Obadiah 17-A Remnant of the Descendants of Jacob Will Be Holy and Possess Their Land Inheritance (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday February 26, 2023

Obadiah: Obadiah 17-A Remnant of the Descendants of Jacob Will Be Holy and Possess Their Land Inheritance

Lesson # 17

Obadiah 17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance. (NIV)

“Deliverance” is the feminine singular noun pelê·ṭā(h) (פְּלֵיטָה) means “a remnant” since it pertains to what is the left-over part of something or some group.

Here it refers to a certain number of Jews who will have survived the Babylonian invasions in 605, 597 and 586 B.C. and the seventy-year exile in Babylon.

Obadiah 17 “However, a remnant will live on this mountain, which is Zion. In fact, it will for certain be a holy place. Furthermore, Jacob’s descendants will as a certainty possess their own land inheritance.” (Pastor’s translation)

Obadiah 17 contains three more prophetic declarations which stand in direct contrast with the previous four prophetic declarations recorded in Obadiah 16.

Therefore, the contrast between verses 16 and 17 is that a remnant of Jews will once again be a national entity with geographical boundaries but those Gentile nations which destroyed Judah as a national entity will no longer exist as national entities.

“Mount Zion” refers to the city of Jerusalem.

Now, in Obadiah 17, the reference to “a remnant” in the first prophetic declaration refers to regenerate Jews who will live during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

The reference to a remnant in the first prophetic declaration recorded in Obadiah 17 is echoed in Joel 2:28-32 and Joel 3:17.

This reference to “a remnant” in Obadiah 17 does not refer to those Jews who returned from the Babylonian exile since Obadiah describes Mount Zion in the second prophetic declaration in this verse, as a holy place and it has never been a holy place during the times of the Gentiles.

By holy, the writer means that Jerusalem will be dedicated and devoted and set apart for the worship of the God of Israel exclusively.

This has never been the case during the times of the Gentiles, which refers to a period of human history in which God is disciplining the nation of Israel for her corporate rebellion against Him.

Further indicating that this remnant is referring to the regenerate remnant of Jews during the millennial reign of Christ is that Israel has never in her history and even up to the present moment fully possessed the land inheritance promised to her by God.

The reference to “a remnant” in the first prophetic declaration recorded in Obadiah 17 speaks of one of the most critical doctrines found in the Word of God, which is that of the remnant (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 and all of which were given directly to the nation of Israel and not the church.

A member of the remnant must meet two requirements with the first being that they must be Jewish meaning that biologically or racially, they are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob whose name was changed to “Israel” by God and the second requirement which must be met is that of trusting in the Lord.

When Obadiah predicts in Obadiah 17 that a remnant of Jews will as a certainty possess their own land inheritance in the future, he is referring to the Palestinian covenant or promise of land to the descendants of Jacob who exercise faith in the Lord.

The second prophetic declaration in Obadiah 17 asserts that Jerusalem will once again be a holy place which is echoed and expanded upon by the prophet Joel (cf. Joel 3:17-21).

Zephaniah 3:8-20 provides detail information as to why Jerusalem and the land of Israel will be holy and why this regenerate remnant of Jews during the millennial reign of Christ will never be put to shame.

It also tells why this remnant will be holy.

Now, all three prophetic declarations which appear in Obadiah 17 explicitly speak of the future restoration of Israel and implicitly they speak of the future regeneration of Israel.

The term “restoration” is used to describe God fulfilling His promises of land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants, the Jews during the millennial reign of Christ.

This restoration of a future remnant of Israel to the land promised to them under the Abrahamic and Palestinian covenants is echoed in Amos 9:14-15, Ezekiel 36:34-37 and Zephaniah 3:20.

The term “regeneration” speaks of the national regeneration of Israel which will take place at the Second Advent of Christ when the majority of Jews will trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and only a small remnant will reject Him.

Isaiah 54 speaks of the regeneration and restoration of Israel during the millennium.

The “dry bones” passage in Ezekiel 37 and Romans 11:25-27 both teach that the nation of Israel will experience a national regeneration and thus the forgiveness of their sins at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

So therefore, all three prophetic declarations which are recorded in Obadiah 17 will all be fulfilled or find their perfect fulfillment during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

All of these Old Testament passages that we have noted in our study of Obadiah 17 and this doctrine of the remnant which is taught in this verse and in both the Old and New Testaments makes clear that Israel does have a future in the plan of God and that the church has in no way replaced Israel permanently.