Obadiah has a single message – judgment against Edom. Edom was the land to the southeast of Judah beyond the Dead Sea. Edom was associated with Esau, Jacob's brother.. When Babylon captured Judah, Edom prospered by capturing fleeing Judeans and turning them over to the Babylonians, which was not only a act of betrayal, but in some sense the betrayal of one brother (Esau) of another (Jacob). Perhaps there is a theme about betrayal.
Since Obadiah only has one theme, it has me thinking about one-hit wonders. I looked up on the Internet and found a list of some, which includes these songs that I actually recognize: Los del Río — "Macarena;" Baha Men — "Who Let the Dogs Out?" and "Kung Fu Fighting" — Carl Douglas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-hit_wonder)
Obadiah literally
means “servant of the Lord.” Unlike the other prophets, there is no information given about Obadiah or his heritage.
As I mentioned when i preached on Nahum, only a few books of the Bible are left out of the Revised Common Lectionary's three-year cycle of readings. Obadiah is one of the others. With Nahum, I could see why it ought to have been included. With Obadiah, I can see why it was left out of the lectionary readings.
Obadiah
finishes with a violent word of hope with the house of Jacob and the
house of Joseph being fire and flame that burn down the Edomites
(“house of Esau”) is how it is described (Obadiah 1: 18). As I reflect on that, it reminds me of the generations of hatred that fuel the violence in the Middle East and the terrorism we experience. How do we break the cycle of hatred and violence?
This week I will be preaching on a prophet that does not seem like he has much to say, and I'm not sure he is on good theological grounds. But, Obadiah is part of the biblical canon, so i guess we need to figure out how God is using this text to speak to us!
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