Part One Introductory

OBADIAHPART ONE – INTRODUCTORY1. Let’s meet Obadiah 2. A closer look 3. This helps Obadiah make sense 4. The big picture (I) 5. The big picture (II) PART TWO – SEEING CHRIST IN OBADIAH 6. Christ and the story of Obadiah (I) 7. Christ and the story of Obadiah (II) 8. Excursus: Jesus the True Israel 9. Obadiah, Joel and the Book of Acts 10. Obadiah, Amos and the Book of Acts 11. Obadiah and the Theological Virtues 12. Obadiah and the Theological Virtues 13. Obadiah’s Dream 14. Obadiah’s Dream PART THREE – WORKING THROUGH OBADIAH15. v.1 The vision of Obadiah 16. vv.2-4 Proud Edom is not beyond the reach of God’s judgment 17. vv.5-6 The coming judgment of Edom will be total and inescapable 18. vv.7-9 cont) 19. vv.10-11 dom’s sins show that it utterly deserves the judgment it is to receive 20. vv.12-14 (cont) 1 21. vv.15-16 The judgment of Edom is part of God setting the world right 22. vv. 15-16 (cont) 23. vv.17-18 Deliverance, possession and rule for the people of God 24. vv. 19-20 Returning exiles possess their possessions 25. v.21 The kingdom shall be the LORD’sPART FOUR – SUPPLEMENTARY26. Obadiah through Puritan eyes 27. An Obadiah Hymn 28. Obadiah for Children 29. Further reading 2 1. Let’s meet Obadiah They say that ‘the best things come in small packages’ and certainly the book of Obadiah bears that out. Weighing in at just twenty-one verses, Obadiah is packed full with good things: rich theology, powerful imagery, unsettling challenges to our thinking and living, and huge promise for the triumph of God’s purposes. In this book we’ll try to get to know the prophecy of Obadiah as well as we can: we’ll be nourished by Obadiah’s use of biblical themes such as mountains and brothers, the kingdom of God and the day of the Lord; we’ll receive personal challenge from his teaching on malice, pride and complacency as well as encouragement from the promise of the sure inheritance of God’s people; and we’ll reflect upon wider matters of justice, spiritual warfare and the international spread of the kingdom of God. Throughout this we will see that, like all the Scriptures, Obadiah over and over points us to the kindness and justice of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the greatness of what he has done for us. First, it is essential that we acquaint ourselves, without comment, with the contents of the book. We begin that acquaintance today simply by reading the book in three different translations. Please read Obadiah aloud. Before and after each of your three readings, pray something like, “Living God, this prophecy of Obadiah is part of your holy, flawless, authoritative, and always relevant Word. As I read the Scriptures, please speak to me, today and every day. Amen.” 3 New American Standard Bible (1995 update) 1. The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom-- We have heard a report from the Lord, And an envoy has been sent among the nations [saying], "Arise and let us go against her for battle"-- 2. "Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You are greatly despised. 3. "The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, You who live in the clefts of the rock, In the loftiness of your dwelling place, Who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to earth?' 4. "Though you build high like the eagle, Though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down," declares the Lord. 5. "If thieves came to you, If robbers by night-- O how you will be ruined!-- Would they not steal [only] until they had enough? If grape gatherers came to you, Would they not leave [some] gleanings? 6. "O how Esau will be ransacked, [And] his hidden treasures searched out! 7 "All the men allied with you Will send you forth to the border, And the men at peace with you Will deceive you and overpower you. [They who eat] your bread Will set an ambush for you. (There is no understanding in him.) 4 8. "Will I not on that day," declares the Lord, "Destroy wise men from Edom And understanding from the mountain of Esau? 9. "Then your mighty men will be dismayed, O Teman, So that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter. 10. "Because of violence to your brother Jacob, You will be covered [with] shame, And you will be cut off forever. 11. "On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem-- You too were as one of them. 12. "Do not gloat over your brother's day, The day of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah In the day of their destruction; Yes, do not boast In the day of [their] distress. 13. "Do not enter the gate of My people In the day of their disaster. Yes, you, do not gloat over their calamity In the day of their disaster. And do not loot their wealth In the day of their disaster. 14. "Do not stand at the fork of the road To cut down their fugitives; And do not imprison their survivors In the day of their distress. 15. "For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head. 5 16. "Because just as you drank on My holy mountain, All the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow And become as if they had never existed. 17. "But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, And it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions. 18. "Then the house of Jacob will be a fire And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau [will be] as stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them, So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau," For the Lord has spoken. 19. Then [those of] the Negev will possess the mountain of Esau, And [those of] the Shephelah the Philistine [plain]; Also, possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, And Benjamin [will possess] Gilead. 20. And the exiles of this host of the sons of Israel, Who are [among] the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad Will possess the cities of the Negev. 21. The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion To judge the mountain of Esau, And the kingdom will be the Lord's. English Standard Version 1. The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: "Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!" 6 2. Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised. 3. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, "Who will bring me down to the ground?" 4. Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the LORD. 5. If thieves came to you, if plunderers came by night-- how you have been destroyed!-- would they not steal only enough for themselves? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? 6. How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures sought out! 7. All your allies have driven you to your border; those at peace with you have deceived you; they have prevailed against you; those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you-- you have no understanding. 8. Will I not on that day, declares the LORD, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount Esau? 9. And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman, so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter. 10. Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you,7 and you shall be cut off forever. 11. On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. 12. But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress. 13. Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity; do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity. 14. Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives; do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. 15. For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head. 16. For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually; they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been. 17. But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. 8 18. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the LORD has spoken. 19. Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 20. The exiles of this host of the people of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the Negeb. 21. Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD's. The Message1. Obadiah’s Message to Edom from GOD, the Master. We got the news straight from GOD by a special messenger sent out to the godless nations: "On your feet, prepare for battle; get ready to make war on Edom! 2. "Listen to this, Edom: I'm turning you to a no-account, the runt of the godless nations, despised. 3. You thought you were so great, perched high among the rocks, king of the mountain, Thinking to yourself, "Nobody can get to me! Nobody can touch me!'9 4. Think again. Even if, like an eagle, you hang out on a high cliff-face, Even if you build your nest in the stars, I'll bring you down to earth." GOD's sure Word. 5. "If thieves crept up on you, they'd rob you blind--isn't that so? If they mugged you on the streets at night, they'd pick you clean--isn't that so? 6. Oh, they'll take Esau apart, piece by piece, empty his purse and pockets. 7. All your old partners will drive you to the edge. Your old friends will lie to your face. Your old drinking buddies will stab you in the back. Your world will collapse. You won't know what hit you. 8. So don't be surprised"--it's GOD's sure Word!- "when I wipe out all sages from Edom and rid the Esau mountains of its famous wise men. 9. Your great heroes will desert you, Teman. There'll be nobody left in Esau's mountains. 10. Because of the murderous history compiled against your brother Jacob, You will be looked down on by everyone. You'll lose your place in history. 11. On that day you stood there and didn't do anything. Strangers took your brother's army into exile. Godless foreigners invaded and pillaged Jerusalem. You stood there and watched. You were as bad as they were. 12. You shouldn't have gloated over your brother when he was down-and-out. You shouldn't have laughed and joked at Judah's sons when they were facedown in the mud. You shouldn't have talked so big when everything was so bad.10 13. You shouldn't have taken advantage of my people when their lives had fallen apart. You of all people should not have been amused by their troubles, their wrecked nation. You shouldn't have taken the shirt off their back when they were knocked flat, defenseless. 14. And you shouldn't have stood waiting at the outskirts and cut off refugees, And traitorously turned in helpless survivors who had lost everything. 15. "GOD's Judgment Day is near for all the godless nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. What you did will boomerang back and hit your own head. 16. Just as you partied on my holy mountain, all the godless nations will drink God's wrath. They'll drink and drink and drink-- they'll drink themselves to death. 17. But not so on Mount Zion--there's respite there! a safe and holy place! The family of Jacob will take back their possessions from those who took them from them. 18 That's when the family of Jacob will catch fire, the family of Joseph become fierce flame, while the family of Esau will be straw. Esau will go up in flames, nothing left of Esau but a pile of ashes." GOD said it, and it is so. 19. People from the south will take over the Esau mountains; people from the foothills will overrun the Philistines. They'll take the farms of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will take Gilead. 20. Earlier, Israelite exiles will come back and take Canaanite land to the north at Zarephath.11 Jerusalem exiles from the far northwest in Sepharad will come back and take the cities in the south. 21. The remnant of the saved in Mount Zion will go into the mountains of Esau And rule justly and fairly, a rule that honors GOD's kingdom.12 2. A Closer LookIt’s easy to read Bible passages (even three times) and not actually notice what we are reading. Spend time today answering the series of questions below and you will find yourself a lot more familiar with the contents of the book. Obviously you’ll need Obadiah open in front of you as you do this. I have put the “answers” in the footnotes below. a) Who is the prophecy from?1 b) Who is it about / to?2 c) What are the names of people mentioned?3 d) What are the names of places mentioned?4 e) Summarize v.15 f) Summarize vv.2-46 g) Summarize vv.5-97 h) Summarize vv.10-148 i) Summarize vv.15-1691 The LORD through Obadiah 2 Edom 3 see verses 1, 6, 10, 17, 18 4 see verses 1, 8, 9, 11, 12, 17, 19, 20, 21 5 God’s message to Edom through Obadiah – already being enacted … 6 I will bring down you proud Edomites 7 Your devastation will be total and your allies, wisdom, and military might cannot and will not prevent it 8 This is because of your malicious and treacherous behaviour towards Judah 9 And will happen as part of my coming judgment on all the nations13 j) Summarize vv.17-1810 k) Summarize vv.19-2111 l) What words seem to come up quite a few times?12 m) How many times do the following words occur – ‘the LORD’, ‘day’, ‘Esau?13 n) What, if any, is the “progress” of the sins in vv.12-14?14 o) Find some sort of word or thought link between the following pairs of verses …15 a. 1b & 18f b. 1d & 2a c. 3e & 4c d. 4d & 8a e. 5a-d & 5e-f f. 5c & 6a g. 7b & 3a h. 7e & 8c i. 8c & 9b j. 9b & 10c10 But my people will be delivered and, as agents of judgment, will defeat you Edomites 11 And they will take possession of their inheritance, exercising righteous rule over Edom. 12 Edom, Esau, the LORD, Jacob, day, “do not”, nations, distress, calamity, possess, mount 13 “the LORD” occurs seven times (it is translated as capitalized “GOD” in several translations of v.1); “day” occurs twelve times; “Esau” occurs seven times 14 Standing watching, gloating, rejoicing, entering the city, looting, preventing escape, handing over escapees 15 a. says the LORD; b. nations; c.bring down; d. declares the LORD; e. if … if…; f. how … how …; g. deceived; h. understanding; i. Mount Esau; j. cut off; k. all the nations; l. survivors/escape; m. holy; n. possess; o. Negev; p. Mount Zion; q. Mount Esau; r. the LORD. 14 k. 16b & 15a l. 17a & 14c m. 17b & 16a n. 17c & 19a-d, 20b, 20d o. 19a & 20d p. 21a & 17a q. 21b & 8c, 9b, 19a r. 21c & 1b p) this is a book about mountains – what is it’s message?16 q) this is a book about days – what is it’s message?17 r) this is a book about brothers - what is it’s message?18 s) what are the different things in which Edom could be said to place trust?19 a. v.6 b. v.7 c. v.8 d. v.9 t) what are the different perspectives on who it is that brings Edom down?20 a. vv.1-2 b. vv.4, 8 c. v.716 verses 8-9, 17, 19, 21a. See p. XXXXXXXXXX below for “mountains” in Obadiah 17 verses 8, 10-14, 15. See p. XXXXXXXXX below for “the day of the LORD” in Obadiah 18 verses 10, 12, 17-18. See p. XXXXXXXXX for “brothers” in Obadiah 19 hidden treasures; allies; wisdom; military might 20 the LORD using the nations; the LORD; the allies; Israel. When verses 15-16 are added to this we see that the LORD punishes Edom, that he uses the nations to do so, that he uses Israel to do so, and that he punishes the very nations which he uses for their own sins. 15 d. v.18 u) what are the different perspectives on what happens to Edom?21 a. v.7 b. v.19 c. vv.9, 18 d. v.21 v) what are the images used in the book?22 a. v.4a b. v.4b c. v.5 (x2) d. v.10b e. v.11d f. v.16a-b g. v.18a-dConclusion By taking time to answer these questions we have already begun to see that Obadiah is both great literature and deep theology. It is a carefully organized book with all sorts of interconnnections between different parts of the prophecy, a cumulative and spiralling use of language, and several complementary perspectives on the same work of God. Let’s summarize the contents and message of the book three times over. 21 Edom is displaced, dispossessed, left with no survivors, ruled over righteously. See p.XXXXXXXXXXX below for the ways in which these are complementary rather than contradictory. 22 soaring like an eagle; nesting in the stars; being burgled and being gleaned; being clothed in shame; having lots cast for possessions; drinking judgment; God’s people being a flame and the wicked being burned up like stubble. 16 1. From questions e) to k) we saw that we could restate the message of the entire book of Obadiah like this: God’s message to Edom through Obadiah (which is already being enacted) is: “I will bring you proud Edomites down. Your devastation will be total and your allies, wisdom, and military might will not be able to prevent it. I will do so because of your malicious and treacherous behaviour towards Judah and this judgment will happen as and when I step in to judge all the nations. But my people will be delivered and, as agents of judgment, will defeat you Edomites - and they will take possession of their inheritance, exercising righteous rule over Edom.”2. The dominant images which we looked at in questions p) to r) showed three other ways of summarizing Obadiah:  In the battle of the mountains, Zion comes to rule over Esau  In the contrast of the “days”, the wickedness of the Edomites on the “day” of Judah’s calamity will be repaid on the “day” of the LORD  In the contest of the brothers, the false and treacherous firstborn will have to submit to and serve the younger son. 3. Finally, using the three common words (question m)) we could say that Obadiah teaches this: because of a day and on a day (12 times), the LORD (7 times) will defeat and judge Esau (7 times). Prayer. Turn one of these three summaries into prayer and thank the Lord for the message of Obadiah. 17 3. This helps Obadiah make senseGeographical, historical background18 4. The Big Picture (I)A couple of days ago I suggested that the book of Obadiah could be summarized like this: God’s message to Edom through Obadiah (which is already being enacted) is: “I will bring you proud Edomites down. Your devastation will be total and your allies, wisdom, and military might will not be able to prevent it. I will do so because of your malicious and treacherous behaviour towards Judah and this judgment will happen as and when I step in to judge all the nations. But my people will be delivered and, as agents of judgment, will defeat you Edomites - and they will take possession of their inheritance, exercising righteous rule over Edom.”Today, we will try to get a further sense of the “overall message” or the big picture of the book by giving an expanded paraphrase of the book. Obadiah: An expanded paraphrase23: 1. The vision of Obadiah.This is the way that Obadiah sees things because this is what the LORD has revealed to him. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom:23 In this paraphrase I am not trying to argue for the interpretative decisions that it expresses. The argument for these decisions is to be found partly in the exposition in chapters XX to XXX and partly in the explanatory end- notes on pp.XX to XX. 19 Obadiah’s vision (the revelation he’s received and the way that he sees things) not only flows from and agrees with but actually consists of and announces what God has to say to or about Edom.We have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: "Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!" Reassurance is given to the defeated and oppressed Jews that what must seem impossible (the humbling and punishment of proud Edom) will most certainly happen. The process has already started, the events are already beginning to happen. God is stirring up the nations to go to war against Edom. 2. Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised.Now the LORD actually addresses Edom and tells this proud nations what it does not want to hear and will not believe, namely, that he will cause it to be humiliated before and despised by the nations. 3. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, "Who will bring me down to the ground?" Edom is convinced that it is safe but it is wrong. Proudly confident that its rocky terrain and it impenetrable secure places make it invulnerable to attack, Edom is sure that whatever threats are made, no-one will be able to defeat or humiliate her. 20 4. Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the LORD.Edom’s sense of security is a false one. What Edom says to itself is heard by God, loud and clear, and he accepts it as a challenge. God will not let that sort of attitude and talk pass without a response. He will bring down those who set themselves up in pride.5. If thieves came to you, if plunderers came by night-- how you have been destroyed!-- would they not steal only enough for themselves? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? 6. How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures sought out! The devastation which is coming upon the Edomites is total. Whereas night-time burglars would take only the most valuable items, and whereas even the most diligent gleaners would not find or pick all the grapes on the vine, when God sends judgment upon Edom there will be nothing left of its treasures or the things in which it takes pride or finds security. So complete is this judgment that it elicits two mock laments from God – “how you have been destroyed … how Esau has been pillaged”. 7. All your allies have driven you to your border; those at peace with you have deceived you;21 they have prevailed against you; those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you - you have no understanding. The Edomites had a number of political and military alliances. They had entered covenant, sharing bread in a confirmation meal, with various surrounding tribes or nations and felt themselves to be at peace with them. But they have been deceived. Under pressure from Babylon perhaps, and stirred by the work of God (in whose hands are the hearts of kings), these nations, far from helping Edom when it comes under attack, act treacherously, refusing to give help and, in a way, joining in the attack.24 The Edomites are bewildered and dismayed by this, not understanding what is going on. 8. Will I not on that day, declares the LORD, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount Esau? 9. And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman, so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter. So much for the famed Edomite wisdom. It doesn’t work and even to the extent that there are wise men in Edom and there is understanding in Mount Esau, God will bring it to nothing. A day is coming – the “that day” of God’s judgment. Similarly, the millitary strength in which the Edomites placed their hope would prove useless. With the politically and military leaders, normally so astute, having lost their grip on things, the strong are panicked into feebleness. The result is slaughter. The Edomites are destroyed. 24 see pp.XXX below22 10. Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. What was it that provoked such judgment to fall upon Edom from God? The answer, in a phrase, is that the Edomites, brothers of the Jews, had acted violently towards them. The ways in which they did this will be explained in the following verses but here a summary of the punishment is announced: the Edomites would be humiliated (so much for their pride) and destroyed. Never again would Edom vaunt itself as it had at this time. 11. On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. Another “day” is referred to – not the day when God judges the Edomites (v.8) but the day when the Edomites committed the sins for which they are to be punished. It was a day of distress for Jacob, Judah, Jerusalem, a day when property was stolen, the city invaded and desecrated, and the people shared out as slaves as if by lot. That day, of all days, was the one when the Edomites should have sided with their brothers, the Jews. Their loyalties should have been shown that day. And they were - but wickedly and tragically, those loyalties lay with the enemies of God’s people rather than with God’s people themselves. The Edomites had the attitudes, spoke the words and took the actions of those who were afflicting and maltreating the Jews. In fact, the Edomites “were like one of them”. 23 12. But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress. 13. Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity; do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity. 14. Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives; do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. Obadiah, speaking the LORD’s words, revisits that day – the day of the Jews’ misfortune, distress, calamity, and disaster. He sees what the Edomites did and he cries out, forbidding them from doing these things. Even though the events themselves now lie in the past, the way Obadiah speaks gives them an immediacy and intensity. There is progression. First, there is looking with indifference or pleasure at the suffering of God’s people (gloating, rejoicing). This leads to mocking and boasting. Next the Edomites enter the city (v.13) and there in the city take another look of malicious pleasure at their suffering (gloat) after which they go around stealing the belongings of the Jews (looting). Finally, v.14, having done their worst in the city, the Edomites go back outside and stand at the very places the Jews passed as they tried to escape the Babylonians in order to round up these refugees and hand them over to the Babylonians. 24 15. For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head. When will this punishment fall upon the Edomites? And how can God’s people be sure that it will? God’s answer is that he is going to intervene personally in history on something called “the day of the LORD”. He declares that this is imminent, inescapable and universal and that for these reasons it is impossible for the Edomites to escape. All their wickednesses will return to them and they will certainly get their “reward”. 16. For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually; they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been. How will this happen? Well, just as, at the time of the fall of Jerusalem, the Edomites drank in mad and wicked revelry on Mount Zion, s0 when God’s steps in, all the nations will drink. God will force the nations to keep drinking and keep drinking and keep drinking more. Maddened and drowned by this drinking they will collapse, nevermore to rise. And Edom, of course, shall be amongst them, suffering the punishment for her sins.25 17. But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. 25 Several difficult and important interpretative questions arise with this verse and are addressed on pp.XXX and pp. XXX below. 25 But on that day, in that intervention of God the Judge, there will also be escape, survival, deliverance. In the very place where God makes himself known as Judge to all the nations, Edom included, he will make himself known as Saviour to his people. The very place which saw Edom’s grotesque wickedness will be set apart by God as his holy dwelling place. And this act of salvation and restoration will result in the people of God possessing their promised inheritance. 18. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the LORD has spoken. Rescued and restored, God’s people will also be empowered and will become instruments in his hand for the setting right of all wrongs, the punishment of wickedness and the utter defeat of evil. Evil Edom will be annihilated. 19. Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 20. The exiles of this host of the people of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the Negeb. A further description of the time of restoration and renewal follows, framed in terms of God’s people taking possession of lands all around leading to the establishment of an extensive empire. To the south (19a), to the west (19b), to the north 26 (19c) and to the east (19d), lands which had been lost or compromised will be recovered. Verse 20 states the same again: one set of exiles will takeover the land to the north (20a-b) and another set will takeover the land to the south (20c-d). 21. Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD's. And at the heart of this rescued and restored people and this recovered and expanded territory will be Mount Zion itself. Spirit-empowered leaders and rescuers will ascend it and from there exercise rule over that “kingdom” which had acted so wickedly to the Jews in the past. In the battle of mountains, Zion wins and the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of the LORD. He is the one who occupies the throne and exercises righteous royal power. That is exactly how it should be and that is certainly how it shall be. Glory to God. Prayer. Take any one thing which struck you from Obadiah as you worked through the paraphrase above and turn it into prayer. 27 5. The Big Picture (II) A second way of getting a sense of the “big picture” of the book of Obadiah is to try to establish some of what appear to be the major reasons why the Lord has included it in the Bible. Justice etc etc end with stuff about whole Bible points to Christ. For that reason, the next section of this series of studies in Obadiah is devoted to the ways in which we see Christ in Obadiah 28 6. Christ in the Story of Obadiah (I) For the Christian, then, no reading of Obadiah which leaves out the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, can be satisfactory. All the prophets testified of the Lord Jesus and Obadiah was a prophet. But where is Jesus in the book of Obadiah and how? Isn’t the history of the Church littered with examples of well-meaning attempts to “see” Jesus in the Old Testament which have distorted and twisted and forced the Scriptures? How are we to avoid making similar mistakes? One of the ways is to follow the guidance of the New Testament in reading the Old Testament and, as we shall see over the next few chapters, this points us to at least four important ways in which we see Christ in Obadiah. 