Jesus, worshipper and servant of God

The Old Testament is filled with prophecies of the Messiah but often we do not only see Him in the prophecy, for what He will come and do, but also for who He is and how He went about His journey on earth.

“”But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, And it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.” (Obadiah 1:17 NASB)

Obadiah is only one chapter but filled with the hope we have in Jesus. There are three elements that will come with Him. First of all, Jesus is predicted to be Salvation in Person (the meaning of His name) and what He will bring for all who believe in Him. He was to bring deliverance to His people.

“for”WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”” (Romans 10:13 NASB)

Secondly, apart from the salvation and deliverance that Jesus would bring, He was also an announcement and pre-eminence of the presence of Holiness that He will be. Mount Zion was considered a holy mountain and from there salvation and deliverance will come to those who call on the name of Jesus—a clear picture of Jesus and what He is to us.

Thirdly, Obadiah tells about the kingdom that will be establishes with the coming of Jesus.

“The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion To judge the mountain of Esau, And the kingdom will be the LORD’ S.” (Obadiah 1:21 NASB)

In addition to what we learned about what Jesus would come and do, Obadiah also gives us insight about what Jesus was like as a person. Obadiah means “Worshipper of Yahweh.”

Jesus always worshipped God, even in the midst of His greatest trial at the cross. When He was tempted by the devil to worship him, Jesus responded by saying that “You shall worship the Lord your God only and only Him shall thou serve”. Something to note is that worship and service go hand in hand. Satan did not ask Jesus to serve him because he knew the master is not made to serve the servant and only asked Jesus to worship him (Matthew 4:10), but Jesus responded by including serving with worshiping God.

Something you can ask yourself: Do you only worship God or do you also serve Him in everything you do?

To show the significance of Obadiah’s name is that his name not only means worshipper of Yahweh, but also “Servant of Yahweh“.

Obadiah did not only prophesied about Jesus, but His name also provides a picture of the person of Jesus. Jesus Himself said, “It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28 NASB)

Jesus is the deliverance from Zion, the Holiness of God, who is to be worshiped and served, just like He worshipped and served His Father.

Maretha Retief

Illustration by Jeanne de Villiers