DOES OBADIAH 16-18 PROVE ANNIHILATION?
Updated - 2/9/09
Two
phrases in Obadiah have been offered as proofs that the unsaved are
annihilated.
Obadiah
talks about
A
careful examination of Esau will show that he represents the unsaved in the
local congregations, the tares, particularly as we come to the Great
Tribulation.
So,
as we read in Obadiah where God is faulting
The
two phrases in Obadiah that have been offered as proofs of annihilation are
found in Obadiah 16-18.
We
read there:
16
For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the
heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down,
and they shall be as though they had not been.
17 Ά But upon mount
18
And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour
them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the
LORD hath spoken it.
We
will now examine these two phrases.
The
first one is found in verse 16 and is the phrase they
shall be as though they had not been.
This
sounds like the unsaved wont exist after Judgment Day.
A
poor translation in verse 16 leads us to a wrong conclusion.
In
the translation of the above phrase there is one extra word and one inferior
word selection.
1.
In this phrase cited above we read the word though. That word is not
in the Hebrew text. The translators added this word and it gives the wrong
idea. As will be shown this word does not belong in the translation.
2.
The Hebrew word translated had not been is most commonly translated were
not.
From
time to time even an excellent translation like the KJV Bible will have an
error.
The
King James Version Bible is the most faithful English translation. However, we
should not be afraid to check the Hebrew and Greek texts and make correction if
necessary.
Overall,
the KJV translators did an excellent job. However, when we check the Hebrew or
Greek texts, occasionally we find a correction is necessary.
We
have learned that the KJV translators did not do a good job with the word
sabbath in Matthew 28:1 and in other verses. So, we have had to make
correction. In the same way, the translation of Obadiah 16 requires minor correction.
The word though is not Hebrew text and should be removed. Also, The
translation they were is a more accurate translation than they had
been.
If
we make the two above corrections we get a more accurate translation.
The
phrase reads like this in our KJV Bible:
they shall be as though they had not been
A
more accurate translation of the Hebrew text is:
they shall be as not they were
This
is much more accurate and a very literal translation of the Hebrew text found
in Obadiah 16.
The
location of the word not is a little awkward for how we write in English. If
you move the not you get the same meaning, but in a more natural English
sentence:
they shall not be as they were
In
Obadiah 16, God is saying concerning the unsaved church people, that at
Judgment Day, they shall be as not they were
or they shall not be as they were
What
is God saying here?
To
understand this phrase, we ask the question, How were the unsaved church
people before Judgment Day?
We
get an answer to this question if we read Obadiah 3-4. We read there:
3 The pride of thine heart
hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose
habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to
the ground?
4 Though thou exalt thyself
as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring
thee down, saith the LORD.
We
can learn more about this language by reading Revelation 17 & 18.
In
Obadiah 3-4, as through all of Obadiah, God is talking to the unsaved church
people.
Starting
in verse 3 God faults them for their pride. God refers to them dwelling in the
clefts of the rock. The Lord Jesus is the rock. The true believers
eternally dwell in the clefts of the rock, the Lord Jesus.
But,
the unsaved church people believe that they also dwell in the clefts of the
rock, the Lord Jesus. They believe that they are saved.
And,
to some degree they do dwell there because they are identified as Gods
people. In the book of Jeremiah God calls these unsaved people my people
many times (Jeremiah 2:11,13, 4:22, 5:31, 7:12, 23). These unsaved church
people were Gods people along with the true believers during the church age.
In
verse 3 the unsaved church people, represented by
Effectively,
they believe they are exalted as Gods eternal people and will not be brought
down by Gods judgment. God says in Obadiah 4 that He will bring them down.
In
verse 4, we read that these unsaved church people, who are also called tares,
have set their nest among the stars. The stars refer to the
true believers (Daniel 12:3). The tares have exalted themselves as the true
believers. They claim to be true believers and they also appear to be true
believers.
During
the church age, the tares, the unsaved church people, have been perceived as
true people of God. They appeared to be dwelling in the clefts of the rock.
