Charles Wolfe is remembered for just one poem ‘The Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna’. We might say the same of W.E. Henley and his poem ‘Invictus’ or of A.H. Clough and his poem ‘Say not the struggle naught availeth’. But to say no more than that would be churlish. These three men achieved much else in life.
Wolfe was a Church of Ireland clergyman who died at the age of 31. Both Henley and Clough lived longer and wrote other worthwhile poems with a Stoical flavour. Henley’s familiar poem caught on as an example of standing up to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Henley had troubles enough in life. The amputation of a leg which led Robert Louis Stevenson to model Long John Silver on him was followed by a disease in the other leg. He pressed on nonetheless. In a varied career Clough proved himself an invaluable assistant to Florence Nightingale. He came to prominence during WW2 when Churchill quoted his line ‘But westward, look, the land is bright.’ With the help of Clough Churchill eyed the prospect of the USA joining the alliance against Nazi Germany. He had us looking across the Atlantic.
To be known for one poem – or one song or one novel (and we think of Rouget de Lisle author of ‘La Marseillaise’ and Harper Lee author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’) – is no small feat. Most of us do not get anything like as far. Wolfe, Henley and Clough, an esteemed military commander, a disabled but determined man, and a man given to public service, were men likely to inspire others. Such men do not live in vain.
So we come to Obadiah. He was a prophet in miniature, a one-trick pony. He was nothing like such major prophets as Jeremiah and Ezekiel. No sooner had he started than he stopped. And he had no Churchill to quote him.
There was little, then, in the way of prophetic output from Obadiah. We know nothing about his life. His contribution to the Jewish scriptures is the shortest of them all. It is a brief poem on one theme: the treachery of Israel’s neighbour Edom. With a capital city in mountainous territory, the Edomites (descendants of Esau) would have noticed God’s threat through his mouthpiece Obadiah: ‘Though you soar as high as an eagle and your nest is set among the stars, even from there I shall bring you down.’ Obadiah offered his compatriots hope after adversity. The day of the Lord, he said, is coming. Things would be sorted out. There is a hint here of a coming Kingdom of God.
Should we be any the poorer if there were no Obadiah in the Bible? And would ‘Alice in Wonderland’ be any the poorer without the white rabbit? I’ll see if Humpty has any answers.
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