God's Love for the Nations

September 10, 2025

God's Love for the Nations

Obadiah 1, Jonah 1-4

Will Gullette

Big Book Idea

Even in the Old Testament, God cared about the nations.

And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

Chapter 1

1 The vision of Obadiah.

Edom Will Be Humbled

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 her for battle!”

Introduction to Obadiah

Timeline

Author and Date

The book of Obadiah records a prophetic “vision” given by the Lord to a man named Obadiah. The only thing known about this prophet is his name. The book was probably written in the first half of the Babylonian exile, after 586 B.C. (when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem) and before 553 (when Babylon attacked Edom).

Background

The people of Jerusalem experienced God’s judgment (v. 16a) when the Babylonians invaded and “cast lots for Jerusalem” (v. 11). The Edomites were descended from Jacob’s brother Esau and were Israel’s eastern neighbors. They should have assisted Israel during the crisis. Instead, they sided with the foreign invaders and even took advantage of Israel’s difficulty (vv. 10–14).

Holy Zion had been defiled, and God’s people were publicly shamed. Israel was devastated by the exile. Does Israel have a future? Will Zion be defiled forever? Will the plan for Abraham’s offspring to bring blessing to the world come to nothing? Will Edom and the hostile nations triumph? Is God indifferent to all of this?

Obadiah proclaimed God’s word in response to this situation. The message of Obadiah essentially spells out what Lamentations 4:22 announces: restoration for Zion but doom for Edom.

Theme

Edom, together with all other nations that oppose Israel’s God and his people, will experience God’s judgment (vv. 1–15). God’s own covenant people have been judged by their exile already. God will restore them (vv. 16–21). The book ends with the promise of the kingdom of God.

Key Themes

Enemies will be put to shame because of their opposition to God’s people (v. 10).
Every proud human effort at security will ultimately fail before God’s coming judgment (vv. 1–9).
God’s justice is strict and fair, with the punishment corresponding to the sins (v. 15).
Reunited Israel will experience God’s deliverance (vv. 16–17), possess the Promised Land, and defeat and rule over Edom (vv. 17–21).
In the future, Yahweh will definitively establish his eternal kingdom (v. 21).

Outline

First Announcement of Judgment to Edom (vv. 1–4)
Second Announcement of Judgment to Edom (vv. 5–7)
Announcement of Judgment, Accusation, and Warning to Edom (vv. 8–15)
Promise of Restoration and Victory to Israel (vv. 16–18)
Promise of Restoration and Yahweh’s Kingship (vv. 19–21)

The Setting of Obadiah

c. 570 B.C.

Though various dates have been given for the prophecy of Obadiah, it was most likely written sometime after the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. but prior to the fall of Edom in 553. Obadiah condemned the Edomites, who were descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau, for attacking the Judeans during the Babylonian crisis rather than assisting them.

The Global Message of Obadiah

Obadiah in Redemptive History

When Babylon invaded Judah in the sixth century B.C., Edom, directly to Judah’s east, sided with the Babylonians and even gloated over Judah’s destruction (Obad. 12). Since the Edomites were descendants of Jacob’s brother, Esau, this betrayal by Edom was especially painful to God’s people. While other prophets condemn Israel for their faithlessness, Obadiah’s prophecy has nothing negative to say to God’s own people. The focus is on Edom and the divine judgment that will come upon her.

The prophecy of Obadiah addresses key questions that would have been raised by God’s people in this tumultuous time of defeat and exile. What will become of God’s plan and promise to bless all nations through Abraham and his descendants? Will the godless nations of the world triumph? Will God’s covenant with his people come to an end? How does God’s faithfulness to Israel fit with his righteous justice that must be executed toward a people who have so often proven faithless? The message of Obadiah is that despite Israel’s sin, God will judge those who afflict his people (Obad. 1–15) and he will restore his people (vv. 16–18), who then will be an everlasting blessing to the whole world (vv. 19–21).

