28. Obadiah

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28. OBADIAH

I. OUTLINE

1. Edom's Judgment, vs. 1-14.

A. Title. 1.

B. Warning to Edom. 2-4.

C. Edom's Destruction. 5-9.

D. Reasons for Judgment. 10-14.

2. The Day of the Lord. 15-21.

A. Universal Judgment. 15,16.

B. Restoration of Israel. 17-21.

II. AUTHORSHIP

1. The author is unknown. Some think there were two authors.

2. The book was written after the exile.

3. Date: Sometime during the 5th century B.C.

III. LOOK AT THE BOOK

1. The book deals with the traditional enemies of Israel. The Edomites refused to let the Israelites pass through their land when entering Canaan.

2. Israel and Edom are supposed to be descendants of twin brothers-Jacob and Esau.

3. Edomites were very cruel to Jews during the destruction of Jerusalem, aided their enemies, and persecuted refugees.

4. Some passages are found in Jeremiah and Joel. (Jer. 49:7-22. Joel 3:19. Obad. v. 1-4.) Perhaps all quoted from an earlier oracle.

5. The first half deals with the expulsion of the Edomites; the second half with the coming of the kingdom of God.

6. Joel 2:32 quotes Obadiah, so this book was written before Joel. (Obad. v.17)

IV. LEADING IDEAS

1. God's judgment of the nations through history.

2. Obadiah was somewhat of a narrow nationalist.

3. His doctrine does not sound much like the teachings of the Second Isaiah.

4. The soul-sleepers rely much on the doctrine of verse 16.

5. The last half of the book is among the strongest pictures of the "everlasting kingdom"-comparable with Daniel and Revelation.

V. SELECTED TEXTS

1. State of the dead. "They shall drink and stagger, and shall be as though they had not been." v. 16.

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