Divided Monarchy
Obadiah
Biography
Obadiah Ahab's steward is introduced as the man over the house while Ahab ruled Israel and Jezebel was cutting off Yahweh's prophets . Scripture says he feared Yahweh greatly, so his faithfulness is not a guess added later but the way the text itself describes him .
When Jezebel tried to destroy Yahweh's prophets, Obadiah took one hundred prophets, hid them by fifties in caves, and fed them with bread and water . That act placed him in danger inside a royal house hostile to Yahweh's servants, yet the passage presents him quietly preserving lives while the public power of the kingdom opposed the word of God .
During the famine, Ahab sent Obadiah through the land to look for grass so the horses and mules might live . On that road Obadiah met Elijah, recognized him, fell on his face, and called him lord .
Elijah told Obadiah to announce his arrival to Ahab, and Obadiah answered with fear that the Spirit of Yahweh might carry Elijah away and that Ahab would kill him . He reminded Elijah of the prophets he had hidden and fed, placing his hidden mercy before the prophet as evidence of his loyalty to Yahweh .
Elijah swore that he would show himself to Ahab that day, and Obadiah obeyed by going to meet Ahab and telling him . His story belongs to the larger contest on Carmel because Yahweh preserved witnesses before the public confrontation with Baal .
In Scripture
Place in the Line
Obadiah is not in the line to Jesus.