Obadiah

Edom Will Be Humbled

• Obadiah 1:1  The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. 

Little is known about this prophet but his name "Obadiah" means a worshiper of God or Jehovah. Here is a little known prophet who is faithful to the Lord and prophesies against Edom because of them rejoicing in the destruction of Israel. The Edomites are descendants of Esau who was the older twin brother to Jacob sons of Isaac and Rebecca. Jacob's name was changed to Israel. So when they rejoiced in the destruction of Israel it was like desiring one's own brother to cease to exist. God was not pleased. Even though God may bring judgment upon Judah or the kingdom of Israel, He is not pleased when Israel's enemies rejoice in that destruction.

It's better to have compassion and desire repentance and mercy for the lost. It may be hard. For instance it would be hard for many to have compassion for evil dictators like Adolf Hilter for example. Yet I doubt very much if he had a chance to repent before he died. So it's very likely that he is in hell. In fact I've read accounts of those that went to hades temporarily when they were close to death and they saw him there. Creepy. They claimed to have come back alive to tell of it. Of course I have no way of knowing whether it was true or not but there have been many that have claimed to have out of the body experiences.

• Obadiah 1:2  Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised. 

No nation will excel that comes against Israel. We find that in God's word to Abraham and other places in the Old Testament and even in the New among the writings of Paul.

• Genesis 12:1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 
• 2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 
• 3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 

God has not changed His mind on that. When He promised something, He means it.

• Obadiah 1:3  The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? 
• 4  Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD. 
• 5  If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? 
• 6  How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up! 

They were full of pride. One of their cities was Petra that have brilliant palaces that were carved out of the rocks. It was considered a safe place from their enemies in that there was only one narrow path up to where the palaces were and only one horse and rider could go through at a time so they assumed they were very safe and enemies that tried to come through that passage way could easily be defeated.

• Obadiah 1:7  All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.
• 8  Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
• 9  And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. 

Like they turned against Israel, they reaped what they sowed because the confederacy they had with other kingdoms that turned against them (Edom).

Edom's Violence Against Jacob

• Obadiah 1:10  For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. 
• 11  In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. 
• 12  But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. 
• 13  Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; 
• 14  Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. 

They did exactly that. Many times.

In Numbers chapter 20 Moses sent messengers to Edom asking for passage through their land. Edom refused to let them pass through.

• Numbers 20:21  Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him. 

There are many prophecies against Edom:

• Ezekiel 25:14  And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD. 

There are many other places that prophecy against Edom:

In Jeremiah, Joel, Psalms, and Malachi to name a few. Here is the one from Malachi:

• Malachi 1:4  Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever. 

The Day of the Lord Is Near

• Obadiah 1:15  For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. 
• 16  For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. 
• 17  But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. 
• 18  And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it. 

The nation of Israel will possess their land in the long run. In the past they had temporary victory over them through David, Solomon and a few others but they were not entirely wiped out. Obadiah says they will be entirely wiped out and not exist. I've read some that say there is no more Edomites today but I've also read that some have claimed to be descendants of the Edomites or Esau. If the final prophecy happens just before Jesus returns to set up His kingdom in Israel, it may be that there are still descendants from Esau alive today. Israel has so many enemies that hate them and want their destruction. Satan hates them because that is the place where Jesus will return to set up His Kingdom, first for 1000 years and after the final test of mankind, there will be a new Heaven and Earth where no evil, violence, wars or sin will enter in. We better not be in that army that surrounds Israel in the latter days or comes against Israel now because anyone that does will face destruction. Stay home please. God has allowed it in the past as judgment but the day is coming when Jesus Himself shall come in person to save Israel. No one can fight against God.

Edom is located around southern Jordan and southern Israel according to some writers and they believe the ones living there are descendants of Esau. Some Palestinians claim to be descendants of Esau, also some the Kurds from Iraq, most people from Syria, many from Turkey. Herod that tried to have the baby Jesus killed was a Edomite. So was one of Job's advisors, Eliphaz the Temanite. Teman was a city in Edom. There are some rabbis that claim the Romans to be desendants from Esau.

Whoever they are though, God knows and since the bible prophesies they will one day not exist, I thing I would be hesitant to claim to be one of their descendants myself. Although through Jesus we become God's people and are cleansed from are sin or any sin of our ancestors so through the grace of God that comes through Jesus is the only safe place to be. All the past is wiped away when we come to Jesus Christ for our salvation. How great is that?

The Kingdom of the Lord

• Obadiah 1:19  And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 
• 20  And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. 
• 21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S. 

At the battle of Armageddon all enemies of Israel will be destroyed. All nations that come against Israel will be defeated. There is no way they can defeat what God defends. Again I say, now is the time to get on the Lord's side by coming to Jesus for our salvation.  DC

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