Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,
says Yahweh of hosts.
Lift up your heads, O gates,
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
That the King of Glory may come in !
Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,
says Yahweh of hosts.
Lift up your heads, O gates,
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
That the King of Glory may come in !
The "iah" at the end of many names in the Old Testament is Yah, the short form of Yahweh, the name of the God of the Bible. What comes in front of the "iah" is a form of some Hebrew word that gives the full meaning of the name. Obadiah means "Servant of Yahweh."
Nothing is known about the prophet Obadiah. A total of eleven Obadiahs are mentioned in the Bible.
Obadiah is the most difficult prophet to date. He mentions an invasion of Jerusalem (v. 11), and there are four times that Jerusalem was attacked.
| Invasion | Date | Reigning King |
| By Shishak, king of Egypt 1 Kgs. 14:25-28; 2 Chron. 12:2-12 |
925 B.C. | Reign of Rehoboam (931-913) |
| By the Philistines 2 Kgs. 8:20-24; 2 Chron. 21:16-22:1 |
845 B.C. | Reign of Jehoram (848-841) |
| By Jehoash of Israel 2 Kgs. 14:8-14; 2 Chron. 25:14-24 |
796-782 B.C. | Reign of Amaziah (796-767) |
| By Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon 2 Kgs. 25:1-21; 2 Chron. 36:11-21; Jer. 39:1-10 |
586 B.C. | Reign of Zedekiah (597-586) |
Many conservative scholars take the 586 date for Obadiah, while others opt for 845. The latter date (845) is the working hypothesis for these notes, which would make Obadiah the earliest writing prophets.
The theme of Obadiah's prophecy is judgment on Edom. Edom was the nation that decended from Esau. They settled in the region around Mt. Seir in Patriarchal times (see Gen. 36). Seir was the ancestor of the Horite, who occuppied the area before being displaced and assimilated by the Edomites (see Gen. 32:3; 36:20-30; Deut. 2:4, 5, 8; 2:12, 22, 29).
Edom's pride and sense of security is based on its geographical location "in the clefts of the rocks" (v.3) high above sea level. The word for "rocks" is Sela, which is also the name of the Edomite settlement captured by Amaziah (796-767 B.C.; 2 Kgs. 14:17). This city is generally associated with the later Nabataean capital, Petra, which in Greek also means "rock" (cf. Matt. 16:18). In fulfillment of Obadiah's prophecy, the Nabataean Arabs conquered and displaced the Edomites from this area around the time of Darius I (521-485).
The important biblical theme, "Day of Yahweh," is introduced by Obadiah. Here is a working definition:
The Day of Yahweh: the Day of Yahweh is the time of God's climactic work in history just before and as he ushers in the reign of Messiah; a day of judgment as well as salvation affecting men, nature, and nations.
However, the Day of Yahweh is described as "near" by Obadiah (15), Joel (1:15; 2:1), Isaiah (13:6), Zephaniah (1:7, 14), and Ezekiel (30:3). These prophets span four centuries. How can the Day of Yahweh be "near" for all of them? The answer is that the Day of Yahweh is a corporate event. It incorporates into the single meaning of the name both historical antecedents (harbingers, previews, or downpayments) as well as its final, climactic manifestation. For Obadiah, the harbinger that made the Day of Yahweh "near" was the destruction of Edom; for Joel, the locust plague; and for Isaiah, judgment on Babylon.
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