Feast of the Prophet Obadiah – Obi..who? This might well be the reaction to this Old Testament prophet. Obadiah was a post exilic prophet, that is a prophet who spoke to the Israelites after the Babylonian Captivity. You might also hear of Obadiah being one of the “Twelve Minor” prophets. Minor? This needs an explanation. These prophets include Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah and Malachi as well as Obadiah. Why are they “minor”? The are grouped in this way because their writings are short in length. Actually, The Vision of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament – only one chapter. Why should we care? To find the answer to this question we need to look in one of the Eothina (Dawn) Gospels. It is a familiar scene after the Resurrection, which is related by St. Luke in chapter 24, 13 – 53. The resurrected Christ encounters some of his disciples on the road to Emmaus. Here we read: “Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (v. 27); not all the major prophets but all the prophets. This is the what the Orthodox teaching tells us about the road to Bethlehem. God prepared the world and most especially his people, the people of Israel. This is the significance of Obadiah, he is one of the voices God chose to prepare for the Coming of Christ. Obadiah tells of the coming of a King to save his people. The King is coming…are you preparing? ]]>
