Obadiah: Obadiah 16-The Nations Who Attacked Judah Will No Longer Exist Lesson # 17

Obadiah 16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually; they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been. (ESV)

Obadiah 16 “For just as each and every one of you drank on My holy mountain so each and every one of these nations will drink continually. Indeed, each and every one of them will certainly drink and will certainly gulp down. Consequently, each of them will certainly enter into the state of being like they never existed.” (My translation)

Obadiah 16 contains three more prophetic declarations.

The first is a comparative clause which asserts that just as each of the people of Judah drank from the cup of God’s wrath on God’s holy mountain, so each of the nations which attacked them and destroyed them as a national entity will drink continually from this same cup.

The second advances upon the first and asserts that each one of these nations which took part in the Babylonian invasion of Judah in 586 B.C. would certainly drink from the cup of God’s wrath and will certainly gulp it down.

The third is a result clause which asserts that each one of these Gentile nations who destroyed Judah in 586 B.C. as a national entity will certainly enter into the state of being like they never existed.

Each of these three prophetic declarations present the reason for the previous prophetic declaration at the end of Obadiah 15.

The latter asserts that just as the Edomites have treated the people of Judah during the Babylonian invasions, so they will be treated in the same manner.

In other words, their cruel treatment of the people of Judah during their time of adversity as a nation will return on their own heads.

“My holy mountain” is a reference to Mount Zion upon which Israel’s and later the southern kingdom of Judah’s capital city, was built, which is indicated by the reference to Mount Zion in verse 17.

“Zion” (ṣiyyôn) was originally the name applied to the hill where the ancient Jebusite city of Jerusalem was located.

After this city was conquered by David sometime around 1000 B.C. he had a tabernacle built and the Ark of the Covenant moved there.

As a result, Zion was associated with the “temple mount,” even after the ark was moved to the temple constructed by Solomon on Mount Moriah, a neighboring hill.

Ultimately, the use of “Zion” was extended to include the entire city of Jerusalem as well as its inhabitants.[1]

Therefore, “my holy mountain” in verse 16 refers to the Temple Mount as being set apart exclusively for the worship of the God of Israel.

The reference to drinking here in Obadiah 16 is a metaphor for experiencing God’s wrath, which refers to His righteous indignation and appears in several places in the Old Testament (cf. Ps. 60:3; 75:8; Is. 51:17, 22; Jer. 25:15-29; 49:12-13; Hab. 2:15-16; Rev. 14:10; 16:19).

Now, the first prophetic declaration indicates that the Edomites should have never cruelly mistreated the people of Judah during the Babylonian invasion of 586 B.C. because now they along with all the nations involved will have to drink continually from God’s cup of wrath.

It is comparing the people of Judah experiencing God’s wrath during the Babylonian invasion of 586 B.C. with the nations who took part in this invasion against them experiencing God’s wrath themselves continually.

The second person plural form of this verb šātâ refers to the Jewish exiles in Babylon and is used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.

Each and every one of these exiles experienced God’s wrath during the Babylonian invasion, as evidence by the fact that they are now living in Babylon rather than the land of promise.

As we noted, the second prophetic declaration in Obadiah 16 advances upon and intensifies the first, which is indicated by the addition of the third person masculine plural qal active perfect form of the verb lā·ʿǎʿ, “swallow” to the third person masculine plural qal active perfect form of the verb šātâ, “they shall drink.”

The latter did not appear with the third person masculine plural qal active perfect form of the verb lā·ʿǎʿ, “swallow” in the previous prophetic declaration.

The purpose of this advancement and intensification is to emphasize with the Jewish exiles in Babylon God’s resolve to judge these Gentile nations who attacked them.

The figure of Gentile nations drinking from the cup of God’s wrath appears in several places in the Old Testament (cf. Is. 51:17-23; Jer. 25:15-29; Ezek. 23:31-34; Hab. 2:16).

Notice the word “continually” in the second prophetic declaration, which as we noted is the noun tā·mîḏ which along with the repetition of the third person masculine plural qal active perfect form of the verb šātâ (שָׁתָה), “they shall drink” describes these Gentile nations experiencing wave after wave of God’s wrath.

In others, these three words are telling the Jewish exiles in Babylon that they experienced God’s wrath temporarily but these Gentile nations who were used by God to destroy them as a national entity will endure continual punishment.

The result clause at the end of Obadiah 16 indicates that this continual punishment is a reference to the fact that they will no longer exist as national entities just as Judah temporarily (seventy years) did not exist as a national entity.

The third prophetic declaration in Obadiah 16 presents the result of the second prophetic declaration which indicates that these nations, which took part in the destruction of Judah as a national entity in 586 B.C. will experience God’s wrath continually with the result that they will no longer exist as national entities.

These prophetic declarations recorded in Obadiah 16 were fulfilled in history since none of the nations who destroyed Judah in 586 B.C. exist anymore.

They no longer exist as national entities including Babylon and Edom.

Jeremiah 25:15-38 lists many nations existing in his day and age which would experience God’s wrath.

Several of these nations took part in the Babylonian led invasion of Judah in 586 B.C.

The prophecies in Obadiah 16 obviously are not only directed against these Gentile nations but also Edom because she aided the Babylonian led coalition against Judah as noted in Obadiah 10-14.

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 and 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.

The nations mentioned in the prophecies of Obadiah 15-16 are not referring to the nations which will exist during the seventieth week of Daniel but rather, they are referring exclusively to those nations which took part in the Babylonian led invasion of Judah in 586 B.C.

These nations would no longer exist as national entities but a remnant of people from these nations continued to exist.

The reference to Edom in Daniel 11:41, which is a passage describing the activities of Antichrist during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week, is not a reference to the nation of Edom as it was presently constituted in Obadiah’s day and age.

Rather the reference to Edom in Daniel is referring to a nation which will inhabit the geographical region Edom occupied in the sixth century B.C.

Daniel is thus using Edom from the point of reference of the Jew living during the sixth century B.C.

Therefore, the references to Edom, Moab and Ammon in Daniel 11:41 would all be included today in the present kingdom of Jordan.

The people living in these nations at that time could very well be descendants of the ancient nations of Edom, Moab and Ammon.

The Gentile nations led by the Antichrist which will attack Israel and persecute her during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel will like the nations who attacked Judah in the sixth century B.C. face God’s righteous indignation.

As we noted, the reference to drinking in Obadiah 16 is alluding to drinking from the cup of God’s wrath, which refers to experiencing God’s wrath, 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.

We must keep in mind that if Edom and these other Gentile nations such as Babylon who destroyed Judah in 586 B.C. repented, the God of Israel would have relented from exercising His wrath against them.

We know this from the book of Jonah and 2 Peter 3:9.

Repentance for the unregenerate people of these Gentile nations in Obadiah’s day and age in the sixth century B.C. would involve a change of attitude toward the God of Israel by trusting in Him and rejecting the wordship of their gods and this would result in a change of conduct by these people.

[1] Rainy, “Zion,” International Standard Bible Encylopedia, volume 4, page 1198