Today we will be looking at Obadiah, which has no chapters and is only 21 verses long. Since we have three weeks to dive into this book today I just want to focus on one part of the book, and that is who this prophesy is about. The first part of verse 1 says, “The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom.” So we see here that the prophesy (or vision) is concerning Edom. So today I want to take a quick look at who the Edomites were.

So we must ask the question, where did the Edomites come from? This question is fairly easy to answer, they came from the same bloodline as the Israelites. When we go back to the account of Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27), we have Jacob deceiving his father Isaac (Abraham’s son) and essentially stealing the blessing that was meant for Esau. If you follow the lineage from here you have Abraham the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob and Esau. From here we have Jacob starting the twelve tribes of Israel through his sons. Then we have Esau who with his family forms the nation of Edom. In Genesis 36 you can read the genealogy of Esau and the Edomites.

This briefly sums up who the Edomites are, and who this prophesy is against. As we go through the rest of the book together we will see a pretty harsh judgment against Edom and we will explore why this is and the coming “Day of the Lord.” I encourage you over the next week to explore your Bible and find all the passages talking about Esau, Edom, and the Edomites. I hope you are enjoying working through the Minor Prophets!

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh