The post is being written on Friday, August 30, 2024. Almost 50 years ago, my sister and I, Missionary and Prophetess C. Fielder, were saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. God saved me first, and I immediately flew to Houston, TX, to tell my little sister about my salvation and that God wanted to save her, too. I felt she had to know God like He blessed me to know Him. When you truly love someone, you want the best for them. After my sister was also saved and filled with God’s precious Holy Ghost, she was asked a question by God that has perplexed the two of us for all these years. The question was, “Will you be an Obadiah or a Jonah?” Not only did we not know the answer to the question, neither of us understood the question. Yesterday, August 29, 2024, God gave me the question’s meaning and confirmed her status as a prophetess. Suggestion: If you love a mystery, this would be a good time to stop reading this post and attempt to answer the question. Otherwise, keep reading for an intriguing question and a revealing answer. Let’s begin by looking at who Jonah and Obadiah were according to the Word of God.
According to Wikipedia, Jonah or Jonas was one of the twelve minor Jewish prophets in the Hebrew bible. He was from Gath-Hepher in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BC. He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah, which details his reluctance to deliver Yahweh’s judgment to the city of Ninevah. Jonah was so intent on disobeying what God told him to do that he boarded a ship in the opposite direction of his assigned mission. Jonah rejected his assignment from God and demonstrated by his actions a loud “no” to what God told him to do. Some commentaries speculate that Jonah felt that God would ultimately forgive Ninevah, and he hated the Ninevites so severely that he wanted no part in their ultimate forgiveness. The Ninevites were apparently ruthless and malicious people who were the sworn enemies of the Jews.
After Jonah was thrown overboard from the ship that was headed to Tarshish, swallowed by a giant sea creature, and then released, he ultimately, although still reluctant, obeyed God and accomplished his divine mission. He ran through the city of Ninevah, crying aloud, “You have three days, and God will destroy the city.” Having done what God told him, he sat on a hilltop outside the city to see the outcome. As a result of Jonah’s preaching, an entire town, including the King, the babies, and the cattle, all went into fasting. The people sought God through repentance with cries for forgiveness. Because of their repentance, God showered mercy and grace upon them and withdrew His edict for their immediate destruction. God taught Jonah a lesson when he gave him shade through a gourd that grew up overnight, removed the gourd, and allowed him to experience the sun’s heat. He revealed to Jonah that his main problem was a lack of compassion for human souls.
Two significant events occurred through this prophet. First, the ship Jonah boarded when he attempted to flee from God by heading to Tarshish was filled with mariners from various religions. The men called upon their “gods” to no avail when the storm arose because of Jonah’s presence. After they obeyed Jonah and tossed him overboard, the sea calmed. The mariners then feared God and made sacrifices and vows unto him. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows. (Jonah 1:16). Even in his resistance to God, Jonah caused a boatload of men to know and acknowledge God as the true and living God.
Second, although Jonah did not want the people of Ninevah to be saved, his preaching was so effective that that is precisely what happened. His one message saved an entire city. The Will of God prevailed despite Jonah’s lack of compassion for souls and disobedience.
Obadiah, like Jonah, was also a minor prophet. His name means “Worshipper of Yahweh”. There is little personal information concerning the life of Obadiah other than the fact that he was a Judean exile who stood for justice. He is identified as a servant of God who faithfully served God, even in the face of severe trials. He was mentioned only once in the Bible but stood with faith in a time of fear.
Obadiah was given a vision by God against the Edomites, a group of people who were relatives of the Jews but also their enemies. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, who was Isaac’s firstborn son and Jacob’s twin brother. Esau became the father of the Edomites, and Jacob became the father of the Israelites. In the womb, Esau and Jacob struggled together. God told their mother, Rebekah, that they would become two nations, with the older one serving the younger (Genesis 25:23). When the twins grew up, Esau foolishly sold his inheritance to Jacob for a bowl of red soup (Genesis 25:30-34) and he hated his brother as a result.
Although they were relatives, the Edomites refused to let the Israelites pass through their land as Israel marched from Egypt towards the promised land. Judgment was pronounced upon Edom because of its sin of raiding Judah and its delight in Israel’s fall during the Babylonian captivity.
The Book of Obadiah is the shortest of all Old Testament books, consisting of one chapter with 21 verses. According to Dake’s Annotated Bible, the book’s purpose is to demonstrate and predict once more the blessings and curses of the Abrahamic Covenant, which is the promise to bless them that bless and curse them that curse the descendants of Abraham. (v. 10-21 with Gen. 12:1-3). The Book of Obadiah reminds us to humble ourselves before God’s might. We must submit to His authority and purposes and find hope in being His people.
So, have you come up with an answer to why God might have asked my sister this question, using the two prophets as the objects of His query? What did the two prophets have in common? Stop and comment now before you read the answer in the following paragraphs. Once you read the answer, it will become so apparent that you’ll wonder why you didn’t get it sooner.
Here’s the answer to our near-50-year dilemma. Jonah and Obadiah had one assigned task: speaking to the enemies of God’s chosen people. They were to do their assigned work and allow the outcome to rest in the Hands of God. While Obadiah obeyed God and prophesied against Edom, Jonah refused to obey God because he felt God would not execute judgment upon Ninevah. He indicated by his actions that he knew better than God how the people should be handled. Jonah’s lack of compassion for the souls of men was his problem. Despite Jonah’s rebellion, the will of God prevailed. When God asked my sister, “Will you be an Obadiah or a Jonah?” His question asked, “Will you do what I called you to do the easy way or the hard way?” It also asked, “Will you obey me and get my Will done like Obadiah, or will you disobey me and get it done like Jonah?” We must all realize what Jonah ultimately understood: God’s Will must prevail.
And get this: God confirmed to my sister that He ordained her to be a prophetess through His question. “How so?” you might ask. My conclusion comes from a personal experience. Following a prophecy I gave in my local assembly, some individuals did not feel it was a word from God. I cried to God, saying, “They don’t believe me.” God spoke to me, saying, “Get in line with the rest of the prophets. They didn’t believe them either.” With His words, all fear and doubt about my role (which I struggled with) disappeared. Why? Because God said, “Get in line with the rest of the prophets.” He told me I was simply having a problem that all prophets have. TaDah! The light broke through, and God confirmed my role. So, today, I speak what He gives me without fear, favor, or concern about what the hearers think. When He compared my sister with Jonah and Obadiah, God confirmed that she was indeed a prophetess. He was telling her that she was a prophetess, just as Obadiah and Jonah were prophets, but He was just asking her which of the two she would emulate.
The gifts and callings are without repentance (Romans 11:29), and we must all make our calling and election sure. (2 Peter 1:10). A position in God is not established until God speaks the position into place. Let us all seek the face of God so that we know without a doubt who He has called us to be and so that we can do the work He called us to do. But know this one thing: once God speaks to an individual about who he or she is, the doubts and questions from men should never again have any bearing. Let us all be willing to say the words from the song Jesus Use Me by Jimmy Swaggart:
