Introduction to Obadiah

Obadiah is not only the shortest book in the Old Testament; it is also one of the hardest to determine exactly who the author was and when the book was written.  We know it was written by Obadiah, but we don’t know who he was because he gives us know information about who his father was, where he was from, who was king when he wrote.  There are many men named Obadiah referred to in Scripture but we cannot know which, if any, of them might be the author of this book.  It seems that the best option is to place the time of his writings at an early date; more or less 850 years before Christ during the reign of Jehoram where we find indications that Edom might have participated in an invasion of Israel (2 Chron. 21:16-17).  What is significant to notice is that God has never just been the God of Israel.  He has always been involved in the lives of all the nations of the world.  The history of His involvement with Israel is recorded for us in more detail in the Scriptures; but we should not make the mistake of assuming that this means that God was not actively involved in the lives and history of the surrounding nations.  Jonah gives further evidence of this truth.  We all have a tendency to focus on the events of our nations.  As I write this, the big news in the US is Trump VS Hilary and the big new in Brazil is the Olympics and the corruption leading to the impeachment of our president.  We can be assured that God is involved in both of the stages of our history as well as in every nation of the world.  As believers, we are called to have a global focus like God does.

THE DESTRUCTION OF EDOM: Edom is a nation that descended from Esau, the twin brother of Jacob who became the father of the nation of Israel.  They have a history of a kind of passive aggressive animosity towards one another but not an outright hostility.  However, as Israel began to weaken due to sinfulness and as other nations began to threaten and dominate Israel; Edom became more bold and active in taking part in attacks on Israel.  This was in direct violation of God’s commands to Esau from way back in Genesis.  Edom ended up inhabiting the mountains surrounding Judah and had a strategically advantageous position to defend itself from would be attackers.  This ended up causing Edom to feel secure in her position and think that there was no way they could be defeated.  Obadiah is called to let them know that they were wrong.  Their pride, idolatry, sinfulness and participation in attacks on Israel were all duly noted by God and would lead them to a place of judgment from God.  Anytime that we begin to feel secure in our own strength, we need to beware of the fact that self-reliance is displeasing to the Lord and will invariably lead to a fall from our prideful positions.

THE RESTORATION OF JUDAH: Obadiah proclaims that there is a day coming when Judah and Israel will be united once again and they will be a strong nation that burns like a fire that spreads through a field of stubble.  The house of Esau is that stubble and the nation shall be wiped from the face of the earth.  This most likely refers to an event in the past where Edom was destroyed.  However, Obadiah goes on to describe a day when Israel will take possession of all of the land of her surrounding neighbors and that this shall be the Lord’s kingdom.  It is hard to read this description and not believe that there is a future for the nation of Israel.  This promise of restoration to the land and living in peace has been the hope of Israel since the days of Abraham, Moses, David and the prophets.  It seems clear that God will be doing something special in the future to bring the promises to pass.  Until that glorious day we are called to be salt and light in this world where injustice is common, but we have a hope and a promise that God is in control and will one day make all of these injustices right.  Until that day we will keep on serving Him with confidence and hope.