Book IntroductionPoetic Justice is defined as ‘the fact of experiencing a fitting or deserved retribution for one's actions.’  Maybe an example will give us a better understanding:Learning that her husband had betrayed her, Vera Czermak jumped out her third-story window in Prague. The newspaper Vicerni Praha reported that Mrs. Czermak was recovering in the hospital, after landing on her husband, who was killed.731[1]Vera’s husband was the recipient of some poetic justice.  As we dig into the book of Obadiah, we’ll see some poetic justice when God dealt with Edom.  The Edomite involvement in the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians is characterized as Esau gloating over the misfortunes of his brother Jacob.  In the end, all the harm that once befell Jacob would come on Esau.To set the background of the book, we should remember that Esau and Jacob were the twin sons of Isaac.  Esau was the eldest (by mere moments), but in Genesis 25:29-33, we see him sell his birthright to Jacob.  Later, in Isaac’s old age, he instructed Esau to prepare a meal and then receive the blessing of the older son.  But Rebekah and Jacob conspired for Jacob to receive this blessing in Esau’s place.  Then Esau came home to find the blessing had gone to Jacob.And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:“Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth,And of the dew of heaven from above.40By your sword you shall live,And you shall serve your brother;And it shall come to pass, when you become restless,That you shall break his yoke from your neck.”41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”  (Genesis 27:38-41)This sets the tone of the relationship between the two brothers.  Jacob receives the blessings and promises that God had previously made to Abraham and Isaac.  He marries Rachel and Leah while Esau marries an Ishmaelite.  Jacob returned to Canaan after he escaped the grip of Laban.  Meanwhile, Esau settled in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.  They become a picture of two brothers who went their separate ways.  One received the promise, though by deceit, lack of trust, and sin.  The other parted from God’s ways, despised his birthright and family ties.  The bible gives us several examples of the flesh versus the spirit. Cain & Able Ishmael & Isaac Esau & Jacob Manasseh & Ephraim Reuben & Joseph Haman & MordecaiObadiah means ‘servant of the Lord,’ and may be the proper name of the writer or it quite possibly describes the writer (or even both).  The fact is that we know virtually nothing about Obadiah.  There are several Obadiah’s in the bible, yet none really match up with this one.  The book of Obadiah is the shortest book in the OT, and it is not quoted in the NT.   There is some belief that the setting of Obadiah is during the Philistine invasion of Jerusalem between 848 B.C. and 841 B.C., during the reign of Rehoboam.  See 1 Kings 14:25,26 and 2 Chronicles 12 for more.  However, most scholars place it in 697 B.C., at the fall of Jerusalem.  There is not enough information to place it exactly into a historical setting.   Yet, the facts remain, and the outcome is clear.  Edom’s hatred for the Jews would be judged.  See also Jeremiah 49:7-22; Lamentations 4:21-22; Ezekiel 25:12-14; Joel 3:19; Amos 9:12.Obadiah 1-4This is the supernatural vision or revelation to the servant of the Lord.  The report from God is that the message has been sent to the nations.   A coalition was being formed by the sovereign hand of God and by His will.  This coalition of neighboring nations would rise up in battle as a tool of God’s judgment.  Edom treated Jacob as small and despised among the nations.  They celebrated the superpowers that overthrew and destroyed them in battle.  It was their pride that led them astray, trusting in their strongholds, their armies, and their ways.  Their arrogance was based on false security.  They lived in the clefts of rock at Sela.  This was considered an impenetrable fortress, as they dwelt high in the rock's clefts.   In their heart, they asked who could possibly bring them down.  God answers the question in verse 4.There is no height or distance that is out of the reach of the judgment of the Lord.  Their fortress was nothing to the sovereign God that created it and set them in it.  Obadiah 5-7The thief, coming by night to rob them, would have shown restraint, robbing them only until they had enough.  Those gathering their grapes would not have stripped them all.   Some would be left behind.  When God was done with them, there would be no mistaking what happened.  They wouldn’t be able to blame the thief.  They won’t call it bad luck or just a circumstance.  God would bring them down.  They would be searched out and found along with all their treasures.  The confederacy that God assembled would do His work.  This enemy would come from those whom they thought they were at peace with.  The deception is grand in that those sitting down to eat with them are in on the deception, and no one is aware of it.Obadiah 8-9The Edomites had a reputation for wisdom, yet even the wise men won’t escape judgment.  In his infinite understanding and ability to counsel and advise, the wise man will have nothing to offer, nor will he remain unaffected.  In the poetic language of verse 8, Esau is substituted for Edom to show that the conflict between nations began with a conflict between brothers.While Edom was known for wisdom in general, the men of Teman were known as warriors or mighty men.  Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends, was a Temanite.  In this great slaughter, the mighty men of Edom would be dismayed and struck with fear and dread.  The mighty men won’t be too mighty.Obadiah 10-14The biblical tradition accuses the Edomites of standing idly by, doing nothing to help as Jerusalem was attacked.  Esau gloated over the demise of his brother Jacob.  