Obadiah: Obadiah 21-The Future Remnant of Israel Will Rule Over Edom’s Territory During the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ Lesson # 22

Obadiah 21 Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s. (ESV)

“Saviors” is translating the masculine plural hiphil participle form of the verb mô·šîaʿ (מוֹשִׁיעַ), which follow the Masoretic Text.

However, the NET, LEB, NRSV and CEV follow the Septuagint, which has the masculine plural hophal participle form of this verb, which means “those who have been delivered.”

This translation lies the closest to the time of Old Testament authorship, even predating some of the Hebrew manuscript tradition.

Obadiah 21 “Then, those who have been delivered will surely ascend Mount Zion in order to rule over Esau’s mountain because the Lord will indeed be king!” (My translation)

Verse 21 contains a prophetic declaration which asserts that those who have been delivered will surely ascend Mount Zion in order to rule over Esau’s mountain because the Lord will be king.

This prophecy will be fulfilled chronologically after the events predicted in verses 17-20 have been fulfilled, which will be at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

Verse 21 speaks of the future remnant of Israel going up to Jerusalem which will be elevated geographical considerably more than it is today as a result of the events of Jesus Christ’s Second Advent which will change the topography of Jerusalem.

Thus, when it says that this future remnant will go up to Mount Zion, it is speaking of this remnant ascending to Jerusalem in order to govern or rule planet earth with Jesus Christ, which will take place during the millennium.

On the other hand, the prophecies in verses 18-20 which speak of this future remnant of Israel taking possession of various territories in the Middle East will take place at the Second Advent.

Jesus Christ will lead this remnant in destroying the armies of the tribulational including Antichrist and his army who will oppose Israel.

Therefore, since the millennial reign of Jesus Christ takes place after His Second Advent, the prophesy in verse 21 will take place after the prophetic events presented in verses 17-20.

“Those who have been delivered” is a reference to the future remnant of Israel who will live during the seventieth week of Daniel, the Second Advent of Jesus Christ and His subsequent millennial reign.

They are described as saved or delivered from their enemies because the Scriptures teach that at His Second Advent, Jesus Christ will deliver this remnant of Israel from the tribulational armies, the Antichrist, the False Prophet and Satan.

All of whom persecuted Israel during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel.

At that time, He will bring to an end the seventieth week of Daniel and the times of the Gentiles.

He will destroy the Tribulational armies, have Antichrist and the False Prophet thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:11-19), will imprison Satan for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3) and will establish His millennial reign on planet earth (Rev. 20:4-6).

The reference to this future remnant of Israel “ascending” or “going up to” Mount Zion, i.e. Jerusalem in Obadiah 21 indicates that the topography of Jerusalem will be changed which corresponds to the prophecy which appears in Zechariah 14:9.

Obadiah 21 also asserts that this future remnant of Israel which will be delivered from Antichrist and Satan at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ will ascend in order to rule over Esau’s mountain.

Of course, Obadiah 17-20 predicts that this future remnant will exterminate the descendants of Esau leaving no remnant whatsoever of these ancient people.

The Jews will rule over the territory once occupied by the Edomites.

In fact, this future remnant of Israel will rule over the entire earth because Jesus Christ is a Jew and He will rule all the nations of the earth with a rod of iron during His millennial reign (cf. Ps. 2:9; Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15).

His central government will be located in Jerusalem which will be the capital city of not only Israel during His millennial reign but also the world capital at that time.

The final prophetic declaration in Obadiah 21 and thus in this tiny book predicts that the Lord will be king.

This assertion presents the reason why this future remnant of Israel will ascend Mount Zion in order to rule over the territory which was once occupied by the Edomites.

They will do so because the Lord will be king over all the earth.

This too will be fulfilled by the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

This final prophecy recorded in Obadiah 21, which asserts the Lord will be king over all the earth will fulfill the Davidic covenant, which deals with the dynasty that will rule the nation of Israel as indicated in 2 Samuel 7:16 where God promised David that a descendant of his would sit on his throne forever.

As in the case of the Abrahamic covenant, this covenant with David is restated and reconfirmed elsewhere in Scripture (cf. Isa. 9:6-7; Jer. 23:5-6; 30:8-9; 33:14-17, 20-21; Ezek. 37:24-25; Dan. 7:13-14; Hos. 3:4-5; Amos 9:11; Zech. 14:4, 9).

The Davidic covenant contains four promises: (1) A Davidic House: Posterity of David will never be destroyed. (2) A Davidic Throne: Kingdom of David shall never be destroyed. (3) A Davidic Kingdom: David’s Son (Christ) will have an earthly sphere of rule. (4) It Shall Be Unending. The “sign” of the Davidic Covenant is a Son (Lord Jesus Christ).

Provisions of the Davidic covenant: (1) David is to have a child, yet to be born, who will succeed him and establish his kingdom (2) This son (Solomon), instead of David, will build the temple. (3) The throne of his kingdom will be established forever. (4) The throne will not be taken away from him (Solomon) even though his sins justify God’s discipline. (5) David’s house, throne and kingdom will be established forever.

The essential features of the Davidic covenant are found in three words in 2 Samuel 7:16: (1) House (physical descendants): A line stemming from David would continue indefinitely and would be the divinely recognized royal line. (2) Kingdom (political body): the political body that David would rule and over which David’s descendants would successively reign. (3) Throne (right to rule): refers to the authority as king vested in him.

Just as important as these three terms is the word “forever,” which refers to any time during which the descendants of Abraham would exist.

Even though there might be temporary interruptions in the exercise of royal authority because of divine discipline, the authority would never transfer to another line.

One of the royal titles that the Lord Jesus Christ possesses is that of the “Son of David,” which denotes His rulership over the nation of Israel (Matt. 1:1; 20:30; Mark 10:47-48; Luke 1:32; 2 Tim. 2:8; Rev. 3:7; 5:5; 22:16).

The prophetic implications of the Davidic covenant: (1) Israel must be preserved as a nation. (2) Israel must have a national existence and be brought back into the land of her inheritance. (3) David’s descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ, must return to the earth, bodily and literally, in order to reign over David’s covenanted kingdom. (4) A literal earthly kingdom must exist over which the returned Messiah will reign. (5) This kingdom must become an eternal kingdom.

The Davidic Covenant contains four promises: (1) A Davidic House: Posterity of David will never be destroyed. (2) A Davidic Throne: Kingdom of David shall never be destroyed. (3) A Davidic Kingdom: David’s Son (Christ) will have an earthly sphere of rule. (4) It Shall Be Unending. The “sign” of the Davidic Covenant is a Son (Lord Jesus Christ).

The reference to the kingship of the Lord in Obadiah 21 and His millennial reign on the earth leads us to the doctrine of 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).

The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ Himself will reign bodily in Jerusalem for a thousand years as the King of the earth and Israel will be head of the nations.

Jesus Christ will establish His millennial reign at His Second Advent (Rev. 20:1-6).

He will come from heaven with the elect angels and the church to deliver Israel from Satan and the non-elect angels and Antichrist, the false prophet and the Tribulational armies.

During the millennial reign of Christ, Satan will be incarcerated for a thousand years. Israel will be regathered and the four unconditional covenants that the Lord established with the nation will be literally fulfilled.

There will be perfect social, economic, environmental and political conditions during the millennial reign of Christ.

During this time, God will make a display of the absolute authority of divine government through the rule of the Messiah.

Men will be subjected to and tested by the authority of the King.