The Prophet Obadiah
This week we study the Book of Obadiah, the shortest book in the Old Testament and fifth shortest in the whole Bible. Obadiah lived during the time of King Ahab of the House of Israel, along with the great prophet Elijah between 874 and 853 BC. King Ahab himself was an idol worshipper. During his time, Israel was in famine and in chaos, no one worshipped God anymore except the 7,000 reserved by God (1 Ki 19:18). Obadiah was also in charge of the king's palace and a devout believer in the Lord (1 Ki 18:3). And during those times too, all the known prophets of the Lord were being killed by the order of Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab. Then Obadiah hid a hundred prophets in two caves, fifty in each cave (1 Ki 18:4) and thus, survived. Obadiah's life can be described as a difficult balancing act between serving the pagan king and keeping his faith and saving the prophets of God. Then God showed him a vision, not about the events concerning the spiritual decay of Israel but about the downfall of her old nemesis and a brother, Esau or Edom. So, although the book is very short, it provides valuable information about this main enemy of the nation of Israel. God was telling Obadiah that the House of Israel will suffer terribly because of their sins and will fall under her enemies. But soon God is promising redemption and eventual fall of the enemies that brought her down. Backgrounder on Edom (Esau) Understanding Edom's early beginnings with his brother Israel will help us understand the prophecies against Edom by Obadiah. Edom was the twin brother of Jacob or Israel. Their father was Isaac, the son of Abraham.
Let us visit once more how these two brothers became enemies until the last days. By birth right, Edom should
be the recipient of physical promises of God to patriarch Abraham that were
passed on to the firstborn. However, Edom lost that birthright when he sold it
to Jacob. Read this account in Gen 25:29-34--
The birthright promise of God is a very holy blessing that was a product of the great faith of Abraham. It is valued more than the life of Isaac or the lives of peoples numbering like the sands on the seashore and the stars in heaven. It is more than world economic and military power. And therefore it was great sin to despise it or take it for granted. It is a direct rejection of God's wonderful plan over His nation. For Esau to threat his birthright as a mere equivalent to food to satisfy his hunger is an insult to God's blessings. That is why, it is written,
Understanding the enmity among Eve's generation After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God pronounced judgment on the serpent or the Devil who tempted Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He said,
When God mentioned "the woman," He was not only referring to Eve but also unto all human beings culminating in the Second Coming of Christ because she is the mother of all peoples. It is Jesus Christ in His Second Coming that will fulfill the finality of crushing the heads of His enemies. It is Jesus against all the enemies headed by the serpent, the Devil living in the Antichrist. It is very important to understand that in between this judgment on the serpent and the Second Coming of Christ, there shall be a continuing war or enmity among and between Eve’s generations, between the good and the evil. That is the first part of the curse, limited to Eve’s generations. The second part “and between your offspring and hers” refers to the singular “offspring” (or seed) who is Christ.
The prophecy in Gen 3:15 above tells us that there shall always be an equivalent evil seed for every good seed in all of Eve’s generation. So even among the chosen apostles of Jesus, one was evil. That is a result of the curse, the rule of equal level of playing field between good and evil—“And I will put enmity between you and the woman.” Immediately, one of Eve’s sons, Cain, committed the first murder against the godly Abel. It continued until the time of Noah and his sons, Shem and Japheth against Ham, then to Isaac against Ishmael, Jacob against Esau. Jacob became Israel, and Esau became Edom, meaning red. Another perfect example of how the level playing field between good and evil at play is when Job was allowed by God to be punished by Satan to the point of death. Satan accused God of giving the best of everything to Job without him experiencing troubles. Satan was literally demanding an equal chance for him to test Job. So God allowed Satan to test Job. Then Job suffered tremendously, losing all his children, his wealth, and everything except his life and his wife. However Job still prevailed in the end for not giving up. Like Job, we should persevere and rejoice since regardless of all the evil in this world and continuing enmity between evil and the human race, all things still work together for good for those who love Him, according to God’s Divine Plan for man! That’s because of the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ as the second half of the curse promised solution to all the sins and sufferings– “..he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Like Job, it is every man’s free will to choose his destiny, to choose between good and evil; and because of the curse and Satan's fury, God is able to display His justice, mercy, forgiveness and great love for every man who has chosen the wrong path. Esau vs. Jacob - the mother of all enmities Esau hated not only his brother but also his parents as well. He did everything his parents never wanted him to do, such as marrying foreign women.
Clearly Esau was never a good son, not deserving to receive God's blessing. There was no remorse in his heart and he had no respect towards his parents. Notice how enmity, an evil for good fulfilled in Esau's life? There was a continuing enmity between brothers as spoken to the woman and the serpent. So Esau married the daughter of Ishmael, the half brother of Isaac, his father whose mother is an Egyptian maidservant, Hagar (Gen 16:1). Esau and Ishmael had become one blood and one force against Israel. Besides the Ishmaelite women, Esau also married Hittite women earlier.
Going back, Esau demanded a blessing from his dying father Isaac after he was tricked by his younger brother Jacob who already received all the good birthright blessings earlier. Read Gen 27: 27-29 about Jacob's blessing. It was the will of God that Esau can not receive the blessing since he already sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Isaac prophesied the future for Esau who was crying and pleading for a blessing:
It was more of a curse than a blessing as a result of Esau selling his birthright in exchange of material food and drink. Esau was so furious that he threatened to kill Jacob after the days of mourning of Isaac's death is completed (Gen 27:41). But Rebekah came to know of his plot and helped Jacob escape. So prior to the last days, Esau or Edom will be subject to Israel but later in the end, he will set himself free from Israel's control (you will throw his yoke from off your neck) and then destroy his own brother. We have learned that Israel are the European Union and the United States, who is also the modern Egypt. The House of Judah is now Israel in the Middle East. Unless the House of Judah is specified, the prophecies about Israel involve all the tribes combined as one, the EU, Israel and the US. Read also Israel, The Divided House for more details. Until the end of time, that old hatred of Esau against his brother will continue. That explains why Israel today has many enemies. That is why in the future, the West too will be trodden down by her enemies-- the descendants of Edom. Truly, it is the enmity that lasts for ages, the mother of all enmities that will culminate with the mother of all battles and the defeat of evil. Obadiah's prophecies on Edom The maltreatment of Esau towards Israel in the last days is what Obadiah is writing about. It is the rekindling of Esau's old grudge against Jacob. Obadiah was actually prophesying the fate of Assyria, Babylon and the other enemies of Israel in the last days as they were all the descendants of Edom. Below is the book in full.
Verses 3 and 4 are about the words of pride of the Antichrist himself boasting about his power and his kingdom. Read also Isa 10:13-14 and the prophet John describing the Antichrist's power in Rev 13:4, that no nation can make war against him. The Day of the Lord Again, the downfall of Edom are happening in the Day of the Lord and is coming near. It will be the battle of the Lord, the mother of all battles. This is to prove that Obadiah was not only telling us about past events but also things that are yet to come.
In verse 17, it says, "There will be no survivors from the house of Esau." which is in contrary to the prophecy of Amos that there will be "remnant of Edom". The prophecy of Obadiah is about physical survivors of Edom after the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord while Amos' prophecy is about Edom as a kingdom and as people who have been saved spiritually.
However in the end, God will reunite all His people under one nation. There will be a happy ending for all God's people, to those who feared Him, whether they are from Israel, Egypt or from Edom because their present generation all came from the same father, Abraham. And they will all be equal.
Praise be to God for His great plan for all men. |
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