Teaching Obadiah

The Book of Obadiah does not lend itself to ready Biblical instruction, yet the discerning Bible study leader can find a lesson within it if the class is sufficiently patient. Thankfully, my Friday morning group permits me to experiment with more obtuse and off-the-wall Bible studies. If some passage or theme that I am trying to pull out falls flat, then they talk about golf.

But back to Obadiah. When presenting Obadiah, also bring in Proverbs 24:17-18, Proverbs 17:5, and and Job 31: 29-30. The central, teachable theme in this one-shot Bible study is not to rejoice when your enemies suffer, which is Obadiah's main indictment against the Edomites.

Here are the study questions and notes that I place on the distributed Bible study, which can be shoehorned into two legal-sized sheets of paper:

(v.3) The Edomites are heavily fortified in caves and mountain fortresses. They are safe and secure – even from the vengeance of the Lord. Or so they think. What leads a man to think that he is immune from the judgement of the Lord – that God cannot or will not harm him?

(v.6) ‘hidden treasures’ -- ancient pagan sources confirm that the Edomites hid their valuables in rocky crags to avoid capture in case their villages and forts fell to enemy hands.

(v.7) “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Oops! Allying with the Babylonians didn’t work out very well for the Edomites, as Obadiah prophesied. Have you ever made an alliance with a wicked person, and you suffered for it?

(v.11) This verse, although not Messianic prophesy, is similar to what would happen to Jesus.

What warning do you see in Edom’s examples about how we should not respond to other people’s misfortunes?