1. The overall shape of the “story” of Obadiah points us to God’s work in and through the Lord Jesus Christ; 2. The way in which the New Testament picks up on the actual prophecies of Obadiah shows that these prophecies are fulfilled in and through Christ; 3. Everytime we see descriptions and denunciations of sin in the Bible we are reminded that in his life the Lord Jesus embodied the opposite of these sins, that in his death the Lord Jesus bore the punishment for these sins, and that in his resurrection power the Lord Jesus intends to purge these sins from the lives of his disciples;4. When we draw a picture of the world as it would be if Obadiah’s vision were realized we find that the Lord Jesus 29 Christ is the only one who can establish such a world, that he has, in fact, done so, and that he stands at the centre of it. These four ways of seeing Christ in Obadiah flow from the New Testament’s way of reading and interpreting the Old Testament and it is to each of them, in turn, that we now turn. Prayer. Living God, you love your Son with an infinite love and are determined that all shall honour him. Enable us to honour him by rightly reading Obadiah and seeing Christ there. ~~~~~ What is the story of Obadiah? Can a prophecy tell a story? Yes, of course: a prophecy is spoken to particular people who have done or suffered certain things in order to pass judgment, for good or ill, upon those things. A prophecy stands between events which have already happened and actions which have already been performed, on the one hand, and events which are yet to take place and actions which are yet to be performed, on the other hand. And those events and actions, past and future, amount to a story. The story of Obadiah, then, is that the Edomites behaved as enemies of God’s people at the fall of Jerusalem, although they should have behaved as brothers. As a result, they will be punished by God as part of his intervention to bring justice and order to the whole world. Conversely, the Jews, who at the time of the prophecy were a defeated and dispossesed people, will be rescued, returned home and brought into full possession and enjoyment of their inheritance, ruling over their former enemies. God’s kingship will be established, demonstrated and experienced. 30 But what sort of story is this? There have long been debates between students of literature as to how many “basic plots” there are. One recent book suggested that there are seven.26 These plots are:  Overcoming the Monster  Rags to Riches  Journey and Return  The Quest  Comedy  Tragedy  RebirthLet’s look at Obadiah through that sort of grid and see what happens. Is Obadiah a version of “Overcoming the Monster?” The Monster, of course, would be Babylon, which destroyed Jerusalem in 587BC, and in this case, we would have an “Overcoming the Monster” tale in which the monster is not actually named. Maybe this is what is happening and we are being given an account of the behaviour of the monster’s vicious sidekick, Edom. We see the way in which the triumphant and malicious conduct of the monster’s minion, Edom, demonstrates the defeat that God’s people have experienced. And now that the Jews are on their way into exile it seems that the monster has devoured them. Is there any hope? How will the monster be overcome? Who will ride to the rescue? Will vicious and proud Edom get its come-uppance? Obadiah does look a little like this – we can see it as an “Overcoming the Monster” tale. However, it also looks rather like a “Rags to Riches” story? After all, the band of Jewish exiles are in rags now and Obadiah promises them riches. Rags at the fall of Jerusalem and riches when God steps in to punish the Edomites and restore his people. A heart-warming tale of God’s goodness to the Jews. Yes, “Rags to Riches”. 26 Christopher Booker, The Seven Basic Plots XXXX 31 But we should consider the other basic plots too. The story of Obadiah could surely be a “Journey and Return” story couldn’t it? After all, the city of Jerusalem has been invaded, the people mocked and defeated, some killed, others exiled. Now they are on their way to the unknown darkness of exile in Babylon and only when the purpose of that exile has been served will there be the Return from exile they long for. Certainly there are strong elements of “Journey and Return” in the book of Obadiah. Think for a moment, though, of the whole story as going in one direction rather than two and then it looks much more like a classic version of “The Quest”. There is an elusive treasure that God’s people have heard about – the promised inheritance and righteous rule over the nations – and that treasure appears to be out of their reach. They reach out for this treasure, hope for it, yearn for it and wonder how and when, if at all, it will be theirs. The book of Obadiah tells them that what they journey and search for, God will grant them, when he steps in on the day of the LORD. That is a happy ending indeed and happy endings make us think of Comedy (not in the sense of Fawlty Towers but in the sense of Much Ado about Nothing). A Comedy is about the happy union of the Lover and Beloved after the removal of various obstacles to that union, such as mistaken identities, confusion of place and apparent chaos, hateful rivals, and dark powers. Obadiah shows us that God is the Hero-Lover and that he will defeat the dark enemy and make the land a place of order and celebration once more. The boundaries will be restored, joy will return restored and God and his people live in righteous love. Obadiah is Comedy. Tragedy, on the other hand, is Comedy told from the side of the flawed loser. What is Comedy for the Jews is Tragedy for the Edomites. After a noble start enjoying the father’s favour and the hunter’s reputation, Esau’s fatal flaw makes the Edomites themselves the enemy. And as in all Tragedies, the restoration of light32 can only take place with the death of the dark figure. But that is exactly what Obadiah prophesies. As befits a Tragedy, the play will close with the dead bodies of the fatally flawed protagonists in full view and hope returning to those left on stage. The final “Basic Plot” is that of Rebirth and we see elements of this, too, in the story of Obadiah. The protagonist, God’s people, is in need of a death and resurrection experience in order to arrive at the maturity and authority and fullness of love that demand centre-stage. The ‘death’ of exile is hinted at (that of the destruction of Jerusalem is more more explicit) but the “rebirth” of return and restoration is clear. Reborn from out of the grave of Edomite malice and violence, God’s people become what they were always meant to be. It is rebirth isn’t it? It might look from this as though every story is infinitely malleable and there are, in fact, no basic plots! It does not mean that but it does highlight the fact that behind even so few as seven basic plots, there is one which rules them all. It is the move from darkness to light, the pattern of “good to bad to better-than-ever”. God’s favourite shape, it could be argued, is a tick or a hockey stick. Things start at one point – which is a good point. Good. Then things “go wrong” so that distance or descent or darkness or death comes into play. Bad. There is then a turning point which brings about reconciliation, restoration, return, renewal or resurrection. And things finish with joy, light, love, order and beauty. Better-than-ever. This happens over and over in the Bible. Adam starts in a good place but then descends into the ‘death’ and darkness of a deep sleep during which he is torn apart to give life to the bride whom he meet on awaking. Good to bad to better than ever. 33 Joseph is in a good place but is then sold, betrayed, imprisoned and forgotten before God raises him up to rule the land and restore his family. Good to bad to better than ever. The Hebrews start in a good place but then go down into oppression and slavery in Egypt from which God brings them up and out and into the promised land. Good to bad to better than ever. David. Job. Jonah. Daniel. Peter. Psalm 73, Psalm 107. Whenever in the Bible you see a valley or darkness or exile or death or a curse or imprisonment or lostness, then you know that you are are the bottom of the tick. Why are stories like this and why does God cause this pattern to be played out repeatedly in history? The answer, as to all Sunday School questions, is “Jesus”. His is the Master Story and all others are servant stories. If, for a story, you need information and time and goal (or telos) then it is clear that the Lord Jesus Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (information!), who is before all things, the first and the last (time!) and who is the heir of all things and the one for whom all things were created (goal!), is himself the focus and Lord of story. He is the Story. Now every time the Father speaks, the Word that comes out is his Son. Every time the Spirit blows, the whisper in that wind is Jesus. God thunders the name of his beloved One so loudly that it echoes off of every person, object, and event in the universe. So if the one great Story of Jesus the King is the Master Story then deliberately, and inescapably all the stories we find in God’s word and God’s world will point to Jesus. God is a God of pattern and habit and since the greatest thing that he does in the history of the world is the tick- shaped redemption of humankind and the cosmos in the life and death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ then God puts this 34 pattern everywhere in the lives of individuals and groups, in the patterns of nature, and in the elemental structure of a story. So whether we are talking about a thousand and one tales or about seven basic plots, they are all related to the one great Master Story which is the tick-shaped story of darkness to light, the punishment of the wicked and the vindication of the oppressed. It is the “good to bad to better-than-ever” story which ends with the enemy defeated and with return home, the restoration of order, the possession of inheritance, the exercise of righteous rule and the manifestation and celebration of the glory of God. This is the story of Jesus and, by means of it, we are almost ready to see the first of the ways in which Obadiah points us to Christ. 35 7.Christ in the Story of Obadiah (II) When we say that we see Jesus in the story of Obadiah, then, we are not saying that the Edomites who side with the Babylonians are a code for Herod the Idumean and the Herodians who nuzzle up to the Romans. Nor are we saying that the place names in vv 19-20 have some secret numerical value which shows that they are the names of the churches Paul wrote to. Rather we are saying that God so loves his Son and is so determined that all shall honour the Son that over and over in history and then recorded over and over in Scripture, God plays out dress-rehearsals for the Great Drama, he tries out pencil sketches for the Masterpiece in Oils, and he produces theme-line melodies which will be played out and transfigured in the Glorious Symphony that is coming in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how the argument runs: 1. The Master Story, the shape of all history, is that of God’s saving work in and through the Lord Jesus Christ2. God does things by patterns and by habit so in the Old Testament there are lots of “dry-runs” of the Master Story – Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the Exodus, the Conquest, Samuel, Samson, Gideon, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Daniel, Ezra- Nehemiah etc. 3. And once the Lord Jesus Christ has completed his work (the Master Story has been told) then, when we go back to read the Old Testament afresh, we see him everywhere4. So amongst the many ways in which a faithful reading of Obadiah will point us to Christ, one of the most important is that Obadiah sketches out the shape of the Story of Christ ahead of time. 36 That is to say, Obadiah, just like every other tick-shaped story of the Old Testament, is one of those rehearsals, pencil sketches, or theme- line melodies we mentioned a few moments ago. Let’s spend a little time meditating on parts of Obadiah to see this. The form that the “basic plot” takes in Obadiah is that God’s Own is first insulted and defeated, mocked and beaten and humiliated. And then God’s Own is vindicated and rescued, restored, and given possession and rule. God’s Own is Defeated and Humiliated – verses 10-14What happens to God’s people in these verses does not predict what happens to Jesus but it does take us to what happens to Jesus. We are not surprised to see this – taking our cue from Mark 3.6 and Luke 23.6-12 we see Herod the Idumean (Edomite). And what happens – the Edomites, far from recognizing and delighting in the true Israel takes part in his condemnation and humiliation. Herod and the Herodians join in, they plot and mock and plunder. They join with the enemies of the God’s own.Verse 1o. Just as the Jews suffered violence from those who should have known and done better and just as “Jacob’s” own brother has done violence to him, so the Lord Jesus Christ came to his own and his own did not receive him. He, too, suffered violence from the very people who should have recognized him as God’s Son. Verse 11. As God’s people were plundered and their possessions divided up by lots, those who should have helped – or at the least sympathized – looked on with the attitude of the enemies themselves. And as the Romans desecrated the holy place of the body of Jesus and cast lots for his garments so the Jewish leaders – those who should 37 have welcomed Jesus as Messiah and submitted to him – stand by and watch with pleasure as he is humiliated. Verse 12. This was the day of Jerusalem’s calamity and distress and yet it was a day when the wails of God’s people were mingled with the shrieks of callous delight from the onlooking Edomites. They mocked and gloated and boasted over God’s Own. We are reminded of how much of the gospel account of the trial and death of the Lord Jesus is taken up with the mocking and boasting of his enemies. The soldiers strip him, they robe him in emperor’s clothes, they kneel before him and pretend to honour him. They strike him and spit on him and ask the blindfolded Jesus “who hit you?”. The crowds, the authorities, the priests, and those crucified with Jesus all take part in the humiliating mockery of that day. Verse 13. As the Edomites entered the city and looted its wealth so the Lord Jesus Christ, the City of True Humanity, was invaded and despoiled. Verse 14. The Jews went into exile and, even as they did so, they were killed or handed over to the darkness. So on the cross, the Lord Jesus was in exile – banished, under the curse of God to the far country of alienation, darkness and judgment. And so we see that the first half of the story of Obadiah takes us to Christ through the betrayal and defeat of God’s Own, mocked, stripped of his possessions and dignity, destroyed, exiled and humiliated. We take Obadiah’s outrage and anguish at the ruin and distress that came upon the Jews to the violation of God’s Own on the cross of Jesus. God’s Own is Vindicated and Restored - verses 17-21 38 Verse 17. The defeated and crushed people of God find that through his kind, just, and powerful intervention they are rescued. There is escape and survival in the place where God dwells and makes himself known, Mount Zion. There is a future where it seemed that all hope had gone. And meditating on this we find ourselves outside the empty tomb on Easter Sunday morning. God has intervened in kindness, justice and power to deliver Jesus from the power of death, the grip of the grave. God has stepped in in holy might to rescue his dear Son from destruction. The resurrection of Jesus is the deliverance of God’s Own. And in the resurrection he is “set apart” as the Son of God in power (Romans 1.3-4) to be close to God both in the sense of near God (at his right hand, in fact) and in the sense of like God. (There is, of course, more that can be said about this. In the light of the teaching of the rest of Scripture we might go so far as to say that Christ crucified and risen “is” Mount Zion – the place where God makes himself known, where God may be met, from which God exercises his rule over all the world, and so on.) Verse 17 (still). The deliverance which God gives to his people, in view of their previous humiliation, can only be seen as a vindication, a pronouncement from God that yes, these are his people. And this is exactly what we see in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That resurrection, that deliverance from death is God’s vindication of his Son. The resurrection is God’s verdict over Jesus, “I am perfectly satisfied with you”. In that sense it is the “justification” of Jesus – the judicial declaration that Jesus is God’s righteous Son. The wonderful news of the gospel is that the judicial verdict, “perfectly satisfied” which God declares over Jesus in the resurrection is thereby and also declared over every single person who, by faith, is joined to or in union with Jesus. This is the doctrine of “justification”, that God declares himself “perfectly satisfied” with everyone who is in Christ. Or as Paul puts it, in Romans 4.25, “he [Jesus] was raised for our justification”. 39 Verses 18-20. God’s rescued, restored, vindicated and set apart people enter into full possession of their inheritance and are granted authority to own and to rule all the land which God had promised them, enjoying it and living in it with God as king over them. When we meditate on these verses in the light of the fact that the story of Obadiah is serving the Master Story of the Lord Jesus Christ then we can’t but think of the enthronement and present rule of Christ. The Father has placed all things in his hands. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ. Jesus asks the Father and receives the nations for his inheritance, the ends of the earth for his possession. He is to have first place in everything. He is the heir of all things. He is ruler of the kings of the earth. He is the Meek who shall inherit the earth. He is the obedient son who will live long in the land. He is the seed of Abraham who inherits the world. And this takes place at the resurrection, ascension and enthronement of Jesus. ~~~~~~~~ Obadiah, then, takes us to the Lord Jesus Christ by being the servant story pointing to the Master Story. The story of Obadiah is that God’s Own is betrayed, humiliated, defeated, crushed, mocked and exiled. And that God’s own is delivered, restored, vindicated, set apart, given possession, triumph and rule, taking over the world under the kingship of God. Surrounded by the mocking of those who should have known better, restored to enter the inheritance promised by God. When we read that story then there is no doubt where the Spirit intends us to go. We cannot but think about the Lord Jesus Christ. The pattern, the structure, the shape, the story of Obadiah points to and is played out in and is expanded by the real “God’s Own”, Jesus Christ. It might be asked, “Why would we do this? Haven’t we got Matthew 26 and 27, Mark 14 and 15, and so on?” What is the point of meditating on the death and resurrection of Jesus from Obadiah when we have whole sections of the New Testament explicitly about 40 these things. The answer can be given briefly … because we love Christ and we would go anywhere to see him. He is our hope and our hero and our joy. Yes, we’ll be there on Saturday afternoon to see the world’s greatest footballer in Premiership action. But if you tell us that we can watch him on the training ground on a wet Wednesday then we’ll be there too. Yes, we’ll be there on Saturday night at Covent Garden to hear the world’s greatest soprano sing. But if you tell us that she is doing her voice exercises first thing tomorrow morning then we’ll be up early to attend and to listen. We meditate on Christ through the story of Obadiah because the Father speaks of his Son that way and we want to attend to everything the Father tells us about the Son. Every angle tells us something new - and if we have to look more closely, think more carefully, ponder more deeply then this will be a good thing. New tones, new shades – no two views are the same. And the adumbration of the great Story of Jesus the King which we find in Obadiah makes us fans of Obadiah for the rest of our lives. ~~~~~~~~~There is one further step to take in relation to the way in which we see Christ in the overall structure or shape of Obadiah. Just as all the Old Testament scriptures point us to Christ because he is the ultimate antitype and just as all stories point us to the Master Story of Jesus because he is the elemental archetype, so now we understand all else in relation to Christ too. The shape of human history is the shape of the Master Story – good to bad to better-than-ever. And in the life of the church, which is the body of Christ and in the life of every Christ- ian too, we seem the same pattern or structure. Paul says in Philippians 3 that he wants to know Christ “and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death so that somehow I may attain the resurrection of the dead.” The story of Jesus (not so much “good, bad, and better-than- ever” as “exalted, humbled, more exalted than ever”) which is told in 41 Philippians 2 is the pattern, Paul insists, for the story of the Christian told in Philippians 3. Just as Obadiah’s story, told before the coming of Christ, is an adumbration of the story of Jesus, so every Christian’s story, told after the coming of Christ plays out that story again. No, of course, the sufferings of Christians do not atone for sin and nor are Christians personally given all authority in heaven and on earth. But we say, with Paul that we want to know Christ and “the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death that somehow we may attain to the resurrection of the dead.” We expect to see the same pattern played out in our own lives – of growing to maturity through suffering (Hebrews 2 and 5), and of sufferings first and then glory later (I Peter). We know various forms of “death” ranging from the daily crucifixion of our self(ishness) and the “mortification” of sin to which we are called, through to the “laying down our lives” in service of our fellow-believers. And we also know the power of the resurrection at work in us, giving us the life which consists in the knowledge of God, growing the likeness of Jesus and the fruit of the Spirit in us, enabling us to enjoy our possessions in Christ and to take control, little by little, of that which God has put under our authority, from the raging seas of our minds to the wild beasts of our tongues, to our wallets, and diaries, and children and so on. We gaze at Christ in the story of Obadiah because as those joined to Jesus that story is also ours and we will thus only understand ourselves when we meditate upon him. Similarly, the story of Christ – high, low, higher-than-ever – is the tale of all things. The whole history of the world can be seen in the incarnation, death, and resurrection-enthronement of the Lord Jesus Christ. As has often been remarked, history is His Story and the 42 world itself only makes sense in the light of God’s great purpose to give his Son a bride and a kingdom. Gerard Manley Hopkins invites us to see Christ everywhere – “For Christ plays in ten thousand places, lovely in limbs and lovely in eyes not his to the Father, through the features of men’s faces” and since the same Spirit who loves to testify to Christ, to take of the things of Christ and make them known to us, to glorify Christ is the one who caused Obadiah to be written with the exact structure and shape that it has then we should be unsurprised to find and utterly committed to finding more and more deeply that a faithful reading of this little book of the Old Testament is a sure and delightful way of meeting our Lord Jesus afresh. 43 8. Excursus: Jesus, the True IsraelWe have seen that the book of Obadiah find its most important fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ and that this may be demonstrated in two key ways. First, Obadiah is a servant story pointing to the Master Story of all history – that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, the way the NT (indirectly) refers to Obadiah shows that the deliverance and the world takeover of which Obadiah prophesied are best understood as fulfilled in the resuce that men and women find through the gospel as they call upon the name of the Lord and in the discipling of the nations by the gospel across the world in the power of the Spirit. And although it has been a matter for dispute amongst many in the history of the church, I believe that it is important briefly to see that the way in which the Lord Jesus Christ is seen as the true Israel serves to confirm these “Christ-centred” readings of Obadiah. The argument is easily stated: Obadiah is about “Israel”; Jesus is the true “Israel”; therefore Obadiah is about Jesus. A number of matters are worth dealing with here. To clarify, when I have referred to Israel in the preceding paragraphs, I have been using the term Israel to refer not simply to the ten northern tribes but to the “Old Covenant people of God”. (Israel and the New Covenant; Prophecy and the Church; Enns on Apostolic Hermeneutics; Last Days Madness etc ) Israel in the narrower sense had as virtually ceased to exist after they were taken into exile in Assyria around 722-1 BC. Subsequently the two southern tribes – known as Judah – were taken into exile in Babylon after the fall of Jerusalem in 587-6 BC. There was never a mass return to the land of those44 from the northern tribes. The Jews (those from Judah), on the other hand, did return from exile in 536BC. And interestingly, it seems as though, on their return, they believed themselves to be the whole of Israel, back in the land. This may have been because descendants of the exiled northerners had joined themselves to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Or it may have been as a sort of “covenantal survival” – the Jews believed that the northerners were bound up in them spiritually. But certainly at the dedication of the temple, for example, in Ezra 6.17 and 8.35, a sin offering was made for “all Israel, 12 male goats according to the number of the tribes of Israel”. And, as we know, in the NT, when Jesus and the apsotles take up the idea of the 12 tribes then it is simply not an issue for them that there might not be 12 tribes. Jesus appoints twelve apostles and tells them that they will judge the 12 tribes of Israel. James writes to the 12 tribes of the dispersion. This means that some sort of “redefinition” of Israel has been taking place from the earliest days. And this seems to be happening in Obadiah, too. In verses 10 and 11, Jerusalem parallels Jacob’s gate, which in earlier days would have been strange – the idea that the capital of the southern kingdom should be equated with “Jacob’s gate” given that Jacob was usually associated with the northern tribes. Similarly in verse 20 the exiles of this host of the sons of Israel and the exiles of Jerusalem, though they may be distinguishable groups of exiles are, at the very least, allies if not parallels. As one scholar puts it, “Here “Israel” as in numerous post- monarchic texts is associated with the descendants of the southern kingdom of Judah, its institutions and traditions.” 