Obadiah 1:15-18
As You Have Done
Read the passage
15For the Day of the LORD is near for all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your recompense will return upon your own head.
16For as you drank on My holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and gulp it down; they will be as if they had never existed.
17But on Mount Zion there will be deliverance, and it will be holy, and the house of Jacob will reclaim their possession.
18Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire, and the house of Joseph a burning flame; but the house of Esau will be stubble—Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it. Therefore no survivor will remain from the house of Esau.” For the LORD has spoken.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The Day of the LORD is near for all the nations. Edom’s actions will return upon its own head: as it has done, so it will be done to it.
The LORD compares drinking on His holy mountain with what all the nations will drink. They will gulp it down and become as though they had never existed. The image describes devastating judgment.
On Mount Zion, however, there will be deliverance and holiness. Jacob’s house will reclaim its possession. Jacob and Joseph will be like fire, while Esau’s house will be stubble consumed by the flames. No survivor will remain from Esau’s house, for the LORD has spoken.
The promise of rescue stands beside a severe answer to Edom’s violence. The LORD sees what has been done, announces judgment, and promises deliverance for His people.
Questions
1 Who is included in the coming Day of the LORD?
AnswerAll the nations. Edom's judgment is part of a wider day when God addresses what nations have done.
2 What principle does Obadiah state?
AnswerThe principle is that the wrongdoer's own actions will return upon his head. Obadiah describes justice that answers evil without leaving it unaddressed.
3 What will happen on Mount Zion?
AnswerThere will be deliverance, it will be holy, and the house of Jacob will reclaim its possession.
4 What should we do with our desire for someone to receive what they deserve?
AnswerBring it under God's judgment instead of turning it into our permission to take revenge. The same God who sees evil also refuses to let our anger rule us.
What This Means for Us
Obadiah’s warning gives us reason to take our own conduct seriously. Harm done to another person is not forgotten merely because we have avoided its consequences.
If you have harmed someone, acknowledge it and make what repair you can. If you have been harmed, seek protection and truthful justice without taking this prophecy as permission for personal revenge. The promised reckoning belongs to the LORD.
Prayer
Lord, when wrong seems permanent, keep us from revenge and despair. Bring justice where harm has been done, deliver those who are trapped, and make us people who trust your word more than our anger. Amen.