Obadiah 1-4: First Declaration
Obadiah - Justice Belongs to Yahweh • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Author
Obadiah - Not clear which Obadiah
3 And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, 4 and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.” 6 So they divided the land between them to pass through it. Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself.
7 And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. And Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” 8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’ ” 9 And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here.” ’ 12 And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where. And so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. 13 Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here” ’; and he will kill me.” 15 And Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.
Date/Covenant
Date/Covenant
Multiple dates have been proposed (850-400 BC)
Most likely between 586-553 BC
586 BC - Fall of Jerusalem
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
12 “Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them,
11 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Edom,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because he pursued his brother with the sword
and cast off all pity,
and his anger tore perpetually,
and he kept his wrath forever.
553 BC - Fall of Edom
Covenantal Place
Covenant with Creation - Genesis 1-3
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
Covenant with Noah - Genesis 9:11
11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
Covenant with Abraham - Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 15
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Covenant with Moses/Israel - Exodus 19:5-6; Deuteronomy 30
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
Covenant with David - 2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17
New Covenant - Jeremiah 31:31; Luke 22:14-21; 1 Corinthians 11:25
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Audience
Audience
Edomites - Obadiah 1-15
Judahites - Obadiah 16-21
Purpose
Purpose
Announce the destruction of Edom & encourage the Judahites
Genre
Genre
Prophecy
Literary Introductions to the Books of the Bible The Genres and Literary Forms of Obadiah
Prophecy. The two standard genres of prophecy make up the book of Obadiah. They are the oracle of judgment and the oracle of salvation.
Poetry
Literary Introductions to the Books of the Bible The Genres and Literary Forms of Obadiah
Poetry. Obadiah is another poetic prophecy, and we need to read and interpret it in accord with what we know about how poetry works.
Structure of Obadiah
Structure of Obadiah
Theological Truths
Theological Truths
God is sovereign over all
The Day of the Lord
God will judge the nations
God will be merciful to His people
Obadiah 1 - Superscript
Obadiah 1 - Superscript
Parallel Passage
Parallel Passage
7 Concerning Edom.
Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Is wisdom no more in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom vanished?
14 I have heard a message from the Lord,
and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
and rise up for battle!
15 For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
despised among mankind.
16 The horror you inspire has deceived you,
and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
who hold the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,
I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord.
The vision of Obadiah.
The vision of Obadiah.
Vision
1. vision (supernatural) — a religious or mystical experience of a supernatural appearance (that imparts a message); often in dreams.
Obadiah
One who worships/servant of Yahweh
Obadiah 1 - The Messenger’s Announcement
Obadiah 1 - The Messenger’s Announcement
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom:
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom:
Says
Declaration of judgment
Lord God
Adonai
Referring to the Lord of Israel and authority
Edom
1 These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).
9 These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.
43 Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession.
22 as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day.
14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: 15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. 16 And when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. 17 Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King’s Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.” 18 But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.” 19 And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” 20 But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.
We have heard a report from the Lord,
We have heard a report from the Lord,
We
Israel through Jeremiah
14 I have heard a message from the Lord,
and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
and rise up for battle!
15 For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
despised among mankind.
16 The horror you inspire has deceived you,
and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
who hold the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,
I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord.
Lord
1. Yahweh — the name the God of Israel gives to the Israelites through Moses.
And a messenger has been sent among the nations:
And a messenger has been sent among the nations:
Messenger
Celestial being on behalf of Yahweh
19 And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; 20 and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. 21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ 23 Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has declared disaster for you.”
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations!
Among the nations
Foreign nation under a single government
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
The messenger is declaring this short message among the nations
Battle
Hostile meeting of opposing military forces in war
Obadiah 2-4 - Edom’s Pride
Obadiah 2-4 - Edom’s Pride
Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
Small among the nations
Insignificant
Looked down on with disdain
You shall be utterly despised.
You shall be utterly despised.
The pride of your heart has deceived you,
The pride of your heart has deceived you,
Pride
Inordinate self-esteem in godlessness/boldness
Heart
1. heart (internal feature) — the locus of a person’s thoughts (mind), volition, emotions, and knowledge of right from wrong (conscience) understood as the heart.
Deceived
to cause someone to believe an untruth.
You who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling,
You who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling,
Who say in your heart,
Who say in your heart,
Heart
1. heart (internal feature) — the locus of a person’s thoughts (mind), volition, emotions, and knowledge of right from wrong (conscience) understood as the heart.
Lofting dwelling
Obadiah: The Kingship Belongs to YHWH 1. Esau as Target of Divine Fury: Part I (vv. 2–4)
His reference to Esau’s home as “your lofty dwelling” and in “the clefts of the rock” reflects an awareness of the topography of the region. Although the territory of Edom includes level terrain, some of the major settlements, including the later Nabatean capital at Petra, were built on elevated rock outcrops with steep slopes.
“Who will bring me down to the ground?”
“Who will bring me down to the ground?”
Bring me down
8. to lower — to move something or somebody to a lower position.
Edom thought no one could defeat them in battle
The claim is that Edom’s presumptuous heart has given Edom a false hope and a false sense of security in thinking no one can bring it down.
Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
Though your nest is set among the stars,
Though your nest is set among the stars,
12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.
From there I will bring you down,
From there I will bring you down,
I will bring you down
8. to lower — to move something or somebody to a lower position.
Both literal and figurative
Declares the Lord.
Declares the Lord.
Formula concludes the prophetic oracle in verses 2-4
Obadiah: The Kingship Belongs to YHWH 1. Esau as Target of Divine Fury: Part I (vv. 2–4)
Obadiah’s vision of Edom’s demise does not arise from his own imagination. It comes from YHWH, and the prophet declares it with divine authorization.
Jeremiah’s prophecy is still active and living
14 I have heard a message from the Lord,
and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
and rise up for battle!
15 For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
despised among mankind.
16 The horror you inspire has deceived you,
and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
who hold the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,
I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord.
Declares
1. declaration — a statement that is emphatic and explicit; spoken or written.
The Lord
1. Yahweh — the name the God of Israel gives to the Israelites through Moses.
Theology in Action
Theology in Action
We can be deceived by the pride of our own hearts which ultimately leads to destruction - just like Edom
We can be deceived by the pride of our own hearts which ultimately leads to destruction - just like Edom
18 Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall.
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”