www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKX7_V6Mpj0
When was Obadiah
Written?
Post-Apostolic Church
INTRO
Of all the books of the prophets, when it
comes to when they were written, Obadiah might be the most obscure. In
this video, we will look at the evidence and narrow down when Obadiah wrote his
vision against the nation of Edom
SOURCE - TALMUD
Babylonian
Talmud, Tract Sanhedrin, Part 2. Translated
by Michael L Rodkinson, vol 8, chapter 11, page 376. (http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t08/t0814.htm)
Outside of Obadiah's vision, the most
ancient source is the Jewish Babylonian Talmud.
It says that Obadiah is the same one mentioned in 1 Kings 18:3-17. This
Obadiah "greatly feared God."
He was in charge of King Ahab's palace.
He saved 100 of God's prophets by hiding them in a cave when Jezebel was
slaughtering the prophets. And he had a
conversation with Elijah.
The Talmud goes on to say that Obadiah was
an Edomite proselyte, which means he was born in Edom and converted to Judaism.
This would have made him a good
candidate to prophesy against Edom
But is
the Obadiah in 1 Kings 18 the same Obadiah who wrote the vision? Perhaps.
Let's look at the internal evidence.
SOURCE - INTERNAL
Obadiah's vision is against the nation of Edom
We have heard a
message from the Lord. A messenger has
been sent among the nations: "Rise up, and let us go to war against
her." (Obadiah 1:1.)
This is
the Lord's call to war. It appears that
Obadiah wrote his vision soon before the Jews would go to battle against Edom kingdom
of Israel did not border Edom kingdom of Judah Judah
We are given the biggest clue as to when
this vision was written in verse seven, which reads,
Everyone who has a
treaty with you will drive you to the border.
Everyone at peace with you will deceive and conquer you. Those who eat your bread will set a trap for
you. (Obadiah 1:7.)
Obadiah
prophesies that Edom Judah ,
is being attacked by an alliance between Moab ,
Ammon, and Edom Edom Judah ,
the Lord caused the Ammonites and the Moabites to turn against Edom
The moment they [the
army of Judah ] began their
shouts and praises, the Lord set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moabites, and
the inhabitants of Mount Seir who came to fight against Judah Mount Seir
This
appears to be the fulfillment of Obadiah's prophecy in verse seven.
DATE
Since Obadiah's vision is a call to war
against the Edomites and prophesies this outcome, it must have been written immediately
before this battle. So when did this
battle take place? It is the last recorded event in the life of
Jehoshaphat. So this must have happened
at the end of his reign. Since Ahab died
two chapters earlier [2Chr 18:34], this battle must have taken place between
the deaths of Ahab and Jehoshaphat.
At this
point, we have narrowed down the time of Obadiah to 2 chapters [2Chr 18:34 to
2Chr 20:22].
Scholars have said that Ahab died in 852 or
850 BC and that Jehoshaphat died in 849 or 847 BC. If we take the earliest given date for the
death of Ahab (852 BC) and the latest given date for the death of Jehoshaphat
(847 BC), this leaves a span
of five years. The battle between Judah and Edom
Therefore,
after gathering all this evidence, the best answer as to when Obadiah wrote his vision would be around 850 BC,
give or take two years.
SOURCE - OBADIAH OF JUDAH
There is one more interesting Scripture to
mention. As stated earlier, it makes
more sense that Obadiah lived in Judah
rather than Israel since Judah bordered and fought against Edom while Israel Israel , there was another
Obadiah in Judah
In the third year of
his reign, Jehophaphat sent his officials--Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah,
Nethanel, and Micaiah--to teach in the cities of Judah
This
Obadiah of Judah was already an established teacher even before the death of
Ahab. This is probably the Obadiah who
wrote the one-chapter vision we have today.
ENDING
I hope you enjoyed this video which is more
of a historical Bible study. It is a
change-of-pace from the videos I normally share. So if you have not been to this channel
before, I invite you to check out my other videos on the history and faith of
early Christianity. These Christians
wrote many works between 75 and 325 AD, and some knew the apostles personally. Their writings tell us what the church was
like immediately following the lives of the apostles.
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P.S.
P.S.
Obadiah 1:18 reads,
No survivor will
remain of the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken. (Obadiah 1:18.)
When
was this prophecy fulfilled? When was Edom Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem
