THE BOOK OF OBADIAH
LESSON 2: CHAPTER 1:1-21
To Edom: Yahweh says this: Is there
no wisdom left in Teman? Have the shrewd run out of common sense, has their
wisdom vanished? Away! Take to your heels! Go into hiding inhabitants of Dedan,
for I shall bring ruin on Esau when the time comes for me to punish him.
Jeremiah 49:7-8
All quotes are from the New Jerusalem Bible translation unless listed as from the Interlinear Hebrew-English Bible, Volume III (IBHE), or the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE).
Prophecies of Judgment on Edom (verses 1-9)
The first seven verses contain the title (verse 1a), Yahweh's divine judgment against Edom because of its pride (verses 1b-4), and a description of the fall of Edom (verses 5-7).
Obadiah 1b-4 ~ The Title and Yahweh's Sentence Pronounced on Edom
1 Visions of Obadiah: about Edom. I
have received a message from Yahweh, a herald has been sent throughout the
nations: "Up! Let us march against this people. Into battle!" 1b The Lord
Yahweh says this: 2 "Look, I have reduced you to the smallest of nations, you
are now beneath contempt. 3 Your proud heart has misled
you, you whose home is in the crannies of the Rock, who make the heights
your dwelling, who think to yourself, "Who can bring me down to earth?"
4 Though you soar like an eagle, though you set your nest
among the stars, I shall bring you down from there"!-- declares Yahweh.
God condemns the Edomites for their pride and arrogance, thinking they were beyond His judgment. He calls for a confederacy of their former allies to march against them as His instrument of justice (cf. Jeremiah 4:5; 50:2).
1a Visions of Obadiah: about Edom.
I have received a message from Yahweh, a herald has been sent throughout the
nations: "Up! Let us march against this people. Into battle!"
The opening verse presents Edom's
downfall as a divine act of providence. Obadiah, a member of God's covenant
people and likely a citizen of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, was commissioned
as God's messenger to deliver warnings concerning Edom's fate. Obadiah received
a prophetical vision (hazon) that included an oracle hearing the words
of God (cf. Isaiah 1:1 and Nahum 1:1) in a prophetical message. Defining what
Obadiah experienced, St. Jerome wrote: "If the words that were said, and the
shapes those words formed in the mind's eye as they were heard, were added
after the word vision' in the title, it is clear why the prophet, who was
known as a seer in those days, would refer to his experience as a vision'"
(Commentarii in Abdiam, 1).
3 Your proud heart has misled you,
you whose home is in the crannies of the Rock, who make the heights your
dwelling ...
The Edomites/Idumeans lived in the
mountains and the land of Seir. Seir is a geographic name associated with Esau
and Edom, expressed in a play on the words se'ar, "goat," and sa'ir, "hairy"
in Genesis 25:25; 27:11, 23. The mountain chain extends southwest of the
Dead Sea and along the west side of the Arabah, rising to about 5,000 feet. The
name was also extended to the mountain range on the east side of the Arabah.1
As a territorial designation, the term also refers to the region adjacent to
the mountain chain.
There is a play on the words "you whose home is in the crannies of the Rock," or sela in Hebrew, which suggests the capital of Edom, Ha-Sela, "the Rock" (see 2 Kings 14:7). For more passages on the Biblical doctrine of pride leading to a fall, see Proverbs 16:18; 29:23 applied to individuals and Isaiah 14:3-19:15; Jeremiah 50:1-51:64; Ezekiel 26:1-28:23; 29:3-32:32 and Zechariah 10:11-12 applied to nations.
4 Though you soar like an eagle,
though you set your nest among the stars, I shall bring you down from there"!
—declares Yahweh.
No person or nation engaged in
sinful behavior is powerful enough to escape Yahweh's divine judgment. The
Edomites believed they were safe because they lived in a high, rocky fortress
(verse 3) with a view of any enemies below. However, they were wrong. They
failed to understand that only Yahweh is the great God who truly lives on high
and, compared with Him, everything else is small and impermanent. The Edomite's
pride and arrogance led them dangerously astray (verse 4).
The message in verses 1b-4 is almost the same as those received by God's 6th century BC prophet Jeremiah in 49:14-16. The oracle is in two parts:
Obadiah 1:5-9 ~ Description of the
Fall and Annihilation of Edom
5 If thieves were to come to you
(or robbers during the night), surely they would steal only as much as they
wanted? If grape-pickers were to come to you, surely they would leave a few
gleanings? 6 But how you have been pillaged! How Esau has been looted, his
hidden treasures routed out! 7 Your allies all pursued you right to the
frontier, your confederates kept you in suspense, then got the better of you,
your own guests laid a trap for you, "He has quite lost his wits."
8 When that day comes, declares Yahweh, shall I not eliminate
sages from Edom and intelligence from Mount Esau? 9 Your warriors, Teman,
will be so demoralized that the people of Mount Esau will be massacred to the
last one.
The prophecy was that Edom would be destroyed more thoroughly than by common robbers, who would leave some items behind, or by grape-pickers, who would leave some grapevines for the poor (Deuteronomy 24:21).
7 Your allies all pursued you right
to the frontier, your confederates kept you in suspense, then got the better of
you, your own guests laid a trap for you, "he has quite lost his wits."
Even Edom's former allies will turn
against them. The phrase "your own guests" is in Hebrew, "those who ate your
bread" (see Psalm 41:9). The Edomites were known for their wisdom, but after
their military defeat, their false allies will belittle their wisdom, saying, "he
has quite lost his wits."
8 When that day comes, declares
Yahweh, shall I not eliminate sages from Edom and intelligence from Mount Esau?
9 Your warriors, Teman, will be so demoralized that the people of Mount Esau
will be massacred to the last one.
The day of judgment for Edom is an
aspect of the Day of Yahweh when God will punish Edom and other nations for
crimes against His covenant people but will rescue Judah (see verses 15-16,
17-21 and Amos 5:18-20). The Edomite warriors of Teman and the people seeking
safety on Mount Esau will die at the hands of their former allies.2
There are two parts of the oracle in verses 8-14:
Reasons for the Judgment on Edom (verses 10-14)
Obadiah 1:10-14 ~ The Guilt of Edom
10 For the slaughter, for the
violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you and you will be
annihilated forever. 11 On the day, when you stood aloof while strangers
carried off his riches, while foreigners passed through his gate and cast lots
for Jerusalem, you were as bad as the rest of them. 12 Do not feast your eyes
on your brother on the day of his misfortune. Do not gloat over the children of
Judah on the day of their ruin. Do not play the braggart on the day of
distress. 13 Do not enter my people's gate on their day of calamity. Do not,
you especially, feast your eyes on their suffering on their day of calamity. Do
not touch their possessions on their day of calamity. 14 Do not wait at the
crossroads to annihilate their fugitives. Do not hand over their survivors on
the day of distress.
"Your brother Jacob" reminds us that the Edomites were the kinsmen of the descendants of Jacob Israel, the covenant people of Judah, and descendants of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Esau and Jacob were the twin sons of Isaac, son of Abraham. Like the Book of Joel, Obadiah severely condemns the Edomites for their behavior during the years of the sufferings of the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom disappeared in 722 BC when they were conquered by the Assyrians and exiled into the Gentile populations of Assyrian lands (2 Kings 17:1-18). The Kingdom of Judah continued because King Hezekiah called the people to repentance, and God defeated their Assyrian enemy (2 Kings 19:35-37).
The first part of verses 8-10 ridicule the wisdom of the Edomites. Edom's reputation for wisdom was well known and commented upon by Jeremiah 49:7 and Baruch 3:22-23.
Edom was controlled by Israel and Judah for 150 years, from the rule of King David of Israel (2 Samuel 8:13-14) to King Joram/Jehoram of Judah (2 Kings 8:20-22). David ruled for forty years in the 10th century BC, with his reign ending in his death circa 960 BC, and Jehoram ruled from 848-841 BC.
Israel was the United Kingdom under the reigns of kings Saul, David, and Solomon. However, the United Monarchy ended when ten northern tribes of Israel revolted against Solomon's son, King Rehoboam, forming the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the separated Southern Kingdom of Judah supported by the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC, with the people taken into exile and dispersed among the peoples controlled by the Assyrians. The Southern Kingdom wasn't conquered until 587/6 BC when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, aided by the Edomites, and sent the covenant people into exile. Obadiah's promised restoration of Judah does not indicate the regeneration of the nation of Israel like the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea. Oracles against Edom are found throughout the books of the prophets (cf. Isaiah 34:1-17; Ezekiel 25:12-14; Amos 1:11-12; etc.).
