The Book of Obadiah Pt. 1
Good evening Dear Readers!
We enjoyed a wonderful weekend together with family and friends and then were blessed with a great Lord's day at our church. I am thankful for times like this that refresh our soul. Every day our hearts need to be oriented toward heaven right as soon as we wake up, so that we can express our thanksgiving to God.
It is good to develop a pattern of reading the Bible and spending time in prayer each morning before doing anything else. It is like our quiet time with the Lord of Glory. Our thoughts turn to heavenly things that will keep us on track as we navigate through life here and now.
Obadiah is the shortest book of the Bible.
I would like to begin a study with you of the Book of Obadiah. He is one of the so called "minor" prophets of the Old Testament. The term "minor" simply means that it is a shorter book of prophecy.
In fact, the book of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. It is only 21 verses in length. Sometimes people dismiss this book because of it's brevity, but Obadiah has a powerful message that should not be overlooked.
I hope to share some of the social and political context from the time frame when Obadiah prophesied so that we can have a better understanding of the importance of his message.
Obadiah was one of the 4 anonymous prophets of the Old Testament.
There are only 4 prophets who are virtually anonymous. They include Habakkuk, Haggai, Malachi and Obadiah. Another interesting aspect of this book is that we know very little about this man. All we know is that he wrote this book under the guidance of the Spirit of God. We do not know much about his family or his history.
Scholars have a variety of positions about when this book was written but there does seem to be consensus that it was probably during the reign of Jehoram and wicked Athaliah.
As a name, Obadiah was fairly common in Israel. His name means “servant of Jehovah.” A servant usually
does not boast about his genealogy, his great exploits or wonderful
experiences. Most servants have very common, humble backgrounds, nothing worth boasting about.
It seems that Obadiah mostly stays in the background and does not put any spotlight upon himself in this book. That seems to be what is suggested by the name of this prophet. Obadiah was a very common name in Israel and no other references to his name in the Bible can be connected to this Obadiah.
Obadiah must have been a man with a heart to serve Jehovah.
Our Lord Jesus Christ heard the ambitious request of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. As you recall, they wanted to sit on thrones on the right hand and left hand of the Lord when His kingdom was established. When the rest of the disciples heard this, they were angered.
Jesus then taught them the true meaning of His kingdom. It means losing yourself in service to the God of Glory. It means being a servant. I share His words with you because I think it captures the heart of what Obadiah may have been like as a man and a prophet.
A servant is called to minister to others. The word "minister" means to serve food and drink to your master. It means to do whatever menial jobs are given to you in service to your master. The next term Jesus used was "servant." This word means a bond slave. Your master owns you for the specific purpose of doing his bidding. When he says jump, you say "How high?"
In this context, the name Obadiah or servant of Jehovah seems most appropriate for an anonymous prophet. He willingly labored in obscurity because He had an important message from Jehovah and he wanted to make sure that all attention would be focused upon what God said.
Matthew 20:24-28 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn.
Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel.
Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:
And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.
Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:
And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.
And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.
We enjoyed a wonderful weekend together with family and friends and then were blessed with a great Lord's day at our church. I am thankful for times like this that refresh our soul. Every day our hearts need to be oriented toward heaven right as soon as we wake up, so that we can express our thanksgiving to God.
It is good to develop a pattern of reading the Bible and spending time in prayer each morning before doing anything else. It is like our quiet time with the Lord of Glory. Our thoughts turn to heavenly things that will keep us on track as we navigate through life here and now.
Obadiah is the shortest book of the Bible.
I would like to begin a study with you of the Book of Obadiah. He is one of the so called "minor" prophets of the Old Testament. The term "minor" simply means that it is a shorter book of prophecy.
In fact, the book of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. It is only 21 verses in length. Sometimes people dismiss this book because of it's brevity, but Obadiah has a powerful message that should not be overlooked.
I hope to share some of the social and political context from the time frame when Obadiah prophesied so that we can have a better understanding of the importance of his message.
Obadiah was one of the 4 anonymous prophets of the Old Testament.
There are only 4 prophets who are virtually anonymous. They include Habakkuk, Haggai, Malachi and Obadiah. Another interesting aspect of this book is that we know very little about this man. All we know is that he wrote this book under the guidance of the Spirit of God. We do not know much about his family or his history.
