© 1959 William S. Sadler
© 1961 Urantia Foundation
- 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.
- The Day of the Lord. 15-21.
- A. Universal Judgment. 15,16.
- B. Restoration of Israel. 17-21.
- The author is unknown. Some think there were two authors.
- The book was written after the exile.
- Date: Sometime during the 5th century B.C.
- The book deals with the traditional enemies of Israel. The Edomites refused to let the Israelites pass through their land when entering Canaan.
- Israel and Edom are supposed to be descendants of twin brothers-Jacob and Esau.
- Edomites were very cruel to Jews during the destruction of Jerusalem, aided their enemies, and persecuted refugees.
- 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.
- The first half deals with the expulsion of the Edomites; the second half with the coming of the kingdom of God.
- Joel 2:32 quotes Obadiah, so this book was written before Joel. (Obad. v.17)
- God’s judgment of the nations through history.
- Obadiah was somewhat of a narrow nationalist.
- His doctrine does not sound much like the teachings of the Second Isaiah.
- The soul-sleepers rely much on the doctrine of verse 16.
- The last half of the book is among the strongest pictures of the “everlasting kingdom”-comparable with Daniel and Revelation.
- State of the dead. “They shall drink and stagger, and shall be as though they had not been.” v. 16.