Minor Prophets: Obadiah
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
The Set up
The Set up
As we start into looking at each of the minor prophets may we remember minor does not mean insignificant, it means less writing, still inspirited, still important, still much we can learn from them. It is good for us to have some set up as we prepare for our lesson today.
Obadiah means: “Servant of Yahweh (Jehovah)”
Tradition shows him as steward of Ahab (1Kn18:3,4, 12)
So need to give you some passages to consider
3 Ahab called Obadiah who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly; 4 for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.)
Question: If this is the right Obadiah (1Kn18:3-4); what do you learn about him?
He feared the Lord greatly, he served the Lord passionately in protecting the prophets and provided for the Lords people.
Now a couple of those blanks are my words not Gods, I think you can see they are implied from the passage
May have been prophet sent to Jehoshaphat (2Chr17:7)
Remember in our intro to series last week we discussed the prophet was not always foretelling (future) but forthtelling (speaking for God; the word of God) look at if this is the Obadiah in our next passage what he is doing.
7 Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah;
(Transition) So whoever exactly this Obadiah was there is much we can learn, lessons to learn for us today as well as the history behind it.
Background to Obadiah
Background to Obadiah
There are some varying thoughts on who Obadiah was, and even when it was written, but no questions about the message, so here is some more information to help us understand before digging into the book.
Date: Two dates offered (845BC) and (586BC)
Most commentators go with the earlier date (845) and the reason behind in Obadiah references an attack on Jerusalem and there were two that happen that would back the earlier date.
845 date (2CHr21:8-10, 16-17)
8 In his days Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and set up a king over themselves. 9 Then Jehoram crossed over with his commanders and all his chariots with him. And he arose by night and struck down the Edomites who were surrounding him and the commanders of the chariots.
10 So Edom revolted against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time against his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers.
and then there was
16 Then the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians; 17 and they came against Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions found in the king’s house together with his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
(insert picture- Obediah- God’s message to Edom)
So we have the the attack by the Philistines and then the Arabians
Reason could be the later date (586) is that is when Jerusalem was attacked by Babylon and taken into captivity
586 date (Jer49:7-13; Ezek35:1-10)
Jeremiah in Jer49:7-13 brings up judgment against Edom, Jeremiah was prophet about 650-570BC
Ezekiel (Ezk35:1-10) a contemporary of Jeremiah wrote of the judgment at Mount Seir which is in Odem.
(Transition) a couple of quick thoughts on this that I gathered from commentators is
Language is different fro that of the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
There is no mention of the destruction of the temple and captivity into Babylon, so most commentators go with the earlier date of 845.
So, having said all that, let’s move on for we have not even gotten to the book itself yet.
The message
The message
This is the shortest book of the minor prophets and the message is clear in the 21 verses, here is some general information.
The Fall of Edom
Because of pride
Cruelty against Israel
Exaltation of Zion
Zion exalted when Seir is cast down
Israel will be redeemed
(Transition): I know this is a lot as far as set up, setting, background, just bear with me a little longer.
History of Edom
History of Edom
History of the Edomites dates back to before the Exodus, let’s paint a picture here so you can see it better.
Edom descended from Esau
Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, son of Isaac.
There was rivalry between the brothers even before leaving the womb (Gen25:22-26)
Esau sold his birthright to Jacob (Gen25:27-34)
Jacob stole Esau’s blessing as first born (Gen27)
OK with some coaching, encouraging and help from his mom, Rebekah.
Now the brothers did reconcile in (Gen32-33); still their descendants were at odds with one another.
Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through land in the Exodus (Num20:14-21)
Edom ended up being subjected by David (2Sam8:13-14) and tried to revolt during Jehoram reign (2Kng8:20-22)
Edom located south of Dead Sea and built their cities in the cliffs.
Edom’s demise after the prophesy
Overtaken, pushed out by the Nabataens
Then conquered by the Maccabees by 100 BC and as a people ceased.
(Transition) Believe it or not, now with all that said and done, it is time look at the book.
The coming judgment on Edom (Oba1:1-9)
The reason described for judgment (Oba1:10-16)
Exaltation of Israel over Edom (Oba1:17-21)
Coming judgment on Edom
Coming judgment on Edom
God is longsuffering, but God is just too and God brings justice (judgment) and here in our first section we see the judgment announced, the judgment described.
Are you ready? Grab your Bible, let me read the passage (vv.1-9) follow along in your bible and the let’s pull from the scripture together.
1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom— We have heard a report from the Lord, And an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, “Arise and let us go against her for battle”— 2 “Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You are greatly despised.
3 “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, You who live in the clefts of the rock, In the loftiness of your dwelling place, Who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to earth?’ 4 “Though you build high like the eagle, Though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
5 “If thieves came to you, If robbers by night— O how you will be ruined!— Would they not steal only until they had enough? If grape gatherers came to you, Would they not leave some gleanings? 6 “O how Esau will be ransacked, And his hidden treasures searched out!
7 “All the men allied with you Will send you forth to the border, And the men at peace with you Will deceive you and overpower you. They who eat your bread Will set an ambush for you. (There is no understanding in him.) 8 “Will I not on that day,” declares the Lord, “Destroy wise men from Edom And understanding from the mountain of Esau?
9 “Then your mighty men will be dismayed, O Teman, So that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter.
What did you see, What did you notice, What sticks out to you?
Always good to pull from the scripture so may we take some time and look at some questions to glean from the scripture, look at your outline for the questions.
Question: How was the coming judgment made known (v.1)?
Through vision of Obadiah
Word given from Lord God to Obadiah
Question: What is the reason for the coming judgment (v.3)?
