More on Obadiah

I recently blogged a bit about Obadiah (here and here).

What I was unsatisfied with about both my paper that I did last semester on Obadiah and the two blogs was that I have proved inept at tying Obadiah together with the most important part of the Gospel, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

When I first read Obadiah, some things stuck out and reminded me of the crucifixion of Jesus.  Most notably the mention of “casting lots” in verse 11:

“On the day that you stood aloof,
   on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
   and cast lots for Jerusalem,
   you were like one of them.”

However, since the passage refers to Isreal, I did not attempt to relate it to Jesus.  Thankfully, Dr. Russell D. Moore ducked into a phone booth and came to save the day.  In “Beyond a Veggie Tales Gospel: Why We Must Preach Christ from Every Text,” Dr. Moore says that Jesus

“relives the story of Israel itself–exiled in Egypt, crossing the Jordan, being tempted with food and power in the wilderness during a forty-day sojourn there. Jesus applies to Himself language previously applied to Israel and its story–He is the vine of God, the temple, the tabernacle, the Spirit-anointed kingship, the wisdom of God Himself.”

 With this understanding of the Bible in mind, the Christological implications of the book of Obadiah practically jump off the page and slap you in the forehead!

 

Edom’s violence toward Israel was most astonishing because they were, nationally speaking, “brothers”- in the sense that the founding fathers of both nations, Esau/Edom and Jacob/Israel, were brothers.  Similarly, the violent obscenity that is the Cross is most astonishing when we realize that not only was Jesus the promised Messiah and Savior of the Jews, but He also was Himself a Jew.  So when verse 10 of Obadiah says, addressed to Edom, “because of violence done to your brother Jacob,” we can address Israel with a similar statement: “because of violence done to your brother Jesus.”  With some slight variations to make the analogy work (i.e. “wealth” to possibly “life,” since Jesus had no earthly wealth), verses 10-14 can be read as a typological prophecy of Jesus:

 

“10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
   shame shall cover you,
   and you shall be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
   on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
   and cast lots for Jerusalem,
   you were like one of them.
12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother
   in the day of his misfortune;
 do not rejoice over the people of Judah
   in the day of their ruin;
 do not boast
   in the day of distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of my people
   in the day of their calamity;
 do not gloat over his disaster
   in the day of his calamity;
do not loot his wealth
   in the day of his calamity.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
   to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
   in the day of distress.”