Obadiah 1
21 verses
Obadiah delivers God's judgment against Edom, a nation descended from Esau (Jacob's twin brother) and located southeast of the Dead Sea, for its arrogant pride, its violence against Jacob (Israel) during times of calamity, and its complicity in Israel's exile. The prophet condemns Edom's false confidence in its mountain fortifications and inaccessible terrain, declaring that though Edom builds its nest as high as an eagle and establishes it among the stars, God will bring it down from there. Edom's transgression lies not merely in military aggression but in a deeper violation: during Israel's day of distress, when foreigners entered Jerusalem's gates and cast lots for its treasures, Edom stood aloof and gloated over Israel's misfortune, failing to show kinship compassion toward a covenant people under divine judgment. The prophecy announces that God will execute vengeance upon Edom's violence against Jacob, and Edom will be cut off forever, with survivors from the house of Esau utterly destroyed. Yet the oracle concludes with a pivotal vision: "saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD's," indicating that the ultimate victory belongs not to Edom or any earthly power but to God, whose kingdom encompasses all nations and whose justice vindicates the oppressed. This single-chapter prophecy encapsulates a theology of divine retribution, nationalistic hope, and eschatological restoration: God judges the proud nations that persecute His people, and the final kingdom belongs to the LORD alone.
VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER
God meets us exactly where we are — broken, uncertain, yet chosen. God is faithful in every circumstance.. The Hebrew wo...
1
The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
3 4Open verse page →
Reading the Psalms alongside this gives a fuller picture of what the author was experiencing — both the anguish and the ...
2
Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.
2 4Open verse page →
God is faithful in every circumstance.. There's something deeply comforting about knowing that the same God who spoke th...
3
The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
2 5Open verse page →
4
Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.
0 1Open verse page →
The promise here is not conditional on our strength but on His character.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. God i...
5
If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?
1 3Open verse page →
God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. The imagery here is agricultural — the o...
6
How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!
3 2Open verse page →
God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. ...
7
All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.
1 2Open verse page →
God is faithful in every circumstance.. The thread of covenant runs through every book of the Bible.. God is faithful in...
8
Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
1 5Open verse page →
The promise here is not conditional on our strength but on His character.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. God i...
9
And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.
1 6Open verse page →
What a reminder that God's ways are not our ways. God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circu...
10
For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
2 2Open verse page →
God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. His timing, His methods, His purposes — ...
11
In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
1 7Open verse page →
The contrast between human weakness and divine strength is so vivid in this passage. God is faithful in every circumstan...
12
But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.
2 4Open verse page →
13
Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;
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14
Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.
0 1Open verse page →
God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. There's something deeply comforting abou...
15
For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
3 5Open verse page →
Reading the Psalms alongside this gives a fuller picture of what the author was experiencing — both the anguish and the ...
16
For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
1 4Open verse page →
17
But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
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18
And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it.
0 3Open verse page →
Faith isn't the absence of doubt — it's choosing to believe despite it.. The early church would have heard this very dif...
19
And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
2 4Open verse page →
My grandmother used to quote this verse every morning. God is faithful in every circumstance.. The imagery here is agric...
20
And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
1 4Open verse page →
God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. The early church would have heard this v...
21
And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
1 4Open verse page →
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