1. Exploring the Minor Prophets
The Book of the Twelve
Exploring the Minor Prophets

2. What is the book of the Twelve?
Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) divisions:
Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim (Law, Prophets, Writings)
Book = Scroll (סֵ֫פֶר- sepher)
תרי עשר = “The Twelve”
Emerged as a collection around 190 BC
Intended to be read as an episodic unity.

3. Israelite History Exodus (15th or 13th centuries BC)
Settlement & Proto-democratic Tribal Confederation
United Monarchy – Saul, David, Solomon, Rehoboam (c BC)
Divided Monarchy (and decline)
Fall of Samaria (N) to Assyria (c. 722 BC)
Fall of Jerusalem (S) to Babylon (587 BC)
Cyrus the Great invades Babylon (539 BC)
Edict of Cyrus Allows Jews to return home and rebuild

4. Majoring on The Minors History – What really happened?
Message – What does it say?
Reception – How have others interpreted it?
Significance – What does it mean for us?

5. The Path Ahead
July 23 – Zephaniah July 30 – Issues in the Minor Prophets ( Dr. Robin McCall, Guest Teacher) Aug 6 –   Issues in the Minor Prophets (Guest Teacher) Aug 13 – Haggai Aug 20 – Zechariah Aug 27 – Malachi Sep 3 –   Closing the Scroll
May 21 – Intro to the Book of the Twelve May 28 –  Hosea June 4 -   Joel June 11 – Amos June 18 –Obadiah June 25 –Jonah July 2 –   Micah July 9 –   Nahum July 16 – Habakkuk

6. Timeline of the book of the Twelve
Christian Bible (Masoretic Text)
Ancient Greek OT (Septuagint)
Chronology (all BC)
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
----
Amos (mid-8th)
Hosea (mid-8th)
Isaiah (late 8th)
Micah (late 8th)
Nahum (late 7th)
Habakkuk (late 7th)
Zephaniah (late 7th)
Jeremiah (late 7th or early 6th)
Lamentations (early 6th)
Ezekiel (early 6th)
Obadiah (early 6th)
Haggai (late 6th)
Zechariah (late 6th)
Malachi (late 5th)
Jonah (5th – 4th)
Joel (4th ?)
Daniel (2nd)

7. This Time in History
The first Olympics (according to tradition) in Greece (776 BC)
The City of Rome is founded (753 BC)
Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey are put to writing (750 BC)
Greeks add vowels to Phoenician language (700 BC)
Obadiah’s ministry (c. 550’s BC?)
Socrates born (470 BC)
Alexander the Great born (356 BC)

8. Obadiah’s history Obadiah means “servant of Yah[weh]”
Common name (23x’s in OT)
Southern Prophet during exile
Shortest book in Hebrew Bible/OT
Anti-Edom Rhetoric
Genesis 25 – Esau & Jacob are brothers (cf. Dt 23:7)
1 Maccabees 12:1ff – Jews & Spartans “related”
Edom’s sins (10-14)
Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem's fall, how they said, "Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!" (Psalms 137:7)

9. Obadiah’s Message
1:1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: "Rise up! Let us rise against it for battle!“ 2 I will surely make you least among the nations; you shall be utterly despised. 3 Your proud heart has deceived you, you that live in the clefts of the rock, whose dwelling is in the heights. You say in your heart, "Who will bring me down to the ground?" 4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the LORD. 5 If thieves came to you, if plunderers by night-- how you have been destroyed!-- would they not steal only what they wanted? If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? 6 How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures searched out! 7 All your allies have deceived you, they have driven you to the border; your confederates have prevailed against you; those who ate your bread have set a trap for you-- there is no understanding of it. 8 On that day, says the LORD, I will destroy the wise out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount Esau. 9 Your warriors shall be shattered, O Teman, so that everyone from Mount Esau will be cut off. 10 For the slaughter and violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 11 On the day that you stood aside, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth, and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you too were like one of them. 12 But you should not have gloated over your brother on the day of his misfortune; you should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah on the day of their ruin; you should not have boasted on the day of distress. 13 You should not have entered the gate of my people on the day of their calamity; you should not have joined in the gloating over Judah's disaster on the day of his calamity; you should not have looted his goods on the day of his calamity. 14 You should not have stood at the crossings to cut off his fugitives; you should not have handed over his survivors on the day of distress.
15 For the day of the LORD is near against all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head. 16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, all the nations around you shall drink; they shall drink and gulp down, and shall be as though they had never been. 17 But on Mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall take possession of those who dispossessed them. 18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor of the house of Esau; for the LORD has spoken. 19 Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the Shephelah the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 20 The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah shall possess Phoenicia as far as Zarephath; and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the towns of the Negeb. 21 Those who have been saved shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD's.

10. Obadiah’s history Obadiah means “servant of Yah[weh]”
Common name (23x’s in OT)
Southern Prophet during exile
Shortest book in Hebrew Bible/OT
Anti-Edom Rhetoric
Genesis 25 – Esau & Jacob are brothers
Deuteronomy 23:7 -“You shall not abhor any of the Edomites, for they are your kin.”
1 Maccabees 12:1ff – Jews & Spartans “related”
“Those who ate your bread have set a trap for you.” (1:7)

11. Obadiah’s History
Obadiah 1: For the slaughter and violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 11 On the day that you stood aside, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth, and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you too were like one of them. 12 But you should not have gloated over your brother on the day of his misfortune; you should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah on the day of their ruin; you should not have boasted on the day of distress. 13 You should not have entered the gate of my people on the day of their calamity; you should not have joined in the gloating over Judah's disaster on the day of his calamity; you should not have looted his goods on the day of his calamity. 14 You should not have stood at the crossings to cut off his fugitives; you should not have handed over his survivors on the day of distress.
Psalm By the rivers of Babylon-- there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion.2 On the willows there we hung up our harps. 3 For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" 4 How could we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! 6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. 7 Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem's fall, how they said, "Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!“ 8 O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! 9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!

12. Obadiah’s history Edom Seizure of Judah’s land
Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, and Jeremiah share anti-Edom sentiment
Especially Jeremiah 49:7-22
1:4 – “…though your nest is set among the stars, from there, I will bring you down.”
“Mount Esau” (1:9)
Modern site: Umm el-Biyara?
Edomite monarchy ended by Nabonidus ( BC)

13. Obadiah’s Message Outline Pronouncements Against Edom (vv. 1-14)
Vindication for Judah (vv )
Later redaction?

14. Obadiah’s Message
1:1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: "Rise up! Let us rise against it for battle!“ 2 I will surely make you least among the nations; you shall be utterly despised. 3 Your proud heart has deceived you, you that live in the clefts of the rock, whose dwelling is in the heights. You say in your heart, "Who will bring me down to the ground?" 4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the LORD. 5 If thieves came to you, if plunderers by night-- how you have been destroyed!-- would they not steal only what they wanted? If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? 6 How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures searched out! 7 All your allies have deceived you, they have driven you to the border; your confederates have prevailed against you; those who ate your bread have set a trap for you-- there is no understanding of it. 8 On that day, says the LORD, I will destroy the wise out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount Esau. 9 Your warriors shall be shattered, O Teman, so that everyone from Mount Esau will be cut off. 10 For the slaughter and violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 11 On the day that you stood aside, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth, and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you too were like one of them. 12 But you should not have gloated over your brother on the day of his misfortune; you should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah on the day of their ruin; you should not have boasted on the day of distress. 13 You should not have entered the gate of my people on the day of their calamity; you should not have joined in the gloating over Judah's disaster on the day of his calamity; you should not have looted his goods on the day of his calamity. 14 You should not have stood at the crossings to cut off his fugitives; you should not have handed over his survivors on the day of distress.
15 For the day of the LORD is near against all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head. 16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, all the nations around you shall drink; they shall drink and gulp down, and shall be as though they had never been. 17 But on Mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall take possession of those who dispossessed them. 18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor of the house of Esau; for the LORD has spoken. 19 Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the Shephelah the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 20 The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah shall possess Phoenicia as far as Zarephath; and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the towns of the Negeb. 21 Those who have been saved shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD's.

15. “…and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.” (21b)
Obadiah’s Message
Chiasm (from Prof. Paul L. Redditt)
1-4 God will humble Edom.
5-7 Edom will be attacked and abandoned by its allies.
8-11 Edom is judged for remaining passive during the slaughter of Judah.
12-14 Edom should not have rejoiced at or benefitted from Judah’s misfortunes.
God’s People will return to rule on Mount Zion.
God will save God’s people.
“…and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.” (21b)

16. Obadiah’s Reception Ancient Reception Link with Amos Followed by Jonah
12 in order that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name, says the LORD who does this. 13 The time is surely coming, says the LORD, when the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps, and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. 14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.15 I will plant them upon their land, and they shall never again be plucked up out of the land that I have given them, says the LORD your God.
NRS Obadiah 1:1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: "Rise up! Let us rise against it for battle!"
Followed by Jonah
Jeremiah 49
Psalm 137

17. Obadiah’s Reception Late Ancient (New Testament)
Least quoted book in the OT (similar language in Revelation 11:15)
Early Church / Medieval
Ecclesiological (Church-oriented) Interpretation
Historical and allegorical interpretations
Anti-Jewish / Anti-Heretic Interpretation
And anti-Christian, Jewish interpretation
Modern
19-21 as prophecy of Six-Day War (many Zionist Jews and Christians)

18. Obadiah’s Significance
Betrayal / Anger
Loving one’s enemies
God’s enduring love for Israel beyond the exile
God’s Word as history/story
Modern-day Israel