Overview of the Book of Obadiah

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.