Audio Download

Book of Obadiah – Oba 1:6  How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!

[Study Aired January 10, 2024]

Oba 1:6  How^H349 are the things of Esau^H6215 searched out!^{H2664 (H8738 Niphal)} how are his hidden things^H4710 sought up!^{H1158 (H8738 Niphal)}

H349 – Ake, how, prolonged from H335, Ahee, where, whence, which, how, perhaps from H370, Ahyin, where, whence, probably identical with a primitive root H369, Ahyin, nothing, not, nought, have not, without, for lack of

H6215 – Esav, hairy, apparently a form of a primitive root H6213, Asah, to do, fashion, accomplish, make, work, produce, to deal with, act, act with effect, effect, prepare, attend to, put in order, observe, celebrate, acquire, appoint, ordain, institute, bring about, use, spend, pass, be done, be made, be produced, be offered, be observed, be used, be made, to press, squeeze

H2664 – Khaphas, (Niphal) A primitive root; to seek; causatively to conceal oneself (that is, let be sought), or mask: – change, (make) diligent (search), disguise self, hide, search (for, out).

H4710 – Mitspoon, hidden treasure, treasure, from a primitive root H6845, Tsaphan, to hide, treasure, treasure/store up, lie hidden, lurk, to be hidden, be stored up

H1158 – Ba`ah, (Niphal) to be searched out, be swelling, bulging, swelling out, a primitive root to boil

This verse has only five Hebrew words. The phrase in italics –  “the things”  – is added to the scripture, so including the original Hebrew and root words where possible, the verse reads:

Oba 1:6  How is Esau disguised! That which is hidden in secret (lurking) is to be searched out (boiled).

In this study we will look at the following Hebrew words:

[1] H6845 (Tsaw-fan) meaning to hide treasure, store up, lurk

[2] H5641 (saw-thar’) meaning to hide/conceal (by covering)

[3] H1158 (baw-aw) meaning to boil, swell out, inquire

[4] H2821 (khaw-shak’) meaning to be dark

If we have been given eyes to see, we are privileged to be given to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of God in this age. His mysteries are revealed to us as we begin to see who Esau really is. The man of sin is not out there somewhere.  Instead, he is right under our noses sitting in the temple of God declaring he is God. The man of sin/ the man of lawlessness/ the son of perdition is the person in the mirror. He is Anthony Grace for Anthony Grace, and he is you for you. Esau is disguised, just as the man of sin is disguised. Because Christ has given us eyes to see, we begin to search out that which has been hidden in secret, like being able to see the creature in camouflage, the lion in the grasses of the savannah, the chameleon among the leaves of a tree, etc.

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

In Revelation we read these words:

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

It is because of the gift of His faith within us, not of our own fabled ‘freewill’ faith, that He reveals the deep and secret things.

Dan 2:20  Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
Dan 2:21  And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Dan 2:22  He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him

In Obadiah vs 6 the word for ‘hidden things’ is H4710 and only appears once in the Old Testament. It comes from the root word H6845 (Tsaw-fan) meaning to hide, protect, den oneself up, lay up, lurk. Here is the positive application of the word:

Psa 27:4  One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
Psa 27:5  For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

A similar word for hide, and the root word from the word ‘secret’ used in Daniel 2:22, is H5641 (saw-thar’) meaning to hide/conceal (by covering).

Jer 16:17  For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid^H5641 from my face, neither is their iniquity hid^H6845 from mine eyes.
Jer 16:18  And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

Jer 23:23  Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
Jer 23:24  Can any hide [H5641] himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

The hidden things of Esau are searched out. Nothing can hide from God. No secrets can be kept from God because he is a God “at hand”. The word for searched out is H1158 (baw-aw) meaning to boil, swell out, inquire. Here is how the word is used in Isaiah:

Isa 30:13  Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out^H1158 in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
Isa 30:14  And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.

…and…

Isa 64:2  As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil^H1158, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
Isa 64:3  When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
Isa 64:4  For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
Isa 64:5  Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Why is the fire used to cause the waters to boil? To make His name known that the nations may tremble at His presence! The fire is what uncovers the darkness in us. It is what uncovers the hidden truth of our filthy rags and exposes us for what we really are in the flesh; an unclean thing.