That is, to be dwelling in the Lord Jesus. The have appeared to be stars. That
is, they appeared to be the true believers.
During
the church ages the tares were the corporate people of God and in that sense
they appeared to dwell in the rock and to be the stars of heaven.
Given
this help from Obadiah 3-4, lets look at the properly translated phrase from
Obadiah 16 again.
The
last part of Obadiah 16 is properly translated: they
shall not be as they were.
To
understand this phrase, we asked the question How were the unsaved church
people before Judgment Day?
Obadiah
3-4 gives the answer.
The
unsaved church people exalted themselves as being the true people of God. They
claimed to dwell in the clefts of the rock. That is, they claimed to
be in the Lord Jesus.
They
appeared to be among the stars of heaven, which are the true
believers, as we read in verse 4.
So,
how were the tares?
They
had exalted themselves as the true people of God, dwelling in Christ. That is
how they were.
But,
Obadiah 16 says at Judgment Day, they shall not
be as they were.
They
were Gods people according to the book of Jeremiah and other parts of the
Bible. They were the corporate people of God. They had exalted themselves as
the stars of heaven.
But,
at Judgment Day God will cast them into the lake of fire. God will bring them
down.
This
is what God is saying in Obadiah 4 where we read:
Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and
though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith
the LORD.
They
were exalted among the stars, the true believers. But, God will bring them
down into hell, the lake of fire.
This
is what God is saying in Obadiah 16.
The
phrase they shall not be as they were
is saying that at Judgment Day they will no longer be as they were.
The
unsaved church people were exalted as the people of God. But, at Judgment Day,
God will bring them down. They they shall not be
as they were.
They
were exalted as the people of God. They shall not be as they were. They shall
be cast down.
When
we examine the Hebrew text of the phrase they shall
be as though they had not been in Obadiah 16, we find that the
translation should have been they shall not be as
they were.
We
see that this verse does not teach annihilation. Rather it teaches that the
tares will no longer be exalted as the people of God, but shall be cast down.
This agrees with Obadiah 3-4 and the rest of Obadiah.
Lets
examine the Hebrew text of this phrase.
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those that want to check the Hebrew text
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The
Hebrew text of the phrase they shall be as though they had not been.
is:
wyh awlk wyhw
The
Hebrew language is read from right to left, the opposite of English. So, we
have to start on the right side.
The
text wyhw is commonly translated
they shall be. Here are some example verses with the same phrase. The
verse in Hebrew is listed first, followed by the English translation.
dxa rvbl wyhw wtsab qbdw wma-taw wyba-ta
sya-bzey Nk-le Genesis
2:24
Genesis 2:24 Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh.
dymt hwhy ynpl
wbl-le larvy-ynb jpsm-ta Nrha avnw hwhy ynpl wabb Nrha bl-le wyhw Mymth-taw Myrwah-ta jpsmh
Nsx-la ttnw Exodus
28:30
Exodus 28:30 And thou shalt
put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aarons heart, when he goeth in
before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel
upon his heart before the LORD continually.
hqdubw tmab Myhlal Mhl hyha ynaw Mel yl-wyhw Mlswry Kwtb wnksw Mta ytabhw Zechariah 8:8
Zechariah 8:8
And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem:
and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in
righteousness.
These
are a few examples. The translation they shall be is very common for
this combination of Hebrew letters.
In
the second word we see the first letter on the right side. It is the Hebrew
letter k. This letter is commonly
translated into the English word as.
Here
are some example verses with this Hebrew word:
erw bwj yedy Myhlak Mtyyhw Mkynye
wxqpnw wnmm Mklka Mwyb yk Myhla edy yk Genesis 3:5
Genesis 3:5
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall
be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
lkal wlky alw Myhlah sya ryob twm wrmayw wqeu hmhw dyznhm Mlkak yhyw lwkal Mysnal wquyw 2 Kings 4:40
2 Kings 4:40
So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were
eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God,
there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
hmzh tsa hbylha-law hlha-la wab Nk hnwz
hsa-la awbk hyla awbyw Ezekiel 23:44
Ezekiel 23:44 Yet they went in unto her, as they go
in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto
Aholibah, the lewd women.
