July 1, Day 182

Today's Reading

Obadiah. Today we receive one of the benefits of reading chronologically.  Obadiah was a prophet who lived and prophesied in the same era we are reading about in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.  In his little prophecy, Obadiah declares God's judgment on the Edomites. Edom was the other name for Esau, the brother of Jacob (whose name became Israel and is the father of the Israeli people). Esau's descendants were usually aligned against their cousins because the Jews were God's chosen. Therefore, when Israel began to face judgment and was taken captive to Babylon and Assyria, the Edomites rejoiced. God said that he would judge them for they, too, were in rebellion to Him. Obadiah declared that the Israelis would occupy Edom's territory and that there would be no survivors in Edom. Indeed, what happened was that the small remnant of the Edomites who still lived by the second century after Christ had lost their identity as children of Edom, having intermarried with the Jews. They are now a part of the Jewish people.