258 Ben Zvi45 But there is a far more radical redefinition of Israel coming, as we know. How is Israel to be defined and identified? It’s not by blood, nor by passport, nor by home address, is it? If it were then for various reasons, Abraham’s household slaves, the Egyptians who joined the Hebrews at the Exodus, Uriah the Hittite, Ruth the Moabitess, the converts in Esther’s time and many, many others could not be considered part of Israel. Probably the key definition of Israel in the Bible is that of “Abraham’s offspring” which, as we saw in the paragraph above, itself cannot mean biological descendants. Paul makes it clear that Abraham’s offspring is, supremely, the Lord Jesus Christ – he is the promised seed. But also, all who believe in the Lord Jesus are joined to Christ and so are also “children of Abraham”. This is very clear in Romans 4 and Galatians 3-4. It is not circumcision that makes or shows one to be a child of Abraham but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And thus, a Jew is not one who is a Jew outwardly but one who is a Jew inwardly. It is unsurprising then that in all sorts of ways in the NT it is shown that “Israel” should be defined in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not some arbitrary transfer – it is founded upon the double fact that the Lord Jesus was the promised child of Abraham and that the Lord Jesus Christ – a real, physical, literal Jew – was, in the first century, the incomparably best claimant to be considered the expression and epitome and embodiment of Israel – what you might call the true remnant. This emerges in some of Jesus’s key titles and roles. Israel is the seed, the offspring of Abraham – who’s that? The Lord Jesus Christ. Israel is the suffering servant – the agent for the fulfillment of God’s promises – who’s that? The Lord Jesus Christ. Israel is the vine – who’s the true vine? The Lord 46 Jesus Christ. Israel is the focus and the instrument of God’s world-transforming salvation. Who’s that? The Lord Jesus Christ. And we must remember and insist that the Lord Jesus Christ is a literal, real, physical Jew. He is the essence and embodiment of Israel. If, then, God promises land to Israel and then he gives it to the Lord Jesus, has God broken his promise? Not at all – who else qualifies to receive the inheritance other than the heir of all things, the one whom God has placed on his holy hill of Zion saying “ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession”? Take, then, as an example, the idea in Obadiah that Israel will conquer and rule Edom. Don’t be intimidated out of Christ- honouring readings of OT prophecy by talk about how it must be literal. How literal do you want? Jesus is a physical, real, literal, flesh-and-blood Jew and no-one who has ever lived has better claim than him to be called Israel. And he does, literally, own this territory mentioned here and much more besides. The Pope is right to kiss the ground wherever he goes – if he’s claiming it for Jesus. It’s right that the Queen received an orb set under a cross at her coronation – because the world is indeed under the authority of Christ. The world, its territory, its soil belongs to Israel – the Israel of God, the Meek one who inherits the earth, the obedient son who lives long in the land, King Jesus, the true Israel. The Gaza strip – who does it belong to? Israel – the true Israel, Jesus Christ the Jew East Jerusalem? to Israel – the true Israel, Jesus Christ the Jew Southgate, East Timor, Kurdish territory, the Kuwait border, every piece of soil on the planet – belongs to Israel. Not spiritually 47 – Jesus is a real, physical, literal Jew. He is the remnant, he is Israel. The vindication and deliverance of Jesus IS the vindication and deliverance of Israel – Obadiah is fulfilled in Jesus The possession and inheritance which Jesus comes into IS Israel coming into inheritance and deliverance – O is fulfilled in J The rule of God expressed in and exercised through Jesus IS the rule of God expressed in and exercised through Israel – O is fulfilled in J. The land, the soil, the ground belongs to Israel. Israel takes over the world. And to say that the Lord Jesus Christ is the embodiment and epitome and key expression of Israel is to say that those who are “in him” or joined to him are, by virtue of that union, the true Israel too. Just as the High Priest “summed up” the whole of the people when he made atonement and interceded, so Jesus does for all his own. Just as David stood not as an isolated individual in the Valley of Elah but stood them representating and summing up and embodying and incorporating all Israel so did the Lord Jesus in slaying the beast-giant Satan. We have been crucified with Christ, raised with Christ, and seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. And all those who believe in the Lrod Jesus and so are joined to him, come to have the characteristics, privileges and titles of Isreal, since Jesus himself is the head of Israel. That is why in the NT believers in the Lord Jesus are called the vine, the flock, the holy nation, the royal priesthood, the dispersion, the covenant people, the resurrected. That is why Jesus appointed 12 apostles, why the church is the new Jerusalem, the true circumcision. This is not saying that the the Church is a replacement for Israel as though there is such a thing called Israel now standing at the 48 sidelines of God’s purposes wishing to be allowed to come back on the pitch. It is saying that the Lord Jesus Christ IS the true Israel and that from the moment of his cross and resurrection (or more precisely, from the moment of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD70 which was the vindication of Jesus as the Son of Man), if a human being wants to be a Jew, in Israel then there is only one possible way. As in the OT, it will not be by blood line, passport or home address. It is covenantal. It is by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. If someone believes in Jesus they are Israel. If someone does not believe in the Lord Jesus they are not Israel. There are not two Israels (except in the sense that you can talk about Israel-in-inverted-commas – as paul does in Romans, Galatians, Philippians and as Jesus does in Revelation). There is one Israel – radically redefined but wholly and faithfully and covenantly continuous with the real Israel across the whole of Scripture – that one Israel is the Lord Jesus Christ and all who are in him. Jesus – and those in him – are heirs to the promises. If I buy a new car and sign the contract and then die between that moment and the delivery date then the contract is not annulled but rather the car is delivered to my heir as paid for by me. If the promise is made by God through Obadiah that his people shall inherit the land and then his people (in one sense) die then the heirs of his people will receive the land. That is what happens with the Lord Jeuss Christ. 49 9. Obadiah and Joel and the Book of ActsIf you look to see the Lord Jesus Christ in the book of Obadiah – and you jolly well should do – then I don’t think you do so by saying that the Edomites siding with the Babylonians prefigures Herod the Idumean siding with the Romans (though, in a fairly indirect sort of way, it might). And I’m not suggesting that the place names of vv19-20 have a secret numerical value for the places that Paul wrote letters to (although …) Rather we take note of the fact that the Master Story of all history is that of the Lord Jesus Christ – God’s own humiliated, defeated, mocked and beaten but then vindicated, rescued, restored and given possession and rule. And then we note that God is so determined that all shall honour the Son that all over history and recorded over and over in Scripture, he places servant stories – dress-rehearsals for the great drama, pencil-sketches for the masterpiece in oils and so on. So that the pattern, the structure, the shape of what happens to Israel in Obadiah points us to the Lord Jesus Christ and, indeed, if we meditate on vv10-14 we are taken to the cross and if we meditate on vv17-21 we are taken to the resurrection- enthronement of the Lord Jesus. However, this is not the only way that we see the Lord Jesus in the book of Obadiah. We often find that light is cast upon how OT prophets are to be understood by the way that they are used in the New Testament. And the same is true for Obadiah – in spite of 50 the fact that Obadiah is not quoted in the NT at all! How then? It is indirect – through the way that the NT uses Joel and Amos. Obadiah and Joel Obadiah says that there’ll be a mighty intervention of God in which God’s people shall be delivered. As verse 17 says, “but on Mount Zion there shall be escape / deliverance / rescue”. We do not know exactly when Joel prophesied but it does seem that in chapter 2 of the book named after him, he quotes Obadiah 17. The whole section in Joel 2 runs like this: 28 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30"And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 32And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. It is in the second half of verse 32 that Joel is quoting Obadiah – the words “in Jerusalem … there shall be escape” are exactly the same as they are in Obadiah. They are also linked with the phrase, “as the 51 LORD has said”. Here are some of the ways that scholars have expressed this … Keil / Delitzsch: “the words ‘as the LORD has said’ are not synonymous with ‘for the LORD has spoken’ or ‘utterance of the LORD’ … but point to a prophetic word already known, viz. to Ob.17, where the saying of the Lord, that in the midst of judgment there would be rescued ones upon Mount Zion, occurs word for word.” Bewer : “This promise of the deliverance of a remnant had often been made before, and it is on the authority of an older oracle that the editor makes it here, fortifying his words not by a reference to his own inspiration but by a literal quotation from an older prophet, Ob 17.” Raabe: “In most instances Obadiah seems to have been the borrower. However, with respect to Joel, which has several close parallels, the direction of influence was probably the reverse. Most scholars consider the formula in Joel 3:5 [2:32] as indicating a citation: “For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem will be escape, just as Yahweh has said.” To be sure, the idea of deliverance in Zion is found elsewhere, even in the book of Joel, but this identical sentence occurs only in Obad. 17. Therefore the citation indicates that Joel depended on Obadiah”. (p.33) Or, simply, as David Baker says, Obadiah 17 is quoted in Joel 2.32 ““where it is treated as the authoritative word of God”. So Joel quotes Obadiah 17 and associates the deliverance it promises with God’s coming intervention at which time there will be a changeover of the worlds. God’s Spirit will be poured out, upheavals will take place, one world will end and another one begin. At that 52 time all who call on the name of the LORD will be saved – and on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance. This is a help to us in seeing how we should understand Obadiah. Because although Obadiah is not quoted in the NT, Joel is. And it is this very section of Joel which Peter uses on the day of Pentecost to explain the apostles’ speaking in other languages. Peter replies to the charge that he and the other apostles are drunk by saying that what Joel prophesied was coming about and then he quotes the Joel 2 passage printed above. Peter is saying that with the death and resurrection of Jesus the changeover of the worlds is taking place. An old world is ending – it’s the last days of it and so it’s no wonder that the authorities of that world are shaken and the ordinary folks experiencing upheaval. Its sun is dying and its moon is bleeding because this is the longed for saving intervention of God to establish a new world. That new world is established with the exaltation and enthronement of Jesus and marked by the outpouring of the Spirit. And at this time of crisis and salvation, deliverance and safety are found by those who call upon the name of the Lord. He goes on to make clear who the Lord is – “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” and he also explains how people are to call upon his name – by repenting and being baptized in his name (Acts 2.38, 22.16).All of which suggests that the deliverance mentioned in Obadiah 17 as quoted in a section of Joel which Peter in turn quotes on the day of Pentecost is the deliverance which comes to human beings as they call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is, however, a possible snag. If you have actually looked at the text of Acts 2 while reading the last paragraph or two you may have noticed where exactly Peter stops his quotation from Joel (or Luke stops his account of Peter’s quotation from Joel). He stops precisely at the moment in Joel before Joel quotes Obadiah. He gets all the way up to Joel 2.32a but then stops before he gets to the words “For 53 on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape”. So perhaps Peter’s sermon, far from helping us understand how Obadiah is fulfilled makes the problem more acute? Well, for a change of style, imagine that a transcript of a radio interview has been discovered. An interview conducted with the prophet Obadiah in the early days after Pentecost. It might have gone something like this … Interviewer. Following the news that there appear to be rifts in the new sect called Christians about how what has been going on relates to prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures, we are going over to the prophet Obadiah who is in our radio car – in heaven. Obadiah, can you hear me ... there seems to be an awful lot of noise in the background. What’s going on? Obadiah. Yes, John, I can just hear you but you’ll have to speak up - there’s a massive party taking place behind me. You heard what Jesus said about how much rejoicing there was in heaven over one sinner who repents – well, imagine it now with 3000 converts from Pentecost. I’ve never seen or heard anything like it. The archangel Gabriel is leading a conga round the gates; Enoch and Elijah are skating on the sea of glass and the rest of us – the disembodied spirits of the righteous, well, I’m not allowed to tell what we get up to. But it’s more fun than you’ve ever had on a Tuesday morning, John. Interviewer. Maybe so, but it can’t have escaped your notice, Obadiah, that when Peter quoted Joel in his now famous sermon on the day of Pentecost, he completely missed out the line where Joel in turn quoted you. That can’t have been an accident and many are saying that it was a deliberate snub from the new Gentile-philes to you gentile-sceptics. How does it feel to be publicly put down like that? 54 Obadiah. Sorry, John, I can hardly hear you. How do I feel, did you ask? Well, it’s obvious how I feel. This is absolutely wonderful – the new world has begun, the kingdom of God has been established, thousands of people are being reconciled to God ... it is truly fantastic. I’m delighted – and so is every other prophet up here. Amazing stuff. Interviewer. But I must press you on the point of Peter’s deliberate snub. He blatantly omitted your words from his quotation of Joel. That can only be taken as a provocation, surely? Obadiah. John, John, you journalists are all the same aren’t you? You’re determined to find splits where none exist. Let me make two points absolutely clear. First, of course Peter left my words out of his quotation of Joel. Don’t you remember who was there – people from every nation under heaven. If Peter had carried on to my words then some of them would have been in danger of missing the point – they’d have thought that this was some revival of Jerusalem- obsessed parochialism. Now that’s not what I said and not what I meant and they’d have been badly mistaken to have thought that and Peter knew that full well but what’s the point of saying things that might be misheard? He knew what he was doing – and I was listening to the whole address and I have to say that I loved every word of it. It’s same with the rest of the boys up here. Isaiah – he talked about the nations streaming up to Mount Zion to learn God’s law. Ezekiel – he talked about the resurrection of the whole house of Israel. Zechariah talked about ten men from every language of the nations grasping the sleeve of a Jewish man. But does that mean that Isaiah or Ezekiel or Zechariah were put out by what Peter said? Not a bit of it. We are totally thrilled, utterly delighted and we’re having a complete riot up here. 55 Interviewer. But, surely ... Obadiah. No, John, please be patient. That’s my first point. Secondly, can I say this for the benefit of all your listeners and it’s important that this should be understood. Since what I said was quoted by Joel in a particular section of his prophecy and since Peter said that that section of his prophecy has been fulfilled, then even if Peter didn’t quote my words, it’s obvious, isn’t it, that my words will be part of the same fulfillment moment too? It’s not rocket science, John. (Massive explosions and cheers in the background). Interviewer. More noise, there ... what is happening now? Obadiah. You wouldn’t believe it – journalists never do – but we just heard that another 2000 people have been converted. Phenomenal. Oh my, Raphael and Uriel are throwing red giants around and Michael’s just picking up a couple of galaxies. It’s fireworks time. I’m going to have to go. Interviewer. Thank you, Obadiah. That was Obadiah the prophet.Do you see the two points that Obadiah was making? The first that it was perfectly natural for Peter to omit the last past of Joel 2.32 – not only, as Obadiah said because it might have been understood, but also because “and all who call on the name of the LORD shall be saved” is a particularly powerful point to stop. The second point is that this does not for a moment undermine the case for seeing Obadiah’s predicted deliverance being that on offer in the gospel. When in the NT a part of the OT is quoted it is usually assumed that the reader will know or will find out what is in the context of the part of the OT being quoted. In any case, in the very next chapter of Acts, 56 we find Peter insisting that “all the prophets” bore witness to the events of those days (3.18, 24). In summary, when we look for NT help in understanding Obadiah we find that it comes to us indirectly – through Peter’s use of a part of Joel in which Obadiah is quoted. This is wonderful. No, Obadiah is not quoted by name in the NT. But Joel’s use of Obadiah and Peter’s use of Joel amount to the same thing. The clear conclusion is that the deliverance which Obadiah prophesied is to be had now, in the age of the Spirit, when people from all nations respond to the gospel by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 57 10.Obadiah and Amos and the Book of ActsA similar two-stage journey shows us more of the what the NT has to say about the fulfillment of another aspect of Pbadiah’s prophecy – that of the conquest-and-possession aspect of the last few verses. Amos (9.11-12) says that the time is coming when God will restore his people and they will “possess the remnant of Edom”. In many ways, Obadiah, who prophesies two centuries later, takes up and fills out this theme, speaking of how God’s people will subdue Edom and “possess” and judge Mount Esau. One scholar puts it like this: It is more or less assumed that Obadiah was placed after Amos in the Masoretic canon on the basis of the prophecy of salvation in Am 9.12 in which it is predicted that the remnant of Edom and the nations will be taken once again into the possession of the restored Davidic kingdom. The beginning of the fulfillment of this prophecy is outlined in Obadiah. (Renkema, p.25) Then at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 we read about discussions in the early church as to how Gentile believers were to be treated. Peter argues from God’s work in Cornelius, Paul and Barnabas from God’s work in the gentiles through them. Then James addresses the assembly and says this: 12And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13After they finished speaking, James replied, "Brothers, listen to me. 14Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to 58 take from them a people for his name. 15And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16"'After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, 17that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 18known from of old.' 19Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues." In brief, James is arguing that because of the work of Christ, Amos’s prophecy is being fulfilled in the gentile mission. The takeover of the world by the true Israel is proceeding apace as the Lord Jesus Christ disciples the nations by the gospel preached in the power of the Spirit. Once again, there are one or two complications which we won’t go into in great detail. In brief, James is using the Septuagint (the Greek version of the OT) and the Hebrew text lying behind the Septuagint seems to differ slightly from the Hebrew text which lies behind our English translations of Amos 9.11-12. Instead of “that they may possess the remnant of Edom” James quotes “that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord”. Where our Amos has “Edom”, James’s has “Adam”. Where our Amos has “possessing the remnant”, James’s has “the remnant seek the Lord”. Additionally, one or two of James’s 59 phrases incorporate other aspects of OT prophetic teaching and it is also possible that that he is filling it out somewhat on his own account – inspired by the Spirit of Jesus. What would happen if we put a copy of Acts 15 in front of Amos? It’s hard to believe that we would hear anything other than laughter and songs from the old prophet. Perhaps he’d address James: “I say ‘Edom’ - you say ‘Adam’; I say ‘possess’ – you say ‘seek the Lord’; but let’s not call anything off. This is wonderful. I had never thought that the fulfilment of the prophecy the Lord gave me could look so intensive and so extensive, so deep and so high, so global and so transforming. I never thought that what I said about the fallen “booth of David” could look so good as this – that it pointed to thousands and thousands of Gentiles united with the Davidic king to form a human Zion full of song and indwelt by the Spirit. This is amazing – all glory be to God.” Then bring Obadiah to the conversation and he won’t be able to contain himself. “Lord, you’re wonderful in all you do. Here was I thinking that if Nabonidus could give the Edomites a hard time, or the Nabateans could displace them, or John Hyrcanus could force them to be circumcised or something that that would count as success and fulfillment. But now I see what burning up Edomite stubble and taking over Mount Edom really looks like. This is hilarious – you mean that all the nations are being taken over by Jesus through the gospel preached in the power of the Spirit? Marvellous and excellent and altogether great. We’d been straining to look into these things for centuries (I Peter 1) and now we do see we realize what a “great salvation” is the one which you have brought about through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In summary, when we look for NT help in understanding Obadiah we find that it comes to us indirectly – through James’s use of a part of Amos which Obadiah filled out and built upon. No, Obadiah is not 60 quoted by name in the NT. But Obadiah’s use of Amos and James’s use of Amos amount to the same thing. The clear conclusion is that the conquest and possession which Obadiah prophesied is to be had now, in the age of the Spirit, when people from all nations respond to the gospel by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Obadiah is fulfilled with the takeover of the world which the gentile mission represents by the Lord Jesus Christ, the True Israel as the gospel is announced across the nations in the power of the Holy Spirit. Put Joel and Amos and Acts together and I think you end up saying something like this. The decisive intervention of God which Obadiah predicted – an intervention in judgment and salvation – is confirmed through the book of Acts to have taken place in the establishment of the new world order, the kingdom of God, the gospel age, the era of the Spirit – all through the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The deliverance which Obadiah prophesied is the salvation and renewal which is found by men and women and children from every nation believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The takeover of the world by Israel which Obadiah predicted is the spread of the kingdom, through the gentile mission as the Lord Jesus, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, disciples the nations and saves the world. He is enthroned at the right hand of God and has been promised all nations as his inheritance and the ends of the earth as his possession and he is subduing all things to himself through the Spirit-empowered announcement of the gospel. He is waiting to see all his enemies thus subdued and when this has happened then he will return in glory to usher in the new heavens and the new earth. Obadiah – rightly understood through Joel and Amos and Acts – is about gospel deliverance and gospel takeover. It is about the advance of the kingdom of God, the building of the Church, and the progress of world mission. 61 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~When does that happen? Right now – since the day of Pentecost. It’s true that the straggling, defeated, humiliated exile moment at which Obadiah was spoken was once historically enacted in the life of Christ – when he was on the cross. But don’t get stuck there – the resurrection and enthronement of King Jesus mean that we are emphatically in the period of vv17-21. True, it is being progressively realized but progressive realization is not postponement, let alone watering down or spiritualizing away. Where is this happening? Not just in greater Palestine – all over the world. Right now, today as the gospel is preached Obadiah 17-21 is being fulfilled. Israel’s hope has expanded. The world belongs to Israel. The Abrahamic covenant is being fulfilled through the gospel and that means every family of the earth being blessed through his seed. The glory of a prince is in the multitude of his subjects and since our Lord Jesus is the most glorious prince of all …. His is the outstanding, the everlasting, the truly international kingdom and it’d be amazing if it proved to be smaller than the British empire. True, only around 25% of the world’s population currently acknowledge Jesus as Lord but that’s OK, he knows what he’s doing. It he wants to show his steadfast love to thousands of generations then there’s plenty of time!What does this look like? Praise God, you can see it there in Obadiah – rescued and renewed human beings, righteous rule, brotherly love and humility, Spirit-empowered leadership and all amounting to the thing that, in our right minds, is what we want above all others – “the kingship shall be the LORD’s”. The language of v21 is deliberately echoing the languages of the book of Judges – using Neh 9 to do so. And the book of Judges is not a plea for any old kingship – it is a plea that the real King would be the LORD. The sort of world we are really looking for is here described – 62  justice for the oppressed  a lasting cure for poverty  forgiveness for our failures  healing of our wounds  peace among the nations  renewal for our planet  freedom and security  inner peace and wholeness  wealth and generosity  constant joy and purpose  radiance in knowing God  unbreakable communityThese are the things which will characterize … ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~How you feeling? a) persecuted church … well, I’ve just read Obadiah and he has pointed me to Christ and I see that the deliverance of Obadiah which is such a comfort in the present and the world takeover of Obadiah which is such a hope for the future are actually gospel deliverance and gospel takeover. And this is wonderful. We pray for the persecuted church to see this and to feel themselves to be a part of it. And, often they do. Persecuted Christians are often more aware of the reality of the spiritual battle and therefore more consciously on the “winning side” than others. They know the Lord Jesus Christ as a shield about them, their glory and the one who lifts up theirs heads. b) failing church … 63 church in countries where there has been a decisive turn away from the gospel, where the church feels powerless and in decline and where society itself is collapsing – socially, morally, judicially. Well, they’ve just read Obadiah and been pointed by him to the Lord Jesus Christ. They have seen that gospel deliverance and gospel takeover are the real hope for the world – the deliverance of Acts 2 and the takeover of Acts 15. There’s a certain comfort in the collapse all around – it’s proof again that ungodliness does not work and that those who try to establish human well-being or commmunity apart from God’s way are doomed to fail. c) suffering Christian … those who are going through personally difficult times, who know constant pain of body or mind, who are afflicted almost beyond what they can bear. Well, they’ve just read Obadiah and he has pointed them to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the gospel deliverance and gospel takeover that is founded upon his completed work and unfolds under his universal authority as risen Lord. And this is a huge stimulus to persevere. Nowhere in Obadiah or elsewhere are we told that this deliverance and takeover are comfortable. Quite the opposite, the church knows suffering in following her Lord. But there is the world of difference between suffering in a battle when the outcome of the battle is either known to be negative or when it is uncertain, on the one hand, and suffering in a battle when the outcome is an altogether certain victory on the other. d) ordinary Christian with a slightly dull life … there is no such person and shame on any who think that there might be. A Christian who has read Obadiah and has been pointed by Obadiah to the deliverance and takeover of the world which is achieved by the Lord Jesus Christ is someone who is both spectator of and participant in the 64 greatest drama imaginable – the rescue and transformation of humankind by the faithful, righteous, wise and loving power of the living God. They are servants of the king, they are foot-soldiers in the army of the world’s true Lord … how can that be ordinary or dull? Never. 65 11.Obadiah and the Theological Virtues (I) We’ve been looking to see the Lord Jesus Christ in the book of Obadiah. We’ve seen him through the deep structure – the overall shape and story of the book. We’ve seen him in that through Joel and Amos and the book of Acts we realize that the deliverance which Obadiah promised is the deliverance had by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and that the conquest which Obadiah promised is the takeover of the world by the Lord Jesus Christ through the spread of the gospel. However, we cannot fail to notice that at the heart of Obadiah’s prophecy is God’s denunciation of the Edomites. And although vv10- 14 give us the description of those sins and crimes for which they were especially coming under judgement, nevertheless, other sins are implied elsewhere in the prophecy too. For convenience we could group what is wrong with Edom as failures of faith, hope, and love. A failure of faith seen in the pride of vv2-4 – they do not see things God’s way. A failure of hope seen in the false reliances of vv5-9 – they put their trust in things that cannot deliverA failure of love seen in the uncharity of vv10-14 – they seek the harm not the good of others. Well, how do we see the Lord Jesus in all this? These descriptions and denunciations of sin drive us to him in three ways at least: 1) quite precisely in his perfect humanness and his complete obedience to the lovely law of God, the Lord Jesus lived the opposite of these sins66 - vv2-4 - they are proud and so humbled - he is humble and so exalted - vv5-9 - they are idolatrous and their false gods fail - he dependently walks God's path and his way prospers - vv10-14 - they are uncharitable and seek the harm of others - he is Love and seeks the good of others2) since these are sins of which we too are guilty, we know that when Christ was made sin for us and when he bore the curse and was torn apart for sin and bore the penalty for sin, then God’s righteous anger against these very sins in his people fell upon Christ 3) since God’s intention is to bring each of his people to the likeness of the Lord Jesus then by the Spirit’s work he is purging these sins from us now. Thus we see the opposite of these sins in Jesus; we see the punishment of these sins on Jesus; we experience deliverance from these sins through Jesus. God hated those sins in Edom, punished those sins in Jesus, and purges these sins from his people. 