Images of Edom s land

The little book of Obadiah: short, but it packs a punch. We ll try to dig down deep but first this: What is prophecy? Something to think about < 2% of prophecy is Messianic. < 5% of prophecy describes the new covenant age. <1% of prophecy concerns events yet to come in our time. All of which tells you what? The primary purpose of prophecy must not be to reveal our future to us. So what is prophecy? A prophet s function was to speak on behalf of God to his/her generation.

Question: Why is almost all biblical prophecy written as poetry? Poetry is a vivid, emotive way to communicate. With poetry you feel ; you do not always with prose. The subject matter called for poignant, vivid words words that would cut through a cold heart mind-jarring, hope-crushing and heartrending. See Isaiah 43:8. Martin Luther said this of the prophets: They have a queer way of talking, like people who, instead of proceeding in an orderly manner, ramble off from one thing to the next so that you cannot make heads or tails of them or see what they are getting at.

A little help to understand Hebrew poetry Synonymous parallelism: The 2 nd line repeats or reinforces the sense of the 1 st I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist. (Isaiah 44:22) Antithetical parallelism: The 2 nd line contrasts the thought of the 1 st They do not cry to Me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds. (Hosea 7:14) Synthetic parallelism: The 2 nd line adds to the 1 st in any way that gives more info. Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD S. (Obadiah 21)

A little help to understand Hebrew prophecy It reminds us that God is sovereign Is. 40:12-17 It reminds us that God is good Rom. 8:18 It motivates us to live holy lives 1 John 2:28, 3:2-3 It helps us establish right priorities 2 Pet. 3:10-13 It gives us hope Titus 2:11-13 The prophets said this: In light of what the Lord is going to do, we should be living godly lives now. By: Predicting future events (Rev. 1:3, 22:7-10; John 11:51) Revealing concealed facts concerning the present (Luke 1:67-69; Acts 13:6-12) Giving instruction, comfort and exhortation (Acts 15:32; Amos 8:1-8, 9:13-15)

A little help to understand Hebrew prophecy God and His prophets were concerned with one thing: Covenant faithfulness. More than anything else OT prophecy was ethical admonition using past events, along with prediction of future events, as motivation to maintain covenant loyalty. OT: To call God s people back to covenant faithfulness. Predictive prophecy added to the urgency and force of the call. NT: Think of Revelation the words of prophecy were intended, first of all, to encourage the believers in Asia Minor to remain faithful. Predictive prophecy adds to the urgency and force of the call.

Question: Who is, or rather was, Edom? Take a look at Gen. 25:29-30 the Edomites were the descendants of Jacob s twin brother Esau. The descendants of both brothers would grow into nations (Gen. 25:23), with the descendants of Jacob gaining the ascendancy over Esau s. Notice in Ps. 83:6 that Edom heads the list of Israel s enemies though they were brothers. The Edomites migrated to the southeast of Israel, into the hill country, and made their living through agriculture and trade. The King s Highway ran through their territory

Remember the King s Highway? Take a look at Numbers 20:14-21 Israel wanted to travel the King s Highway toward the Promised Land Edom refused. Things went downhill from there. It was one conflict after another.

Israel and Edom God had a high standard for His people: Deut. 2:1-5, 23:7 You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. But it was a rocky history King Saul fought against the Edomites (1 Sam. 14:47) King David fought against them and subdued them (2 Sam. 8:11-14). Edom periodically revolted (2 Chron. 20:10-23; 21:8). During the 2 century BC, in the Maccabean Wars, Edom was finally subjugated under Jewish rule and forced to convert to Judaism.

Israel and Edom Eventually the Edomites became known as the Idumeans, the most famous (infamous?) of whom was King Herod the Great (born 73 BC, died 4 BC) H. the G. was the guy who ordered the massacre in Bethlehem in an attempt to have Jesus killed (Matt. 2:16-18). After Herod, the Idumeans slowly disappeared from history. See Ezekiel 25:12-14, 35:1-15. But we have to go back to 586 BC to see what led to the prophecy in Ezekiel 35. It was when Edom laughed.

Israel and Edom We have to remember how utterly devastating Judah s defeat by Babylon in 586 BC was, and her subsequent exile let s read in Lamentations down through 2:16. Notice the response of Jerusalem s enemies in 1:7, 2:15-16. Now look at Lam. 4:21-22 this is the only one of Israel s enemies mentioned in Lamentations Not even Babylon is mentioned only Edom. Also see Ps. 137:7. That s the background for the little book of Obadiah. Let s take a look

Obadiah: outlining his book Outline of the book give each a short title Verses 1-2 Verses 3-16 Verses 17-21 Main topic of Key verse of Theme of the book Key verse for the book

Obadiah: outlining his book Outline of the book give each a short title The call for judgment on Edom Verses 1-2 Verses 3-16 Verses 17-21 Main topic of Key verse of Theme of the book Key verse for the book

Obadiah: outlining his book Outline of the book give each a short title The call for judgment on Edom The certain destruction of Edom Verses 1-2 Verses 3-16 Verses 17-21 Main topic of Key verse of Theme of the book Key verse for the book

Obadiah: outlining his book Outline of the book give each a short title The call for judgment on Edom The certain destruction of Edom The certain restoration of Israel Verses 1-2 Verses 3-16 Verses 17-21 Main topic of God s decree of judgment against Edom God s charges against Edom God s gracious restoration of exiled Israel Key verse of v. 2 v. 3-4 v. 20 Theme of the book The King of the nations: God s judgment of Edom and restoration of Israel Key verse for the book

Now give the book a title; what s the central theme? Here s my shot at it: God s oracle of judgment upon Edom Question: Who was Obadiah? Answer: That s a good question. All we know is this: He was a prophet He spoke for God. As far as we know, God used him just this once in his lifetime. Mission accomplished. He was obedient to the Lord he faithfully wrote God s words in his little book.

A few thoughts about prophets to close with 1. That God would use any human to bring His message is astonishing. That should result in profound humility and gratefulness 1 Chron. 29:10-14; 1 Cor. 15:7-10; Eph. 3:7-8; 1 Tim. 1:12-16 Obadiah is the shortest book in the OT; he is the least of all the prophets, yet he had the staggering privilege of speaking the very words of God. We should think of Obadiah s little book and the Bible as a whole with the utmost reverence and give it the best of our attention.

A few thoughts about prophets to close with 2. What s in store? A stricter judgment. Anyone who speaks on behalf of the Lord or teaches His word must know the weight of a coming stricter judgment Deut. 18:20; James 3:1 The responsibility 2 Tim. 2:15 3. Prophets including Obadiah were not popular. Isaiah 30:10; Matt. 5:11-12; Acts 7:52; Heb. 11:32-39 4. Obadiah was more concerned with giving God s opinions than his own. 2 Pet. 1:20-21

For those of you who want to dig a little deeper a few things you can do this week: Read through Obadiah several times. Note key words in the text that you see things like repeated words/phrases, important transition words (for, so, therefore, because, etc.). Notice any figurative language (imagery) in the text. What is the point of the image? Why does Obadiah use it? Read through any background material on the book of Obadiah you may have in a study Bible, Bible handbook, or Bible dictionary.