Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Obadiah 1

• What should we learn from this chapter?
• About the Title: Edom is the nickname for Esau. “dom” means Red Blood and Esau is known for being “red”- his hairiness, his skin, and his red stew. Just like “Adam” who was made from the red clay of the ground translated as “dust” (to illustrate man’s temporary nature after he sinned).
• Since history repeats itself, the reader can compare Esau and Cain. We know that Cain was the first born; yet God accepted his brother’s, Abel’s, sacrifice. Likewise Esau was the firstborn, but he disdained it, having traded it for a bowl of red stew without having any intention of keeping his vow/covenant with Jacob.
• God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Today, in spite of being in dispersion for ~2,000 years, Israel is once again a nation and the ancient hatred is rekindled to a roaring furnace. Like Cain who ended up murdering his younger brother Abel, the squelched desire for the descendants of Esau (the Edomites) is to murder/annihilate his brothers, the Jews.
  
• An evil spirit is the poisonous lie dripping from the fangs of the coiled serpent ready to strike whenever the opportunity arises. Societies become convulsive with hallucinogens, swollen wounds full of pride, and the entire universe suffers.

The Coming Judgment on Edom

Obadiah 1:¹ The vision of Obadiah.

Thus says the Lord God (‘ăḏōnāy yᵊhōvâ) concerning Edom
– We have heard a report from the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
And a messenger has been sent among the (gentile) nations, saying,
“Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle”:

Obadiah 1:² “Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
You shall be greatly despised.

Obadiah 1:³ The (swollen) pride of your heart has deceived you,
You who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
Whose habitation is high; (Mt. Seir)
You who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’

Obadiah 1:⁴ Though you ascend as high as the eagle,
And though you set your nest among the stars (with Satan),
From there I will bring you down,” says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

Obadiah 1:⁵ “If thieves had come to you,
If robbers by night—
Oh, how you will be cut off!—
Would they not have stolen till they had enough?
If grape-gatherers had come to you,
Would they not have left some gleanings?

• Jeremiah 49:⁹ If grape-gatherers came to you,
  Would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
  If thieves by night,
  Would they not destroy until they have enough?
• The Edomites will pick Israel clean like a vulture which picks the dead flesh from the bones of its prey.
  Matt 24:²⁷ For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ²⁸ For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles (vultures) will be gathered together.

Obadiah 1:⁶ “Oh, how Esau shall be searched out!
How his hidden treasures shall be sought after!

• Perhaps hidden treasures are his hatred toward the Jews. He stores them up in his heart and conspires against Israel.

Obadiah 1:⁷ All the men in your confederacy
Shall force you to the border;
The men at peace with you
Shall deceive you and prevail against you.
Those who eat your bread shall lay a trap (Or: wound or plot) for you.
No one is aware of it (Or: There is no understanding in him).

Obadiah 1:⁸ “Will I not in that day,” says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
“Even destroy the wise men from Edom,
And understanding from the mountains of Esau?

Obadiah 1:⁹ Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed,
To the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau
May be cut off by slaughter.

• At Armageddon

Edom Mistreated His Brother

Obadiah 1:¹⁰ “For violence (Literally: ḥāmās) against your brother Jacob,
Shame shall cover you,
And you shall be cut off forever.

• Not one Edomite will be left alive. (See verse 18)

Obadiah 1:¹¹ In the day that you stood on the other side—
In the day that strangers carried captive his forces,
When foreigners entered his gates
And cast lots for Jerusalem—
Even you were as one of them.

• Probably the Battle of Gog and Magog when Israel is betrayed in the middle of the tribulation. The Antichrist enters the Holy of Holies and desecrates it.
• Edom is one of the ten horns on the 7th head of the 7 headed dragon/beast when ten tribes attack Jerusalem, breaking the seven year peace treaty. (Needs notation)

Obadiah 1:¹² “But you should not have gazed (Gloated over) on the day of your brother
in the day of his captivity (Lit. On the day he became a foreigner);
Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah
In the day of their destruction;
Nor should you have spoken proudly
In the day of distress. (TheTribulation)

• The Tribulation is called The Time of Jacob’s Troubles, the Day of Wrath, the Day of Affliction, Daniel’s 70th Week, The Time of Sorrows (like a woman giving birth).

Obadiah 1:¹³ You should not have entered the gate of My people
In the day of their calamity.
Indeed, you should not have gazed on (Gloated over) their affliction
In the day of their calamity,
Nor laid hands on their substance
In the day of their calamity.

Obadiah 1:¹⁴ You should not have stood at the crossroads
To cut off those among them who escaped;
Nor should you have delivered up (Handed over to the enemy) those among them who remained
In the day of distress.

Obadiah 1:¹⁵ “For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near;
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
Your reprisal (Or reward) shall return upon your own head.

Obadiah 1:¹⁶ For as you drank on My holy mountain,
So shall all the nations drink continually;
Yes, they shall drink, and swallow,
And they shall be as though they had never been.

Israel’s Final Triumph

Obadiah 1:¹⁷ “But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance (Or salvation),
And there shall be holiness;
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

Obadiah 1:¹⁸ The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau shall be stubble;
They shall kindle them and devour them,
And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”
For the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) has spoken.

Obadiah 1:¹⁹ The South (Heb. Negev) shall possess the mountains of Esau,
And the Lowland shall possess Philistia.
They shall possess the fields of Ephraim
And the fields of Samaria.
Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

Obadiah 1:²⁰ And the captives of this host of the children of Israel
Shall possess the land of the Canaanites
As far as Zarephath.
The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
Shall possess the cities of the South ( Heb. Negev).

Obadiah 1:²¹ Then saviors (deliverers) shall come to Mount Zion
To judge the mountains of Esau,
And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s (the Millennium when Jesus will rule on earth from Jerusalem).

• Indicates a court, similar to the Holocaust, in which the Edomites will be judged and punished, including the judgment of the Antichrist who is referred to as a sea beast, a sea monster, a Leviathan who causes the sea of people to boil.
  • Isaiah 27:1 Israel Will Be Restored
    In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.
  • Psalm 74:14 You broke the (seven) heads of Leviathan in pieces, And gave him as food (to devour him in retribution, perhaps execute) to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

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