1. PRIDE – a failure of faith – not seeing things God’s way - vv.2-4 a) the particulars of the textNotice a number of ideas and features which emerge in these verses. Pride is associated with “high” and “low”. In their pride the Edomites placed themselves “high”. They set their seat in the heights. It is 67 common in Scripture for matters of pride to be described in these ways. A look at Isaiah 2.9-13 shows this. And there is the famous King of Babylon from Isaiah 14 whose pride and humbling are described: 12"How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' 15But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pitThe proud man in the parable is humbled and goes with shame to the “lowest place” whereas the humble is told, “Friend, move up higher” (Luke 14.7-11). The section ends with Jesus’s statement which he repeats elsewhere, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Pride deceives people. It is, in itself, an inaccurate view of the world and it leads to other errors too. Here the Edomites’ pride deceives them with regard to their security – they think that they are safer than actually they are. Pride may be a secret thing and yet God knows it. It is the pride of the Edomites’ heart which leads them to say things in their hearts. But God knows what human beings say in their hearts and even the most carefully concealed proud thought is known to him. 68 Pride often leads to boasting. Here the Edomites boast, by means of a proud question, that no-one will be able to bring them down. Other boasts arising from pride are seen in Scripture … This boasting constitutes a challenge to God and it is a challenge that God will take up. Human beings are to glory or boast in the Lord and not in their own wisdom, strength or achievements. When they boast in themselves rather than in God this is a form simultaneously of blasphemy (speaking ill of God by failing to render him the praise which he is due) and of idolatry (giving to things or persons other than God the praise which is rightly his and thereby putting other things before God). But just as a child on top of a tree-stump or grass-mound and calling “I’m the king of the castle” is inviting … b) further reflections on pride c) the example of Jesus d) the saving work of Christ e) where does this leave us ... ? 2. IDOLATRY – a failure of hope – placing trust in the wrong things – vv.5-9 a) the particulars of the text b) further reflections on idolatry c) the example of Jesus d) the saving work of Christ e) where does this leave us ... ? 69 12.Obadiah and the Theological VirtuesObadiah and the Three ZonesIt is striking, isn’t it, that Obadiah, written in the aftermath of the fall of Jerusalem, has nothing to say about Judah’s sins or about the Babylonians? Think about it for a moment. How can you talk about the fall of Jerusalem without reference to the sins that led to it or the destruction of the Temple that was at the heart of it? How can you talk about the end of the kingdom without reference to the Babylonian empire which had brought it about or the spiritual horror of the exile it led to? Think about Daniel 1, Lamentations, Ezekiel 1- 11, Jeremiah. (Some, of course, take this as an indication that in fact Obadiah was not written in the aftermath of the fall of Jerusalem but at another, earlier time. There are good reasons, which I will not present here, for declining to take this line.)I ‘m quite taken with applying the three zones idea to Obadiah – not as a way of explaining its focus and its omissions but as a way of giving them due notice.The three zones are the garden, the land and the world; the priest, the king, the prophet; the Father, the Son, the Spirit; matters of worship, of brother-brother relations, and of relations with the outsider. (This is all found in Jim Jordan, Peter Leithart, Jeff Meyers. It’s all on the Biblical Horizons website, in Through New Eyes, A House for My Name, in various Biblical Horizons essays and elsewhere.) Genesis could be seen as organised around these zones. The first fall (chapter 3) takes place in the garden-sanctuary, the second in the land as a brother-brother sin (chapter 4) and the third in the world with the sons of God sin (chapter 6). The cycle is then replayed as the Abraham story focuses upon the setting up of sanctuaries and the 70 importance of trusting the Father; the Jacob story focuses upon the brother-brother rivalry and the importance of wrestling with and growing up as the Son; the Joseph story focuses upon connection with the wider world and the importance of faithfulness in the Spirit.The same three aspects characterize the three-fold fall of Saul in I Samuel 13-15 – he falls in a sanctuary matter (13), in an internal “army of God” matter (14) and in a matter of relating to the outsider (15).This is all associative, fuzzy, perspectival, inclusive not exclusive of other matrices and frameworks, and so on. And it provides one orientation question to ask of a given incident, passage or book of the Bible. Does this incident, passage, book associate primarily with one of the three zones?With Obadiah, the answer could not be easier. No mention of the sins of Judah or the destruction of the Temple. No mention of the Babylonians or of what to do in exile. This is not a first or third zone book. It is not a sanctuary or world book. It is a land, a brother- brother book.And the gains of noticing this? Well there are several. 1. This relieves the tension we might feel when speaking of Christ as the humiliated and broken victim, God’s Own. We instinctively draw back from that because we know that the Jews deserved the destruction of Jerusalem and were being punished for their sins. We feel the need for an atonement theology before we move to the restoration and rule of verses 18-21. But this is because we are assuming that every book of the Bible must say everything, or at least, that every account of the suffering of a sinner must highlight the fact that the sinner is a sinner. Not so. To use the zone language, although the Jews were guilty in sanctuary matters and world matters, Obadiah is not a book about these. It doesn’t have to say everything. 71 You can read Obadiah and not realize that the destruction of Jerusalem was a punishment for the Jews’ sins. That’s OK.2. This itself forms an argument against the “you” of 16a being the Jews if (and it is not certain that it is) the drinking image is picking up on the idea of the “cup of wrath”. If the “cup of wrath” is in view then this would be the only place where the aspects of the Jews’ sins and of them being punished appeared in the whole book.3. This provides a steer when it comes to applicatory questions of “Who are the Edomites now?” The focus should not be upon “anyone who gives the Lord’s people a hard time” but rather upon “false brothers”. Thus, seventeenth century commentators may have been right to think first of the Roman Catholic church, of heretics and sectarians. And if we adhere to the view that Islam is a Christian heresy (see this article) then Muslim persecutors of the Church who should know better are “Edomites”. And vicious politicking anti- evangelicals in the denominations. And vicious politicking evangelicals too!4. More widely, this perspective suggests that applications of the central sections of the book at the level of conduct should focus upon the duties (and various ways of failing in) brotherly love. In addition to delighting that God will punish the false brother, the reader is meant to strive for a life of true brother-brother relations.3. UNCHARITY – a failure of love – seeking the harm not the good of others - vv.10-14 a) the particulars of the text b) further reflections on uncharity c) the example of Jesus d) the saving work of Christ72 e) where does this leave us ... ? The Twelve Destroyers: Seven Deadly Sins: Pride Covetousness Lust Envy Gluttony Rage SlothThree Deep Responses: Fear Guilt AngerEnd of the line: Boredom Malice 73 13.Obadiah’s Dream (I) Sometimes we ask the question of a book of the Bible, “whast is the main point of X?” That’s not difficult with Obadiah. The job of the prophet, the purpose of Scripture and the delight of the Spirit are all to point us to the Lord Jesus Christ. We’ve been looking at various ways in which Obadiah points us to Christ and we have seen that he does so - by providing a servant story which, by its shape and structure, takes us to the Master Story - by speaking of a deliverance and a conquest which, in consultation with Joel, Amos and Acts, we discover to be the deliverance which is to be had by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the conquest which is being accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ through the gospel takeover of the world - by denouncing the sins of the Edomites, those false brothers, and thus taking us to the need for a True Brother who lived the opposite of sins like those, died to bear the penalty for sins like those, and now lives and reigns to purge his people of sins like those. We come, fourthly, to see how Obadiah points us to the Lord Jesus Christ by describing the world as it should be and will be in such terms that only those who recognize it as Christ-defined, Christ=shaped, and Christ-centred can understand or believe it. There are various pieces which need to be put in place before the argument can be understood, most of which have been dealt with elsewhere. 74 1) we need to understand how the Edomites are defeated. Is there a tension between the no-survivors defeat of v18 and the ruled-over- by-Zion defeat of v21? Is the predicted defeat understood to have been fulfilled in 583, 553, the 4th C, the 2nd C, at the time of Herod or later? 2) we need to understand how Israel has been redefined and in particular how the Lord Jesus Christ is the essence and embodiment of Israel3) we need to see that v17b speaks of “possessions” not “dispossessors”, what the particulars of vv19-20 are about, that 21a speaks of “saviours” not of “those who are saved” and that these relate to figures like the heroes of the book of Judges. Above all, we need to start with the understanding that Obadiah vv17- 21 are pointing us to the gospel age. It’s difficult to see how any Christian could think otherwise. In vv15-16 we have the decisive intervention of God as saviour and judge to defeat the powers, punish wickedness and set things straight.In v21 we have the state of affairs when God’s identity as King is fully acknowledged and experiencedAnd between these two we have seven characteristics of the world as Obadiah sees that it should and it will be: It is a - Zion-world in which there is - deliverance and - holiness and - possession, in which - evil is defeated and eliminated, and in which - saviours exercise 75 - righteous rule. If, having read the NT, a person can fail to see that such a world is the very world established and being expanded - in Christ - by the Spirit - through the gospel - in the church - across the nations - down the generations - to be consummated in the new heavens and the new earth then we really are in a poor way. The apostles, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, went back to what we call the Old Testament and read it afresh now that they realized that the Lord Jesus Christ was the climax and the point of the whole story. They read it in the way that you read a good novel the second time – things which in the first reading hadn’t made a lot of sense now all came into focus and what previously they had passed over lightly they now saw to have great significance. Guided by the Spirit they read the Scriptures “Christotelically” (they had their “end” in Christ, they pointed to Christ) and, because the church is defined as the body of Christ, as those who are “in Christ” this meant that they read the Scriptures “ecclesiotelically” (they had their end in the church, they pointed to the church) too. (These terms are used by Peter Enns in …). The only questions for us, then, are whether we regard the apostles as right or wrong in this way of reading the Scriptures. And, since all Christians are bound to say “they were right to read the Scriptures this way” then we must ask whether we are to follow their example? Some of the most powerful words spoken in the 20th C were those of Martin Luther King on 28th August 1963: Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.76 And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."² This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.77 With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.Or read this text from a tract JUST DREAMING …? It’s hard to believe there’ll ever be …  justice for the oppressed  a lasting cure for poverty  forgiveness for our failures  healing of our wounds  peace among the nations  renewal for our planet  freedom and security  inner peace and wholeness  wealth and generosity  constant joy and purpose  radiance in knowing God  unbreakable communityYou know that hopes like that all end in tears. You’ve been lied to, you’ve been let down. You can’t rely on politicians, you can’t believe the press. If you dream you’ll be disappointed. If you trust you’ll be betrayed. If you love you’ll get hurt. 78 but what if …? What if …? A man once lived to show how that dream might look. What if …? He died to make that dream a possibility. What if …? He was alive now making that dream a reality – starting small but, in his own good time, filling the universe. You might guess who we’re talking about … Jesus ChristBut we know who we’re talking about – we’ve met him! We are a group of Christians from XX Church - people like you, living in and around Enfield. By the sheer kindness of God and all because of Jesus Christ we have begun living the dream. ~~~~~~~~And so we address Obadiah. Obadiah, what have you seen? Do you have a dream? Have you been to the mountain-top? What is your vision? How should the world be, Obadiah, and how will it be? What will things look like when God intervenes in the way that you have prophesied? And Obadiah replies by describing a world characterised by the seven features we mentioned above. 1) A Zion world In verses 17 and 21 we see that Zion is the heart of Obadiah’s dream for the future. Zion is where God acts to defeat evil and restore his 79 people (17) and Zion is the centre of the newly established world of righteous rule (21). That is to say that the world has a centre and that centre is where it should be – where God dwells. God is deliverer, sanctifier and King and thus the place where he dwells is a place of salvation, sanctity and security. It is a place where people are set free, made holy, and live in peace. And it is right that such a place should be the capital city of the world. It is often said that salvation is the restoration of Eden but I'm beginning to doubt that. Yes, of course, the features of Eden are restored - and much of the imagery of Revelation 21-22 is there to make that clear. Rivers and trees and gold and fruitfulness and precious stones and no room for what defiles. The features of Eden.But is this Eden? No, the location of God's "holy mountain" has shifted. Certainly once God's holy mountain was Eden (Gen 2, Ezek 28 etc). But already within the Old Testament the holy mountain has moved to Zion - see the Zion Psalms (explicit in Psalm 2, clear in Psalms 24, 48 and elsewhere), and see Isaiah2 and Obadiah 16-21, amongst other passages.Then in the New Testament, Zion remains the place where God dwells as deliverer, sanctifier and king but is itself relocated from the middle-east to the throne-room of heaven. Zion is the headquarters of the kingdom, the capital city of the new world, the home of the church, and the meeting-place for worshippers. (Galatians 4, Hebrews 10, 12, Revelation 21-22)Finally, on the ultimate wedding day, the firmament-veil which stops heaven kissing earth is drawn back (the "sea" shall be no more) and the heavenly city, Zion, comes down so that heaven and earth marry. The whole world is a city and the whole city is a sanctuary. The cosmos has been Zionised. "Eden restored" is just recovery salvation. "Zionisation" is eschatological transformation and glorification. Salvation does not “take us back”, it “moves us on”. 80 2) Secondly, Obadiah dreams of deliverance, of escape and survival. Using the word which is also used in verse 14 for “survivors”, Obadiah shows that the opposite of what the Edomites intended is what will take place. They intended no survival or deliverance but escape, survival, deliverance is exactly what there will be. Those who were oppressed will be vindicated; those who were crushed are breathing again. The monster has been defeated, the threat has been lifted and those who were in distress have come out of the darkness into light, out of the storm into the calm – they are safe and secure on the shore. 3) Thirdly, Obadiah dreams of holiness. What was defiled by the Babylonian pigs and the demonic Edomites will be made clean. What was profane will be made holy, set apart and put to God’s use. All things will be taken from one degree of glory to another. What was earth will be made bronze, what was bronze will be made silver and what was silver will be made gold. Everything will be sanctified, beautified and glorified. The whole world will be under the city and the whole city will be set apart, a sanctuary for God. (Actually, this seems to be going on in Ezra and Nehemiah – se Silence to Song)4) Fourthly, Obadiah dreams of possession and inheritance. What was promised in Genesis 15 and commanded in Deuteronomy 1 and prophesied in Amos 9 (possession) will become a reality. The people will enter into the promise. For long ages they have gazed at the lands around wondering when they would possess them as God had said they would. This area, this territory, this part of the land – how long would they remain in enemy hands as pagan countries? The answer comes – now is the time when YHWH’s empire expands and extends so that wherever his people set their foot comes under their possession and becomes a place in which they can settle in security and live in peace. 81 5) Fifthly, Obadiah dreams of judgment-fire. God himself is a consuming fire, he devours by fire the sacrifices that are put into the altar, he descends in fire to consume the sacrifice on Carmel and when wickedness comes into contact with him it is defeated and eradicated. So now his people are to be a fiery people. They will call down fire from heaven, they will breathe fire from their mouths and they will have fire upon their heads. Bringing the holy judgment of God they will devour and consume the wicked. 6) Sixthly, Obadiah dreams of saviours. The picture here might be of elite troops who come up to take the last remaining stronghold. But, given the way that exactly the same word is used in Nehemiah 9.27 as a way of describing the heroes of the book of Judges, and given that the usual Jewish hope for a restoration of a Davidic king is not explicit in Obadiah, it is likely that we are to think of Spirit- empowered leaders like the judges. There will be Ehuds but right- handed, Gideons but not idolatrous, Jephthah’s but not wilful and Samsons but not adulterous.7) Lastly, Obadiah dreams of righteous rule. In the Zion-centred world of which he prophesies there will be just laws, true government and right decisions. The world will be as it should be. The elder (Esau) will serve the younger (Jacob) but this will not be a repeat of the Edomites’ sin which caused the whole prophecy to be given. It is not that the Edomites were malicious to the Jews and when the new world arrives the Jews will be malicious to the Edomites. It is rather that though the Edomites were false brothers to the Jews, when Mount Zion rules over mount Esau, the Jews will be true brothers to the Eodmites and will rule in brotherly love and order and justice. Reversal and transformation not return and repeat mark the arrival of the new world. Thus Obadiah has his dream. He has been to the mountain top and this is the world that he has seen – the Zion world of deliverance, holiness, possession, judgment, saviours and righteous rule. 82 He sees the rescued and vindicated people of God live in the set-apart holy mountain capital city where God dwells; he sees them used as agents of the eradication of wickedness and the defeat of evil and he sees them, as the restored Israel, full possessors of the promised inheritance; he sees them acting as the Spirit-empowered instruments of God’s righteous rule. And all this means and demonstrates and results from the kingship of YHWH. The LORD is King and the fact is now acknowledged and experienced. 83 14. Obadiah’s Dream (II)Well, this is all very well – it is a comprehensible and coherent set of things for a 6th century BC jewish prophet to hope for but what now? Imagine, for a few moments, the idea of placing Obadiah in front of a large screeen and then playing to him the film of all history. Meanwhile , you watch his reactions in order to gauge what he thinks is happening at any given moment. We know what’s coming. Obadiah would watch the work of Nebuchadnezzar in 583 and of Nabonidus in 553 and hope flickeringly that this was the beginning of the fulfillment of his prophesy. And then he would reconigze that there is no way that these events amount to anything worth speaking of in comparison with the world which God revealed to him in his vision. He keeps watching and see the Nabateans displacing the Edomites in the 4th C and Malachi declare from God the fact that at one level this was the decisive defeat of the Edomites which he, Obaidah, had prophesied. But the defeat of the Edomites wasn’t even half the story let alone the whole thing. He continues to watch, unimpressed by the forced circumcsion of the Edomites in the 2nd century BC. Then HE comes. The Lord Jesus Christ arrives and lives, dies and rises to rule over all things. What does Obadiah see? He sees one who IS Zion – who is the embodiment of God’s presence as deliverer, sancitifer and KingHe sees one who is the focus of God’s greatest ever deliverance – the resurrection-enthronement of the crucified. He sees one who is holy as no other is holy – set apart as son of God in power and installed on God’s holy hill of Zion to rule all things. 84 He sees one who is given universal possession, the nations as his inheritance and the ends of the earth as his possession. He sees him taking possession of the entire world. He sees the fiery presence of the wickedness-destroying, serpent- crushing, evil-eradicating holy one of God He sees one who is deliverer/saviour above all others – the Spirit- empowered hero warrior who takes over strongholds like there’s no tomorrow. And he sees one who exercises God’s righteous rule over all the earth.And Obadiah shouts and screams with delight. He does not say – “that can’t be what my prophecy means because I coulnd’t imagine that at the time I uttered it”. He does not complain that grammatical- historical exegesis can’t arrive at Jesus from Obadiah 15-21. He laughs and dances and exults that God’s intervention is of this unimaginable glory. We almost have to hold Obadiah down. We tell him that though he is absolutely right that Jesus IS the arrival of the new dreamt of world, the fulfilment of his vision, there is actually more to see. Watch this, we say – and then show him the spread of the gospel over the world, the building of the church and the advance of the kingdom down the centuries and the millennia. And as he watches, he comes to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ is what is sometimes called a “corporate messiah”, that is he is not an isolated individual but is head of a family, a body, a whole race and that, by virtue of their union with him, the things which are true of Christ are true of all the members of this family too. And looking at them – the millions and millions of men and women and children united to Jesus as through the gospel the Holy Spirit 85 gives them saving faith in him – Obadiah sees the same realities being played out. He sees that these people themselves “come to Zion” (Hebrews 12). The capital city of the world, the headquarters of the kingdom, now in the throne-room of heaven, is their home. They are citizens of Zion and, in Jesus, live where God lives. He sees that they are a delivered people and that the great deliverance of the resurrection is theirs too. Because they are joined to Jesus, the verdict, “perfectly satisfied with you” which was pronounced over Jesus in the resurrection is pronounced over them too. He was handed over for their trespasses and raised for their justification. He sees that these are a set apart people. The work of the Jesus has moved them from profane to holy, from unclean to clean and is changing them from one degreee of glroy to another. They are being beautified and glorified and are now and forever set apart for God’s special use. He sees that they are possessors of the world. In Christ they are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. They have come to completeness in him. All things are theirs in him – life and death and heaven and hell and the present and the future – everything. They are co-heirs with Christ of life and the universe and glory. He sees that they are a fiery people. Fire rests on their heads (Acts 2) , comes out of their mouths (Rev 11) , burns in their hearts (Rom 12) and is called down by them from heaven (Rev 8). As Chrystostom put it, “Peter was a man made up all of fire, walking amongst a people of stubble”. And the fire is burning up evil in all sorts of ways and directions. Evil in their own lives is burned up by the purging process of “sancitifcation”. Evil is burned up as they call down and enact 86 God’s judgment on the wicked. And evil is burned up as they announce the gospel in the power of the Spirit and men and women and children are consumed and transformed by that good news. He sees a Spirit-empowered people who act energetcially as warrior- heroes, pulling down strongholds in the name of Jesus and occupying them for his glory. Ehuds and Deborahs and Gideons and Jephthahs and Samsons – the mighty ones of the kingdom of Jesus who themselves bring release and safety to others. And he sees righteous rule being exercised as those joined to Jesus begin to exercise his dominion in their spheres of influence – their tongue and mind and children and church and neighbourhood and workplace etc Now Obadiah cannot contain himself. He was right that the new world he had dreamed of came and was embodied in Jesus. But now he sees that it consists of and is inhabited by millions and millions and millions of men and women and chidlren from every corner of the earth over generation after generation, he can hardly believe it. But still we keep him in his seat. “It’s not over yet” we say. And we take him to the end of history and to the return of Christ in glory. We show him the new heavens and the new earth where God is dwelling with humans and the whole earth is Zion. We show him the ultimate rescue, escape and deliverance. We show him a holiness he thought he could never dream of and a possessed inheritance which reaches to the limits of the cosmos and to a share in the glory of God himself. We show him the utter eradication of evil and its exclusion from the world. We show him a people who dwell in the fire of God and are not consumed, a people exercising stregnth and valour and righteous rule beyond his wildest imagination. And we say – and remember, this is not some extra thing, some addiiton – this is the outwoking , the consequence, the logic of your right answer – that the Lord Jesus 87 Christ himself was and embodied and established the new world, the dream world of your vision. This, then, is Obadiah’s dream made reality. The vision of Obadiah has come in the person of Jesus. The world as it should be is a Chrit- defined, Christ-shaped and Christ-centred world. It is the world of the spreading gospel and the growing church. It is the world which is subverting and replacing the old doomed world of rebellion against God. It it the world which is the destiny and hole and claling of space and time and the human race and the universe. It is what is summed up in 21c – the kingdom shall be the Lord’s. It is what we pray for daily in the Lord’s prayer – hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be doen on earth as it heaven. It is what we mean when we say that “for me to live is Christ”. It our goal and prioroty as we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. This and this alone – this Christ-defined, Christ-shaped and Chirst-centred world – is what our lives are meant to be about. If they are not then we are wasting them. If they are then Obadiah’s vision is becoming a reality – to the praise and glory of God. 88 15.Explanatory notes – v11.a. The vision of Obadiah.The visionThis is a revelation from the LORD and is used to describe particular words which God gives and to introduce some prophetic books (see also Isaiah 1.1 and Nahum 1.1). It is not necessarily to be thought of as distinct from receiving the “word” of the LORD. On the one hand, a “word” can be seen because it is also an event (see Numbers 24.3-4, 15-16 and Hab 2.1). On the other hand a vision can be heard (see Psalm 89.19). Some other places in the Old Testament where this word is used are I Sam 3.1, Prov 29.18, Jer 23.16, Lam 2.9, Ezek 7.26, 12.27, Hos 12.10, Micah 3.6. Obadiah This is the name of a dozen or more different people in the Old Testament. It means a servant or worshipper of YHWH. If, as is likely, the prophecy is given in response to the Edomites’ behaviour at the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC, then we know nothing more about this Obadiah than we have in this book. The Puritan commentator, John Trapp, says, “Let him be who he will (for where the Scripture hath no tongue, we need not find ears, but may content ourselves with a learned ignorance)”1.b. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom:89 The first two lines are a little like the beginning of Paul’s letters. They provide “authentication” and amount to a statement that the following message really does come from God and must be heard as such. Thus says the Lord GODThis is the way that prophetic “oracles” are often introduced. It emphasizes that this is God’s message and not merely the prophet’s. The Lord GOD Two words are used for God – one which means “Master, lord” and the other, the name of God – YHWH. Put together this underlines that YHWH, Israel’s God, has authority and power to pronounce and effect the judgment on Edom which is coming because he is the Master. The name of God, YHWH, occurs seven times in the book of Obadiah. 1. Thus says the Lord GOD – v.1 2. A report from the LORD – v.1 3. Declares the LORD – v.4 4. Declares the LORD – v.8 5. The Day of the LORD – v.15 6. The LORD has spoken – v.18 7. The Kingdom shall be the LORD’s – v.21It can be seen from this that the LORD’s name is used in order to underline the source and authority of the words of the prophecy and in order to highlight the key message of the prophecy – that the LORD who is king will 90 intervene in judgment and deliverance with the result that his kingship will be acknowledged and experienced. Concerning EdomThis could be translated as “to Edom” or “about Edom”. In fact, both are true. The formal addressees are the Edomites - the words on the page are spoken to them (“I will make you small” etc). The intended hearers, however, are the exiled Israelites. This is called “apostrophe” – speaking words as if to hearer A when the intention is that hearer B should get the message. As when a politician being interviewed says, “Well let me be clear about this, Jeremy, and it’s important that you should understand …” when actually his intention is that the viewers, rather than Jeremy, should get the message. 1.c. We have heard a report from the LORD,1.d. and a messenger has been sent among the nations:1.e. "Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!" We’ve been devastated by the vicious Edomites. What’s going to happen? Obadiah replies by saying that he (the royal “we”) or the council of prophets to which he belongs or the Jews themselves, amongst whom he counts himself, have heard that God’s action against the Edomites has already been set in train. There can be no doubt that it will happen because the news is already out, the messengers (angelic spirits to stir up the nations or political ambassadors from, for example, 91 the Babylonians to the surrounding nations) have already been sent and the nations surrounding Edom are stirring and preparing themselves to military action against her which will be the form that God’s judgment upon her takes. It is as if these three lines are in brackets, reassuring and confirming that what God says about Edom will happen by describing how the process has already begun with God stirring up the nations to come against Edom. Lines c and d are parallel: a report we have heard from the LORD a messenger has been sent among the nations A report we have heard from with YHWHA report - news, tidings, report, rumour, something heard. (see, for example, (I Sam 2.24; II Kings 19.7; Ps 112.7; Is 53.1; Jer 10.22; 51.46 (with vision word in Ezek 7.26)There are various ways in which these words might be understood: a) Obadiah, like the other prophets, is a member of God’s council, standing before God to hear and participate in God’s deliberations and then commissioned to speak those words effectively and authoritatively in the world in order to make things on earth conform to God’s decisions in heaven. (see Jeremiah 23 and I Kings 22, and Abraham and Amos). Here Obadiah is reporting what he has heard. b) Obadiah is lining himself up specifically with Jeremiah, since much of his prophecy is an restatement and expansion 92 and application of what Jeremiah had earlier spoken (in Jeremiah 49). c) When important news was to be conveyed in the ancient world then more than one messenger would be sent so that there would be more chance of the message getting through and there would be checks on its authenticity by comparing the versions from two or more different messengers. d) Perhaps Obadiah is speaking for Israel. Perhaps they have gathered for “worship” and have heard a message from another prophet or from the Scriptures. and a messenger among the nations has been sent:This, too, could be understood in different ways. It might be a) we have heard that news that a messenger has been sent to the nations b) we have heard the news because a messenger has been sent among the nations and it came to our ears too c) we have heard the news and a messenger has been sent among the nations Who is this messenger? (1Sam 4:19; Prov 13:17; Prov 25:13; Isai 18:2, 57.9) a) a political or military envoy sent from a great power, such as Babylon, to the surrounding vassal nations to command them to take up arms against Edom. This messenger would 93 be doing what he was doing because God had made it happen but he may not be aware of the fact. b) an angel or spirit has been sent from God to incite the nations by moving the hearts of kings and counsellors to decide upon action against Edom c) a prophet has been sent by God to command various nations to act against Edom the nationsThe nations are mentioned four times in Obadiah: 1. a messenger has been sent among the nations – v.1 2. I will make you small among the nations - v.2 3. the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations – v.15 4. all the nations shall drink continually – v.16 It is clear that the LORD is sovereign over all the earth. He can send messengers around the nations, take actions that are seen by the nations, draw near in judgment of all the nations and punish all the nations. He can use the nations as instruments of his judgement, spectators of his judgement or the object of his judgement. The Edomites thought that the Israelites were all alone among the nations but that they, the Edomites, had allies (v.7). But they reckoned without God. Rise up and let us rise up against her for the battle.This is the content of the message which has gone around the nations. They are to rise up for battle against Edom. Since the94 message is best understood as having come from the council of the LORD, he is included in the “us”. It is as if God is saying, I am going to take action against the Edomites and I am going to use you nations as my instruments. Up we get, it’s time to be about our business.” God marches out at the head of the armies – he is the commander-in-chief. The call for battle is a bit like Isa 21:5; Jer 6:4–5; 49:14, 28, 31; Joel 3:9–13; Rise … arise …This word is used for military action - Dt 2.24 Josh 8.1 Jdg 4.14, 5.12, 18.9 Mic 4.13 against herThe pronouns for Edom and the Edomites vary a little through the book. Here, Edom is “her”. 95 16.VERSES 2-4 – PROUD EDOM IS NOT BEYOND THE REACH OF GOD’S JUDGMENT After the introduction of 1a and 1b and the parenthetical reassurance of 1c, 1d, and 1e, the LORD actually addresses Edom, telling her that they will be humiliated before and despised by the nations. This is just what a proud Edom does not want to hear and will not believe.2.a. Behold, I have made you small among the nations; 2.b. you (are) despised exceedingly I have made Many of the statements in Obadiah are, in Hebrew, in the past (perfect) tense. However, in this, Obadiah is using a standard way of speaking called the “prophetic perfect.” This is also called the “perfect of certitude” because it is a way of saying that what is predicted is so sure and certain that it is virtually accomplished already. It is rather as though one boxer muttered to the other as they enter the ring before the fight has begun, “You’re dead” or “You’ve lost”. I have made you small The particular form of Edom’s judgment is its devastation as a nation. It will lose territory, population, security, favour with other nations and its reputation. Edom will become a non-entity, not (probably) in the sense of ceasing to exist in every respect but in the sense of being utterly insignificant – not even on the radar screen, we might say. 96 DespisedThe word is used around forty times in the Old Testament and has to do with being rejected and being regarded with contempt. Some of its occurrences include Gene 25:34; Numb 15:31; 1Sam 2:30; 1Sam 10:27; 2Sam 6:16; 2Sam 12:9; 2Kin 19:21; 2Chr 36:16; Nehe 2:19; Esth 1:17; Psal 22:6; Psal 51:17; Psal 69:33; Psal 102:17; Psal 119:141; Isai 53:3; Jere 22:28. One of these is particularly striking – that of Isaiah 53.3. Edom and the suffering servant (the Lord Jesus Christ) experience the same thing – smitten by God, they are despised by others. 3-4Raabe outlines the structure of these verses like this: A Presumption of your heart has deceived you B you who dwell in the clefts of the crags B in the height of your seat A you who say in your heart C who will bring me down to the earth? B even if you could exalt your nest like the eagle B and even if among stars you could set your nest C from there I will bring you down3.a. The pride of your heart has deceived you, deceived youThe “you” here is addressing Edom as masculine singluar and reinforces what was said about pronouns above. 97 3.b. you who live in the clefts of the rock, 3.c. in your lofty dwelling, 3.d. who say in your heart, 3.e. "Who will bring me down to the ground?" It sounds like the sort of thing that the haughty King of Babylon might say (Isaiah 13, Daniel 4) and is wrong.Pleased with herself that her territory is militarily secure because consisting so much of craggy, impenetrable fortresses and fastnesses (and perhaps also pleased about her alliances (verse 7, her wisdom verse 8, and her mighty men verse 9), she is sure that She is wrong. Hers is a false sense of security and Pride Although God will make the Edomites despised, at the moment, Edom likes itself and is confident. The word is used around ten times in the Old Testament and could be translated as presumption, insolence, arrogance or pride. Some of other occurrences include: Gen 3.13; Deut 17:12; Deut 18:22; 1Sam 17:28; Prov 11:2; Prov 13:10; Prov 21:24; Jere 50:31-32. Referring to the Genesis reference, John Trapp comments that what is being said to Edom is “thy pride hath befooled thee and put the same tirck upon thee that the serpent did once upon the first woman”. This pride is the Edomites’ presumption that they were greater and particularly more secure than really they were. But as Calvin says, “it is the greatest madness for men to rely on their own power and to despise God himself”98 of your heartThe heart is the intellectual and emotional centre of a person, or here a nation, and it is in the heart that Edom’s pride is to be found.However, what is in the heart is known to God. Our thoughts and feelings are like things that we “say” inside us but God’s hearing is such that he knows this all. Deceived youThe same word is used in v.7 The Edomites are deceived first by the pride of their own heart and then later by their allies. Such deception often leads to disaster – see Gene 3:13; 2Kin 18:29; Isai 19:13; Jere 29:8; Jere 37:9; as examples. Dweller/dwelling in clefts of a crag/rockThe word for “crag” here is the same as the name of a major Edomite town Jdg 1.36, 2 Kin 14.7 as well as a high and strong rock or a cliff (I Sam 13.6; II Sam 22.2; Job 39.28; Ps 40.2; Ps 104.18; Prov 30.26; Is 2.22, 7.19, 33.16) and it is probably intended as a deliberate play on words. The clefts – just used in SS 2.14, Jer 49.16 and here. Douglas Stuart: In addition to Sela, Edom’s main cities of Teman and Bozrah, as well as the nascent fortress city of Petra nearby Sela, were located in nearly impenetrable high rock formations reached only by narrow, vulnerable gorges in each instance. 99 The height of his dwelling Note the change of pronoun from “your” heart to “his” dwelling. This phrase may simply mean “the height in which he is situated” or, possibly, it is intended to convey thoughts of a lofty throne, a seat in the heavenlies, his exalted residence. If the latter then it would reinforce the idea that the Edomites regarded themselves as occupying a superior place to others as well as living at higher altitudes. The word for “height” is used around fifty times in the Old Testament. Some of its other occurrences include, 2Sam 22:17; 2Kin 19:22-23; Job 5:11; Psal 7:7; Psal 68:18; Psal 73:8; Psal 92:8; Psal 102:19; Psal 148:1; Isai 26:5; Isai 33:5; Isai 57:15; Jere 51:53 Saying in his heart cf Dt 29.19, Mk 2 etc – saying in heart - note the metaphor – think = say in heart “Who will bring me down to earth?”Words of this sort amount to a challenge to God. Coggins comments that it is “characteristic of condemnation of foreign nations to draw attn to their false boasting.”100 This is the sort of vaunting of oneself which is exemplified in Goliath in the Valley of Elah (I Sam 17 …) , of the Assyrians in Isaiah 10 and of Nebuchadnezzar on his palace in Daniel 4. Who will bring me down amounts to who can bring me down. The question is intended as rhetorical and thus unanswerable. But when the Edomites expected an awed silence, what they got was the thunder-voice of God taking up the challenge in v.4. 4.a. Though you soar aloft like the eagle, 4.b. though your nest is set among the stars, 4.c. from there I will bring you down, 4.d. declares the LORD. If you make yourself as high as the eagle If your nest is set in the starsIt makes no difference how high the Edomites are. High in their rocky fortresses. Higher still – up with the soaring eagles. Higher still – nesting in the stars. We’ve seen before that reaching high, far from putting a person or power beyond the reach of God brings them to his notice. This is what happened with the tower of Babel and with Nebuchadnezzar walking on the roof of his palace. It is not clear whether there is one idea or two here – making themselves high and nesting in the stars? High101 Being or making high – this word is used around thirty times in the OT, some of them being 2Chr 26:16; 2Chr 32:25; 2Chr 33:14; Job 36:7; Job 39:27; Psal 103:11; Psal 131:1; Prov 18:12; Isai 7:11; Isai 52:13; Isai 55:9; Ezek 17:24; Ezek 21:26; Ezek 28:2; Ezek 31:10; Zeph 3:11 Eagle Though it could refer to the vulture). Known for flying high, nesting high, looking down, ruthless predators. God himself knows how to eagle – Deut 32.11 so there’ll be no getting away from him. Eagle - Exod 19:4; 2 Sam 1:23; Ps 103:5; Isa 40:31; Lam 4:19; Hos 8:1; etc.Stars Up in the heavens, the stars are the choir and the court of God. Do the Edomites really think that they can have a place here? God can not only reach the stars, he can use them as his armies and instruments and cause them to fight against his enemies. Even though, in the stars the Edomites might be beyond the reach of man, they would not be beyond the reach of God. Setting up high in the stars is like the action and attitude of the Babylonian king in “Edom emulate[s] the plan of the Babylonian king who, according to Is 14.12-14 desires to place his throne above the stars” – Wolff – see also Is 14.15 and Num 24.21. This is one of several links between Obadiah and Amos – see Amos 9.2-4a Bring you down102 This is the same word as the Edomites used in their hearts in v3 – who will “bring us down”. Here, as in a number of other places in Obadiah, we see that the punishment fits the crime. As Matthew Henry puts it, 4 - If men will dare to challenge Omnipotence, their challenge shall be taken up Is 2.12-18 and 26.5 as // - will bring downAn utterance of the LORDThis is the same phrase as is used in v8. Here it serves both to show that verses 2-4 are a distinct unit and to confirm that this is not just the idle hopes of Obadiah but the firm resolve of the sovereign God. These are astonishing sentences: a) as an act of faith. The temple is in ruins, the people of God on their way to exile or already there, the Edomites thriving and living in part from what they plundered from Jereusalem. But Obadiah speaks what God tells him, however unlikely, indeed impossible it might seem to be. b) as a condemnation of human pride – it rivals God, deceives the sinner and invites judgment. c) but not just pride as an attitude in itself. remember that the heart of the condemnation takes place in vv 10-14. It is what the pride of Edom leads to that is the key sin in Obadiah. As one commentator puts it, Even if the … Edomites are condemned for what they “say in their heart” … it is by the practical consequences of this that they are to be judged. The Edomites’ sense of security and self-sufficiency, as diagnosed by Obadiah, is objectionable because of what it makes 103 them do: behaving disloyally to their “brother” nation, Judah, and feeling free to rob and pillage. [The prophets are talking of … ] the ambition and ruthlessness of nations who think nothing of liquidating their neighbours. At that level, the prophetic condemnation of hubris remains highly pertinent and deflates the pretensions of tyrannous regimes.” (Barton)104 17.VERSES 5-7 – THE COMING JUDGMENT OF EDOM WILL BE TOTAL AND INESCAPABLEVerses 2-4 have shown that the Edomites had invited judgment and that God would most certainly take up the invitation. Verses 5-7 show the totality, the thoroughness of that judgment. In verse 5 two comparisons are given to show that although destruction is not usually complete and total, this time it will be. 5.a. If thieves came to you, 5.b. if plunderers came by night-- 5.c. how you have been destroyed!-- 5.d. would they not steal only enough for themselves? 5.e. If grape gatherers came to you, 5.f. would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came to you, if plunderers of the night--Thieves working secretly, plunderers working violently but neither take everything that there is to take. The word for plunderers is used almost fifty times in the OT and at times includes thoughts of destroyer, deadly enemy, devastator, one who lays waste, ruin, disaster - Despoilers - 47x - destroyer, deadly enemy, devastator; who lays waste, does violence; ruin, disaster - Job 15:21; Psal 17:9; Psal 137:8; Isai 16:4; Isai 21:2; Jere 4:20; Jere 48:8 How you have been destroyed!105 The progression of the announcement is broken by this exlamation. It is a mock lament rather like that in Is 14.12 – “How you are fallen from heaven!”. Other examples which show how this way of putting things is used include cf Is 6.5 15.1 Ho 4.6). “How …” 2 Sam 1.19 Is 14.4, 12 Jer 9.19Destroyed Ruined, silenced, ended, laid waste. The word is used around fifteen times in the OT. Other uses include Is. 15:1; Jer. 47:5; Hos. 4:6; Zeph. 1:11 would not they steal their sufficiency? The idea is “only what they needed”, “everything until they said, “nough” but that wouldn’t be absolutely everything”. If grape-gatherers have come to you, would not they leave gleanings? Gleaning was the practice of letting the poor take what was leftover after the harvest had been completed. Even the most diligent harvester would leave something which the poor would be able to find. But not God in his coming judgment 0f Edom. It would be total. Nothing would be left. 6.a. How Esau has been pillaged, 6.b. his treasures sought out! 106 God now speaks of Edom rather than to Edom – Baker says that this is almost as though Edom is no longer there. Calvin sums up the impression that these verses create: “We hence learn, that as men in vain seek hiding places for themselves that they may be safe from dangers; so in vain they conceal their riches; for the hand of God can penetrate beyond the sea, land, heaven, and the lowest deep. Nothing then remains for us but ever to offer ourselves and all our things to God. If he protects us under his wings, we shall be safe in the midst of innumerable dangers; but if we think that subterfuges will be of any avail to us, we deceive ourselves.”How Esau has been searched out / pillaged / plunderedA second exclamation beginning “how” to reinforce that already uttered in verse 5. Esau, of course, stands for Edom since Esau was the father of the Edomites. (Gen 36.1, 8, 19) Searched out – there may be the idea of digging or mining or delving deep in order that whatever there is to be discovered really is discovered. The Edomites hid their treasures in rocky hideaways but this will do them no good. The idea is that of plundering the hidden valuables of a conquered people. This – or related – words are used in I Kgs 20.6, Is 45.3, Prov 2.4 Jb 3.31, Gen 44.12, Zeph 1.12-13 The second “searched out” word is described in the NET Bible as “violent action of conquering warriors ransacking the city in order to loot and plunder its valuables” 107 7.a. All your allies have driven you to your border; 7.b. those at peace with you have deceived you; 7.c. they have prevailed against you; 7.d. those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you 7.e. there is no understanding in itPerhaps they send back to the border the Edomite emissaries who have come appealing for help, or perhaps they themselves take military action against the Edomites and displace the entire nation so that the Edomites are pushed out of their own land (it is hard to decide which is meant in 1a). Whichever of these it is, far from being supportive allies, these tribes and nations are enemies – fighting against, acting treacherously towards, subduing and trapping the Edomites.As the total devastation of God’s judgment is announced over the Edomites (vv5-6) so the natural reaction of a people proud as they are would be to look to its own resources. In verses 7-9, as part of the description of the comprehensiveness of Edom’s defeat, the three main reliances are shown not only not to avert judgment but to fall under it or, in the case of v 7 to have become an instrument of it. Those three are v7 – allies; v8 – wisdom; v9 – military strength. Almost as though responding to a possible thought or reply of the Edomites (well, at least we have our ….) God addresses them directly again. Unto the border they have sent you, all the men of your covenant;108 Three descriptions are given: - men of your covenant - men of your peace - your bread It is likely that all three of these refer to the same group, namely the neighbouring tribes or nations with whom the Edomites have contracted peace treaties. They have a covenant with these peoples which is to guarantee peace and which was sealed by eating bread together in a covenant confirming meal. But this has done the Edomites no good. These very people who were to guarantee the peace and safety of the Edomites have deceived them, prevailed over them, and set a trap under them. To the border they have sent you could be understood in a number of ways. This is the second “sending” in the book and results from the first (in v1). Because God has sent a messenger around the nations then the nations will turn against Edom and will “send” her away. a) Edomites flee a hostile power and run for asylum to their allies. The allies refuse them asylum and send them back to the border of their own territory. b) Edom’s allies are themselves the hostile force and these allies drive Edom out of their own land, displacing them and pushing them to their own borders. 109 c) Edom has sent messengers to its allies asking for help but those messengers are dismissed and escorted back to the edge of the allied territory. Commentators disagree about which of these is most likely. Although it matters, of course, that we should understand every word of Scripture as thoroughly and accurately as we can, in this instance, the differences are not very great. All are agreed that a) Edom has decieved herself by pride (v3) and is now deceived by her allies. Sin blinds us b) Esau is treacherous to brother Jacob and so suffers treachery from her allies c) this treachery (like Edom’s own) takes the form of not providing help when it is needed and of taking positive steps to harm the one who should be helped (in this case the allies “send to the border” and set traps) Your bread This appears not to make sense. It might be that the text really should read, “those who eat your bread”. Or it might be an extreme shorthand for “those whose alliance with you has been sealed by a contractual meal” We are reminded by this that in the Bible alliances and contracts are sealed by eating together and that these covenantal or sacramental meals are found in human’s relationship with God – in places such as the peace offering, the meal halfway up Sina in Ex 24; eating with Jesus, the Lord’s Supper, Revelation 3, the kingdom banquet and so on. See Ps 41.9 and 55.12-15 for betrayal 110 Snare / trap This might be metaphorical and refer to the deception already described. Or it might be literal and refer, for example, to man-traps set at the Edomite border of the allied countries in order to deter Edomites from trying to escape into them. This is the only use of the word in the OT and some translations give it as “wound” because they confuse it with another word. The lessons here are that false alliances and reliances will always let a person or nation down if they are engaged in contrary to God’s will. This is the mess that you get into if you resist and rebel against the supreme emperor. Those who oppose God think that they can clverely arrange some scheme by which they’ll be protected against his judgment. They are wrong. The failed alliances with these other nations just reminds us of the true alliance which should have taken place but didn’t, namely that between Edom and Jacob. Two older commentators sum up much of what we learn here: “Many friends are like deep ponds, clear at the top and all muddy at the bottom” Trapp Calvin - All the compacts then which the ungodly and the despisers of God make with one another, have always something vicious intermixed; it is therefore no wonder that the Lord disappoints them of their hope, and curses their counsels. This is then the reason why the Prophet declares to the Idumeans, that those, whom they thought to be their best and most faithful friends, would be their ruin.111 there is no understanding in him. This might be quite general: so you see, there’s no sense in this proud nation Edom – they haven’t got the sense to realize that this is going to happen or the ability to deal with it when it does. Or more particular: Edom really won’t be able to comprehend this betrayal Or more particular still: they won’t understand about the trapThe word “understanding” forms a link to verse8. It is used around 40 times in the Bible (nearly twenty of which are in Proverbs) – in places like Exod 31:3; Deut 32:28; 1Kin 4:29; Job 12:12-13; Psal 49:3; Psal 147:5; Prov 2:2, 3, 6; Is 40.28. Deut 32.28, for example says, 28"For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them.Because the pronoun is back to “him” (from “you”) and because the rest of the verse leads up to this rather than depends upon it (the verse would “work” even if this phrase was not here) then it is probably best to see it as a stand- alone summary of the situation – Edom is clueless, really. As one commentator puts it, “The wisdom which would know how to avert the life-threatening danger can no longer be found in Edom.” Wolff 112 18.8.a. Will I not on that day, declares the LORD, 8.b. destroy the wise men out of Edom, 8.c. and understanding out of Mount Esau? Will I not …? Yet another question. The Edomites have asked a question in v3. There were two questions in v5. Now another – put like this in order to reinforce the certainty of what is going to happen. on that day this is the first reference to “day” in the book. Clearly there are two days in view. The first is the day referred to over and over again in vv11-14 – the day when the people of God suffered so much and the Edomites sinned so badly. The second is the day of the LORD coming against all nations and mentioned in v15. It was this day which was the guarantee of Edom’s destruction. The day of Edom’s destruction was an instance of or a manifestation of or an installment of the day of the LORD. (In total we have “day” 12 times in the book v8 v11 x2 v12 x4 v13 x3 v14x1 v15 )113 This is the day referred to here – the day when God intervenes in just judgment to punish the Edomites for their sins and to dismantle and destroy the nation. And these two days are inextricably connected. Because of the day of Edom’s sin, the day of Edom’s punishment is inevitable. destroy the wise men out of Edom,The word (a very common word in the OT, and related to the word “Abaddon”) usually means “destroy” though here it might mean “disperse”. If destroy then it could be that God will have the wise men of Edom killed or it might mean that he acts so that they lose their wisdom and are unable to provide the counsel needed at a time of national crisis. wise menThese are probably those in the royal court who offered military and political counsel to the rulers and their destruction will mean, in the words of one commentator, “the end of a serviceable political policy, a reasonable diplomacy and successful military tactics” – WolffAs the attacking nations descend upon the Edomites, at just the time they are in need of sound advice, God will scatter, disable the source of wisdom, leaving Edom helpless and exposed. Some think, on the basis of Jb 2.11, Jer 49.7, I k 4.30 that Edom was famous for its “wise men” and that this related to 114 its location on major trade routes and thus its access to new and sophisticated ways of thinking. If so then God’s explicit declaration that he will destroy the wise men serves only to underline the vulnerability of sinners, even at their strongest points to God when he comes in judgement. Riches will not help the rich, nor wisdom the wise, nor might the mighty. That these wise men have not foreseen the downfall of Edom itself casts doubt upon their wisdom!The threat is somewhat like that made over the wise of Pharoah Is 19.11-15 understanding out of Mount Esau as mentioned above, understanding provides a link with the preceding verse. Mount EsauThe three times that Mount Esau is mentioned in Obadiah are the only occurences in the Bible. It is quite common in the Bible to refer to kingdoms by a dominant mountain within them but with the Edomites this is usually done with Mount Seir so that when “Seir” is mentioned, it is understood to be a reference to the Edomites. This can be seen in Ezekiel 35, for example: Ezek 35:2-3 "Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it and say to it, `Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out My hand against you and make you a desolation and a waste. 