Hi James and Ellen,
Obadiah was scribed to indict the country of Edom. The Obadiah ‘Book’ was named after the minor prophet who scribed this one chapter denunciation. Obadiah – whose name means ‘servant’ or ‘worshipper of Jehovah’ or ‘Yahweh’, scribed his short missive sometime after 600 B.C. The Israelite people group guys and gals who were living in the city of Jerusalem in 599 B.C. were under siege from Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army. God about 1,500 years earlier had a guy by the name of Abram relocate from the Mesopotamian region to near a site in an area of land that was called Canaan that would one day become the city of Jerusalem. The Mesopotamian region in 2,100 B.C. encompassed what is today the countries of Iraq, parts of Syria, Turkey and Iran. Beginning with a promise that God made to Abram – who God renamed Abraham, God had Abraham’s extended family become His specially chosen guys and gals. Abraham’s extended family took root through one of his grandkids – whose name was Jacob. Jacob was a twin. Jacob’s older twin bro’s name was Esau. In order for Jacob to get his dad’s birthright blessing – which Esau as the older bro was to inherit, Jacob – with the help of his ma – whose name was Rebekah, hoodwinked his sight challenged old dad – whose name was Isaac, into giving him the birthright blessing. To escape Esau’s wrath when Esau found out what his younger bro had done to him, Jacob headed for what is now north Syria. Jacob’s uncle Laban lived in what is now north Syria. Once Jacob did everything that his uncle Laban told him that he needed to do in order to marry Rachel – who was one of Laban’s daughters and who he became enamored with the first moment that he saw her, Jacob left with Rachel – Rachel’s older sis Leah and their handmaids along with possessions – including sheep, that he had accrued for his family’s homestead in the land of Canaan. Jacob had a dream during the trek where he literally wrestled with God. God during the dream changed Jacob’s name – which meant ‘deceiver’, to Israel – which means ‘he struggles with God’. Twelve sons were born to Jacob – or Israel, through Rachel, Leah – who Laban tricked Jacob into marrying before he could marry Rachel, Rachel’s handmaid and Leah’s handmaid. Jacob’s twelve sons would become known as the Israelite people group guys and gals.
After what his younger bro did when Jacob fooled their dad into blessing him with the family birthright, Esau felt that he did not have a choice – even though Jacob fled the area for 21 years, to find someplace else to live. After killing the Horite people group guys and gals who lived in the hill country that was located south of the Dead Sea, Esau and his family in 1920 B.C. took over this land area. This land area became known as the country of Edom. The guys, gals and kids who lived in the country of Edom were called Edomites. Obadiah – over 1,300 years later, had reason to scribe an incensed condemnation against the guys and gals who lived in the country of Edom. Obadiah took issue with how the guys and gals who lived in the country of Edom gals cheered on Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army to overrun and destroy the city of Jerusalem – which Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army did the first time in 597 B.C. Obadiah did not waste time nor did he mince words in pronouncing what God had told him about His future punishment for the country of Edom. God’s reason for doing a number on the country of Edom was because of the failure of the guys who lived the country of Edom for not helping His specially chosen guys and gals in the plight that they were facing from Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army blockading their going in and out of the city of Jerusalem. Even though the guys and gals who lived in the country of Edom lived in difficult to reach caves – which had for centuries given them security from their enemies, God assured them through Obadiah that He had their days numbered when He would have their wise men killed and their wealth taken from them.
God through Obadiah gave the guys and gals who lived in the country of Edom one last chance by exhorting them to quit associating with the enemies of His specially chosen guys and gals but if they continued to do so, that He would totally annihilate them as if they have never been. The message that God gave through Obadiah to the guys and gals who lived in the country of Edom still resonates today. God used Obadiah to make a dire proclamation that if any country or people group intentionally chooses not to come to the aid of or purposely fights against His specially chosen guys and gals that that county or people group has rejected Him and He will . . . your grandpaa senses a parallel to what took place over 2,600 years ago to what is taking place today with God’s specially chosen guys and gals. Even through Esau’s descendants had a reason to feel that Esau had been maligned by his kid bro, Esau’s descendants still were from Abraham’s bloodline. Because Esau’s descendants could trace their ancestry back to Abraham, there was an expectation that they would come to the defense of a ‘family’ member. The guys and gals who settled what is now known as the United States had a Judeo-Christian faith. These guys and gals knew that they had been elected by God to join His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group guys and gals, by taking an affirming role towards the Israelite people group guys and gals. As the leadership of the United States continues to withdraw the accepting of Israel, your grandpaa expects God to soon make the United States an Edom.
Obadiah