For many (because many are called and few are chosen) this truth remains hidden, concealed, in darkness. However, we have been given Christ’s light to expose the darkness. The word for ‘darkness’ appears as H2822 with the root word H2821 [khaw-shak’] meaning to be dark (as withholding light); transitively to darken: – be black, be (make) dark, darken, cause darkness, be dim, hide

Mic 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
Mic 7:9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
Mic 7:10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she [Babylon within each of us] be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

Pro 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Jer 13:15  Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
Jer 13:16  Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
Jer 13:17  But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.

It is the pride of our old man that is being exposed. We have been given to be obedient to the commandment above: “be not proud.”

The reason we can “be not proud” is because our garments have been exposed as filthy rags. It is our heart that is being exposed by the light and changed:

Jol 2:12  Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
Jol 2:13  And rend (revile, tear) your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil

The man of sin, the son of perdition is our old man (within). We are to rend our hearts as we die daily because the old cannot agree with the new:

Luk 5:36  And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent (rend/tear), and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.

Just as Esau hated his brother, Jacob, the old man hates (is in opposition to) the new man.

Gen 27:41  And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Psa 17:8  Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Psa 17:9  From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
Psa 17:10  They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
Psa 17:11  They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
Psa 17:12  Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword.

Our new man will be delivered, just as Jacob was able to escape from Esau’s wrath. As the elect of Christ, we are able ministers who keep His word. He does not hide His commandments from us. He commands that we delight in His word/ His testimonies. It is His word that strengthens us to remain true to it.

Psa 119:17  Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
Psa 119:18  Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
Psa 119:19  I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.
Psa 119:20  My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
Psa 119:21  Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.
Psa 119:22  Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.
Psa 119:23  Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
Psa 119:24  Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.
Psa 119:25  DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.
Psa 119:26  I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.
Psa 119:27  Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
Psa 119:28  My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word

The words of Christ are delivered/ revealed to His Bride:

Isa 29:12  And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
Isa 29:13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Isa 29:14  Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work [H6381] among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to us, and this indeed is a marvellous work. This marvellous work is very distinguishing. We cannot take any credit for dethroning the son of perdition/the old man/ the carnal mind in our heavens. All this marvellous work is being orchestrated by our creator.

H6381 
פָּלָא pâlâ'(paw-law’)
A primitive root; properly perhaps to separate, that is, distinguish.

There are a few different Greek words for separate, here is one example:

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate [G873], saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

It is only when we are given to start distinguishing/separating ourselves from the old man (from the carnal mind and false doctrines of Babylon) that the son of perdition (Esau in disguise) begins to be revealed within us. 

It is important to keep in mind that Jacob and Esau were twin brothers, and it was difficult to distinguish them apart. Even Isaac had a tough time distinguishing Esau from Jacob, and discerned the difference not:

Gen 27:21  And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.
Gen 27:22  And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
Gen 27:23  And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him

Discerning truth from error is an important aspect of being an “able minister” of Christ:

Heb 5:11  Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

We are commanded to try the spirits.

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (G1381) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

G1381 δοκιμάζω [dok-im-ad’-zo]

to test (literally or figuratively); by implication to approve: – allow, discern, examine.

This same word [tried: G1381] appears in 1 Peter 1:7.

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

We are being tried with fire as we die daily and as we come to see that Esau is disguised as the old man in us. Our old man is decreasing as Christ increases in us so we may become a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

This process of being transformed by the renewing of our mind is Christ in us, disentangling us from the doctrines of Babylon. While at times it may be difficult to separate truth from falsehood, when we have Christ’s brightness, it becomes as clear as day just how distinct/separate the two are.

Luk 6:22  Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
Luk 6:23  Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Conclusion and Spiritual principle: We have been given to know/discern this mystery: The man of sin/the son of perdition is the “old man” disguised within.

We are encouraged to know we serve a God who is a “God at hand” interested in our lives and aware of all our hidden aspects. He is orchestrating the gradual process of rending our hearts so we may die daily as we, bit by bit, are separated from our old ways.