115 Ezek 35:7 "I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation and I will cut off from it the one who passes through and returns. Ezek 35:15 "As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be a desolation, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord." ' Other key references include Gene 32:3; Gene 33:14, 16; Gene 36:8, 9, 21, 30; Dt 1.2, 44, 2.1, 4-5, 12, 22, 29; Josh 24.4; Judges 5.4; 1Chr 4:42; 2 Chron 20.10, 22-23, 25.11, 14; Is 21.11 Other “kingdom-mountains” and “mountain-kingdoms” include …XXXXThe story of redemptive history can be told this way Putting these things together, we can see that, as mentioned above, the book of Obadiah can be read as the story of the battle between two mountains – Zion and Esau. But it is clear from this verse that God is sovereign in judgment over the kingdom of Edom and this means that the book can end with the promise that Mount Esau will be ruled from Mount Zion. Thus the world ends with the dominance of the mountain of the LORD over all other mountains and with the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdom of our God and of his Christ. Once again, Calvin’s comments are apt: 116 “yet the worst blindness is, when men become inebriated with the false conceit of wisdom. When therefore any one thinks himself endued with understanding, so that he can perceive whatever is needful, and that he cannot be circumvented, his wisdom is insanity and extreme madness: it would indeed be better for us to be idiots and fools than to be thus inebriated. Since then the wise of this world are insane, the Lord declares that they will have no wisdom when the time of trial comes. God indeed permits the ungodly for a long time to felicitate themselves on account of their own acumen and counsels, as he suffered the Idumeans to go on prosperously. And there are also many at this day who felicitate themselves on their successes, and almost adore their own cunning. …There is hardly one in a hundred to be found, who does not seek to be crafty and deceitful, if he excels in understanding. This is a very wretched thing. What a great treasure is wisdom? Yet we see that the world perverts this excellent gift of God; the more reason there is for us to labour, that our wisdom should be founded in true simplicity. This is one thing. Then we must also beware of trusting in our own understanding, and of despising our enemies, and of thinking that we can ward off any evil that may impend over us; but let us ever seek from the Lord, that we may be favored at all times with the spirit of wisdom, that it may guide us to the end of life: for he can at any moment take from us whatever he has given us, and thus expose us to shame and reproach.”9.a. And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman, 9.b. so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter. 117 Over and over in the Bible the pair of “wisdom and might” go together. Some of the key places where this happens are Daniel 2 and I Cor 1. Bring in Dan 2 sermon stuff here … We are unsurprised, therefore, that in addition to the destruction of Edom’s wisdom, God announces the disempowering of Edom’s might. This may be a direct consequence of the loss of the wise men – the military forces are lacking in strategic guidance and lose heart. Or it may be relatively independent. But the four wheels have fallen off of Edom’s chariot – riches (6), allies (7), wisdom (8) and might (9) and it now crashes down with no hope of recovery. Mighty men these are the military heroes, the elite troops, the warriors in whom the nation placed its confidence. Dismayed / shatteredThey will be dismayed – demoralized, frustrated, panicked – Job 32.13 Job 7.14 Ex 23.27 Dt 7.23 Josh 10.10 48x (Is and Jer 25 b/w them). dismayed / broken, caused to panic Deut 1:21; Deut 31:8; Josh 1:9; 1Sam 2:10; 1Sam 17:11; Job 7:14; Job 39:22; Isai 9:4; Isai 30:31; Isai 31:4, 9; Jere 8:9; Jere 17:18, 23.4 Jer 51.56, 50.2, 48.1, 40.20, 39O TemanTeman – another way of referring to whole of Edom … Teman named after one of Esau’s grandsons – Gen 36.9-14 I Chron 1.35-6( “What is this strength …? Samson Agonistes )118 so that every man will be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter. Quite a lot of versions put “slaughter” at the beginning of the next verse but there is no compelling reason to do this. A look at Gen 9.11 shows that the construction (to be cut off … by something”) makes perfectly sound sense as it is. every manAlthough there is not a dedicated word, “all” or “every” in the verse, the Hebrew phrase does indeed mean this. However, as Finley puts it, “It must also be noted, however, that in Hebrew thought to speak of “all” or “every” often means a majority or a very large number. For example, David struck down “every male in Edom” (1 Kings 11:15), yet the nation of Edom continued. Notice also that Amos, uniquely among the prophets, speaks of a “remnant” for Edom that will continue into the Millennial Kingdom (9:12). Even this remnant will be Israel’s possession, but it must consist of individual Edomites who will profess the name of the Lord (cf. Joel 2:32 [MT 3:4]).”Another puts it like this: “the hyperbolic character of the Ancient Near Eastern rhetoric of warfare in which terms such as ‘always’, ‘for ever’, ‘total’ are (43 begins) commonplace features. As such, therefore, Ob 2 does not intend to announce the total destruction of Edom but rather to predict Edom’s future insignificance and contemptibility. Indeed, the expression ‘they shall become as if they had never existed’ at the end of Ob 16 implies a similar interpretation. … The end in question is the end of Edom as a state … the concluding verse Ob 21, …119 clearly does not presume total annihilation. The focus, rather, is on upright rule over the remaining inhabitants of the politically insignificant mountains of Esau by a series of redeemers who dwell in Zion.” Renkema pp.42-43 (cf e.g. Lam 2.22) Verse 21 itself implies that there will be something recognisable as “Mount Esau” (which is emphatically a group of people rather than a geological feature) to be ruled over. Malachi 1 also sheds light upon this: Mala 1:3 (NASU) but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and [appointed] his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness." 4 Though Edom says, "We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins"; thus says the Lord of hosts, "They may build, but I will tear down; and [men] will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever." 5 Your eyes will see this and you will say, "The Lord be magnified beyond the border of Israel!" Here, Esau is a desolation and yet there are some Edomites remaining. But God’s determination is that they shall never rise again as a nation. And they never do. every man – not literal – Joel 3.19 speaks of a remnant – and see Is 11.14, Dan 11.41 etc Thus it is wrong to state, as one commentator does, that “No known historical event included a disaster of the size portrayed here.” (Clark). The point is that God intervened in judgment in such a way that Malachi was able to speak of the decisive judgment having taken place. Whether his mind was focussed primarily upon a military action of 120 Nebuchandnezzar’s in 583 BC, of which we know litte, or of Nabonidus’s in 553 BC of which we know only a little more, or of the Nabateaen migrations which displaced the Edomites in the 4th century, it is hard to say. But, in spite of the continued existence of some people who could be recognized as Idumeans the people never existed as an independent, national entity again and, indeed, in the second C BC they experienced forced circumcisions under Jewish dominance led by John Hyrcanus. By the 2nd AD, with the work of the LORD Jesus Christ completed (and the repeated “defeat” of the Idumean Herods at the hands of Christ and his apostles) and its geopolitical outworking in the shaking of the world of Palestine and the surrounding area through AD 70 judgment and its AD 135 sequel, it would not be possible to find a person who identified themselves as an Edomite or Idumean. The judgment which God declared had taken place by Malachi’s day and was indisputable within 100 yrs of the resurrection of Jesus. Renkema again: “A people once characterised by its own arrogance is to be left a nonentity in the international arena.” p.40121 19. vv10-14 – EDOM’S SINS SHOW THAT IT UTTERLY DESERVES THE JUDGMENT IT IS TO RECEIVE Clearly the relationship with what precedes is that such a judgement needs explanation. As Allen puts it “Dire indeed must be the sins that earn such wages and it is to …” these he now turns … Allen 153Although this section plainly hangs together as the unit in the book which outlines the sins of Edom for which the judgment is coming, nevertheless it consists of three distinguishable components. v10 is a once over summary with a re-iteration of the coming judgment v11 is another once over summary, this time focussed on showing how the Edomites took the wrong side at the crucial moment vv12-14 is a vivid denunciation, sin by sin, of all that the Edomites thought and said and did at the fall of Jerusalem, watching the events unfold and showing how the Edomites went from bad to worse over the time that the fall took. These verses serve to demonstrate the justice of the punishment - Edom will be violated and robbed – v6 – that is because Edom did just this – 10,13 - Edom will be attacked by allies and scattered – v7 – that is because Edom did just this122 In terms of application, “O’s accusations (vv11-14) turn into new warnings, sentence by sentence, warnings against departing from the path of Christian discipleship” Wolff see sermons for more detail 1o.a. Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, 10.b. shame shall cover you, 10.c. and you shall be cut off forever. Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob This introductory phrase powerfully brings home how shocking was the Edomites’ behaviour. “Violence” and “brother” should not go together but rather “love.” And this was “Jacob” – the personal name is used for the first time in the book here as a way of underlining the heinousness of Esau’s behaviour. ViolenceThe word is hamas (as in mid-east terror org) violence and wrong – from hatred and, sometimes, of extreme wickedness. It is used nearly 60 times in the OT in places such as Gene 6:11,13; Gene 16:5; Judg 9:24; 2Sam 22:3; Job 16:17; Psal 11:5; Psal 27:12; Psal 140:11; Prov 16:29; Isai 53:9; Isai 60:18; Jer 13.22, Joel 3:19; Haba 1:2; It includesShame will cover you The image is that of being clothed in shame. The particular word for shame is just used at - Psal 89:45; Ezek 7:18; Obad 1:10; Mica 7:10 The idea relates to God making the Edomites despised in v.2 123 Cut off foreverThe Edomites will cease to exist as a nation, as a recognizable and distinct (let alone rich, wise, mighty and proud) nation. 11.a. On the day that you stood aloof, 11.b. on the day that strangers carried off his wealth 11.c. and foreigners entered his gates 11.d. and cast lots for Jerusalem, 11.e. you were like one of them. The structure of the verse is clear - the day was characterized on the Edomites’ part by standing aloof the day was characterized on the “strangers” part by capturing Judah’s wealth, etnering Jer-m’s gates and dividing up the people or substance of Jer by lots and the Edomites’ standing aloof amounted to a siding with the strangers. This appalls the LORD. That Edom should side with strangers and foreigners, with thieves and looters and invaders rahter than with brother Jacob is a summary of its wickedness. Remember that 10, 11, and 12-14 are three distinct statements of the sins of Edom. Thus, we cannot set the inaction of v11 against the action of vv12-14 and claim that there is a contradiction. IN any case, it is possible that the inaction was followed by the action, and indeed, that appears to have been the case. 124 In the day that you stood aloof,“In the day” – this is the first of a series of 10 uses of this phrase in vv11-14. The overall impact is to take the hearer/reader right back to that day with immense vividness.The posture is one of looking on – as Hagar did in Gen 21.6. The atittude is one which combines indifference to and approval of the suffering inflicted upon and experiencd by the people of God – rather like Saul in Acts 8 at the stoning of Stephen. The action is precisely nothing. The behaviour of the priest and levite in the parable of the Good Sam come to mind. The allegiance, identity, therefore, is one of siding with the aggressors. in the day of strangers capturing his wealthThe “take captive” word is used nearly 50 times for “carrying off” and is used both for goods and for captives. See, for example, I Chron 5.21 2 Chron 14.14-15, 21.17 The word for wealth can be used in a variety of ways, being translated as “strength, efficiency, valour, riches, wealth, goods, army” 125 and foreigners entered his gates strangers / aliens“The passage of enemies through the gate signifies a city’s loss of self-rule” Niehaus (see Matt 16!) “did they belong officially to the foreign contingents among the conquering Babylonian troops?” Wolff – poss “freebooter Edomite reconnaissance patrols” – Wolff and unto Jerusalem they cast lots cast lots – see Nah 3.10, Joel 3.3 – division of a victim’s spoils by his conqueror” (Coggins) - see Ps 22, John 19 you also were as one of them. The phrase is emphatic – almost disbelieving - YOU ALSO …126 20.12.a. But do not gloat over the day of your brother 12.b. in the day of his misfortune; 12.c. do not rejoice over the people of Judah 12.d. in the day of their ruin; 12.e. do not boast 12.f. in the day of distress. 13.a. Do not enter the gate of my people 13.b. in the day of their calamity; 13.c. do not gloat over his disaster 13.d. in the day of his calamity; 13.e. do not loot his wealth 13.f. in the day of his calamity. 14.a. Do not stand at the crossroads 14.b. to cut off his fugitives; 14.c. do not hand over his survivors 14.d. in the day of distress. The structure of these 3 verses is plain. There are eight loud commands “do not X”. Seven of these are followed by the phrase “in the day of Y” (and 12.a. also has “in the day of” so that “day” is here eight times too). If these things are referring to what has already happened, why are they in the form of commands as though they refer to the future? One answer is that by using the command form, the image of God as Father/teacher (the two main figures who would speak like this) is evoked and this underlines that what has taken place has been an outrage “within the family”. This makes Edom the evil son who defies his father. (Ben Zvi)127 Another is that giving these things as commands to obey rather than descriptions of what happened emphasizes that Edom’s conduct was shocking transgression of perfect law. As to the rhetorical impact of this way of putting things, let’s hear three comments: “The prophet shouts as if in the grip of a nightmare. He feels afresh the emotions of resentment and loathing as in his mind’s eye he sees again the leering, loutish folk of Edom. In his anguish he screams out “No, no, no!” protesting with all his being against their revelling in the situation that spelled the end of Judah.” Allen 156“The prophet thrusts himself (figuratively) into the midst of the Edomites, passionately admonishing them” (Buse) “the verbs are being used in a rhetorical fashion, as though the prophet were vividly projecting himself back into the events that he is describing and urging the Edomites not to do what in fact they have already done” (NET Bible) Intense passion and careful expression, tight literary structure are not mutually exclusive as anyone who has read Lamentations or Gerard Manley Hopkins’ desolation sonnets well knows. How this works: In the day ofThe day – of Judah’s humilation and Edom’s sin is described in various ways: 128 . his misfortune . their destruction . distress . their calamity . his calamity . his calamity . distress a) we have already seen the variation in pronoun (their, his) elsewhere in the book b) the word for “calamity” is used three times in v.13. When it is “their calamity” it is  which sounds like “Edom” – this was the day of Judah’s “edom” and “edom” is calamity. c) it is unlikely that much is meant to be made of the 5 different words which are used – 4 describing the day and one (13.c.) describing what the Edomites rejoiced in. Misfortune – this word is only used here and in Job 31.3 in the OT. It is related to the foreigner / stranger / alien word in v.11; alienation / estrangement Destruction - this is the word which is used in v.8 for the destruction of the wise men from Edom. It is a strong word and constitutes a small argument (along with the piling up of words for distress, calamity and ruin in these verses) for the view that Obadiah refers to the fall of Jerusalem in 587BC – the event has to be one of some magnitude to warrant descriptions like this.Distress (12.f. and 14.d) also v14 - trouble, distress, adversity, tribulation - Gene 35:3; Judg 10:14; 1Sam 26:24; 2Sam 4:9 Job 5:19; Psal 9:9; Psal 20:1; Psal 129 46:1; Prov 17:17; Prov 25:19; Isai 46:7; Jere 14:8; Nahu 1:7 ṣārâ refers to the anguish that accompanies a painful childbirth (Jer. 4:31; 6:24; 49:24; 50:43). Calamity – This word occurs elsewhere in the OT in places such as Deut 32:35; 2Sam 22:19; Job 21:17; Job 21:30; Psal 18:18; Prov 17:5; Jere 46:21; One commentator associates it with “to be bent” i.e. something to bend underAs well as these words, there is the word used in 13.c. for what it was of the Judahites that the Edomites rejoiced over – their “disaster”. The eight “do not”s do not look do not rejoice do not boast do not enter do not look do not loot do not stand … to cut off do not hand over As mentioned above, there is a clear progression in these verses both in moving from internal attitude to external conduct s and in some sort of chronological sequence. Finley puts it like this: Finley gives an overview of the verses: 130 12-14 - This progression of watching, gloating, entering, looting, blocking escape, and handing over refugees to the enemy is reinforced by the structure of the passage itself. In vv. 10 and 11 Obadiah reports the scene objectively, while in vv. 12–14 he directly admonishes the Edomites. These verses, in turn, have a structure that highlights the sequence that moves from outside (v. 12) to inside (v. 13) and then back outside the city (v. 14).” FinleyAnd Trapp comments: “Sin proceeds by degrees: neither is any man at his worst at first. First they looked at the church’s calamity, and then they laughed, and then they insulted and spoke big words, and then they plundered, and lastly they butchered some and imprisoned other some.” Trapp Look, clearly has some additional significance both because it is the first term to be used and because it is the only one which occurs twice. It is translated in various ways including “gloat over” “look down upon” “gazed on” and “looked on”. “Gloat” is not, perhaps the best translation because although it is accurate according to the English dictionary definition of gloat, it increasingly carries with it the idea of expressing the attitude, of saying things, of mocking, whereas the term in vv12 and 13 is simply about the way that the Edomites “looked” on. But although the term is very simple, “looked on” it was a certain sort of looking which is condemned here and it is 131 clear from the way that v12 develops what sort of looking it was. The Edomites looked on at the “day” of their brother and at his “disaster” with something between indifference and pleasure. Indifference in the sense of caring not at all about Judah’s suffering. Pleasure in the sense that there was malice, hatred, spite, vengefulness and the desire to benefit from the disaster. Ps 22.17 118.7 Mic 7.8 Matthew Henry comments: 12-13 - looked on their affliction with a careless unconcerned eye, as the priest and Levite looked upon the wounded man, and passed by on the other side. ... We must take heed with what eye we look upon the afflictions of our brethren; and, if we cannot look upon them with a gracious eye of sympathy and tenderness, it is better not to look upon them at all - Matthew HenryRejoice The sin that we call “schadenfreude” was that of the Edomites – a malicious pleasure in the misforturne of another. Other passages which bring home what is going on here include Is 14.8; Ps 30.1, 35.19, 24, Prov 17.5, 24.17In particular, the picture in Psalm 137.7 is striking: Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, "Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!"132 And in Lamentations 4.21 there is the bitter and ironic invitation to the Edomites to rejoice, followed by the declaration of judgment: 21Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare. 22The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished; he will keep you in exile no longer; but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish; he will uncover your sins. do not boastLiterally this is “and do not make great with your mouth”. Do not be a big mouth, do not talk big. Ezek 35, against the Edomites, shows what will happen: "I have heard all the revilings that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, 'They are laid desolate; they are given us to devour.' 13And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and multiplied your words against me; I heard it. 14Thus says the Lord GOD: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the LORD.On the verse as a whole, Calvin comments: 133 “it is a feeling naturally implanted in us, that when one is distressed, we are touched with pity; even when we see our enemies lie prostrate on the ground, our hatred and anger are extinguished, or at least are abated: and all who see even their enemies ill-treated, become, as it were, other men, that is, they put off the anger with which they were previously inflamed. As then this is what is common almost to all men, it appears that the Idumeans must have been doubly and treble barbarous, when they rejoiced at the calamity of their brethren, and took pleasure in a spectacle so sad and mournful”VERSE 13 The sins of the Edomites are compounded. Having stood by and drawn close to look and to laugh, now they enter the city itself, gloat further and get involved in looting and plundering the possessions of God’s people. Do not enter in the gate of my people Entering the gates is, as we have already seen in v11, the action of an enemy, not a brother. The gates of a city represented its security and integrity – the city is a woman and to be invaded by hostile troops amounts to a rape-type violation. Once this has happened then the virgin city has fallen. Ezek 26.10 Ps 87.2 and Lam 4.12-13. Cities are women and thus the invasion of the city (entering the gates) by hostile troops represents the violation of the woman.God does not call Jerusalem his daughter here, though it is 134 striking enough that he calls the defeated and humiliated exiles "my people".Nevertheless, putting these things together, the disgusting wickedness of the Edomites is clear and the intensity of God's anger understandable. The invasion and destruction of Jerusalem (considered just from the perspective of the sinful actions of those responsible and not from the perspective of the righteous judgment upon Judah which it represented) can be summed up in four of the most chilling, bitter, furious and threatening words that any man can say:"You raped my daughter" my people As will be noted below in commenting on v16, the whole emphasis of the book is on the misconduct of the Edomites at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 587BC rather than upon the sins of the Jews which brought this judgment upon them or the actions of the Babylonians who were the chief agents of judgement at that time. Nevertheless, it is astonishing that God stills calls the judged and humiliated and defeated Jews, “my people” – and does so while addressing the Edomites in their hearing. This itself is a comfort, a reminder of their underlying identity and a threat to the Edomites who have raped God’s daughter, touched the apple of his eye. do not look on their affliction 135 The word used is a common one with a range of meaning including, at different times, evil, misery, distress, injury it is the most common word in the OT for “bad stuff” do not lay hold of / stretch out his force/substance send - the same word as is used in v1 and v3Some commentators think that the the text should read send “your hand”. Whether or not they are right, the meaning is certainly along these lines which is why it is translated in ways such as “lay hold of” “reach out for” and so on. If the word hand should be in the text as such then it would be parallel to Ex. 22:7; 1 Sam. 24:6; Esther 2:21; 9:10 substance – the same word as is used in v11 for possessions VERSE 14 Here we have the callous and cruel climax of the Edomites’ nastiness. The overall sense is clear. The Edomites stood in places where they could cut off Jews who were trying to escape being taking into exile and they then handed those they caught over to the Babylonians. Other passages which show something of what was going on are Dt 23.15 32.30 I sam 23.11 2 K 25.3-7 Do not stand in the crossway The word for crossroads is very rare but it is clear both that it has something to do with parting, dividing, crossing and that 136 this was the place where the Edomites were stationing themselves in order to catch escaping Jews. to cut off his escapees; cut off – could be kill or could be catch (the word has already been used in vv9-10) but it makes more sense to read it as catch or intercept – it would be odd to kill in 14b and then to hand over in 14cThe use in verses 9-10 again underlines the appropriateness of God’s judgment. The Edomites “cut off” the Jews and so God will “cut off” the Edomites. those who escape, fugitives – 21x – usu. from war or judgment - Gene 14:13; Josh 8:22; Judg 12:4-5; Isai 66:19; Jere 42:17; Lame 2:22; Amos 9:1 v17 takes this word up – as the Edomites intended that there should be none who escaped, yet God will make sure that there is “escape” on Mount Zion do not deliver up his survivorsThe word deliver up - 81x - Gene 2:21; Gene 7:16; Exod 14:3; Levi 13:4-5, 11, 21, 26, 31; 1Sam 23:20; 1Sam 24:18; 1Sam 26:8; Psal 78:50; Amos 1:6; Amos 1:9 closed up, shut in, deliver up, hand over, give over to 14 - The hiphil of (sgr) here means “deliver up” (cf. 1 Sam. 23:11; Amos 1:6). Finley14 – hand over – Dt 32.30 and Amos 6.8137 v18 takes up this word – as the Edomites intended that there should be no survivors from the Jews so God will ensure that there are no survivors amongst the Edomites - see also v18 - 28x - what’s remaining, the remnant, what’s left, survivors - Numb 21:35; Deut 2:34; Josh 8:22; Josh 10:33; Isai 1:9; Jere 42:17; Lame 2:22; 138 21.VERSES 15-16 – THE JUDGMENT OF EDOM IS PART OF GOD’S SETTING THE WORLD RIGHT 15.a. For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations. 15.b. As you have done, it shall be done to you; 15.c. your deeds shall return on your own head. 16.a. For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, 16.b. so all the nations shall drink continually; 16.c. they shall drink and swallow, 16.d. and shall be as though they had never been. It is at these verses that the theological frameworks of commentators most come into play. In particular, their understanding of the day of the LORD, the kingdom of God, the fulfillment of OT prophecy and so on. The key approaches could be summarized like this: 1. people who think that “the day of the LORD” can only refer to the universal judgment day at the return of Jesus at the end of history: Edom will be judged in a particular historical judgment but there is a wider, greater judgment coming2. liberals who don’t feel the need to insist that God’s word cannot be broken: Obadiah expected a dramatic, worldwide intervention 0f God in which the Edomites would be broken and all things set straight. It didn’t happen. 139 3. This threatened judgment is certainly coming upon Edom because God shall shortly step in to set things straight and when he does so then all the wicked will be punished and God will usher in a new age of righteousness. A number of things need to be put in place before we can hope to resolve this: a) what is the “day of the LORD” (God’s “step into history to sort things out” time) - it’s payback time - can be multiple b) who is the “you” of 16a? - the Edomites c) what is the function of these verses? - not the transition from focus upon Edom to international, eschatological focus (Edom is still the focus in 17-21. A lot of commentators make the break too strong and decisive and having decided that there is a massive change of focus they then change the order of 15a and 15b so that the “Edom stuff” can be over with and then have a full turn to the international stuff. But instead we should leave the text alone and ask, why would “the day of the LORD on all nations” be followed by a statement “back to you, Edom, you’re in trouble”. When we have explained this, we have got to the heart of these verses and we see them not as a change of subject but as the climax and confirmation of God’s threat upon Edom. This underlines that Edom’s getting what it deserves is part of the day of the Lord against all nations. 