Obadiah 1 Study Notes

10 To harmonize the phrase destroyed forever with the seemingly contradictory statement in Am 9:12, see note at Ob 18.

11 Conquering soldiers who cast lots (Jl 3:2-3; Nah 3:10) probably did so by shaking a container of marked pebbles until one fell out. He whose stone fell out first picked the choice portions of Jerusalem.

12-14 The repetition of the day of their disaster emphasizes the calamity and suffering of Judah at the time of Edom’s mistreatment. Ironically this preoccupation with distress and disaster prepared the way for the “day of the Lord” (v. 15), when God would pay back Edom accordingly (cp. v. 8, “in that day”).

15 The day of the Lord was a time of retribution for the Edomites because of their cooperation with the conquering Babylonians in the day of Judah’s distress (see note at vv. 12-14). What you deserve is lit “your payback or retribution.” Retribution would come upon Babylon the ally of Edom (Ps 137:8) and all who had insulted Judah (Lm 3:61-64). The promise of “retribution on your heads” to all Israel’s enemies will be fulfilled in the last days (Jl 3:4,7).

16 The initial occasion for the drinking bout (as you have drunk on my holy mountain) may have been the Edomite celebration over the recent demise of Judah (ca 586 BC). However, the reference to future drinking (so all the nations will drink continually) does not picture celebration but rather judgment against Edom (see notes at Ps 75:8; Is 19:14). Drunken, they would stagger and “fall down and never get up again” as the sword swept through the land (Jr 25:27-29). “Edom” represents not just the Edomites, but ultimately all the nations who oppose Israel in the end times. They will all fall under God’s judgment.

17 This deliverance (lit “escape; escaped ones”) for God’s people in the last days is also prophesied in Jl 2:32 and Is 4:2-4. The surviving righteous remnant of Jerusalem will be holy.

18 God’s burning anger will consume his enemies like grass or chaff. He will use Israel as a blazing fire consumes grass to destroy their enemies (Zch 12:6). The phrase no survivor (cp. Ob 10, “destroyed forever”) is in tension with Am 9:12, which states that Israel will possess “the remnant of Edom.” Will there or won’t there be a remnant? The most likely solution is that “remnant of Edom” in Am 9:12 broadly represents Israel’s remaining enemies in the end times, not the Edomites specifically (see note at Ob 16).

19-21 The land of Edom will be given to the Israelites living in the Negev, or the southern section of the land. God’s people, who were once exiles, will once again possess the land that they had taken originally from the Canaanites. Saviors, or deliverers, will rule the hill country of Esau, and Yahweh will rule over the entire kingdom.