De recente oorlog van Israëliër/van Hizb' Allah in Libanon maakt deel uit van de grotere Israëlische confrontatie met de Palestijnen die in prophet Obadiah van de Bijbel geschetst is. Dit is het kleinst van Oude prophecies die van het Testament slechts 21 verzen bevatten maar het is uniek en is hoogst waardevol in het begrip van vandaag het doel van de God met Israël en in de directe toekomst.

Laatstgenoemde de dag heeft prophecy van Obadiah twee belangrijke secties, zijn zij een verklaring van de woede van de God die tegen „Edom“, „Esau“ en „Teman“, samen met acht redenen voor die woede wordt geleid [Oba 1:10 - 16 „Voor geweld tegen uw broer Jacob (gelezen Israël). . . u zal voor altijd worden afgesneden. . . u zou niet moeten hebben. . . (acht keer)] en benoemend het permanente Israëlische bezit van vijf geografische gebieden [Oba 1:17-21]. Today we know them as Gaza, the Kingdom of Jordan divided by the prophecy into north and south, the West Bank and south Lebanon. Since all these areas are populated by the Palestinians, it is clear that Obadiah’s Edom, Esau and Teman represent the current Palestinians.

It is worth noting that Obadiah depicts natural Israel as “possess”ing these five areas without any visible presence of Jesus Christ. For example Oba 1:17-18, “The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame; but the house of Esau shall be stubble” and Oba 1:19, “Benjamin shall possess Gilead” [north Jordan]. From this very specific terminology it is suggested that these five “possessions” are achieved by Israel’s armed forces and take place before Christ’s return in our future.

As a guesstimate of a time frame, note that the Kingdom of Jordan at present is no antagonist of Israel and it is impossible to allocate a time interval for the deterioration of relations between Israel and Jordan, such that Israel will be provoked to “possess” Jordan.

The current conflict in the Holy Land involves the two antagonists of Obadiah’s prophecy and two of the five areas, south Lebanon and Gaza. It is reasonable to suggest that, for the past 24 years, the Holy Land has experienced the prelude to Israel’s possession of these areas. Why 24 years and why just the prelude?

Israel’s first full scale invasion of Lebanon took place in 1982, some 24 years ago, and terminated in her withdrawal in 2000. Israel did not achieve “possession”, that is, incorporation into Greater Israel as Obadiah indicates will happen. A similar situation has occurred in 2006. But in 2006 Hizb’Allah has not been disarmed nor has it withdrawn from south Lebanon. A future resumption of hostilities is widely expected. How many times will Israel take on her enemies on her north border before deciding to permanently “possess” this troublesome location? How many thousand rockets on her major cities will Israel endure before drastic action? Gaza is an even more central threat to Israel. Obadiah’s prophecy will be activated only when Israel decides to stay permanently in these areas.

As Israel will progressively move through possessing these five areas, can you imagine the world’s hysterical reactions? The ravings in the UN will be awesome. The BBC will be beside itself. The Arabs will be off their heads. The Moslems will threaten. Out of these predictable expressions of international outrage, a logical progression presents itself – all nations against Jerusalem, possibly in the form of the U.N.. “Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations” Zechariah 14:3 with Jesus establishing his world rule in Jerusalem when “out of Zion the law shall go forth and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” Micah 4:3.

Obadiah is indeed an outstanding prophecy for today and one deserving of the closest attention.

Graham Bacon, September 2006