140 Is it “what has happened (or is going to happen) to Edom will happen to the nations”? Or “what is going to happen to Edom is inescapable because it will also happen to the nations”? Two commentators who begin to say something of this sort: Renkema - “The much followed interchange of Ob 15a with Ob 15b is without grounds.” p.38Douglas Stuart The impetus to place v 15a with 16–21 and v 15b with 10–14 derives largely from the atomistic perspective that the Day of Yahweh section is self-contained, without close connection to the earlier part of the prophecy. In summary: Because we’re on the verge of (another of) God’s international payback times so there’s no escape for you Edomites. All your sins will be punished. Just as you drank in mad and wicked revelry at the fall of Jerusalem, so when I step in again to set things right I will force all the nations to drink until they collapse and can’t can’t up. Do you really think that you are going to escape. Your judgement – you Edomites - is guaranteed by - your sins - my righteousness - my care for my people - my intention to act judge of ALL the nationsThis is not to deny that there is a very important shift of emphasis or that differences are not to be noticed between the book up to this point and from this point. The first two times the nations are mentioned they are the agents or spectators of judgment (vv1, 2) but 141 now they are the objects of judgment. Whereas in the first half of the book, with the people of God devastated, the threatened judgment of Edom was from the nations (v1) or direct from God (v3) or from allies (v7), in the latter part of the book it is the people of God themselves who are the agents of judgment and who rule over Edom (v18, 21). This amounts to a double judgement on Edom – as Finley puts it “First, the nation will suffer at the hands of other nations (vv. 1b-9). Later, however, it will suffer at the hands of the Lord and at the hands of His people. It is this later judgment that is in focus in vv. 15–21.”Indeed, surely / for near is the day of YHWHThis is the other great “day” which occupies Obadiah, which has already been mentioned in v8 and which contrasts with the “day” mentioned 10 times in vv11-14. That was the day of Judah’s distress but this day, the LORD’s day, will be the day of Edom’s distress. How can the people of God be sure of this? Because it’s unavoidable – it’s a day coming upon all the nations. The day of the LORD is a phrase which occurs directly 16x in the OT prophets. Is 13.6,9 Ezk 13.5, Joel 1.15, 2.1, 11, 2.31, 3.14 Amos 5.18a, b, 20 Obad 15, Zeph 1.7, 14a, b Mal 4.5. Additionally there are other closely related references Is 2.12 22.5 34.8 Zech 14.1 Jer 46.10 Zeph 1.8 Ezek 7.19 Zeph 1.18 Zeph 2.2, 3 Lam 2.22 We have a tendency to over-emphasize the “the” in the phrase as if there can only ever be one “day of the LORD”. The day of the LORD is usually spoken of as future and often as near. But the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC was “the day of the anger of the LORD”. And the same event was “the day of the LORD” which Ezekiel prophesied in 7.19 and 30.3. The 142 “day of the LORD” which Amos announced presumably came with the fall of the northern kingdom in 721 BC (see 5.18, 20). The phrase “the day of the LORD” refers to an event (of unspecified duration) when the LORD steps in explosively, decisively, dramatically in judgement, punishing the wicked, overturning the powers, pouring out his wrath upon the nations and rescuing and restoring the faithful. Thus, when Obadiah says that “the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations” he is not saying that he believes that the whole world is about to end once and for all but rather that “God is about to intervene and straighten things out dramatically. When he does so it will be across the nations. So it will certainly include Edom.” Of course, these international payback interventions of God, these “days” of the LORD” all push our attention on to the next one – that is perhaps why the reference is always future. Yes, 721 BC was the day of the LORD, it was “God steps in to execute justice” but still more was needed. 587BC was the day of the LORD, it, too, was “God steps in to execute justice” but still more was needed. The decisive judgment on the Edomites was the day of the LORD, it was “God steps in to execute justice” (look how Malachi talks about it in 1.3-5) but still more was needed. It is no surprise that even after such dramatic “days” of the LORD as the cross and resurrection of Jesus, the day of Pentecost, and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70, still, while we remain short of the new heavens and the new earth, we look for “the day of the LORD”. (see I Thes 5.2, Romans 2.5, 16, Phil 2.16) upon all the nations; 143 The fact that God is going to intervene to judge all the nations means that there is no way that Edom can escape. Dt 32.35-36 Joel 3.2 Zech 14.1,3The fact that justice will be done to all the nations shows that Obadiah is not an instance of nationalistic chauvinism (the people of Judah being racially or nationally prejudiced against the Edomites) but rather universal accountability to the global sovereign. just as you have done, it shall be done to youThe “you” is, of course, still Edom. This principle holds as basic to the exercise of justice and can be seen over and over in Obadiah. Here it is made explicit. Parallels can be seen Ezek 35.15 also Edom; Prov 12.14 19.17 Joel 3.4, 7 see also Matth 7.2. - proud are humbled – 2-3 - watch the pillage – be pillaged (11-14 and 5-9) - harass survivors and you’ll have no survivors (14, 18) - participate in dispossession and you’ll be dispossessed (14, 7, 19) - summary – 15b- gloating 12-13 so shame 10 and despised 2 - thieves and plunderers – 5, 13, and 5-6 - betray – 10, 12 so 7 - escapees – 14 and 18 - cut off – crime in 14 and punishment in 9-1015 - Obadiah here announces that the punishment will fit the crime. The Edomites betrayed Judah; the nations will betray 144 Edom (v. 7). The Edomites killed or betrayed the refugees; the Lord will cut off all Edomites from their land (v. 9). They boasted against Judah; their shame will last forever (v. 10). Edom dealt violently with his brother; Jacob and Joseph will be like fire burning among the Edomite chaff (v. 18). Edom took the possessions of his brother; the whole nation of Israel will dispossess Edom. Finley your recompense/reward/deed shall return upon your own head. reward, desert, benefits, recompense 17x - your dealing – and what it deserves - Judg 9:16; Psal 28:4; Psal 94:2; Isai 3:11; Isai 59:18; Isai 66:6; Jere 51:6; Lame 3:64; on your head – see Joel 3.7 What sort of drinking will this be? It will either be a drinking of God’s wrath or, perhaps, it too will be a drinking in wickedness only this time 145 22.At this point, one of the most difficult interpretative decisions of the book confronts us. Who is being addressed in Obadiah 16a?It may be that the correct translation of verse 1b is “concerning Edom” rather than “to Edom” but even if it is, Edom is directly addressed over and over again through the prophecy – in verses 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10-14, and 15, (various commentators rightly explaining that this functions as an “apostrophe”). The reader expects, therefore, that verse 16 is also addressed to Edom.“For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain, all the nations will drink continually …”However, a large numbers of interpreters think otherwise. They think that the “you” of verse 16 indicates a change of addressee and should be identified with the people of Judah. There are three main ways, then, of understanding verse 16, namely,1. as you Edomites have drunk God’s wrath so the nations will too … 2. as you Edomites have drunk in joy at Judah’s fall so the nations will drink the cup of wrath … 3. as you Judahites have drunk the cup of wrath so the nations will drink the cup of wrath … I will give no attention to option 1. because it seems to me that it is ruled out by the temporal orientation of the entire prophecy, namely, that Edom has yet to be punished.As to options 2 and 3, there are arguments in both directions: A. The People of Judah … 146 1. The grammatical form of the “you” is different from that used previously in Obadiah. Up until this point all the direct addresses to the Edomites have used the singular form but here in verse 16 the “you” is plural form. “You (singular) have been doing this and you (singular) have been doing that and I will do this to you (singular). And as you (plural) have drunk …”. The argument runs that a change in the grammatical form must indicate that someone different is being addressed. 2. The focus of the prophecy now shifts from a particular judgment upon the Edomites to a more general judgment upon the nations and to the restoration of the people of Judah. This would be an appropriate moment to turn from addressing Edom directly to addressing the people of Judah directly. 3. If it is the Edomites who are addressed then it probably requires that the drinking in the two parts of the verse are different sorts of drinking. This would be odd. 4. Whichever people are the “you” of verse 16a have drunk “on my holy mountain”. Surely that is more likely to be the people of Judah than the Edomites. 5. The picture of the “cup of wrath” being drunk first by God’s people and then handed over to the nations is one which is found explicitly elsewhere in Scripture, in Isaiah 51.17-23 B. The Edomites …1. It would be surprising if a major change of addressee were not more definitely signalled than by a small change of 147 grammatical form. This is especially the case given that there is already a bit of to-ing and fro-ing between the grammatical form of those addressed or referred to in Obadiah (for example, Edom is feminine in verse 1 and masculine in verse 2; the people of Judah are both singular and plural in verse 13) as well as in other minor prophets. 2. The focus of the prophecy does not shift so dramatically at this point as might at first be thought. Although “all the nations” are mentioned in both verses 15 and 16, this is order to underline the inescapability of the LORD’s judgment of Edom. (Incidentally, this clarifies the sense of verse 15 so as to render unnecessary a re-ordering of the parts of the verse.) It is not as though Edom fades from view at verse 15 and16; it receives direct and explicit attention in verses 18, 19 and 21. This means that Edom can be regarded as included in “all the nations” rather than separated off from them (a separation which has no theological point). 3. It is not at all implausible that there are two sorts of drinking referred to in the first two lines of the verse. “As you Edomites drank in mad revelry on the mountain of my (outraged emphasis) holiness, so all the nations will drink of my wrath to the bitter end - and any thoughts of escape you have will prove to be utterly unfounded.” In fact, more can be said here. The very fact that, in contrast to almost every other biblical use of the image of drinking God’s wrath (the one exception is Psalm 60.3) there is no mention of “wrath” or of a particular vessel (“bowl” or “cup”) might suggest that it is not a single (sort of) drink which is referred to in the verse. In fact, taking this further, it is possible that the idea of the “cup of the wine of wrath” might not even be present in the second half of the verse. The idea (in the absence to reference to “cup” or “wrath”) might be that just as the Edomites drank in mad and wicked revelry so God will make all the nations 148 (Edom included) drink and keep drinking, get drunk and more drunk until they are so utterly soaked that they pass from consciousness and never get up again. Although this would represent a judgment from God, it is a slightly different image from that of the “cup of wrath”. 4. The place where the drinking took place gives no firm indication one way or another as to who did the drinking. The Edomites drank in revelry on the mountain of God’s holiness and the people of Judah drank of God’s wrath on the mountain of his holiness. 5. Attention has not been given to the fact that, if the “you” of verse 16a were the people of Judah and the drinking were the drinking of God’s wrath, this would be the only direct reference in the whole vision to the guilt of God’s people. Doubtless, the disaster which had befallen them was utterly deserved but this is simply not the focus of Obadiah’s prophecy. This strikes me as a strong argument for the “you” referring to the Edomites and not to the people of Judah. 6. On another level, and perhaps unfairly, it could also be mentioned that although modern commentators have sometimes sneered at those of an earlier age for their smoothing out apparent contradictions between biblical passages and for their explaining one passage by reference to another they are not averse to their own sort of harmonization – that which flows from what has been called “parallelomania”. It is clever and interesting to explore the “cup of wrath” theme at the moment when Obadiah mentions “drinking” but that does not mean that Obadiah is referring to it (at least, not necessarily in both parts of the verse). I think that arguments B.3 and B.5 are my inventions which means that I probably think they are better than they are. Nevertheless, my 149 conclusion – arising from the inconclusiveness of the arguments to the contrary and from the neglect of argument B.5 above - is that the Edomites are the “you” of Obadiah 16a.As to the particular phrasing of the verse, For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain, the mountain of my holiness – this is a way of referring to Jerusalem and, in particular, Jerusalem as the location of the temple. Thus the Edomites’ mad revelry was doubly wicked – not only was it an evil way of reacting to the destruction of Jerusalem but it constituted a further desecration of the holy place. all the nations will drink continually and they will drink and they will swallow and they will be as though they had not been. not been – see Is 29.7-8 41.11-12 Zeph 1.3, 18 - driven in inconsequence / insig (Buse) but remember this not mean literal annihilation – see Jer 49.11 (biblical judgement-destruction not “annihilationist”) Those who think that the people of God are the “you” who have drunk on the mountain of God’s holiness often develop the idea that what they have been drinking is the cup of God’s wrath and that that cup will now be passed to the nations. It is worth outlining the way in which some read the “drinking” 150 that is going on here. There is a strong biblical theme of the cup of God’s wrath and many see that idea here. Some of the key passages to follow up are Numbers 5 Job 21.19-20 wrath Ps 23.5 blessing Ps. 60.3 wine that made us stagger Ps 75.8 a cup with foaming wine Isa 51.17-23 cup of his wrath Is 63.6 drunk in my wrath Jer 25.15-29 the cup of the wine of wrath Jer 48.26-27 slightly different image Jer 49.12 drink the cup … punished Jer 51.7-8 cup .. mad Jer 51.39 drunk Lam 4.21 to Edom the cup shall pass .. become drunk Ezek 23.31–34 the cup of horror and desolation Hab 2.16 the cup in the LORD’s right hand Zech 12:2 Jerusalem a cup of staggering Mk 14.36 let this cup pass from me Rev 14.10 the wine of his wrath … the cup of his anger Rev 16.19 the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath Rev 19.15 winepress of the fury of the wrath of God For all that I do not think that Obadiah is referring to this idea here, it is nevertheless a glorious thing that the Lord Jesus Christ – in spite of recoiling from the awfulness of coming under the curse of God – takes the cup of God’s wrath – the cup that brings a bitter curse – and drinks in instead of his people, the sinners who deserve to be consumed by God’s wrath. In turn, remembering his death in their place and rejoicing in the favour of God which is upon them in Jesus, the people of God take up the cup of blessing, the cup of thanksgiving and rejoice in the participation in the benefits of the death and life of Jesus. 151 23.VERSES 17-21 – DELIVERANCE, POSSESSION AND RULE FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD 17.a. But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, 17.b. and it shall be holy, 17.c. and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. Obadiah, still speaking God’s words to the Edomites with the exiled people of God as the real addressees, now turns to the impact on the people of God of the decisive international setting-things-straight in which the Edomites are punished which he has announced. Raabe sees something of a chiasm in these verses destiny of Zion - 17 repossession of the land - 17 victory over enemy - 18 repossession of the land – 19-20 destiny of Zion – 21 Three aspects of God-given hope are described here: deliverance, re- sanctification of what has been desecrated, and re-possession of what has been taken away. Questions of how these verses are to be understood in the broader sweep of God’s saving rule over human history are addressed in XXXXX. Matthew Henry summarizes like this: 17 - But Mount Zion is the gospel-church, from which the New-Testament law went forth, Isa. ii. 3. There salvation shall be preached and prayed for; to the gospel-church those are added who shall be saved; and for those who come in 152 faith and hope to this Mount Zion deliverance shall be wrought from wrath and the curse, from sin, and death, and hell, while those who continue afar off shall be left to perish. - Matthew Henry17 - the gospel-church shall be set up among the heathen, and shall replenish the earth; - Matthew HenryThis verse is taken up in Joel 2.32 and in the surrounding paragraphs in Joel (see esp 3.17-21) where it is seen more fully what it means for God to reside on Mount Zion and sanctify it. 17.a. But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,Mount ZionMount Zion was the name applied to the Temple Mount where the LORD’s presence was enshrined and which was sanctified by his presence. Relevant texts include Ezek 28.14 (Eden as the holy mountain) Ex 3.5 – God’s presence sanctifies; Ps 11.4 Is 52.1 Dn 9.20 Ps 48.2, Is 8.18, Lam 5.18 rehabilitation of holy city – Joel 3.17 Is 52.1 Zech 9.8This is the first time that Mount Zion has been named (though it was referred to in v15). This is partly because, occurring here and in v21 it acts as a marker to set off this last section of the book and partly because it is only at this stage that the people of God – dwelling in and associated with Mount Zion – can be thought of as members and representatives of a kingdom as such. 153 Escape Related to the word in v14 - “escape” (there were some “survivors / escapees” but the Edomites intended that even they should suffer; here, in the centre of the storm of judgment, God’s people escape - 28x - deliverance, escape; can stand as a collective noun for “those who escape” closely relates to remnant which God delivers and purifies - Gene 45:7; Judg 21:17; 2Kin 19:30-31; 1Chr 4:43; Ezra 9:8, 13-15; Isai 10:20; Joel 2:32; (Ezra 9.8-13, Is 4.2 10.20 37.31-32 Jer 50.28 51.50 Ezk 6.8-9, 7.16, 14.22 24.26-27)” remnant idea – Is 4.2 and 10.20 17.b. and it shall be holy,- amongst other things, it shall be a sanctuary and therefore inviolable – see Joel 3.1717.c. and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. The word translated “possess” here comes to dominate the last few verses of the book. It is a commonly used word in the OT, occurring more than 200x with a range of meanings. In family or legal contexts usually means “inherit”. When the object of the verb is people then it means “dispossess”. When the object of the verb is territory it means “possess”. – take possession of, inherit, dispossess. In this verse there is textual uncertainty about the word “possessions” which then feeds back into how we read the “possess” word. 154 It might be “dispossessors”, in which case the verb will mean “subdue, conquer, dispossess” – as it does when the object is people. Or it might be “possessions”, in which case the verb will mean “possess, innherit” – as it does when the object is territory. If we read as “possessions” there are still two ways in which the sentence could be understood – either possession as the promised ancient inheritance - Ex 6.8 Ps 136.21-22 Ezk 11.15 33.24 or possessions – the things that had been taken from them – their = Edomites? The ultimate outcome is the same with all three of these possibilities – the people of God will take back from the Edomites (and others) what had been taken from them and so will come into full possession of the promised inheritance. VERSE 18 18.a. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, 18.b. and the house of Joseph a flame, 18.c. and the house of Esau stubble; 18.d. they shall burn them and consume them, 18.e. and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, 18.f. for the LORD has spoken. This verse is reasonably self-explanatory. The house of Jacob and the house of Joseph are ways of describing the people of God. The house of Esau describes the Edomites. God’s people will be agents of his 155 wrath and used by him to destroy the Edomites utterly. Some particular questions do, however, require attention. Key parallels are to be found at See Ezek 25.14 and Num 24.18 v important background The house of Jacob and the house of JosephThe northern kingdom (which ended with the destruction of Samaria in 722BC and the exile to Assyria from which none returned) was sometimes referred to as the house of Joseph. as in I K 11.28 Ps 77.15 Am 5.6) “Jacob” might stand for the southern kingdom or it might stand for the whoe 12-tribes people of God (as in Ps 22.23) David Baker succinctly answers: “In either case, all of the tribes, those previously exiled by Assyria and those now taken by Babylonia, will be involved in Edom’s judgment (cf. also Ezr. 6:17; 8:35, where all twelve tribes of Israel are represented).” That is to say, already within the OT period, the thought had emerged that the returnees of the southern kingdom either brought with them or themselves covenantally represented those of the northern kingdom such that the re-occupation of the land was a reuniting of the divided kingdom. This is plain in the way that in NT times it is not an issue (CHECK WITH NTW NTPG) that the northern tribes did not return en bloc. Already, that is to say, within the OT the redefinition of Israel has begun. The line of “national” continuity is at least in part a covenantal matter. 156 Fire The image is plain. God’s holy presence is like fire (refs) and this comes to the wicked as consuming punishment (though the fire of God does not always wrathfully consume – see the burning bush (God with his afflicted people in the thorns of Egyptian oppression) and the day of Pentecost (God crowning his people with Spirit-fire, restoring their lost glory and empowering them to advance the kingdom). And here it is the judicial destruction of the wicked which is in view. How far Obadiah and his hearers actually envisaged the use of military force and physical violence, killing every edomite they could find, as the way in which they would come into their possessions is hard to say. Burn image – Is 10.17 33.11 Ex 15.7 Is 47.14 Fire and flame – God’s wrath (Ps 18.8 Lam 1.13 Amos 1.4) “actualized through God’s people” (Baker) Certainly the phrase “and there shall be no survivor to the house of Esau” is one which comes from the holy war language of passages such as – Num 21.35 Josh 8.22 and 10.28-43 Dt 2.34 3.3 . Edom had tried to eliminate Israel but had failed (vv14, 17). Israel, however, will conquer utterly. Jer 42.17 44.14 Lam 2.22A number of qualifications need to be put in place: a) Mal seems to think the job is done even though there are individuals still around 157 b) v21 does not suggest the actual annihilation of every Edomite – unless Mount Esau is regarded merely as a geological feature as against the kingdom of Edom. c) the language of “consuming” doesn’t require total annihilation “As Jacob had been devoured (Jer 10.25, Ps 14.4 Mic 3.3 Zech 12.6) so will Edom be consumed.” (Baker) d) there are other places where – see v8 10 One or two NT perspectives should be brought to bear upon this. 1. The fire people of God a. Acts 2 b. Rom 12 c. Rev 8 d. Rev 112. Conquest and destruction a. judicial, penal, retribtive – yes – Herod, Alexander, Rev 2-3 b. but – cf Elijah in 2 K 1 with Peter and John in Lk 9 and then Acts 8 c. the traditional This is fulfilled, (1.) In the conversion of multitudes by the grace of Christ; the gospel, ... Those that are not refined as gold by fire of the gospel shall be consumed as dross by it; - Matthew Henry158 “Those of them that were converted by the preaching of the Gospel ceased to be either Edomites or Jews and became Christians. The Apostles burning with the zeal of God’s glory and love to men’s souls, devoured and wasted the infidelity, idols and vices of the Gentiles wherever they came preaching. Hence Chrysostom saith, Peter was a man made all of fire, walking among stubble.” Trapp Rom 12 – ablaze in the Spirit – people as fire – day of Pentecost etc 3. Military / martial language in NT a. sword of spirit b. lusts which war against your soul c. weapons of our warfaredestroy strongholds d. holy violence – mortify sin, crucify self, cut off hand e. possibly Revelation stuff And the house of Esau for stubble stubble - what it says – light, insubstantial and eminently combustible - Exod 5:12; Exod 15:7; Psal 83:13; Isai 5:24; Isai 40:24; Isai 47:14; Mala 4:1 Remember that in the Bible weight is glorious; dust, gold; chaff etc for YHWH has spoken. It is not clear why this affirmation should be put here. In terms of the original delivery of the contents of Obadiah, of 159 course, it may mark the end of one oracle and the beginning of another. But that doesn’t answer the question as to why it is included here. Perhaps it is because what precedes is almost unbelievable – v17 the complete restoration of God’s people and v18 the complete destruction of their enemies. Putting these things together, I think that if you asked Obadiah what he expected to see, he would say physical destruction of lots of Edomites. If you showed him the advance of the gospel, he would say, “now that’s the sort of stubble-burning in order to possess the world that I really like”If you asked him whether God had misled him .... children’s talk. 160 24.VERSES 19-20 – RETURNING EXILES POSSESS THEIR POSSESSIONS19.a. Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, 19.b. and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines; 19.c. they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, 19.d. and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 20.a. The exiles of this host of the people of Israel 20.b. shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, 20.c. and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad 20.d. shall possess the cities of the Negeb. These two verses do go together though they might be thought to cover the same ground twice. This can be seen by the fact that in the first and last lines of the unit we have Negeb and possess. There are all sorts of difficulties in understanding the details – relating to apparently missing verbs, to words that don’t appear to make sense, and to XXXXXXX. As Finley puts it “v. 20 From the standpoint of the Hebrew text, v. 20 is the most difficult in the entire book of Obadiah to interpret.”Actually, a distinction between them can be drawn: v19 may well refer to exiles who have already returned or to those who remained in the land when the exile happened v20 certainly does refer to exiles, and probably to ones who are still in exile or on the way home 161 Barton’s summary seems fair: “The exegetical puzzles of this oracle are many and various. The general sense is fairly clear: Jewish exiles will return and resettle the land of Israel, and the inhabitants of various regions will take control of adjoining territory belonging to other nations, who will be expelled to make room for them. But the detail is baffling. If we adopt minimal textual emendations and do not remove whole phrases as glosses (which may nevertheless be the correct solution!), the picture we get is this. People exiled from the Negeb will return to inhabit not just the Negeb but the bordering territory of Edom (Mount Esau): fittingly for an addition to Obadiah, who was so concerned with Edom, this group is named first. Those from the Shephelah will add to it the land of the Philistines to the west. Then some group (the name is missing – perhaps Judah?) will inhabit the land of Ephraim ... Here we have, as in some other late exilic or postexilic oracles, a hope for the restoration of the old Northern Kingdom through its resettlement by the Jewish exiles (cf. Jer 30.15-20, 50.17-20). Benjaminites will regain their ancestral holdings but also spread across the Jordan to take over Gilead ... Those exiled to Halah in Syria will return to take over (the far north of Israel, i.e. Galilee, and) the territory of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, north of traditional Israelite territory. And those exiled from Jerusalem to Sardis will take over the towns in the Negeb once they are back in the holy city ... foretelling the glorious restoration of the preexilic (even pre 721) “land of Israel” and its annexation of neighbouring territories to produce a kind of “Greater Israel” whose boundaries would correspond roughly to those supposed in the OT to have existed in the age of David. The oracle thus spells out in detail the hopes probably implied in Is 55.4-5 and Amos 9.11-12. One could 162 see Obad 19-20 as a kind of commentary on or detailed working out of the underlying oracle that appears towards the end of the book of Amos...” Barton What is clear is that this is about the re-occupation of the land by returning exiles and to expanded territory – in all directions. 