JESUS IN THE BOOK OF OBADIAH

Obadiah is the shortest voice among the prophets, yet his message falls with the weight of eternity. His words are not many, but they are sharp—aimed at Edom, Israel’s brother, who stood aloof while Jerusalem bled. Silence became sin; distance became betrayal. And within this brief prophecy, Christ stands revealed—not only as the Judge of pride, but as the Deliverer who rescues His people when all earthly alliances fail.

Jesus appears in Obadiah as the Lord who opposes the arrogance of self-exaltation. Edom trusted in high places, in stone fortresses, in the illusion of invincibility. “The pride of your heart has deceived you” (Obadiah 1:3).

This is the same Christ who later warned that whoever exalts himself will be humbled (Matthew 23:12). Pride is not merely a personal flaw; it is rebellion against God’s rightful rule. Obadiah shows us that Christ does not overlook it—He brings it down, not out of cruelty, but out of faithfulness to truth.

Yet Obadiah presses deeper. Edom’s greatest sin was not violence alone, but indifference. They watched their brother’s calamity and did nothing. “You should not have gazed on the day of your brother in the day of his captivity” (Obadiah 1:12).

Here we see Jesus as the true Brother—He does not stand at a distance when His people suffer. He enters the city under siege, bears the curse, and is counted among transgressors. Where Edom rejoiced, Christ wept; where Edom stood aside, Christ stepped forward.

The prophecy then turns from judgment to hope, and Christ emerges as the King who reclaims His mountain. “But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance…and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s” (Obadiah 1:17, 21). Deliverance is not earned; it is granted. The kingdom does not evolve; it is claimed by divine right.

Jesus fulfills this vision as the risen Lord, to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given (Matthew 28:18). Zion is no longer merely a place—it is a people, redeemed and restored under His reign.

Obadiah reminds us that history bends toward Christ’s throne. Nations rise and fall, pride collapses, cruelty is judged—but the kingdom of the Lord endures. In this small book, we meet a great Savior: the Judge who humbles the proud, the Brother who refuses to abandon the wounded, and the King whose rule is righteous and everlasting.

BDD