Esau's Contempt

Esau’s jealousy over Jacob stealing his birthright carries over to their lines of descendants – the nations Israel and Edom – even though Esau had forgiven Jacob.

Prideful Edom

Instead of helping their relatives, Edom gloats over Israel’s exile, enslaving their refugees and encouraging Jerusalem’s destruction. But God’s judgment will pay for their wrongs.

All Nations Judged

Edom’s not the only nation who will receive God’s judgment – all godless nations who have wronged the innocent will be punished for taking advantage, too.

Restoration

In contrast to Edom’s pride and fall, Israel will be restored after exile. This includes the reconstruction upon their return and the future New Jerusalem.

Edom Brought In

Can Esau’s descendants repent and receive God’s forgiveness? Yes! Even they are included in God’s new Kingdom if they repent and believe in His Messiah.

THE BOOK OF OBADIAH

OT/NT: Old Testament

SECTION: Minor Prophets (4 of 12)

TRADITIONAL AUTHOR: Obadiah

KEY PEOPLE: the Edomites.

Canonically, Obadiah is the thirty-first book of the Holy Bible (1), the thirty-first book of the Old Testament (2) and the fourth of twelve Minor Prophets books (3). Containing a series of divine judgment poems against ancient Edom, a neighboring country of Israel, Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament.

Although Obadiah is a mere 21 verses, there's a lot going on here…The people of Edom had a shared ancestry with the people of Israel, as they both belonged to the family of Abraham who, with his wife, Sarah, had a son, Isaac…who, with his wife, Rebekah, had two sons, Jacob and Esau. Genesis 25-27 shares the account of these 2 brothers and their tenuous relationship. God later gave them the names Israel (Jacob) and Edom (Esau), which  became the names of the families which descended from them.

Throughout the centuries, these two factions replayed the same difficult relationship time and again (ex: Numbers 20:14-20), but still shared a family bond… but it was betrayed and shattered in the tragic events of Jerusalem's fall to Babylon (2 Kings 25).

The Edomites still carried the grudge their founder had for Jacob's original deception. They refused to help Israel in their need, sold them as slaves, and even abused them while they were exiled to Babylon. Through Obadiah, God declares judgment over Edom and prophesies that they will be erased from history. Babylon overtook Edom 100 years later, never to recover again.
 

COMING UP: Next up is the book of Jonah (4). Click HERE to explore!

FOOTNOTES:

(1) http://www.downriverdisciples.com/the-good-news

(2) http://www.downriverdisciples.com/old-testament

(3) http://www.downriverdisciples.com/ot-minor-prophets

(4) http://www.downriverdisciples.com/jonah

PAGE SOURCE:

(a) https://thebibleproject.com/explore/obadiah/