From the vantage point of the New Testament era, we can see that the ultimate way in which both God’s justice and his mercy are vindicated without compromising either is at the cross of Christ, where God’s justice was satisfied even as his mercy was most clearly seen. With Jesus Christ, the kingdom of the Lord was established (Obad. 21; compare Mark 1:14–15). One day Jesus will come a second time and that kingdom will come in its fullness (Rev. 11:15; 12:10), and the sinners of all nations who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ will worship him forever in the new earth (Rev. 5:9–10).

Universal Themes in Obadiah

The danger of pride. Throughout the Bible we are taught that God opposes pride but is drawn to humility (Prov. 3:34; Isa. 66:1–2; Luke 1:51–52; James 4:6, 10; 1 Pet. 5:5–6). Pride was precisely Edom’s problem, as identified in Obadiah 3–4: “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the LORD.” Pride is a universal human problem, not restricted to any particular class or ethnicity—indeed, in many ways it is the root of all human sin (see 1 Tim. 3:6).

Divine retribution. “As you have done,” says the Lord in Obadiah 15, “it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.” It is a great and glorious truth that the God of the Bible is a God of love (e.g., 1 John 4:16–19). But this must never obscure the equally biblical truth that he is a God of unswerving justice who will do only what is right and just (e.g., 2 Thess. 1:5–10). This is a severe and sober caution for those who oppose the people of God, yet it also gives great hope to God’s people as they experience affliction of various kinds around the world. Whatever is done to them by those hostile to the gospel will one day be repaid by God himself.

The universal kingdom of God. The closing verses of Obadiah ring with the glorious promise of a spreading international kingdom under the people of God, “and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s” (Obad. 21). The New Testament and the coming of Christ begins the fulfillment of this promise as the gospel explodes out from Jerusalem “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). God’s people, reviled and persecuted both in Obadiah’s day as well as around the world today, “shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:10).

The Global Message of Obadiah for Today

Obadiah provides deep consolation for believers everywhere. As global Christians suffer “trials of various kinds” (James 1:2), they can rest content in a God of perfect justice who will not let injustices committed against his own people go finally unpunished. More broadly, God will act justly toward those around the world today who spurn the dignity of the unborn or elderly, or who squander opportunities to defend the helpless.

The kingdom of the Lord prophesied in Obadiah is a kingdom into which believers have been graciously and irreversibly ushered (Heb. 12:28), under a king who will never leave them nor forsake them (Heb. 13:5). Yet this is presently an embattled kingdom. One day, this will not be so. The glory that is coming on the sons and daughters of God in the new earth will be perfect and everlasting. Shame, tears, and rejection will be over (Rev. 21:4). Joy will have dawned. We await that day with eager hope.

Obadiah Fact #1: A call to arms

Fact: A call to arms

A call to arms. Alliances and treaties in the ancient world were important in times of war, just as they are today around the globe. Allies supported each other by combining forces against the enemy. Messengers could be sent to allies requesting soldiers, supplies, and even intelligence on enemy troop movements and strength. In vv. 1–14, Obadiah warns Edom that it will be destroyed by its former allies.

Oracles against the Nations in the Prophets

	Isaiah	Jeremiah	Ezekiel	Joel	Amos	Obadiah	Jonah	Nahum	Zephaniah	Zechariah*
Ammon		49:1–6	25:1–7		1:13–15
Arabia	21:13–17
Assyria (Nineveh)	10:5–19; 14:24–27						(Nineveh)	(Nineveh)
Babylon	13:1–14:23; 21:1–10; 46:1–47:15	50:1–51:64								2:9–12?
Damascus	17:1–6?	49:23–27			1:3–5					9:1
Edom	21:11–12	49:7–22	25:12–14		1:11–12	1–14?
Egypt	18:1–20:6	46:2–26	29:1–32:32
Elam		49:34–39
Ethiopia									2:12–15
Gaza					1:6–8					9:5
Kedar and Hazor		49:28–33
Lebanon										11:1–3?
Moab	15:1–16:14	48:1–47	25:8–11		2:1–3				2:8–11
Philistia	14:28–32	47:1–7	25:15–17	3:4–8					2:5–7	9:6
Tyre Sidon	23:1–18		26:1–28:19; 28:20–23	3:4–8	1:9–10					9:2–3

