Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, as well as with the beginning of the Nativity fast!

Throughout the period of this fast, the Holy Church celebrates the memory of several Old Testament prophets. Of course, this is not by chance, for these prophets waited for the coming of the Saviour to our world and many of them in a direct manner proclaimed how Christ would appear and what He would be like. Their books make up a large part of the Old Testament, but probably not all of us are familiar with them. Throughout the following weeks, let us try to familiarize ourselves with these saints as well as with the books they wrote.

In the church calendar tomorrow (Monday, the 2nd of December) we will see the name of St. Obadiah, the first prophet whose memory falls during the Nativity fast. We know practically nothing about the Holy Prophet Obadiah. There are differing opinions amongst both the Holy Fathers and modern biblical scholars as to when he lived. He wrote the shortest book of the Old Testament, which contains a paltry 21 verses. Although this book is short, it is full of meaning. Today, let’s briefly discuss it.

In his prophecy, Obadiah writes about the very strained relations between Judea and Idumea (or Edom, as it is also called). Judea, as you all know, was the southern kingdom of the Jewish nation, with its capital at Jerusalem. The Idumeans were a neighbouring kingdom to the south. Their capital was the famous city of Petra, which was carved out of a cliff. The Jews and the Idumeans were related peoples (the father of the Edomites was Esau, the brother of Jacob who was the father of the 12 patriarchs of the Jews, about whom you can read in the Book of Genesis). Despite these familial relations, they were not on friendly terms, but on the contrary, were always at odds. The Idumeans repeatedly attacked the Jews and Jerusalem. They also supported other enemies of the Jewish people. The Prophet Obadiah describes one of these attacks on Jerusalem during which the Jews suffered greatly, and prophesies that Idumea will be defeated and Jerusalem and the Jews will prevail over their enemies. One could theorize that Obadiah is describing the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, although there is no direct evidence to support this idea. This prophecy came to be fulfilled over a period of time as the Idumean kingdom slowly fell apart. The Idumeans were forced off their land and settled in the southern part of Judea, where they converted to the Jewish religion and assimilated with the local population.

Of course, this ancient history is interesting, but we, believers in Christ, must understand this prophecy not simply in a literal sense, but also in an allegorical sense. The Edomites can be understood as the whole of the pagan world or every unchristian thing that surrounds us. Just as the Idumeans once attacked the Jews, so today the secular world is at odds with Christians. These attacks and persecutions without a doubt bring suffering to the Church, but God has never in the past abandoned us, nor will He in the future. From the time of the apostles up until our own days, the Church does not simply exist, but continues to grow.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, let the short book of the holy prophet Obadiah be a reminder for each of us that the Lord will not abandon His faithful followers, that all evil and ungodly things will come to an end, and that Christ and His Church will triumph.

priest Alexis