Friday, July 13

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Friday

“The Restoration of Judah”

Much like last week’s series of posts on Amos right now you’re likely thinking something like, “Man, Obadiah is a downer!” If you’re thinking that you’re not far from the truth, Obadiah does have a largely negative message of judgment on the Edomite’s throughout the book. Although he spends the majority of the book presenting that negative message, Obadiah is not ultimately a hopeless book. Much like the book of Amos Obadiah will end with a message not of judgment, but of restoration. 

So far everything we’ve looked at in Obadiah’s prophecy has been about Edom. He’s rebuked the Edomite’s for their pride and then prophesied about their coming destruction. The last section of Obadiah’s prophecy though makes a marked change as he turns his attention from Edom to Israel. Read with me as we see Obadiah’s word from YHWH for the nation of Israel. 

¹⁷ But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;
    it will be holy,
and the house of Jacob
    will possess its inheritance…
¹⁹ People from the Negev will occupy
    the mountains of Esau,
and people from the foothills will possess
    the land of the Philistines.
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,
    and Benjamin will possess Gilead…
 ²¹ Deliverers will go up on^[c] Mount Zion
    to govern the mountains of Esau.
    And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.

Although Obadiah has many things he communicates to the Israelite’s here the central message which he is passing along is this: Your God has not forgotten you, and His wrath will not last forever. Obadiah ends His book with the great promise that “the Kingdom will be the Lord’s.” Obadiah leaves His Israelite hearers looking forward to that great and coming day where evil will be no more. 

Obadiah ends his message by casting a vision for the day when the Edomite’s, the Babylonians, and all the other nations that have rejected YHWH have been destroyed. He casts vision for the day when the Lion will lay down with the lamb, when our swords will be turned into plowshares, and when there will be no more crying, nor pain, nor death any longer. It is that great day that Obadiah assures the Israelite’s is still coming. Obadiah is reminding the Israelite’s of this great truth from the Psalmist. “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

Although Obadiah casts vision for a wonderful future here, it’s still only a partial vision. From our New Testament perspective we are able to see that the people of God will include not only the Jewish remnant, but will instead contain “whosoever” reaches out in faith to Christ. Furthermore we see that the fulfillment of the Promised Land promises are bigger than Obadiah saw. Obadiah proclaimed a message of hope that the Jews would belong to an eastern territory in Palestine, but in the New Testament the Apostle Paul promises that believers in Christ will inherit the world. God’s judgment on human pride is harsh, but His mercy for those who belong to Him is greater. At the end of Obadiah it is God’s mercy, not His judgment which triumphs. 


Grant Diamond