violence that the Edomites committed against the people of the southern kingdom of Judah was during the last of three Babylonian invasions of Judah in 587/586 B.C.

They raided villages in Judah.

They sent prisoners to the Babylonians.

They also invaded southern Judah.

Carl Armerding commenting on the hatred between the descendants of Jacob and those of Esau writes “The OT traces this pattern to the very origins of the two nations, in the hatred of Esau for his brother Jacob (Gen. 27:40-41). This hatred emerged again in Edom’s hostility to Israel after the Exodus (Ex. 15:15; Num. 20:14-21; Deut. 2:4; Judg. 11:17-18); and Edom is numbered among Israel’s “enemies…who had plundered them” before they were defeated by Saul (1 Sam. 14:47-48). It is against this background of aggression that David’s later campaigns are also to be understood (2 Sam. 8:13-14; 1 Kgs. 11:15-16; 1 Chron. 18:11-13; Ps. 60). All this culminated in Edom’s exultation over the destruction of Jerusalem (Ps. 137:7; Lam. 4:21-22; Ezek. 25:12; 35:5, 15; 36:5; Joel 3:19).”[1]

Leslie Allen writes “The kinship of the two national groups of Edom and Israel, and its corresponding obligation, are stressed in Deut. 23:7: ‘You must not regard an Edomite with abhorrence, because he is your brother.’ This kinship is grounded in the patriarchal traditions of Gen. 25-29; 32f., which present in prototype the history of rivalry and suspicion subsequently experienced by the two nations. Judah is expressly called Jacob in order to bring out this relationship. Whatever the rights and wrongs of this habitual hostility, the prophet can see no sufficient warrant for this unforgettable instance of Edom’s treatment of a brother nation already overwhelmed by crisis. Kinship creates obligation, which cannot be neglected with impunity.”[2]

These prophetic declarations recorded in Obadiah 10, like all of the prophecies recorded in Obadiah 2-16, were fulfilled in history since Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon was able to capture the city of Petra and take the citizens of Edom into captivity as they did the citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah.

Arabian tribes moved into Edom during the sixth century B.C., which forced the remnant of Edomites to migrate west.

They became a province of the Persian Empire.

They were no longer a national entity.

They were ultimately reduced by John Hyrcanus of the Maccabean dynasty and lost their national existence under the Romans.

They were cut off forever as a nation, though the land would again be populated.

[1] Amerding, Carl E.; The Expositors Bible Commentary; volume 7 (Daniel-Minor Prophets); page 347; Regency Reference Library; Zondervan Publishing House; Grand Rapids, Michigan; 1985. [2] Allen, Leslie, C., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah; pages 154-155; William B. Eerdmann’s Publishing Co.; 1976.