5. (a) What proves the record of Obadiah to be authentic and true? (b) How did Obadiah fulfill the requirements of a true prophet, and why is his name appropriate?

⁵ Obadiah’s prophecy against Edom was fulfilled​—all of it! In reaching its climax, the prophecy states: “The house of Esau [must become] as stubble; and they must set them ablaze and devour them. And there will prove to be no survivor to the house of Esau; for Jehovah himself has spoken it.” (Vs. 18) Edom lived by the sword and died by the sword, and no trace of her descendants remains. Thus the record is proved to be authentic and true. Obadiah had all the credentials of a true prophet: He spoke in the name of Jehovah, his prophecy honored Jehovah, and it came true as subsequent history proved. His name appropriately means “Servant of Jehovah.”

¹² According to Josephus, in the second century B.C.E. the remaining Edomites were subjugated by the Jewish king John Hyrcanus I, were forced to submit to circumcision, and were gradually absorbed into the Jewish domain under a Jewish governor. Following the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., their name disappeared from history.c It was as Obadiah had foretold: “You will have to be cut off to time indefinite. . . . And there will prove to be no survivor to the house of Esau.”​—Obad. 10, 18.