19a is about the south, 19b about the west, 19c about the north and 19d about the east. 20a-b are about the north and 20c-d are about the south. This itself gives us the overall message of the verses. The key line of interpretation is laid out not only in sermon XXX but by Calvin, Matthew Henry and Keil and Delitizsch: Calvin - The Prophet, I doubt not, means here that all those territories, which had been formerly promised to the children of Abraham, would come into their possession when the Lord would send his Christ, not only to restore what had fallen, but also to render the state of the people in every way blessed. The import of the whole then is, that the Jews shall not only recover what they had lost, but what had not hitherto been given them to possess: all this the Lord would bestow on them when Christ came.19-20 - But the promise here, no doubt, has a spiritual signification, and had its accomplishment in the setting up of the Christian church, the gospel-Israel, in the world, and shall have its accomplishment more and more in the enlargement of it and the additions made to it, till the mystical body is completed. - Matthew HenryK&D - Hengstenberg has rightly shown that we have here simply an individualizing description of the promise in Gen 28:14, "thy seed will be as the dust of the ground; and thou breakest out to the west and to the east, to the north and to 163 the south," etc.; i.e., that on the ground of this promise Obadiah predicts the future restoration of the kingdom of God, and its extension beyond the borders of Canaan. Niehaus shows how verse 19 is probably to be read (words in square brackets are not in the Hebrew but are inserted on the basis of what surrounds them in order to make sense of the words which are there): the Negev shall possess Mount Esau and the Shephelah [shall possess] the Philistines they shall possess the range of Ephraim and [they] [shall possess] the range of Samaria and Benjamin [shall possess] Gilead There are various possibilities for verse 20a 1. And the exile of this company of the sons of Israel that are Canaanites [shall possess] up to Zarephath 2. And the exile of this company of the sons of Israel shall possess the Canaanites up to Zarephath 3. And the exiles who are in Halah of the sons of Israel that are Canaanites [shall possess] up to Zarephath 4. And the exiles who are in Halah of the sons of Israel shall possess the Canaanites up to ZarephathA strong argument against 1. and 3. is that it is almost inconceivable to call exiles Jews CanaanitesAn argument against 2 and 4 is that it has to change the text to arrive at “shall possess” and even then it is different from the other instances of “shall possess” in these verses by missing a little grammar-function particle word. (1 and 3 have to add those words but this looks as if it was necessary in v19) 164 An argument against 1 and 2 is that by parallel with 20c-d, the exiles mentioned should be associated with a place.Stuart summarizes the concrete significance of the verse, giving additional geographical detail: Whereas v 19 may refer either to returned exiles or to those oppressed but not deported, v 20 clearly concentrates on the blessings awaiting returnees, who will in general reoccupy the promised land (Canaan) to its ideal extreme limits. Zarephath, just south of Sidon, was at this time part of Phoenician territory, but the prediction of Israelite control so far north on the coastal plain fulfills the original northwest border assignment (Joshua 19:28, “greater Sidon”; cf. 1 Kgs 17:9, “Zarephath of Sidon”) achieved only in David’s reign. Zarephath was traditionally inhabited by at least some Israelites, judging from 1 Kgs 17:7–24.The second couplet encourages hope that Jerusalemites exiled to Sepharad will return to occupy southern Judah. Sepharad’s location is a matter of speculation (see D. Neiman, “Sefarad: The Name of Spain,” JNES 22 [1963] 128–32). The likely site, however, is Assyrian “Saparda” / Persian “Sparda,” a country south of Lake Urmia, north and west of Media (NBD, 1160). In other words, exiled Judeans will come from even beyond the far reaches of the Babylonian empire, miraculously brought back by Yahweh, driving the Edomites out of their encroachments!ExilesThe word for “exile” or “the captivity” (a collective noun which can therefore be translated as exiles or captives) . The word is also found in is, according to Baker, “often associated165 with Judaean deportees after 587 BC (2 Kg 25.27, Ezk 1.2) supporting an exilic dating for the book.” 2Kin 25:27; Isai 20:4; Isai 45:13; Jere 28:4; Amos 1:6; Of this company / that are in Halah see I K 10.2 Ezk 37.10 for seeing it as company (can also mean rampart, bulwark, army) Halah (by changing vowels) – an Assyrian site where there were exiles - 2 K 17.6 18.11 I Ch 5.26. that (are among / is with / shall possess) the Canaanites to Zarephath; some change “that are” to “will possess” “The underlying point seems to be a promise that those once in exile would possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath.” (Coggins) 166 25.The Kingdom shall be the LORD’sVERSE 21 21.a. Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion 21.b. to rule Mount Esau, 21.c. and the kingdom shall be the LORD's. Three lines mentioning the three key figures of the book – jerusalem/Mount Zion; Edom/Mount Esau, and the LORD. The climax of the book. God’s people are where they should be – ruling from Zion; the Edomites are where they should be – under the righteous rule of God’s people; and the LORD is what he should be – the undisputed, fully acknowledged King. And given that the defeat of Edom was associated with judgement upon all the nations then this implies that this is the overthrow of all the powers of evil. “What is envisaged is not, in the end, primarily national superiority for Israel, but the universal rule of God as king, removing from his domain all the evil which opposes him and thwarts his purpose. He will eradicate all that which ‘Edom’ and ‘the nations’ could be seen to represent and of which they were symbols.” Mason 102 Barton: “As Raabe argues, Obadiah is a kind of response to the message of Lamentations, with its fear that YHWH had abandoned his people. It reaffirms that it is truly YHWH who is in charge of what occurs on earth, and who will, in the long run, take steps to reestablish his sovereignty. God is not to be evaded, but his intention is ultimately to establish a new 167 world order characterized by peace, though also by the predominance of his chosen people, Israel.” (Barton 158) And saviours shall come up on Mount Zion Saviours - relates to the word from which we get the names Joshua and Jesus. Some texts have “the saved” rather than “saviours” but that is unjustified. Saviours are those who save, make salvation happen, bring about deliverance. Some other OT uses of the basic word are – Deut 28.29, 31; Jud 3.9, 15; II Sam 22.3; II Kings 13.5; Neh 9.27; Ps 106.21; Is 19.20, 43.3, 11; Is 63.8; Hos 13.4 The word is used in Neh 9.27 to describe the heroes of the times of the Judges and this fits perfectly both becuase the hope of a restored Davidic monarchy is absent from Obadiah and becuase these are leaders who, empowered by the Spirit, bring israel back into liberty and possession of the land after they have been oppressed as a result of their own unfaithfulness. As Ben Zvi puts it “the text asks its (re)readers to dream about and hope for a world reminiscent of that of the Judges.” 258 These might be regarded as the leaders, the elite troops who take the last bastion (though that would almost go in the opposite direction from seeing the whole restoration begin at Zion) But 21a-b is to be regarded as the climax and the purpose of the repossession activity. The headquarters of the kingdom, the capital city of the people of God is back in their hands and from their they rule over those who previously have been their worst enemies. As Buse puts it, Zion – “From the 168 location of their escape, Yahweh will empower his people to rule” (Buse) The elevation of Mount Zion at the centre of a renewed and righteous world is similar to the thought of Is 2 and Mic 4 Zech 14 is also very similar to the hope of these last verses to judge Mount EsauConquering Zion leads to ruling Edom – and is from Zion – is the HQ of the kingdom. 182 x to judge, govern, act as law-giver, decide controversies, execute judgt (and put things right) – discriminate, vindicate, condemn and punish – NOT all of these here but this the range … Gene 16:5; Gene 31:53; Numb 25:5; Judg 2:16-19; Judg 3:10; 2Kin 15:5; 2Chr 1:10; Psal 9:8; Psal 58:11; Psal 96:13; Prov 29:14; Isai 33:22; Isai 51:5; Joel 3:2; Joel 3:12 Renkema - v21 – “This change of power, however, does not end up in a frenzy of revenge for the evil suffered. The new masters who will lead the people in Zion will also govern Edom with justice as representatives of YHWH’s kingship.” p.108“Verse 21 actually implies a kind of ‘promise’ for Edom” Kellermann quoted by Wolff And the kingship/dom shall be YHWH’s. The royal authority; the undisputed identity and rule as king. 1Sam 10:16; 1Sam 10:25; 1Sam 14:47; 1Kin 1:46; Psal 22:28169 In many of the OT prophets the hope for rule is expressed in terms of the restoration of the Davidic monarchy. This is not mentioned here. The LORD’s Although not precisely the last word in the book, it is unsurprising that the book ends with this phrase. This is the summary of the state of affairs that will be brought about by the intervention of God which brings punishment to Edom, judgment to the nations, and restoration to God’s people. We pray Obadiah everytime we pray the Lord’s PrayerRev 11.15 170 26.Obadiah through Puritan eyes …Introduction A common Puritan method of preaching was, after making explanatory remarks about the passage, to draw out a series of propositions – teaching points – which would then be explained and applied to the hearers. Two Puritans produced commentaries on the book of Obadiah according to this method:  Edward Marbury, A Brief Commentarie or Exposition upon the Prophecy of Obadiah, London, 1649 George Hutcheson, An Exposition of the Prophecies of Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, London, 1654Below you will see a selection of Marbury and Hutcheson’s teaching points. Your task … a) Look at the verse with which the teaching point is associated and – without taking an age about it – decide whether it is (i) true in general and (ii) legitimately derived from the verse. (Obviously, it is possible to tick (i) without ticking (ii), but it is not possible to tick (ii) without ticking (i).) b) When you have arrived at a teaching point which passes both tests in a) then answer the following questions. Since it is true that … X … 171 1. then what should we think differently about - ourselves? - those who are not yet Christians? - my daily vocation? - the church? - what a consistent Christian life looks like? - the nation? - the persecuted church? - what we read in our newspaper?2. and what are appropriate feelings / attitudes in the light of this truth? 3. and what should we pray for for one or two of these groups / dimensions of life? 4. and how, if at all, should this affect my personal relationships, responsibilities, walk with the Lord, and decision-making? c) Note: it is much more important that you should arrive at substantive discussion, application, and prayer about a few of these than that you should please yourself or impress others by showing why a given teaching point is less than 100% perfect d) After doing a) and b) above, and avoiding c), take time to pray together about the things you have been discussing. e) We will do a couple all the same and briefly feedback. After that we can break into groups and start with whichever section of the book we wish – though it would be a good discipline to work through the whole of a section or two … Verse 1: 1. The counsel and providence of the Lord extends itself and is exercised not only about his Church but even among enemies172 2. Wars are not beyond the providence of God 3. God may punish one evil nation by anotherVerses 2-4:4. Whatever instruments are employed in inflicting any judgment, yet God is to be eyed as having chief hand in them all. 5. The Lord, responding to sin, can bring down the greatest person in the world and lay them in the dust, and pour contempt upon the most honoured. 6. God casts down the proud 7. They that despise God shall be despised 8. God resists the proud. Pride is abominable in the sight of God and it deceives man. 9. The Lord judges of men’s pride not so much by their outward carriage, which may be masked over with a show of humility, as by looking to their heart and discerning the conceit and lofty imaginations that reign there. Verses 5-9:10. No place is safe without God’s protection, for the hidden things of Esau shall be searched and found out. 11. God deals with sins with the same measure that they have measured to others. 12. The falling out of these allies with Edom shows that there is no true and lasting peace between the ungodly. 13. Those who have put their trust in men have no understanding. 173 14. Human wisdom and counsel against the Lord are never sensible actions for a nation - when the Lord has ruin to bring upon a people, their wisdom and policy will not avert it. 15. When exercised against God, the help of other humans is useless. 16. Natural men never cease to find more idols to trust in – when one fails they will have another to flee to. Verses 10-14: 17. They that join with others, in action of murder or robbery, are actually culpable as aiders, abettors, and maintainers of cruelty and wrong. Cruelty of collaboration 18. They that look upon the injuries done to their brethren with delight and without having compassion or relieving them, are culpable along with those who injure them. Cruelty of the eye 19. The heart of man which rejoices in evil breaks the law of charity even if the head does not plan evil or the hand do it. Cruelty of the heart, rejoicing against their brethren 20. An idle onlooker on the people of God’s distress, not duly concerned with or affected by it, is God’s enemy. 21. The proud words of the enemies of God break peace and flow against the tide of charity. Cruelty of the tongue 22. Whatever is done against our brother in his person or in his goods breaks the law. Cruelty of hands shown in invasion of their city, plundering of their goods, betrayal of life, depopulation of the nation 23. It is horrible wickedness when false brethren actively concur and take part in the oppression of the Church of God. 24. Even when God is afflicting his Church and letting loose the reins to the fury of men against them, yet he does not cease to care for them … “my people”. 174 Verses 15-16:25. God by his universal providence is Sovereign Lord and Judge of all men, even of those who do not know or acknowledge him. 26. God has set a time to punish every sin of the impenitent. 27. God punishes those whom he himself has stirred up to be the instruments to punish others. 28. Though the Church of God lives under the cross for a time, it shall not be so for ever. 29. Where God loved once, he loves forever. Though he afflicts, he loves still. Verses 17-21: 30. God requires holiness of life from those whom he delivers from evil. 31. Holiness is not only the Church’s duty – to study it – but it is the Lord’s promise and he undertakes to work it in her. 32. God delivers his Church in order that they may serve him. 33. God punishes the enemies of his Church by means of the very Church whom they have previously defeated. 34. Although God may punish for a long time, he loves his people forever. 35. Christ in his Church will gain ground on his enemies and possess and reign over them, either by their voluntary conversion, or violent subjection and destruction. 36. Although God has all power and all means under his control he chooses to use us as the instruments of his favour to one another – to be “saviours”. 37. The intention and outcome of all God’s favours to the Church is that his Kingdom on earth should be advanced and that we should submit ourselves as faithful subjects to his dominion. 175 27.An Obadiah HymnSuggested tune – Massachusetts (set to Psalm 57 in CRC Psalter Hymnal)"Perched in your craggy fortresses set high above the ground, you think you are untouchable but I will bring you down. Your height won’t save, your wealth won’t save, your friends will traitors prove; your wisdom and your mighty men – they cannot rescue you. Where I demanded brothers’ love, you watched with vicious hate; malicious, cruel, and arrogant, you mocked my people’s fate. My wrath will crush you, Edomites, you vile, hubristic crew. I’ll cut you down and cut you off so none remember you. When I step into history (that Day is near at hand) you’ll drink in pain, not revelry and lose the power to stand. But on Mount Zion I will save and vindicate my own; from there they’ll take and rule the land and there I’ll set my throne." 176 Now what God by his prophet said he has through Jesus done. Deliverance, possession, rule – achieved by God’s great Son. Discipling nations, conquering powers, he’s ruling all things now. And as it’s seen that he is King before him all shall bow.177 28.An Obadiah Children’s Talk – with RhymesChildren’s talk II – OT Prophecy and NT fulfillment: 1. Janie was SO hot. Day after day she’d been sweltering and she was getting tired of it and a little grumpy. Walking along the street with her Dad she was complaining about the weather and how she didn’t feel like doing anything because she was just TOO hot. As they were walking along they saw a couple of people doing things to cool themselves down. The first had a large white paper fan and was using that to cool her face. The second had a battery-operated hand-held fan – you know the things – and was holding that up to his face too. Janie said to her Dad. Dad. I’m desperate. PLEASE can I have something like that. I don’t think I can survive another day being as hot as this. Her Dad, calmly and gently, simply said, “Yes, Janie. I promise to give you something tomorrow that will cool you down.” Janie was delighted. She spent the evening – and some of her dream- time too – thinking about something to cool her down. She hoped it would be a battery-fan because although they’re useless, they feel like they must be doing some good. Next morning, after a stifleinlingly hot night, Janie got up, already hot – and ran to her Dad’s bedroom. Dad, Dad, you promised something to cool me me. Where is it? Her Dad replied, “go to the window, open the curtains and look out”. Janie did so straightaway and could hardly believe her eyes – there in the back garden was the most enormous paddling pool you could imagine. You could almost call it a swimming pool – it was rectangular and was waist high and already full of water. Janie leapt on her Dad’s bed, gave him a 178 (sweaty) hug and then dashed outside and jumped in the pool – in her pajamas. She knew something was coming but when it came it was beyond her wildest hopes. 2. Alex was obsessed with train sets. I know that not many people are these days but that didn’t stop Alex. It’s true, he didn’t have very much – a few feet of track that he managed to squeeze in his small bedroom, a couple of engines and a few coaches. But when his Mum and Dad asked him what he’d like for his birthday he didn’t hesitate. Please may I have something for my trains? Well, what would you like? I don’t mind – an engine, a signal, some extra track – anything you like – just so long as its for my trains. His Mum and Dad promised, “OK then, an engine, a signal, some extra track or anything we like – just so long as its for your trains. Perhaps a surprise, so long as its for your trains.” Three weeks of thinking and wondering and hoping and dreaming. At times Alex wished that he’d said something definite because actually he was hoping for a particular green engine and perhaps he wouldn’t get that. Never mind, he was looking forward to it whatever it was. The morning of his birthday arrrived and Alex came down to breakfast hoping to be able to guess by the shape of the parcel what his present was. When he got there, there was no present. He was a polite chap and so he said nothing when his parents came down a few minutes later. But their first words were, “your present is upstairs – it’s in the loft.” Well, that was just weird, thought Alex – the only time he’d been up in the loft he’d seen that it was nearly empty, dark, dusty and full of spiders. Why would they put his present up there. Actually, when they got there, he found that his Dad had fixed been at work. You pressed a button and the loft hatch opened and a set of steps came down. Alex climbed up, still expecting to see a parcel lying in front of him in the loft. He carefully got up and his Dad shouted, 179 “there’s a light switch there”. He swwitched on the light and Alex had the biggest and the best surprise of his whole life. He could hardly believe his eyes. The loft had been transformed. It had a floor. It was clean and bright and warm. And – this took his breath away – taking up most of the loft itself, there was the most amazxing train layout you could imagine. All arranged at the right height, with metres and metres and metres of track. Engines, sidings, signals, coaches, Landscape, people. It was phenomenal. He remembered what his parents had said: “OK then, an engine, a signal, some extra track or anything we like – just so long as its for your trains. Perhaps a surprise, so long as its for your trains.” He knew something was coming but when it came it was beyond his wildest hopes. 3. Will loves Skittles – the sweets, not the game. And everyone in the family knew that whenever there were Skittles around, Will would be there eager to have his fair share and – if possible – rather more. One afternoon his Gran arrived and as she stepped through the front door she said, “I bought some Skittles up the road, would anyone like some?”. Will’s younger brother, James, piped up. “Please may I have them – Will always has them when we have Skittles.” Gran knew what to expect – Will would insist that he had at least half the packet. And if he was feeling troublesome he’d probably say something like, “I should have more than half because I’m bigger than James.” But to her astonishment, Will said nothing of the sort. He just said, “James can have them all”. Gran fainted with surprise. (It’s OK, she got up again – she was a very fit Gran). James’s jaw hit the floor in amazement. Did he hear right? Did Will just say “James can have them all”? Was Will ill? James asked Will, “Are you sure?” and Will replied “Yes, I’m sure” – and tomorrow you’ll understand why. The next day, it all became clear. Halfway through the morning the boys were playing upstairs (it was a Saturday) and a delivery van 180 drove up outside. Two men came up the front path carrying a large cardboard box which was obviously really heavy. Will knew what it was. He ran downstairs and shouted to his Mum – it’s here Mum. James was curious – what is it, what is it? As Will opened the box he was laughing and explained – it’s 144 mega packs of Skittles – 40 kilos of Skittles. I entered a competition and won and they said that they’d be delivered today. Knowing the great stuff that’s coming tomorrow changes the way we behave today. 4. Alice loved the Narnia Chronicles. She’d read them over and over although her copies were old and tattered, she was always very protective of them. If her brothers asked to borrow them she’d say “no, you might bend them”. If her Dad picked one up she’d say, “please be careful Dad, you might break the back”. One day, all seven of hers were lying on the table and as he walked past Dad tripped and poured a WHOLE cup of coffee over them all . They were drenched and stained and – to put it bluntly – ruined. A minute later Alice came in, saw Dad still trying to wipe them and the empty coffee cup lying there and realized exactly what had happened. Her Dad started to apologize and Alice just laughed and said, “It’s absolutely fine, Dad. It really, really doesn’t matter.” Her Dad was surprised to say the least. He’d expected tears and maybe even temper but all he’d got was a laughter and “it really, really doesn’t matter.” Was there something he should know about. He went out into the kitchen and asked his wife: “What’s got into Alice – I just ruined her favourite books in the whole world and she laughed and said it didn’t matter.” His wife simply replied, “you are so forgetful aren’t you? You know it’s her birthday next week? Well. don’t you remember what Uncle Desmond said he’d give her? A leather-bound, stitched, Pauline Baynes illustrated set of the Narnia 181 hronicles. When you know something like that is coming next week it rather changes things today doesn’t it? “Knowing the great stuff that’s coming in the future changes the way we behave in the present. I hope that I don’t need to say much more than that. Obadiah was promised all sorts of good things and yet he – along with the other OT prophets didn’t really understand just how fabulous the future would be with the arrival of the LORD Jesus Christ. They prophesied “something for my train set” and they were right but while they were thinking of a green engine or a signal, God was planning a loft converted to a national network with masses and masses of all the best things. They were thinking of a battery operated fan and God was planning a swimming pool. But both then and now it remains true that when we know something great is coming in the future then it changes the way we think and feel and behave in the present. We can “afford” to be generous with our good things because there is so much overwhelming good ahead. We can “afford” to be calm about losing things because we know that something far far far better is in the future. Obadiah rhymes for children OBADIAH “Pride and hate” is a wobbly tower which God brings crashing down. But life in Jesus’ powerful hand brings rescue, land and crown. ~~~~~~~182 OBADIAH The prophet Obadiah tells the Edomites their fate: “God’s judgment falls upon you all who live in pride and hate.” He also tells God’s broken few (just now a tiny band): “You shall be rescued and shall rule as owners of the land.” These promises we see God keeps in Jesus Christ our King. The world is His, we reign in Him: to Him all praise we bring.183 29.Reading on ObadiahLeslie Allen, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, (NICOT), Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976 David Baker, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, (TOTC) David W. Baker, T. Desmond Alexander, Bruce K. Waltke Leicester: IVP, 1998 John Barton, Joel and Obadiah (OTL), Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001 Ehud Ben Zvi, A Historical-Critical Study of the Book of Obadiah (Beihefte zur ZAW, No 242), Walter De Gruyter, 1996 J A Bewer, Obadiah and Joel (ICC), Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1911 Irvin A Busenitz, Joel and Obadiah (Mentor Commentary), Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2003 John Calvin, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets trans John Owen; vol 2 – Joel, Amos, Obadiah – Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1950 David J Clark and Norm Mundhenk, A Handbook on the Books of Obadiah and Micah (UBS Helps for Translators), London: UBS, 1982 Richard J Coggins, Nahum, Obadiah, Esther: Israel among the Nations, (International Theological Commentary) Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985 Peter Craigie, The Twelve Prophets, vol. 1, (Daily Study Bible), Edinburgh: The St Andrew Press, 1984 Thomas Finley, Joel, Amos, Obadiah (Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary), Chicago: Moody Press, 1990184 The Geneva Bible, 1599 Matthew Henry, A Commentary upon the Whole Bible, vol. IV, Iowa Falls: World Bible Publishers, n.d. (orig. pub. 1712) George Hutcheson, An Exposition of the Prophecies of Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, London, 1654 C F Keil, Obadiah, (Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the OT), Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988 (ET orig pub. 1868) Edward Marbury, A Brief Commentarie or Exposition upon the Prophecy of Obadiah, London, 1649 R. Mason, Micah, Nahum, Obadiah, JSOT, (Old Testament Guides) Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991 Jeffrey Niehaus, Obadiah in The Minor Prophets ed. Thomas E McComiskey (vol. II), Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993 Matthew Poole, (except it isn’t) E B Pusey, The Minor Prophets (Barnes’ Notes), Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996 (orig. pub. 1885) Paul Raabe, Obadiah - Anchor Bible, 24D, New York: Doubleday, 1997 John Rainolds, The Prophecie of Obadiah Opened and Applied, Oxford, 1613 Johan Renkema, Obadiah, (The Historical Commentary on the Old Testament), Leuven: Peeters, 2003 G A Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, vol II, (The Expositor’s Bible) Tenth Edition, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1908 Douglas Stuart, Hosea – Jonah, (WBC),Waco Word, 1987 John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon the XII Minor Prophets, London, 1654185 G W Wade, Micah, Obadiah, Joel and Jonah (Westminster Commentaries), London: Methuen and Co., 1925 Hans Walter Wolff, Obadiah and Jonah: A Commentary Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1986186

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