We have left our study of the book of Jude to begin a new look into the Old Testament book of Obadiah. Obadiah was an Old Testament prophet whose name means “servant of Jehovah”. He was considered one of the “minor” prophets only because of the size of his one chapter book, and nothing personal is known about him. He was probably a prophet during the same time as the Old Testament prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The theme of Obadiah's book is judgment against Edom which we will look into more fully later, however, for now, let's consider something the Psalmist David wrote which was later quoted by the writer of Hebrews:
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Psalm 40:7 and Hebrews 10:7
In other words, if we will look deeply enough into the scriptures we will find that it refers to Jesus and the redemptive plan of God to save people from their sins. While we study the book of Obadiah together, we are going to see if we can find how these words refer to Jesus Christ, and how we are to apply them accordingly. Let's look at the first verse of the book of Obadiah together, and we will begin our journey.
The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumor from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
Notice that this is a “vision” of Obadiah. This is an oracle, a prophesy or future insight that was given to Obadiah. Some prophesy is “forth-telling” which is declaring the truths that are already known, and other prophesy is “fore-telling” which is more like declaring the future. In this case, Obadiah has been given knowledge of events that will occur in the future.
The vision is from the “Lord GOD” and it concerns “Edom” which means “Red”. Edom was the second name given to “Esau” or “Harry” who was the firstborn twin of Issac in the Old Testament. There is a whole story about how Esau forfeited his birthright to his brother Jacob for a simple bowl of red pottage as recorded in the book of Genesis in chapter twenty-five, but suffice it to say after this event Esau's name was changed to “Edom” or “Red”.
Throughout the ages there was always conflict between Edom or Esau and Jacob whose name later became “Israel”. After convincing Esau to give up his birthright, Jacob also stole Esau's blessing from his father, and this caused Jacob not only to leave his home, but also caused a great conflict with his brother and his descendants.
The occasion of Obadiah's writing is that the Israelites and Judah have now been taken captive by the Assyrians and Babylonians. Their lands have been pillaged and burned, and Edom watched it happen. In fact, they cheered the oppressors on, laughed at the Israelites' plight, and even looted the Israelites' land themselves when they were taken over. They helped the enemies of Israel and Judah, and rather than come to their aid, they simply scorned them.
Obadiah's prophesy is concerning Edom, and because of their behavior toward God's people, judgment is being pronounced. The fate of Edom is not good. We will look at this book in three ways: 1) We will study the actual words of the prophesy of Obadiah against Edom. 2) We will consider Edom as a type of the flesh, and how our flesh nature attempts to destroy us and laughs at us when we fail. 3) We will see how Edom is a type of satan, and how he uses opportunities within our lives to not only destroy us and our relationship with Jesus, but will laugh at us when we do. So we have a lot to share together, and may the Lord bless us as we find Him in the volume of this book.
Next time we will look further into verse one of Obadiah, so read it again, meditate upon it, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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