“The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom — we have heard a report from the LORD, and an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, “Arise and let us go against her for battle — behold, I will make you small among the nations; you are greatly despised. The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to earth?’ Though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD. If thieves came to you, if robbers by night — O how you will be ruined! — would they not steal only until they had enough? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? O how Esau will be ransacked, and his hidden treasures searched out!<\/em>” (Obadiah 1-6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhen taken in its context, we see that God is talking about the small nation of Edom on the southern border of Judah. The region was mountainous with many cliffs. Edom apparently thought it was well protected from attacks because of scaling the cliffs to reach their dwellings.<\/p>\n
The phrasing of the prophecy is in hyperbole — a stating of things in the extreme. Even if Edom managed to put homes so high that they were in the stars, God would still bring the nation down. It is neither saying that Edom had done this, nor that it would do this. Therefore, this figure of speech doesn’t answer the question that was asked.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: On your website is a question about “What does the Bible say about man inhabiting space?” Wouldn’t that include man living on other planets and their moons? I think Obadiah 1:4 in the New King James Version says it all: “‘Though you ascend as high as the eagle, And though you set your nest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119],"tags":[211,1449,1213],"class_list":["post-54263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","tag-figurative-language","tag-figures-of-speech","tag-obadiah"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23736,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-obadiah-21-speak-of-saviors-when-there-is-only-one-savior\/","url_meta":{"origin":54263,"position":0},"title":"How can Obadiah 21 speak of saviors when there is only one Savior?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about Obadiah verse 21, in the King James Version the second word is \"saviors\". And I know it does not mean Jesus, and it is a plural form. But who can be called savior except for Jesus Himself? I don't understand the verse. Can you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3263,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-is-edom-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":54263,"position":1},"title":"Where is Edom today?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is Edom's name today? Answer: The country of Edom was founded by Jacob's brother Esau. He picked up the nickname \"Edom\" or \"Red\" when he sold half of his massive inheritance for a simple bowl of red bean stew. Edom was located in the region to the southeast\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The country of Edom would remain perpetually desolate.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lavistachurchofchrist.org\/images\/Edom.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lavistachurchofchrist.org\/images\/Edom.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lavistachurchofchrist.org\/images\/Edom.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27798,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-man-inhabiting-space\/","url_meta":{"origin":54263,"position":2},"title":"What does the Bible say about man inhabiting space?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear sir, What does the Bible say about man inhabiting space? Particularly the satellites, the Hubble telescope, astronauts, and the space station. Did the Bible foresee how men would try to conquer space and to some degree has? Could the verse that says \"the stars will fall from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9315,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-day-of-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":54263,"position":3},"title":"The Day of the Lord","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 2:14-24 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In Peter\u2019s first sermon, he quotes the prophet Joel who warns of the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As we read the warnings of God through the prophets, repeatedly we find references to \u201cthe day of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84079,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-make-use-of-sinners\/","url_meta":{"origin":54263,"position":4},"title":"Does God make use of sinners?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day sir, In the context of the potter and the clay, is it simply explained that God uses sinners in their sinful condition doing wrong or sinning to accomplish His purpose? Answer: The illustration of the potter and the clay is used several times in the Scriptures. \"Woe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24964,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-both-the-king-of-babylon-and-jesus-called-the-morning-star\/","url_meta":{"origin":54263,"position":5},"title":"Why is both the king of Babylon and Jesus called the morning star?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could you explain to me Isaiah 14:12-15? And then Revelation 22:16? Answer: \"How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, 'I will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}