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Oba 1:5a  If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? If the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave grapes?

[Study Aired January 3, 2024]

Oba 1:5  If^H518 thieves^H1590 came^{H935 (H8804 Qal)} to thee, if^H518 robbers^{H7703 (H8802 Qal)} by night,^H3915 (how^H349 art thou cut off!)^{H1820 (H8738 Niphal)} would they not^H3808 have stolen^{H1589 (H8799 Qal)} till they had enough?^H1767 if^H518 the grapegatherers^{H1219 (H8802 Qal)} came^{H935 (H8804 Qal)} to thee, would they not^H3808 leave^{H7604 (H8686 Hiphil)} grapes^H5955

H518 – Eem, if, no, not, if…if, whether…or, whether…or…or, when, whenever, since, but rather, a primitive particle

H1590 – Gannab, thief, from a primitive root H1589, Ganab, to steal, steal away, carry away, be stolen, steal away, be stolen away, be brought by stealth, go by stealth

H935 – Bo, (Qal) to enter, come, go, come in/with/upon, fall or light upon, attack, come to pass, attain to, be enumerated, a primitive root

H518 – see above

H7703 – Shadad, (Qal) to violently destroy, devastate, despoil, assail, devastator, despoiler, a primitive root

H3915 – Layil, night, protective shadow, from H3883, Lool, staircase, winding stair, shaft or enclosed space with steps or ladder, (Used once in OT) from an unused root meaning to fold back

H349 – Ake, how, prolonged from H335, Ahee, where, whence, which, how perhaps from H370, Ahyin, where, whence, probably identical with H369, Ayin, nothing, not, nought, have not, without, for lack of, as if from a primitive root meaning to be nothing or not exist 

H1820 – Damah, (Niphal) to be cut off, be undone, a primitive root

H3808 – Lo, not, no, nothing, without, before (of time), a primitive particle

H1589 – Ganab, (Qal) to steal, a primitive root

H1767 – Dahee, sufficiency, enough, for, according to the abundance of, out of the abundance of, as often as, of uncertain derivation

H518 – see above

H1219 – Batsar, A primitive root; to clip off; specifically (as denominative from H1210) to gather grapes; also to be isolated (that is, inaccessible by height or fortification): – cut off, (de-) fenced, fortify, (grape) gather (-er), mighty things, restrain, strong, wall (up), withhold.

H935 – see above

H3808 – see above

H7604 – Shahar, (Hiphil) to leave, leave/keep over, spare, have left, a primitive root

H5955 – Olelah, gleaning, act part of a primitive root H5953, Alal, to act severely, deal with severely, make a fool of someone, be severely dealt with, busy oneself, divert oneself, deal wantonly, deal ruthlessly, abuse, practise practices, thrust forth, glean, act or play the child, insert, thrust, thrust in, thrust upon. A primitive root; to effect thoroughly; specifically to glean (also figuratively); by implication (in a bad sense) to overdo

We will look at two Hebrew words of this verse:

[1] Thief [H1590]
[2] Grapegatherer [H1219]

[1] Thief

As with all applications in scripture, there is both a positive and a negative. Here is the negative application of thief.

Joh 10:7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
Joh 10:8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them
Joh 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
Joh 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly

Here is the positive application:

1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night

Rev 3:3  Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 

Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Christ comes to us in the night, as in the night of our understanding while we are still in the darkness of Babylon.

Zec 1:8  I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.

The Bible is Christ-centric, and man (the translators) have made it man-centric to fit with early Christian church doctrine. To the earthly flesh, a thief will always have a negative connotation. A thief does indeed come to steal, to take away. However, as the elect of Christ, we are given to see the positive application of the word. We are indeed grateful Christ is coming “as a thief” to chasten and purge us of the carnal mind. It is to be seen in the positive light that Christ is a “thief” and that the night is not really night for him, both darkness and light are alike to Him:

Psalm 139:12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

Mat 24:40  Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41  Two shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:42  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Mat 24:43  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Mat 24:44  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Mat 24:45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Mat 24:47  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

It is Jacob who supplants Esau. One remains and the other is taken away. Just so, in our lives, the New man remains as the old man (Esau/Edom/the carnal mind) is taken away. It is the faithful and wise servant who remains, not of his own volition, not because he had the power and foresight to know when the thief was approaching, but simply because he remains by the grace of God.

No man knows the hour the thief (Christ) comes because Christ comes by stealth. This is compared and juxtaposed with a time when Christ will come with “a great sound of a trumpet” where people will “see the Son of Man coming in the clouds” (Matthew 24). However, the timing of this coming not even Christ himself knows:

Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth not, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Mar 13:32  But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

[2] Grapegatherer

The parallel passage of Obadiah 1:5 is found in Jeremiah 49:9-10

Jer 49:9  If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.
Jer 49:10  But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself.

The old man, despite his own high opinion of his crafty ways and his tendency to try and hide himself in high and lofty places, is no match for Christ. The old man is not able to hide himself from the thief or the grapegatherer. In the Song of Solomon the elect is referred to as the dove who is in the “clefts of the rock” hiding in the “secret places of the stairs” (the shadows):

Song 2:13  The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Song 2:14  O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
Song 2:15  Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

The dove (the bride) is instructed to come away from these secret places to be refined. Just as the wheat and tares cannot hide themselves from the farmer at harvest, so, too, when the grapegatherer appears, the work is completed thoroughly (overdone) so nothing will be left in the gleaning process of refinement.

Jer 6:9  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean^{H5953 H5953} the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.

H5953 עָלַל
‛âlal [aw-lal’] A primitive root; to effect thoroughly; specifically to glean (also figuratively); by implication (in a bad sense) to overdo.

Isa 1:25  And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge [H6884 A primitive root; to fuse (metal), that is, refine] away thy dross, and take away all thy tin.

Mal 3:2  But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s<supH6884 fire, and like fullers’ soap:

Conclusion

God is building His temple “thoroughly.” It is done through the process of the refiner’s fire. The refiner’s fire teaches us to forsake ungodliness and chastens and scourges us. We are the temple being built, and so, too, we are the “weakness” of God, but still privileged to be considered an heir of the “grace of life”. 

1Co 1:25  Because the foolishness of God (the elect) is wiser than men; and the weakness of God (the body of Christ) is stronger than men.

1Pe 3:7  Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life.

All this is done so that no flesh (None of Esau/Edom/ the old man) can glory in His presence:

1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord

Spiritual Principle: All words in scripture have a positive and negative application.