2005 Bible Reading

This page is not a commentary, nor an outline. It is something to bear in mind in this kind of reading. These materials I learnt from two books by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart (How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth; How To Read The Bible Book By Book). You could consult these books if you are interested.

(Pastor Raymond)

Obadiah

A good test of whether a person reads the Bible often or not is to challenge that person to quickly find this shortest book of the Old Testament. Indeed the 4^th book in The Book of 12 comprises of but one chapter and could easily be skipped over.

This short book was directed not against Israel (Jacob) but against his brother Esau (father of Edomites, Gen 36:43). From the days of when Jacob cheated his brother’s firstborn birthright, the blessings given to Jacob by Isaac paved the way for enmity between the brothers: “Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed” (Gen 27:29). So when the Babylonians invaded the Southern Kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 25) and Edom helped the Babylonians to seize Judean land and capture fleeing Judeans, the nation Edom acted against his brother Israel. As such, Yahweh would curse them because they had cursed Israel. The “an-eye-for-an-eye” judgment could be seen in Obadiah 15-18 (e.g., “As you have done, it will be done to you”). Yahweh is shown to be faithful to all His promises. Yahweh is also shown to be sovereign over all kingdoms, not just over the Southern Kingdom and Northern Kingdom.

We will probably notice that the opening verses of Obadiah resemble Jeremiah 49:14-16. Very likely Obadiah was restating Jeremiah’s judgment which were known to his own readers, and made more relevant after the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians. We could also notice how similar Obadiah 5-6 is to Jeremiah 49:9-10.

Another piece of information that could help appreciate this book can be found in Psalm 137, where in his lament the psalmist appealed to God to “ Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations” (137:7). This particular incident capped a long history of animosity Edom had harbored towards Israel, even as far back as the time of the Exodus when Edom refused permission to the Israelites to pass through their land (Num. 20:14–21). It is therefore not surprising to read that Edom is the subject of more judgment oracles than most other people (Isa 21; 24; Jer 49; Ezek 25; 35; Amos 1; Joel 3 and Mal 1).