Overview of the Book of Obadiah

Moore's Corner Church

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The overview of the week for this Sunday is the book of Obadiah. Obadiah was, he wrote in the 6th century

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BC and nothing is known about him really except his name which means servant of the

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Lord. Obadiah only has one chapter, 21 verses and therefore it is the shortest book in the

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Old Testament. The theme of this prophecy is the doom of the nation of Edom and the restoration of the nation of Israel.

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So the doom of Edom, the restoration of Israel. The book begins with chapter 1 verse 1.

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The vision of Obadiah, thus says the Lord God concerning Edom.

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We have heard a report from the Lord and a messenger has been sent among the nation saying arise and let us rise up against her for battle.

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And then verse 10 says for violence against your brother Jacob shame shall cover you and you shall be cut off forever.

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So these are words directed at the nation of Edom. You may remember that Abraham, his son

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Isaac, his wife Rebekah had twin boys Jacob and Esau.

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From those two men came the nations of Israel and Edom. The Lord changed

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Jacob's name to Israel. Esau was called Edom which simply means red probably because when he was born he came out red.

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Also he sold his birthright for a bowl of red stew. So not only did these two sons of Isaac not get along, the nations that came from them,

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Israel and Edom, they became bitter enemies. So Edom was a mountainous region south of the

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Dead Sea and when Babylon attacked Jerusalem in the 6th century

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BC the Edomites actually helped the Babylonians loot the city and since they really had the same lineage that was sort of like the ultimate betrayal.

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The prophet Malachi records the Lord's attitude towards Edom when he said

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Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. So Israel was a chosen nation.

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After Israel was destroyed or the nation of Judah was destroyed they were restored and we believe there's still a future for ethnic

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Israel. Edom on the other hand would never be restored. In the

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New Testament the remaining Edomites were known as Idumians and the most well known of all

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Idumians was Herod the Great, the king who attempted to kill the baby

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Jesus. So in conclusion did Obadiah's prophecy of the doom of Edom come to pass?

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Yes it did and just consider thousands of years later there are still

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Israelites aren't there? There are no Edomites, there are no Idumians and that's yet another piece of evidence that every word of God is true.