This
Hebrew letter is frequently translated as. The above are 3 examples
from various places in the Bible.
The
next Hebrew word is awl.
This
word means not and it is connected to the Hebrew word translated as.
Here
are some example verses with this word translated not:
dam Kl-bwj wyvem ykw Kl ajx awl yk dwdb wdbeb
Klmh ajxy-la wyla rmayw wyba lwas-la bwj dwdb Ntnwhy rbdyw 1 Samuel 19:4
1 Samuel 19:4
And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto
him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee,
and because his works have been to thee-ward very good:
hmh hwhyl awl yk hytwsyjn wryoh wvet-la hlkw
wtxsw hytwrsb wle
Jeremiah 5:10
Jeremiah 5:10 Ά Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not
a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORDS.
ddwntt wb Kyrbd
ydm-yk haumn Mybngb-Ma larvy Kl hyh qxvh awl Maw Jeremiah 48:27
Jeremiah 48:27 For was not
This
Hebrew word is commonly translated not.
The
last Hebrew word is wyh.
This Hebrew word is commonly translated they were or these were
or in a similar manner. Here are some example verses:
Krdb Mtwa wlm-al yk
wyh Mylre-yk eswhy lm
Mta Mtxt Myqh Mhynb-taw
Joshua 5:7
Joshua 5:7 And their
children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for
they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.
Nauh Myer Mme
wntwyh ymy-lk Mmwy-Mg hlyl-Mg wnyle wyh hmwx 1
Samuel 25:16
1 Samuel 25:16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with
them keeping the sheep.
wyh Mysrx
yk Mysrx ayg yba bawy-ta dylwh hyrvw hrpe-ta dylwh ytnwemw 1 Chronicles 4:14
1
Chronicles 4:14 And Meonothai begat
Ophrah: and Seraiah begat Joab, the father of the
With
these translations we can put the sentence together.
When
we put the sentence together based upon the translations that we have seen we
obtain a very literal translation: They shall be as not they were.
Or,
more commonly in English we would put the not in a different location.
It does not change the meaning. We would write They shall not be as they
were.
The
translation they shall be as though they had not been is not very good
and gives the wrong idea. When we carefully check the Hebrew text, we find that
a much more accurate translation is They shall not be as they were.
With
the help of Obadiah 3-4 we have learned what God means by the statement They
shall not be as they were. The tares had been exalted as the people of
God. They were viewed as stars, as the true believers.
But,
at Judgment Day, God will bring the tares down. Then, They shall not be as
they were. They were the people of God, exalted as the stars, but they
shall not be as they were. They will be cast down.
Obadiah
16 is not teaching that the tares wont exist, rather it is teaching that God
will bring them down from being the stars of heaven into the pit of hell. Then,
They shall not be as they were.
This
agrees with what we read about in Revelation 6:12-14. We read there:
12 And I beheld when he had
opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun
became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven
fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is
shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed
as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were
moved out of their places.
We
have learned that this language is not to be understood literally. The sun
becoming black and the moon becoming blood are indicating that there is no more
salvation, but only judgment coming from the Bible.
In
verse 13 we read about the stars of heaven falling. This is talking about the
tares who have exalted themselves as stars. They will be cast down into hell. They
shall not be as they were.
That
matches what we read about in Obadiah 4. We read there:
Though thou exalt thyself as the
eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee
down, saith the LORD.
The
true, eternal stars are the believers (Daniel 12:3). However, the tares, the
unsaved church people, have exalted themselves and claimed that they were true
believers. They claimed that they were the stars of heaven.
But,
God is saying that they are not true believers, and that He will bring them
down.
In
summary: If we examine Obadiah 16 carefully, correcting a weakness in the
translation we find that it does not teach annihilation. Rather, it teaches
that at Judgment Day the unsaved church people will not be as they were. They
were the people of God. But then, they will be cast down.
We
will now look at the second phrase
Lets
consider the second phrase that is used to teach annihilation.
We
read in Obadiah 18:
And the house of Jacob shall be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they
shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any
remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.