7Remember, O Lord, against the sons of EdomThe day of Jerusalem,Who said, “Raze it, raze it,To its very foundation!”  (Psalm 137:7)It was for their violence against Israel that they would be dishonored and put to shame.   As those who ‘stood on the other side,’ they are portrayed as a constant opposition to Israel.  12 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because of what Edom did against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended by avenging itself on them,” 13 therefore thus says the Lord God: “I will also stretch out My hand against Edom, cut off man and beast from it, and make it desolate from Teman; Dedan shall fall by the sword. 14 I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, that they may do in Edom according to My anger and according to My fury; and they shall know My vengeance,” says the Lord God. (Ezekiel 25:12-14)Ezekiel speaks an oracle against Edom in chapter 35 that sounds very much like the book of Obadiah.  The punch of the Oracle comes in Ezekiel 35:10-15.10 “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess them,’ although the Lord was there, 11 therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will do according to your anger and according to the envy which you showed in your hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you. 12 Then you shall know that I am the Lord. I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to consume.’ 13 Thus with your mouth you have boasted against Me and multiplied your words against Me; I have heard them.”14 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The whole earth will rejoice when I make you desolate. 15 As you rejoiced because the inheritance of the house of Israel was desolate, so I will do to you; you shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, as well as all of Edom—all of it! Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’The Edomites stood by while the Babylonians sacked Israel and Jerusalem and carried them into captivity.  God holds Edom accountable.  In their gloating and standing by doing nothing, they were complicit in the crimes against Jacob.Obadiah 12-14Edom took advantage of Israel's defeat and moved into parts of southern Judah, claiming that land.  God informed them in verse thirteen that they shouldn’t have laid their hands on what wasn’t theirs.  It’s as if Edom stood at the crossroads offering safe passage to the Babylonians as they carried Israel away captive, and they stepped in behind them to take what wasn’t theirsObadiah 15-16Edom stands as an example to all the nations that stand against God and His people.  Their judgment then typifies how God will judge all the nations on that day of the Lord.  The principal used will be: As you have done, it shall be done to you;Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.As they drank and celebrated in the calamity that fell on Israel, they will drink continually in a similar manner, not in celebration but drinking completely in the cup of wrath.  See also Zechariah 12:2.Obadiah 17-18In contrast to the cup of wrath being delivered to the nations, there shall be deliverance on Mount Zion.  Jacob will possess what’s been promised and given, and there will be holiness.  Instead of Jacob, a victim of judgment, they shall stand as an agent of judgment; a fire and a flame brought against the stubble of Edom.  This judgment will completely devour them, leaving no survivors.Obadiah 19-21As Edom goes, so go all the nations.  Israel will then possess those neighboring nations that stood against them.  Those in the southern part of Israel will possess the mountains of Esau.  All through the nation, those nearest to these enemy nations will cross the borders and take possession of the land and the cities.  The saviors, the warriors, and mighty men of God are used as agents of judgment to come to Jerusalem and deliver divine justice against Esau.  Jacob would prevail in the struggle that started in the womb (Gen 25:23).  And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.  Obadiah brings us a divinely inspired message of divine judgment that will usher in the final goal of the divine Kingdom.  What nation can escape the hand of God, the mighty?  The wise?  The wealthy?  The shrewd?  Politically connected?  Even the dishonest, unbelieving, violent, and untrustworthy can’t overcome the final judgment of nations.Edom stands as a paradigm example of all the nations. The cup Edom drank in rejoicing at Israel’s suffering and conquering will be the equal and opposite cup she will drink continually.  The large cup of celebration that was drunk completely will become a large cup of wrath that will be drunk to the dregs.  God’s will be done, His kingdom come.  Israel will live out the lesson that Obadiah reveals: the punishment of one’s enemies can be a blessing.  Vengeance belongs to the Lord, and He will exercise that vengeance on His schedule.1 Hear a just cause, O Lord, Attend to my cry; Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips. 2 Let my vindication come from Your presence; Let Your eyes look on the things that are upright. 3 You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. 4 Concerning the works of men, By the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer. 5 Uphold my steps in Your paths, That my footsteps may not slip. 6 I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech. 7 Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You From those who rise up against them. 8 Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings, 9 From the wicked who oppress me, From my deadly enemies who surround me. (Psalm 17:2-9)Be Blessed.Amen©2017 Doug Ford, revised and updated 2026. [1] Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (p. 209). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. http://www.calvarychapelsweetwater.com There are no articles in this archive. Fri, 12 Jun 2026 15:41:22 -0400