Obadiah
(Obadiah 1:1)
(C3384-3464, 620-540BC)
His name comes from the Hebrew bhadhya ¯ ¯ h which means "Servant of the Lord."
This name was common in Israel: since the days of King David until the end of the period of the Old Testament we find 14 people with that name.
The prophet Obadiah, who wrote the book of prophecy that bears his name, probably lived in the times of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, but nothing is known about his person.
His book is the smallest of the Old Testament and its theme is the prediction of the destruction of Edom, foe of Israel, a people descended from Esau who lived in the southeast of Israel, in the mountains, having as their capital the city of Sela, or Petra as the Greek called it..
Obadiah makes it clear that he received this message directly from God. The Lord announced that He will destroy the Edomites because they have sinned against Israel. They mocked the Israelites in their hour of misfortune and even participated in the destruction and looting of their capital, Jerusalem, when it fell to a foreign power. Because of their great sin, Edom will be destroyed. But Israel, the prophet declares, will be blessed by God and restored to their homeland.
Most scholars opine that the great humiliation of Israel that the prophet mentions was the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, from 605 BC and ending with its final destruction in 586 BC. Thus, the book must have been written shortly after the town fell, perhaps while the Jews were still in captivity in Babylon.
His prophecy confirms that God is serious about His promises to the people of Israel. In the book of Genesis God blessed the world through Abraham and his descendants. He also promised to protect His people especially against anyone who tried to harm them (Genesis 12 :1-3). This promise was stated in the book of Obadiah. God will keep His faithfulness to His people in spite of their unworthiness and disobedience.