Jehovah promised that the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would gain possession of the land that later came to be called Palestine. (Gen. 15:7, 17-21) They did, but were exiled from it by the Babylonians, leaving the land a desolate waste.

Through Obadiah Jehovah guaranteed that the Israelites would repossess it, for God said through the prophet: “And in Mount Zion is where those escaping will prove to be, and it must become something holy; and the house of Jacob must take possession of the things for them to possess.

Obad. 17, 18.

No longer would Israel be divided into the two-tribe kingdom made up of Judah and Benjamin (sometimes called “Jacob” in the Bible) and the northern kingdom of 10 tribes (at times called “the house of Joseph”). These words predict restoration to unity of all 12 tribes of Israel.