And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:

For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

And the sons of Hananiah; Pelatiah, and Jesaiah: the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shechaniah.

And the sons of Uzzi; Izrahiah: and the sons of Izrahiah; Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five: all of them chief men.

And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.

And Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, that dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites.

Introduction to II Kings The division between I Kings and II Kings is seemingly quite arbitrary; originally the two were one book. The second book continues the history of Judah and Israel until their eventual captivities. Like I Kings, the book of II Kings was probably compiled from records of the earlier prophets by Jeremiah or one of the later prophets of Judah. The ministries of Elijah and Elisha constitute the dominant subject of the first third of the book. The portion of the history devoted to Israel is sad in the extreme, with one ungodly king after another leading the people away from God, until finally the Assyrians destroyed their land and carried the people off into captivity. The last king of Israel was Hoshea (II Kings 17). There were, of course, believers and faithful servants of God in the northern kingdom during all those years of spiritual decline and apostasy. The most notable were the prophets Elijah and Elisha, but two of the prophets of the Biblical canon also had ministries primarily in Israel. Hosea’s initial ministry to Israel was during the long reign of Jeroboam II, but it evidently continued even beyond Israel’s exile into Assyria (Hosea 1:1). The prophet Amos was a contemporary of Hosea who also ministered especially in the northern kingdom of Israel (sometimes called Ephraim). In Judah, several of the kings were God-fearing men, and Hezekiah and Josiah in particular led in great national revivals. Of the writing prophets, those whose ministry was mainly centered in Judah were—in more or less chronological order—Obadiah, Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Jeremiah. Isaiah, in the days of Ahaz and Hezekiah, and Jeremiah, during the last days of the kingdom under Josiah and the kings who briefly followed him, had especially significant influence on the kings and the nation as a whole. No doubt because of the influence of these prophets, and the several God-fearing kings of Judah, God allowed Judah to remain in the land for about 130 years after Israel had been carried away to Assyria. Eventually, however, even Judah became so wicked and apostate, especially under her final kings (Jehoiakim, Jeconiah and Zedekiah) that God sent Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of Babylon to destroy Jerusalem with its temple and to carry the king and all the leaders of the people into exile and captivity in Babylon. There were other godly prophets and priests in both Israel and Judah, of course, besides those whose prophecies have been preserved in the Bible. Some among these, no doubt, were the original writers of the records now incorporated in the books of Kings. The last of them, Jeremiah, quite possibly was the man who compiled and edited all of these earlier documents into their present, divinely inspired form.

34:5 Idumea. Idumea is the land of Edom, and there are indications that Christ will return first to that land of the cursed Edomites (note Obadiah 18 and Malachi 1:3, for example), then proceed to Jerusalem (compare Isaiah 63:1-4), all the way treading the terrible “winepress of the wrath of God,” wearing a “vesture dipped in blood” (Revelation 14:19,20; 19:13). Note also Isaiah 34:6, revealing that “the LORD hath…a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.” The distance from Bozrah (Isaiah 34:6) to Jerusalem is about sixteen hundred furlongs (Revelation 14:20).

35:2 against mount Seir. There are four references to Mount Seir in this chapter (Ezekiel 35:2,3,7,15). See note on Genesis 36:20 on the origin of the name. Prophecies against Edom are also given in Jeremiah 49:7-22 and Obadiah 1-21.

