Judgment
Obadiah 1:15-21
Obadiah · ~840 BC · Status: Future · Confidence: 60%
“For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.”
King James Version · the opening — all 7 verses are below
The Day of the LORD's lex talionis principle applied to Edom and all nations, foreshadowing the final judgment.
Read the whole passage — all 7 verses (KJV)
1:15For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
1:16For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
1:17But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
1:18And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.
1:19And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
1:20And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
1:21And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.
Fulfillment References
Revelation 16:17-21 Revelation 11:15 Obadiah 1:21
How Traditions Read This Prophecy
Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal'The day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen... and the kingdom shall be the LORD's' (v. 21). Edom's pride and the nations' violence meet the day of the LORD; deliverance comes on mount Zion and saviours arise to judge. It is fulfilled when the Lord Jesus returns to judge the nations (Rev. 16-18) and to reign — for the kingdom is the LORD's, and the Lord is Jesus.
JewishThe day of the LORD brings recompense on Edom and the nations for their violence against Jacob; deliverance on Mount Zion and the restoration of Israel's possession — 'the kingdom shall be the LORD's.'
CatholicThe judgment of the proud nations and the triumph of God's kingdom, read of the final judgment and Christ's universal reign.
ProtestantThe day of the LORD against the nations and the establishing of God's kingdom, fulfilled in Christ's judgment and reign (cf. Rev. 11:15).
AcademicAn oracle of reversal — Edom's downfall and Judah's restoration; 'the kingdom shall be the LORD's' is a climactic theocratic affirmation.
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