*Additional cities /states are denounced in 9:1–8: Hadrach, Aram (v. 1); Ashkelon, Ekron (v. 5); Ashdod (v. 6)

Obadiah

The only thing known about the prophet Obadiah is his name, which means “one who serves Yahweh.” The book of Obadiah is an indictment against the nation of Edom, who took advantage of Judah during the Babylonian crisis. Rather than come to Judah’s aid, the Edomites gloated over the nation’s demise, looted valuables, and sold captives as slaves. Their actions were particularly shameful since the Edomites were descendants of Esau and thus brothers to the people of Judah. Edom is the target of Obadiah’s prophecy of doom because it is a shameful example of hostility toward God’s people. Even though Jerusalem’s fall was a result of the nation’s unfaithfulness—and Edom was one of God’s tools for bringing judgment—the Lord punished those who oppose his people. (Obadiah 10–11)

Study Notes

Obad. 1 Thus says the Lord God was a common expression among the prophets, indicating that the prophet reports God’s own words. Rise up! God is calling the nations to go to war against Edom (compare Isa. 13:2–5).

Listen to the Podcast

Listen Now

The book of Jonah is unique compared to other Old Testament prophetic writings. While most of these focus on God's message to Israel or to the nations, Jonah is a story of a prophet's relationship with God.

Like you and me, Jonah isn't perfect. But God uses Jonah's circumstances to reach the nations while teaching Jonah more about God himself. The undeserved compassion and mercy of God are radically on display in the way he pursues and rescues those in this story:

God works in spite of Jonah's disobedience to bring pagan sailors into a relationship with him. We don't see a strong evangelistic message from Jonah, but we do see an all-powerful God who commands the waves and changes the hearts of those who aren't looking for him.
God uses a fish to rescue Jonah from death and spit him out after three days to use Jonah for a greater purpose in Nineveh. While Jonah had no interest in completing God's mission, the Lord had other plans!
God shows radical mercy to the Ninevites, who were living in self-destructive wickedness. God's love for Gentile nations is evident even before Jesus walked the earth.

Jonah's story points to someone greater who arrived on the scene centuries after Jonah's mission to the Ninevites. In Matthew 12:39-41, Jesus tells the scribes and Pharisees that a greater Jonah has come, one who would also come back after three days (this time from death itself).

In Jonah, we see an imperfect prophet who:

Ran from God,
Didn't want God's mercy extended to others,
Quickly turned to disobedience and discontentment.

In Jesus, we see a perfect Savior who:

Is God himself (John 1:1),
Showed mercy to his opposition (Luke 23:34),
Was perfectly obedient to the Father, even to the point of death (Philippians 2:8).

We serve a God who is patient with his people and goes to great lengths to reach those who are not yet his. What great news for believers when we fall short, and what a great mission we have to take the gospel of Jesus to those who have not yet believed!

This month's memory verse

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (NIV)

– Matthew 11:28-30

1. Jonah was running from God and wasn't fully bought into God's plan. Are there areas of your life that aren't fully surrendered to him, or areas in your life where you don't trust that he is good? Confess these to him and share the areas with your community group, friends, and/or spouse this week.

2. While God used Jonah in the mission to the Ninevites, it was clear that God's power and strength caused the Ninevites' transformation. Are you fully trusting in the power of Jesus to work through you when sharing the gospel? Is there anything holding you back from this mission?

3. God changed the hearts of the Ninevites who repented after hearing from God. Who in your neighborhood, workplace, or family can you share the good news of Jesus' love, mercy, and grace with this week?

4. Today's reading also included Obadiah. What aspects of God's character do you see through the book of Obadiah, and where do you see glimpses of Jesus in this short prophetic book?