But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.

Obadiah 17

Edom had unrepentantly sinned by thinking themselves invulnerable and unbeatable (Obadiah 3-4) as they treated the nation of Israel with “violence” (10-14).  As a result, God would punish them severely (1-9).  Obadiah again prophesies of their upcoming condemnation and downfall in verse 15:  “For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.  As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.”  Obadiah predicts that God’s judgment (“the day of the Lord”) is “near upon all the nations,” especially Edom.  Undoubtedly having in mind the previously mentioned times in which Edom had “stood aloof on the day that strangers carried off (Israel’s) wealth” (11) and had “gloat(ed) over the day of (Israel) in the day of his misfortune” (12, 13), God is now warning Edom, “As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head” (15b; cf. Gal. 6:7-8).

The Lord elaborates, “For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually; they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been” (16).  God’s “holy mountain” which is referenced here likely refers to Mount Zion in Jerusalem, with the point being that Edom had joined with the rest of the Jews’ enemies in looting Jerusalem and had probably celebrated by hosting drinking parties on Mount Zion (cf. 10-14).  Another possible interpretation of “For as you have drunk on my holy mountain” is that the phrase is a figurative way to describe how they had desecrated Jerusalem and God’s people.  This might be the more likely interpretation when one considers the second part of the verse in which Obadiah promises that Edom and the other nations who had so grievously harmed the Jews would themselves “drink continually” in a sense of God’s wrath so much so that it would completely annihilate them from the face of the earth (“as though they had never been”).

Verse 17 (quoted above) in contrast gives a ray of hope to the defeated Jews.  Mount Zion “shall be holy” and would be home to “those who escape.”  Israel (“the house of Jacob”) “shall possess their own possessions.”  While it’s possible that this might have an additional reference to the Jews’ restoration to their homeland from Babylonian captivity, the fact that terms like “Mount Zion” and “house of Jacob” are used in the New Testament to refer to the church (e.g., Heb. 12:22-23; Lk. 1:33) leads me to conclude that verse 17 ultimately points to the age of Christianity.  If so, Obadiah’s point seems to be that from a purely earthly perspective it seems now that Edom has the upper hand over Israel, from a spiritual perspective Israel – specifically, spiritual Israel, the church – would last and Edom would be consigned to the dustbin of history.

This seems to be the point of verse 18.  “The house of Jacob” and “the house of Joseph” – the former referring to the southern kingdom of Judah and the latter referring to the northern kingdom of Ephraim (originally the name of one of Joseph’s sons) during Old Testament times; both referring to the church in the New Testament (cf. Jer. 31:31-34) – would be “fire” and “flame,” whereas “the house of Esau” – Edom – would be “stubble” due to its enemies “burn(ing) them and consum(ing) them.”  The result would be that “there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken,” just as verse 16 had also foretold of Edom:  “…(they) shall be as though they had bever been.”  The next article which will conclude this study of Obadiah will go into further detail about how Edom would be utterly wiped out.

This is in Scripture to teach us (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11; 2 Tim. 3:16-17), so what is the lesson for us today?  It can be summed up in verse 15’s statement, “As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head” (15), which is why we should “treat people the same way you want them to treat you” (Matt. 7:12).  We reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7-8), so let us reap good things, not wickedness.

— Jon