Obadiah 1:20

"And the captives of this host of the children of Israel, that are among the Canaanites, shall possess even unto Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, that are in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South."

This is a continuation of the thought of the preceding verses; and the captives mentioned are not, in any sense, those carried away by the Assyrians or the Babylonians, but those who were captives of sin and rebellion against God. It is here prophesied that at the time of the release of such sin-captives their possession of other nations will occur. And when was that? The first sermon that Jesus ever preached in his home town of Nazareth made it abundantly plain:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor:

He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives,

And recovering of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty them that are bruised,

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18).

Despite the fact of Jesus having indeed opened the eyes of those physically blind (even blind from birth), it was of the spiritually blind that he principally spoke. Likewise, the "captives" were those in captivity to sin. It is not recorded that Jesus ever got anybody out of jail, not even his friend John the Baptist! The great tragedy of Christianity, even as understood by many present-day believers, is that of making it more a matter of social and economic gains than it is a matter of salvation from sin. For the disastrous consequences of such error, one need not look any further than the fleshly Israel.

"That are among the Canaanites ..." Who could these be except the worshippers of Baal in Ephraim? People today who worship sex, gold, money, power, fame, etc., are "among the Canaanites" no less than they.

This brief but beautiful prophecy is a promise of release of such captives from the pursuit of sin and debauchery, and the promise that the redeemed host which they shall become after their release shall indeed take the world.

This is evident enough in the rich and abundant blessing of God upon those nations where his name is known and honored (however, incompletely); but it will be far more evident upon the arrival of that great "day of Jehovah" which is yet appointed by God Himself as the occasion when the moral judgment upon humanity, in all the terrible fullness of that judgment, shall make it starkly visible to all people that only "the meek shall inherit the earth."