11 On the day ...
"The day" refers to the "Day of
Yahweh" (verse 15) and the Lord's divine judgment when Edom suffered divine
punishment because they failed to come to Judah's aid on the day of the
covenant people's misfortune.
Verses 11-14 list the wrongs committed by the Edomites in ascending order on the day of their Judahite kinsmen's distress:
The Edomites did not come to aid the Jews in their dire situation but rejoiced in their destruction and joined in plundering their cities. Using their human wisdom, the Edomites decided to join forces with the powerful Babylonians. In 587 BC, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians attacked the Kingdom of Judah, destroyed the city of Jerusalem, set fire to the Temple, and sent the surviving citizens of Judah into exile in Babylonian lands. The Edomites joyfully joined in the sack of Jerusalem.
Results of the Judgment on Edom (verses 15-18)
Obadiah 1:15-18 ~ The Day of Yahweh
and Israel's Revenge on Edom
15 For the Day of Yahweh is near
for all the nations. As you have done, so will it be done to you: your deeds
will recoil on your own head. 16 Just as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so
will all the nations drink continually, they will drink, will drink
continually, they will drink, will drink greedily, but they will be as though
they had never been! 17 But on Mount Zion will be those who have escaped "it
will be a sanctuary "and the House of Jacob will recover what is rightfully
theirs. 18 Then the House of Jacob will be a fire, the House of Joseph a flame,
and the House of Esau like stubble. They will set it alight and burn it up, and
no one of the House of Esau will survive. Yahweh has spoken.
The last two sections of the book (verses 15-21) announce the "Day of Yahweh" for all nations (verse 15). The oracle has two messages:
God will not forever ignore the sufferings of His covenant people. Therefore, He proclaims that Edom will experience the shame and suffering they rejoiced over for the people of Judah and for taking advantage of their weakness. The Edomites will suffer drinking the "cup of God's wrath" (cf. Isaiah 51:17, 22; Jeremiah 25:15, 17, 28; etc.) for their hardheartedness and the violence they visited upon their kinsmen, the covenant people, and their families.3
The nation of Israel ceased to exist after the Assyrian conquest in 722 BC. The nation of Judah was conquered by the Romans in 63 BC, becoming the Roman Province of Judea. In AD 66, the Jews revolted against the Romans, who were slow to respond because of political upheaval in Rome. However, in AD 68, the Romans sent four Roman legions to reconquer the Jews and send the message that Rome would not tolerate rebellion in her Provinces. In AD 70, the Romans entered Jerusalem, burning the city and the Temple, and sent almost a million Jews into slavery across the Roman Empire. When the Jews revolted a second time in AD 132, the Romans again brutally put down the revolt. However, this time, they renamed Jerusalem Aleia Capitolina, and Judea became the Roman Province of Palestine. A Jewish state no longer existed.
At the end of World War II, millions of Jews who survived the Nazi death camps were homeless and nationless. In 1947, the United Nations decided, with the approval of the British, who held a mandate over lands in what was called Palestine, to create two nations: one for the Jews (20,671 square kilometers, the size of the USA state of New Jersey) and another, significantly larger state, Jordan, for the Arabs (91,880 square kilometers). On May 14, 1998, the British Mandate ended, and Israel became an independent Democracy. God's promise was fulfilled. For the first time since 722 BC, there was an independent nation of Israel! Israel has been struggling for survival against her Arab neighbors ever since. There are 50 Muslim nations but only one Jewish state, the democracy of Israel.
Prophecies of the Possession of Edom by Judah/Israel (verses 19-21)
Obadiah 1:19-21 ~ The New Israel
19 People from the Negeb will
occupy the Mount of Esau, people from the lowlands, the country of the
Philistines; they will occupy Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will occupy
Gilead. 20 The exiles of this army, the sons of Israel, will have the
Canaanites' land as far as Zarephthah, while the exiles from Jerusalem now in
Sepharad will have the cities of the Negeb. 21 Victorious, they will climb
Mount Zion to rule over Mount Esau, and sovereignty will be Yahweh's!
In the new Israel, the Jews would take possession of the Negeb desert to the south, Mount Esau (near the Dead Sea), and what had been the Philistine lowlands, as well as the territory of Ephraim and Samaria (Northern Israel), and the territory of the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18:11-20), which included Jerusalem and also Gilead, on the east side of the Jordan River, which is not in modern Israel but in Jordan.
