OBADIAH
INTRODUCTION
The book of Obadiah is not well known but it contains some powerful lessons for our day. It is the only one-chapter book in the Old Testament and contains only 21 verses. The occasion of the book is some recent sack of Jerusalem by the Philistines and Arabians in which Edom had aided and abetted. She had encouraged Judah's foes, enjoyed Judah's fall, and enslaved Judah's fugitives. The book warns Edom of her own coming destruction for her sins against her brother.
BACKGROUND
The Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob's twin brother, and hence a "cousin" nation to Judah and Israel. Yet the Edomites were in constant conflict with them. Edom was a narrow strip of mountainous country to the south of the Dead Sea. So rugged is the terrain that the valley in which Petra, one of their capital cities, is located can only be reached through a narrow canyon guarded by towering mountain walls 200-500 feet high (vs.3-4).
EDOM's SIN
Edom is condemned for her pride and her cruelty. Her crimes are described in progressive stages:
(1) Edom stood by while Jerusalem was invaded v.11;
(2) She rejoiced over the captivity of sons of Judah v.12;
(3) She actively participated in looting Jerusalem v.13; and
(4) Edom set up road blocks to prevent the citizens from escaping v.14 and sold them into slavery.
She is condemned for her cruelty and unbrotherliness:
(1) cruelty of the feet, v.11 "she stood afar off";
(2) cruelty of the eyes, v.13 "looked on in his disaster;
(3) cruelty of the heart, v.12 she rejoiced in Jeru.'s destruction;
(4) cruelty of the tongue, v.12; she spoke proudly;
(5) cruelty of the hands, v.13, laid hands on Judah's substance and cut off escape.
OUTLINE OF
EDOM
1. The Doom of Edom -- v. 1-9
2. The Denunciation of Edom -- v. 10-14
3. The Destruction of Edom -- v. 15-21