We
read the phrase there shall not be any
remaining of the house of Esau in this verse. It is said that this
phrase teaches that the unsaved are annihilated. Since they are not remaining then it must be that the unsaved have
ceased to exist.
This
seems straight forward.
But,
we should ask the question remaining where?
Verse
18 is written in a way that can make us think of annihilation. First, we read
that the unsaved are burned and devoured. Then we read that there will be none
remaining of the house of Esau.
So,
we can conclude that the unsaved are burned up and are all gone. But, is this
what this verse is teaching?
The
fires of Gods wrath are covered in other studies. We can make one statement
here.
If
we read the Bible carefully, we find that the fires of Gods wrath are not as
simple as the unsaved being burned up in a physical fire.
God
says that all of the unsaved will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation
20:15).
When
the unsaved are cast into the lake of fire, the Bible says that they are tormented
day and night or they have no rest day nor night (Revelation
14:10-11, 20:10).
Someone
cast into a physical lake of fire goes unconscious in a few minutes or seconds.
He cannot be tormented day and night. One cannot be tormented day and
night in a physical fire.
Those
cast into a physical lake of fire are not tormented day and night.
They go unconscious within a few seconds or minutes.
Therefore,
the lake of fire cannot be a physical fire.
The
lake of fire points to the enduring of Gods wrath, since God is the consuming
fire (Hebrews 12:29).
Therefore,
if we are going to be honest with the Bible, then when we read verses that talk
about the burning of the unsaved, we have to recognize that God is not talking
about a physical fire. He is talking about the enduring of His wrath.
If
we are honest with the Bible, we cannot simply conclude, See, the unsaved are
burned up in a big physical fire. That does not match all of the verses that
talk about the fires of Gods wrath.
This
question is developed more fully with additional verses in other studies.
Therefore,
going back to Obadiah 18 when we read about the unsaved being burned, the
Biblical answer is that they are enduring the wrath of God. The verse is not
saying that they are simply being burned up in a physical fire.
So,
the first part Obadiah 18 is talking about the unsaved enduring the wrath of
God.
The
second part of Obadiah 18 talks about none remaining. Therefore, we might form
the conclusion that the unsaved are burned up and gone. However, we have to
read the Bible carefully, checking the context.
Obadiah
18 says there shall not be any remaining
of the house of Esau.
We
think that means that there shall not be any existing of the house of Esau.
But,
we should ask the question There shall not be any remaining where?
If
we look at the context we can understand Obadiah 18 better.
We
read in Obadiah 17-21:
17 Ά But upon mount
18 And
the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the
house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and
there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath
spoken it.
19 And
they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of
the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and
the fields of
20 And
the captivity of this host of the children of
21 And
saviours shall come up on
In
verse 17 God starts talking about
God
uses terms like Mount Zion to refer to either the eternal Kingdom of God
which will have its fulfillment in the new heaven and the new earth.
Also,
God uses the term
In
Obadiah 18 God is talking about the eternal
In
this world, the
In
this world, the
But,
in the new heaven and new earth, the eternal
Looking
at Obadiah 19-21 helps to confirm that the phrase there shall not be any
remaining means that God will
separate the wheat from the tares. The tares will not be in the new heaven and
new earth.
The
end of verse 18 says that there will be none remaining of the house of Esau.
God gives more definition on how to understand this phase in the next verse. We
read in Obadiah 19:
And they of
the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the
Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of
Notice
that God makes reference to the mount of Esau. The mount of Esau was outside
of the nation of
But,
also, God makes reference to regions of
In
verse 20 we find that the believers shall possess the lands of Zarephath and of
Sepharad. These lands were part of the lands of the nations.
All of these lands will be the possession of
the true believers. God is tying into what we read in Matthew 5:5:
Blessed
are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
The meek are the true believers. The earth is
the earth recreated as the new heavens and the new earth at the end of the
world.
The new earth is to what God is referring in
Obadiah 17-21.
In Obadiah 17-21 God talks about various
lands and regions. God talks about the mount of Esau and about lands of
Now we must ask a question.
But, who will dwell in that new earth?
Only the true believers will dwell in that
new earth.
In this present world, the external
representation of the
That is why in Jeremiah God talks about His
wrath against my people, referring to the people of God. During the
Great Tribulation, the tares, the unsaved people in the churches, along with
their master, satan, have taken over all the churches. That is why God says
that He is upset with His people.
In this world, there is an imperfect
But, starting in Obadiah 17 God is talking
about the eternal
In the new heavens and new earth, will Esau
be there?
The answer is no.
God will purge out the tares and all of the
unsaved and cast them into the lake of fire.
God will create a new heavens and a new earth
and only the true believers will be there.
In
the new heavens and new earth there shall not be any remaining of
the house of Esau. This is what God
is talking about in Obadiah 18.
In
this world, the house of Esau is present in the local congregations, the
But,
in the new earth, there shall not be any remaining of the house of
Esau. The tares shall be removed and
cast into the lake of fire
God
is saying in Obadiah 18 that in the new heavens and new earth, the eternal
The
parable of the Wheat and Tares agrees with the teaching of Obadiah 18
The
teaching of Obadiah 18 agrees with what we read in Matthew 31:40-43 & 49-50:
40 As
therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the
end of this world.
41 The
Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his
kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And
shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth.
43
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
49 So
shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the
wicked from among the just,
50 And
shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth.
These
verses emphasize the separation between the saved and the unsaved that occurs
at the end of the world. Then, the
In
Matthew 13:41 we see that God will gather out the unsaved from his kingdom. This is equivalent to what we read in
Obadiah 18 that there shall not be any remaining of the house of
Esau.
In
the new heaven and new earth, the
This
agrees with Matthew 13:49 that at the end of the world there will be a final
separation. God will remove the unsaved from the saved.
God
says in Matthew 13:49 that He shall sever the wicked from among the just. There will be a final separation between the saved
and the unsaved. That agrees with Obadiah 18 which says there shall not be any
remaining of the house of Esau. The
unsaved, represented by the house of Esau, will be removed from the earth and
will not be in the new earth.
Notice
the very parallel language between Obadiah 18 and Matthew 13:49-50. We list
both passages below:
Obadiah 1:18 And
the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the
house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and
there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath
spoken it.
Matthew
13:49-50:
49 So
shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the
wicked from among the just,
50 And
shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth.
In
Obadiah 18 we read about the unsaved being cast into the fires of Gods wrath.
When God talks about fire and burning the unsaved, God is referring to the
unsaved being cast into the lake of fire, into the fires of Gods wrath.
Then,
we read that there will be none of the unsaved remaining.
In
Matthew 13:49-50 we read about the same event. The unsaved will be cast into
the fires of Gods wrath. But, in Matthew 13:49-50 God gives additional
information. God says that He will separate the saved from the unsaved.
That
explains why there are none of the unsaved remaining in Obadiah 18. There is
none of the unsaved remaining in the
As
a result, Obadiah 17-21 describes a pure
So,
when we examine Obadiah 18 in its context and compare it to passages like
Matthew 13:40-50, we find that it is teaching that in the new earth, there will
be no unsaved people like there are in this earth. God will remove all of them.
Obadiah 18 is teaching the removal or separation of the unsaved from the saved.
It is not teaching annihilation.
We
want to remember an important Biblical principle.
When
we use a verse or passage as a proof text for annihilation or for anything
else, we must make sure that the verse or passage cannot be understood in
another way.
For
example we read in Matthew 25:46 that the unsaved go into everlasting
punishment. We read there:
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:
but the righteous into life eternal.
This
verse could be understood to teach an everlasting punishment of conscious
affliction. Or, it could be understood to teach simply that the unsaved lose an
everlasting inheritance. Losing an everlasting inheritance is in a sense an
everlasting punishment.
Therefore,
we cannot use Matthew 25:46 as a proof text of perpetual suffering for the
unsaved without developing a better Biblical definition for the Greek word
translated punishment.
In
the same manner, someone can read the phrase there shall not be any
remaining of the house of Esau in
Obadiah 18 and conclude that this phrase teaches that the unsaved are
annihilated. However, when we consider the context of Obadiah 17-21, we see
that God is saying that there shall not be any remaining of the house of
Esau in the
A
proof of annihilation or of anything else must be based upon verses that cannot
be understood in another way. With the help of Obadiah 17-21, we can see that
Obadiah 18 is teaching that the tares will be separated or removed from the
Kingdom of the God.
Lets
consider another help in understanding this Hebrew word translated remaining
in Obadiah 18.
Another
example of where God uses this Hebrew word translated remaining in Obadiah 18
that gives some understanding.
God
uses the same Hebrew word translated remaining in Obadiah 18 back in
Obadiah 14. If we examine how this how God uses this Hebrew word in Obadiah 14
it will give us more insight into the correct understanding of this Hebrew word
in Obadiah 18.
We
read in Obadiah 14:
Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to
cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up
those of his that did remain <08300> in the day of distress.
The
word remain is the same Hebrew word translated remaining in
Obadiah 18.
Obadiah
14 is talking about our day and the end of the church age when God has
commanded the true believers, and all mankind for that matter, to leave the
local congregations.
In
Obadiah 14 God is faulting Esau who represents the tares or unsaved in the
churches. God is faulting the unsaved in the churches.
God
faults the tares because they cut off those that did escape. The escape
to which God refers is that the believers are to leave the churches.
How
do the tares cut off those of his that did escape?
People
have begun to leave the churches because they have recognized that God has
commanded man to leave.
Do
the tares encourage people to obey the Bible and the command to leave the
churches?
No.
Generally, the tares do not encourage people to carefully obey all of the Bible.
In some cases, the tares have tried to encourage people to stay in the church,
which is contrary to what God commands. In other cases, the tares have tried to
encourage people to follow doctrines contrary to the Bible.
All
of these actions are like cutting off the people. The tares, without
recognizing it, are trying to cut off people from the blessing of God by
leading them in a path of disobedience.
The
second part of Obadiah 14 is talking about those that remain using the
same Hebrew word translated remaining in Obadiah 18.
Obadiah
14 talks about how the tares delivered up those of his that did remain.
The ones that remain is referring to those that remain in the
churches.
The
word delivered up is more commonly translated shut up or shut.
It is commonly used in the sense to shut something. Here are two example verses
with this same Hebrew word:
Genesis 7:16 And they that
went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and
the LORD shut him in <05462>.
Job 12:14 Behold, he
breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up <05462> a man, and there can be no opening.
In
Obadiah 14, the tares have tried to shut in those that remain
in the churches so that they could not escape.
In
Obadiah 14, we see God faulting the tares, the unsaved in the churches for two
sins.
First,
for those that escaped the churches, the tares tried to cut them off
from the blessing of God, telling them that they are disobeying the Bible, when
in actuality, they are obeying the Bible.
Second,
for those that remain in the churches, the tares tried to shut them
in so that they wont obey Gods commands. Those that remain in the churches
are encouraged to follow wrong doctrines.
The
usage of this Hebrew word translated remain in Obadiah 14 helps us to gain
understanding of its meaning in Obadiah 18.
When
we read the word remain in Obadiah 14, it does not mean those are the
only ones that exist. Rather, it is referring to those that remain in the church
as opposed to those that have already escaped.
In
Obadiah 14 we see the contrast between those that remain in the church
and those that have escaped and are no longer in the church.
There
are those that remain are those in the church. And, there are others
who do not remain in the church. They are outside of the church.
Likewise,
when we get to Obadiah 18, it is referring to none of the house of Esau remaining
in
After
examining Obadiah 16 & 18 we found that they do not teach the annihilation
of the unsaved.
In
examining Obadiah 16, we found that the word though was improperly added and
that the last phrase indicates that the unsaved church people will be cast
down. They shall not be as they were. They shall no longer be exalted as
Gods people.
In
examining Obadiah 18, we found that it is affirming the teaching that the saved
and unsaved will finally be separated at Judgment Day. In this world, we have a