20 The exiles of this army, the sons of Israel, will have the Canaanites' land as far as Zarephthah, while the exiles from Jerusalem now in Sepharad will have the cities of the Negeb. 21 Victorious, they will climb Mount Zion to rule over Mount Esau, and sovereignty will be Yahweh's!
Identification of the sites mentioned:
This passage appears to identify the sites controlled by the New Israel of the Christian Kingdom of the Church. Edom/Idumena and a homeland of the descendants of Esau no longer exist, but Israel does, just as Obadiah foretold. Mount Zion will again be the center, as it was in the days of David and Solomon. St. Augustine wrote: "The kingdom will have come when the saved of Mount Zion, that is, those in Judah who believe in Christ, the apostles, and disciples, go up to rule Mount Esau. They will rule it by the preaching of the Gospel, saving all those who believe, freeing them from the power of darkness, and leading them into the kingdom of God. This is expressed clearly in the verse: the kingdom shall be the Lord's. Mount Zion stands for Judah, where it was foretold that the future salvation would come ... Mount Esau is Idumea, and stands for the church of all the Gentiles who will be ruled and protected ..." (De civitate Dei, 18, 31).
For Augustine, Esau stood for the Gentiles in need of salvation. The preaching of the Gospel transforms them from enemies to brothers, what they were in the beginning and will be again at the end of salvation history when the kingdom and "sovereignty will be Yahweh's."
Questions:
Question #1: The Edomites believed
they had superior wisdom, but their "wisdom" failed to save them from divine
judgment. What does the Bible say about human wisdom compared to God's wisdom?
See Wisdom 1:1-11 and 1 Corinthians 3:18-19.
Answer: Human wisdom is foolishness compared to Godly wisdom.
Question #2: How is Edom a symbol
and a warning to all nations?
Answer: Edom is a symbol for and a warning
to all nations that oppose God and attempt to oppress His divine plan for His
covenant people. We should remember that, in the unfolding of historical events,
sins that involve others and seem distant and unimportant to us could result in
indifference that causes us to be guilty of serious sin. Saint Augustine wrote:
"While he is in the flesh, man cannot help but have at least some light sins.
But do not despise these sins which we call light": if you take them for light
when you weigh them, tremble when you count them. A number of light objects
makes a great mass; a number of drops fills a river; a number of grains makes a
heap. What then is our hope?" (In evangelium Johannis tractatus, 1, 6).
Question #3: As already noted,
Obadiah's book is relevant today as a warning to all nations who would seek to
destroy God's covenant people of the past and present. What promise did God
make to Abraham and his descendants who continued in a covenant relationship
with the One True God in Genesis 12:3?
Answer: Genesis 12:3, "I shall bless
those who bless you, and shall curse those who curse you, and all clans on
earth will bless themselves by you."
Endnotes:
1. Arabah (Hebrew for "arid") is a
geographic term designating the desert area nearest the Jordan River Valley
(Deuteronomy 1:7; 2:8; 3:17;
Joshua 11:2, 16; 12:8; 18:18;
2 Samuel 2:29; 4:7;
2 Kings 25:4;
Jeremiah 39:4; 52:7;
Ezekiel 47:8; Zechariah 14:10). The term
also includes the Wadi Arabah, the continuation of the rift from the Dead Sea
to the Gulf of Aqaba.
2. Teman (Hebrew = teman, "the south"). A place name for a region of Edon (Jeremiah 49:7; Ezekiel 25:13; Amos 1:12; Obadiah verse 9), mentioned with Dedan, an Arabian tribe (Ezekiel 25:13) and known for its wise men (Jeremiah 49:7), and the place from which Yahweh appears (Habakkuk 3:3), mentioned with Mount Paran. Teman is also genealogically connected to a warrior chief descendant of Esau and a son of Eliphaz (Genesis 36:11, 15, 42; 1 Chronicles 1:36, 53). The verse must refer to a territory of Edom, but it also signifies "south" as a point of direction.
3. Drinking from God's cup is one
of the four recurring images of the Old Testament prophets.
For more on "drinking from the cup
of God's wrath," see Michal E. Hunt's book Jesus and the Symbolic Images of
the Prophets, pages 5, 97, 101, 103, 306, 349, 355, 367. The book is
available on Amazon.
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