Obadiah: Esau, The Sequel

It’s easy to encapsulate the message of Obadiah. Edom was the nation descended from Esau, the twin brother of Jacob (Israel). Edom was going to be judged for how they treated Israel. This, the shortest book in the Old Testament, reveals God’s plan for Edom.

Obadiah means Servant of the Lord. Best guesses are that he lived in the southern kingdom and that he was a contemporary of Elijah and Elisha. He wrote after an attack on Jerusalem, probably in the 840's B.C. This book is so short it isn’t divided into chapters:

1. God Will Judge Edom (1-14)
2. God Will Judge All Nations (15-16)
3. God Will Restore Israel (17-21)