Scholars have a variety of positions about when this book was written but there does seem to be consensus that it was probably during the reign of Jehoram and wicked Athaliah.
Who was Obadiah?
It seems that Obadiah mostly stays in the background and does not put any spotlight upon himself in this book. That seems to be what is suggested by the name of this prophet. Obadiah was a very common name in Israel and no other references to his name in the Bible can be connected to this Obadiah.
Obadiah must have been a man with a heart to serve Jehovah.
Our Lord Jesus Christ heard the ambitious request of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. As you recall, they wanted to sit on thrones on the right hand and left hand of the Lord when His kingdom was established. When the rest of the disciples heard this, they were angered.
Jesus then taught them the true meaning of His kingdom. It means losing yourself in service to the God of Glory. It means being a servant. I share His words with you because I think it captures the heart of what Obadiah may have been like as a man and a prophet.
A servant is called to minister to others. The word "minister" means to serve food and drink to your master. It means to do whatever menial jobs are given to you in service to your master. The next term Jesus used was "servant." This word means a bond slave. Your master owns you for the specific purpose of doing his bidding. When he says jump, you say "How high?"
In this context, the name Obadiah or servant of Jehovah seems most appropriate for an anonymous prophet. He willingly labored in obscurity because He had an important message from Jehovah and he wanted to make sure that all attention would be focused upon what God said.
Matthew 20:24-28 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
It is highly probable that Obadiah lived during reign of wicked king Jehoram.
Jehoram was the son of Jehoshaphat,
the fifth king of Judah. He killed all 6 of his brothers. Jehoram was a very evil king who proliferated worship of Baal.
During his reign Edom revolted, while the Philistines and Arabians invaded the land. He was judged by Jehovah and then died of a terrible disease in his bowels.
Jehoram was a wicked king who married Ahab's daughter, Athaliah. The text says he did evil in the sight of Jehovah just like every single king of Israel. There are many kings of Israel listed in the books of Chronicles and Kings. Not one of them was "good."
Remember that after Solomon died, the kingdom was divided into two kingdoms. 10 tribes formed what is called Israel and the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the line of David and Jerusalem. Out of all the kings of Judah contained in those lists, only 8 were "good" kings.
2 Kings 8:16-18 And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel,
Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king
of Judah began to reign.
Thirty and two years old was he when
he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
The murderous acts of Jehoram.
Not only did he kill all of his brothers, he also killed many of the princes who might have sympathized with the brothers that he had killed. He killed those with whom he disagreed or disliked.
Not only did he kill all of his brothers, he also killed many of the princes who might have sympathized with the brothers that he had killed. He killed those with whom he disagreed or disliked.
2 Chronicles 21:1-4 Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the
city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
And
he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and
Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were the sons of
Jehoshaphat king of Israel. And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn.
Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel.
Jehoram was an idolater and promoted perversion and paganism.
2 Chronicles 21:6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab:
for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was
evil in the eyes of the LORD.
The remainder of this account in 2 Chronicles goes on to tell us that Jehovah sent judgment upon this wicked king. Several nations that David and Solomon subdued now revolted during his reign. Not only did Jehoram sin, he made all the inhabitants of Judah to commit idolatry and fornication.
2 Chronicles 21:10-11 because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers. Moreover
he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of
Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.
The final end of this vile king is recorded for us in the text below. He was such a bad king that God had the prophet Isaiah send a scathing prophetical rebuke to Jehoram. All the things Isaiah prophesied happened in short order.
2 Chronicles 21:12-19 And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the
LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of
Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made
Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of
the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s
house, which were better than thyself: Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:
And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.
Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:
And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.
And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.
Points to Ponder....
- Obadiah will show us what it means to be a servant of Jehovah.
- Obadiah seems to fulfill the calling that our Lord gave to His disciples.
- Obadiah was called to speak for Jehovah during a time of religious apostasy and political corruption.
- Jehoram was a vile and wicked king. He thought he was getting away with flagrant sinning but Jehovah judged him and took his life.
- A wicked leader can lead the whole nation into religious apostasy.
What we can see in the introduction to this little book of Obadiah is that it does matter how we live. It does matter how we serve our Lord Jesus Christ. Some of us may be called to speak God's truth in dark times and we must be ready to do our Master's bidding.
Bob
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