This past Sunday I got to teach the Bible book of Obadiah for the first time. I taught the book to our elementary school aged children’s church class. We use The Gospel Project curriculum which I highly recommend because it doesn’t skip over the hard parts of Scripture.

I started the lesson by telling them we were going to read an entire book of the Bible. Their jaws dropped to the floor. Then I told them that Obadiah only has 21 verses, but they didn’t need to tell their parents that. They could tell their parents they studied an entire Bible book that day in class. I also told them their parents would be impressed if they told them what Obadiah was about since their parents probably didn’t know it off the top of their heads.

In our class, we went over the basics of the book of Obadiah. Then I asked the kids to tell me how the message of Obadiah applied to their lives. They came up with some great insights!

Obadiah Basics

The book of Obadiah was written by Obadiah, but we don’t know anything else about him. Scholars are split about when Obadiah takes place. Some say it takes place in the 800s B.C. and others say it takes place around 586 B.C. which is when Israel was taken captive by the kingdom of Babylon. In either case, Israel was not the primary audience for the message of Obadiah. Obadiah’s message was for the nation of Edom.

Obadiah’s Message

Edom was a nation descendant from Esau. Remember the twins, Jacob and Esau, and how they didn’t get along with each other? The bad blood continues throughout history as their descendants grow into nations.

Edom boasted in pride at Israel’s destruction and didn’t try to help them. In Obadiah 12, it says:

You should not gloat over your brother
    in the day of his misfortune,
nor rejoice over the people of Judah
    in the day of their destruction,
nor boast so much
    in the day of their trouble.

The Edomites didn’t just passively sit back and laugh at Israel.

Edom also made life harder for the Israelites. That is why God sent a message of judgment to Edom through Obadiah. Verse 10 says,

” Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,
    you will be covered with shame;
    you will be destroyed forever. “

The book of Obadiah closes with a promise that Israel would have their nation restored, unlike Edom which would be cut off forever.

Obadiah’s Message and My Life

After I read the book of Obadiah with the kids in my children’s church class and I explained the backstory, I asked them to tell me how we can apply Obadiah’s message to our own lives. I was impressed with what they came up with! Here is what they said:

Do not brag when other people get in trouble.

That is what Edom was doing to Israel. Obadiah 12 says, “Do not gloat over your brother’s day, the day of his misfortune.”

Our paraphrase of this verse was: “Do not say to your brother, ‘Ha, ha, you got in trouble!'”

The kids totally understood what that scenario is like in real life. But it’s not just a reality for kids. Many adults have the same triumphant attitude when they hear of another adult who is struggling in life. In a twisted way, it makes us feel more successful when someone else’s life is going down the tubes. Instead, God wants us to have compassion on others and reach out to help them even if the situation isn’t social acceptable. (Remember the Good Samaritan?)

Do not hold a grudge in your family.

When one of the kids in my class heard that the problems between brothers Jacob and Esau snowballed into problems between the nations of Israel and Edom, she suggested that we make up with family members when we have a disagreement.

Sometimes peace in our family is not up to us. Paul says in Romans 12:18, “ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” If you are living in a time of waiting for a family member to take a step towards peace, live with humility and love in your heart, not in pride that you are the more holy one in the situation.

Make a choice. Obey God or don’t obey God.

Some of the kids were surprised that God was going to destroy Edom for the wrong things they did. Then I reminded them that God had given them lots of chances to follow Him instead of doing their own thing. There were over 1,000 years between the initial enmity between Jacob and Esau and the destruction foretold in the book of Obadiah. (For more specifics about those years, check out this short video.)

One little girl noted that: “God gives us second chances, but sometimes He doesn’t. And we don’t know when that will happen. So we need to choose. Either obey God or don’t obey God. But I hope you pick to obey God.”

Believers in Edom?

One of the kids asked, “But what about the people in Edom who did believe in God? Were they destroyed, too?”

Great question!

This gave me the opportunity to share that those who believe in God on the basis on Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection are part of God’s kingdom.

Just like God protected Noah in the flood and Lot’s family in Sodom and Gomorrah, if there were believers in Edom, God protected them, too.

What other applications do you find in the book of Obadiah? Have you ever studied Obadiah before? Comment below!