21st October 2024

It feels like a confession when I admit that I always read the end of any book first. I like to know where it’s going – and then I can assess the path it takes to get there. The entire Bible, read this way, might have more comfort and hope if we started with the promise: ‘…Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.’ (Revelation 22:17).

The book of Obadiah is a minute portion of the Bible – just 440 words in 21 verses – about the same length as this study, but it might also benefit from its final verse being read first, ‘…And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.’ (Obadiah v.21). Because what precedes it seems like a catalogue of harsh judgement, in reading it we have to trust in the righteousness of God – and see it through to the end. 

The history that Obadiah is based on is all about brothers, and brothers can often have a turbulent relationship. The brothers in question, Jacob and Esau, began their conflict in Rachel’s womb (Genesis 25:21-26), and it led to two nations, Israel and Edom, dwelling side by side, but not in love, continuing the sometimes violent familial conflict. They are not the only brothers who figure in scripture. Jesus’ relationship with his brothers was not easy, as they lived alongside someone whose way of life attracted unwanted attention, and they even suggested he was losing his mind (Mark 3:20-21). Jesus tells two stories of fictitious brothers and, maybe from personal experience, he had them fulfilling antagonistic roles (Matthew 21:28-32; Luke 15:11-32). The parable of the Prodigal Son certainly has some echoes of the true story, years before, of Jacob and Esau. 

There is salvation and hope in these final words of Obadiah, and, through some pain, the healing of the rift between these brothers. God’s story is always a story of reconciliation, made possible by the perfect sacrifice of the man Jesus. There is the hope of healing rifts between all brothers – using the word in its widest sense – in the sense that Jesus intended in his all-embracing definition in Matthew 12:48-50: ‘…He answered and said.. “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” ’

Local congregation:
GCI Market Harborough
9 The Point
Rockingham Road
Market Harborough 
LE16 7QU

Meeting time:
Sunday 4.00 pm

Local congregational contact:
Sinead Henderson 
Email: sinead.henderson@gracecom.church

Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church