The pride of your heart.
the pride in trusting where the dwell
The pride in thinking they were impenetrable
Now because of the pride (v.3) the Lord God (v.1) was going to make them small (v.2), although the trust their high position, the Lord God was going to bring them down (v.4)
You see the totality of the coming judgment described (vv.5-6)
The image is painted of a thief, he does not come in to steal one thing, but all things, a grape reaper is not going to reap some grapes he is going to reap them all. The judgment that is being told was going to be total!
Even friends, allies will turn against you (v.7)
Even the evil allies (those against Israel) will turn against Edom, they will deceive them, they will prevail against them they will lay a trap against them.
They should have come to Israel’s aid when needed and they did not, they came against Israel. Now it was time for judgment and it was going to be severe, it was going to be total.
Question: Look at (v.8-9) What is the Lord God going to do and to who?
He is going to destroy the wise man, take understanding from them (v.8)
The wise men and all their wisdom was not going to avail them anything.
Their own understanding (pride of position in the clefts would be good) would be taken down.
The mighty men will be dismayed and everyone may be cut off (v.9)
Even the mighty men will be of no use. Everyone is going to be impacted by the judgment, all may be destroyed by the judgment.
(Transition): This is a prophesy, what is the reason given so they would repent and line up with God’s will, It had not happen yet that is why the word “may” was used. There was still a chance, an opportunity to repent before the judgment is executed.
Reason described for judgment
Reason described for judgment
There was going to be no wondering why the judgment was being passed down, the Lord God (v.1) makes it known so there are no excuses.
10 “Because of violence to your brother Jacob, You will be covered with shame, And you will be cut off forever. 11 “On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem— You too were as one of them.
12 “Do not gloat over your brother’s day, The day of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah In the day of their destruction; Yes, do not boast In the day of their distress. 13 “Do not enter the gate of My people In the day of their disaster. Yes, you, do not gloat over their calamity In the day of their disaster. And do not loot their wealth In the day of their disaster.
14 “Do not stand at the fork of the road To cut down their fugitives; And do not imprison their survivors In the day of their distress. 15 “For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.
16 “Because just as you drank on My holy mountain, All the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow And become as if they had never existed.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
The brought violence their brother (v.10)
while they were brothers with Israel, they did not help, they attacked, they brought violence against them.
Judgment described: Shame was going to cover them, and they would be cut off.
They stood by when brothers were under attack (v.11)
When they should have been there to help defend brother, they were part of the attacking forces
They rejoiced over the destruction (v.12)
They rejoiced over the attack, the destruction, were proud of the day of distress
The partook of the substance in the day of calamity (v.13)
They rejoiced, they gazed at the affliction, and then they laid hands on the substance and took some.
They are going to reap what they sowed (vv.14-15)
They should not have done that, should not have stood by, now judgment was going to come upon them.
This is going to be a day of the Lord event. (expand on this for 1 minute about day of the Lord events)
They were going to be done in because of their own doing (v.16)
They defiled the holy mountain (Mt Zion, House of Jacob); now they were going to pay the price and the same was going to happen to them at the hands of other nations.
(Transition) I think you can see the warning (prophesy) the reason, and the results of they did not repent, there is not much of a picture of hope yet, so may we step back and start to see the hope given for them and the hope we can get too from it.
Exaltation of Israel over Edom
Exaltation of Israel over Edom
Hope, everyone needs hope right. The vision given to Obadiah brought judgment, but also brings hope. There was hope given to them and fro that we can see, find our eternal hope.
17 “But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, And it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions. 18 “Then the house of Jacob will be a fire And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau will be as stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them, So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau,” For the Lord has spoken.
19 Then those of the Negev will possess the mountain of Esau, And those of the Shephelah the Philistine plain; Also, possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, And Benjamin will possess Gilead. 20 And the exiles of this host of the sons of Israel, Who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad Will possess the cities of the Negev.
21 The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion To judge the mountain of Esau, And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
Question look at (v.17) what is the promise, the hope?
There will be deliverance, there will be holiness
Question: the house of Jacob will be what and what will they do (v.18)
They will be a fire, they will consume them (Edom) and there will be no survivors.
In (v.19-20) we see that the captives (Israel) will possess everything, including the surrounding nations.
(Transition) I mentioned hope there is the physical hope the possession of the Land, but there isn eternal hope too look at v.21
21 Those who have been rescued will go up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem to rule over the mountains of Edom. And the Lord himself will be king!”
The hope, the end, the Lord himself will be king! It was hope for them, it is a reality for us who have been rescued, redeemed.
(Transition) Have you been rescued, have you been redeemed? Maybe you have do you remember going through the fires, trials, the tribulations, maybe even the judgments? Hold on let me get back to this in a minute, let me wrap up this small but important book first.
Some lessons to learn from the book, and lean to apply.
Pride goes before destruction (Pro16:18)
18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
God will punish pride and arrogance (Isa13:9-11)
9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light.
11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.
Don’s mistreat brethren, it impacts our walk with the Lord (1Cor8:12)
12 And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
Don’t rejoice when others fall (Pro24:17-18)
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; 18 Or the Lord will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.
God always provide a way of escape, a place of deliverance (Heb12:22-24)
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
We have the spiritual Mt. Zion, the City of living God, the heavenly Jerusalem
All because we have Jesus our mediator of the new covenant!
(invitation slide- come to Jesus)
Do you need to repent like Edom, have you come to know the judgment that is coming one day and you want to be right with God? - don’t wait, don’t hesitate, come to Him today
Maybe today it is about remembering who you belong to and how to treat one another as brethren, . . .
(Invitation song slides) (Prayer slide) (Exit slide)