Introduction to Hosea Hosea is the first in the list of Minor Prophets, so-called mainly because their inspired books are shorter than those of the Major Prophets. Hosea probably was not the first of these prophets chronologically. More likely Amos, Obadiah, or Jonah was first. Hosea evidently was placed first among the Minor Prophets because his book was the longest of these. Because of the sad experiences in his own personal life, Hosea has occasionally been called “the broken-hearted prophet,” just as Jeremiah has been called “the weeping prophet.” The name Hosea in the Hebrew was very similar to that of “Joshua,” meaning, “Jehovah is Salvation.” Hosea was almost unique among the writing prophets because he both lived in the northern kingdom of Israel and directed his prophecy mostly against Israel. He warned against the coming Assyrian invasion of Israel, just as Jeremiah later warned Judah about Babylon. His prophecies against Israel were all during the forty-one year reign of Jeroboam II in Israel (II Kings 14:23; Hosea 1:1). Hosea was concerned also about Judah, of course, and mentioned that his ministry coincided with the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah in Judah. Some think Hosea resided in Judah in his later years when it began to be dangerous for him to remain in Israel. Hosea’s prophecy centers largely about the divinely inspired parallel between Hosea’s love for his unfaithful wife Gomer and Jehovah’s love for unfaithful Israel. In connection with his prophecies concerning Israel, a number of remarkable fulfillments in the long-range experiences of Israel (Hosea 3:4,5) have verified the supernatural nature of these prophecies.

1 concerning Edom. Obadiah’s entire one-chapter prophecy deals with God’s coming judgment on Edom, the nation founded by Jacob’s twin brother, Esau. The fulfillment took place precursively later at the time of the Babylonian invasion, when Nebuchadnezzar decimated the Edomites and their land. The nation was eventually overrun by others and finally became desolate. However, the ultimate fulfillment will be when the confederacy invading Israel in the last days (Psalm 83; Ezekiel 38), which includes the Muslim Arabs now occupying Edom’s ancient land, is defeated and its influence destroyed.

Introduction to Obadiah The one-chapter prophecy of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. There is no clear evidence, either internal or external, concerning the date of writing. Most conservative scholars believe it is one of the earliest, perhaps the very first prophetic book. Others, especially liberals attribute it to the period after the destruction of Jerusalem. Obadiah was presumably a prophet of Judah, although this is not absolutely certain. There are several other men named Obadiah (Servant of Jehovah) in the Bible, but none of them are the same as the author of the book. The main theme of the book is a pronouncement of coming judgment on Edom, the nation descended from Esau, Jacob’s brother. Though closely related to the Israelites, the Edomites were almost perpetually at enmity with them, even participating with another (unnamed) enemy nation in an invasion and destruction of Jerusalem (Obadiah 11-15). Since there is no mention of the Babylonians in this situation, it is possible that the reference is to a much earlier invasion of Jerusalem by the Edomites (as described in II Chronicles 28:17) in the days of Ahaz. In any case, the ultimate doom of Edom is pronounced in view of both her arrogant pride (Obadiah 3-4) and also because of her “violence against thy brother Jacob” (Obadiah 10). Although the complete judgment on Edom was long in coming, eventually Edom and the Edomites disappeared from history, whereas Israel has continued throughout all the ages.

15 day of the LORD. If, as many scholars believe, Obadiah was the first of the writing prophets, this would be the first use of the important phrase, “the day of the LORD,” which is applied so frequently in Scripture to the judgments of the last days. Although Obadiah’s theme here is specifically the coming judgment on Edom, his vision goes far beyond that, applying it to “all the heathen”—that is, all the Gentile nations.

1:1 by Haggai. Haggai preceded Zechariah and then Malachi as the three post-exilic prophets, ministering to the returning Jews who rebuilt Jerusalem and its temple. Both Haggai and his younger contemporary, Zechariah, are mentioned in Ezra 5:1 and 6:14. Haggai was probably very old when he wrote his short book—the shortest Old Testament book except Obadiah—and the only two-chapter book in the Bible.

1:19 it is written. Paul is quoting here from Isaiah 29:14, with somewhat similar relevant passages in Jeremiah 49:7 and Obadiah 8. The section from this verse through the end of chapter 2 is a sobering indictment of supposed human wisdom, as opposed to true wisdom in Christ (I Corinthians 1:30).

18:3 Obadiah. Obadiah (meaning “servant of Jehovah”) was not the same as the prophet Obadiah. This Obadiah held a very strategic and dangerous position, as a true follower of the Lord, in the court of apostate King Ahab, who had rejected Jehovah in favor of Baal. Jezebel either did not know of his religious convictions, or else he was too close to Ahab, or else she would surely have tried to kill him when she had many of God’s true prophets executed.