Obadiah
Obadiah 1
Chapter I · Vol. III, p. 1445
1 The destruction of Edom, 3 for their pride, 10 and for their unnatural behaviour unto Jacob. 17 The salvation and victories of Jacob.
1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD aconcerning Edom, bWe have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador1 is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
A.M. cir. 3417. B.C. cir. 587.
a Is.21.11;xxxiv. Ps.137.7. Je.9.25,26;25.9,16,21;49.7-22.
b La.4.21,22. Joel 3.19. Eze.25.12-14;xxxv. Am.1.11,12. Mal.1.3,4. Je.49.14;51.27,28.
1 Ambassador—in the form of a public opinion hostile to the arrogant pretensions of Edom.—C.
3 Thed pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that edwellest in the clefts of the rock,2 whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, gWho shall bring me down to the ground?
4 Thoughh thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars,3 thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.
h Je.49.16;51.53. Am.9.2. Hab.2.9. Is.14.14,15. Job 20.6.
3 Among the stars. Seen from the bottom of the ravine in which Petra, the capital, was situated, the lofty towers that crowned the heights would literally seem among the stars. The book of Job abundantly testifies that the Edomites were deeply skilled in astronomy; and if, as is most probable, addicted to judicial astrology, the 'nest' or dwelling among the stars may import a national conviction drawn from that deceptive study, that her glory was to exist coeval with the stars—even such as is, at this day, the confident assumption of the church of Rome, though hypothetically warned by Paul (Ro. 11. 20-22), and prophetically doomed by John, Re. 18. 2-24.—C.
5 If ithieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?4
7 Allk the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border; the men that were at peace with thee5 have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread6 have laid a wound7 under thee: there is none understanding in him.8
5 Heb. the men of thy peace.
6 Heb. the men of thy bread, Ps.41.9.
7 Laid a wound. 'Spread a snare under thee.'—Newcome.
l Is.19.11-14.
8 Or, of it.
8 Shalln I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
n Is.29.14;19.11. Je.49.7. Job 5.12,13. Ps.33.10.
9 And othy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.
10 For thy pviolence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and qthou shalt be cut off for ever.
11 Inr the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces,9 and foreigners entered into his gates, and scast lots upon Jerusalem, event thou wast as one of them.
12 But 1thou shouldest not uhave looked2 on the vday of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly3 in the day of distress.
1 Or, do not behold, &c.
u Ps.22.17;54.7;59.10;92.10;112.8. Mi.4.11;7.8,10.
2 Thou shouldest not have looked with satisfaction on the calamity of Jacob, but either have publicly aided him in his distress, or privately retired to weep and to pray for him.—C.
x Job 31.29. Eze.25.3,4,6,7;35.15.
3 Heb. magnified thy mouth.
13 Thou yshouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance4 in the day of their calamity;
y Ps.137.7. Zec.12.2,3.
4 Or, forces.
14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the cross-way, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up5 those of his that did remain in the day of distress.
5 Or, shut up.
15 Forz the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen; aas thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen bdrink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down,6 and they shall be as though they had not been.
b Je.25.15,16,27-29;49.12. Is.xxiv.xxxiv. Ps.75.8,9. 1 Pe.4.17,18. Is.51.22,23;49.25,26. Joel 2.17.
6 Or, up up.
17 Butc upon mount Zion shall be deliverance,7 and there shall be holiness;8 and the house of Jacob shall dpossess their possessions.
18 Ande the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and gthere shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.
19 And they of the south shall possess the hmount of Esau; and they of ithe plain the Philistines; and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria; and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.9
h Am.9.12. Mal.1.3. Eze.35.2,3. Je.17.26;32.44;33.13, with Jos.15.21.
i Jos.15.33,45. Zec.7.7. Zep.2.7. Is.11.14.
9 This verse as rendered in our English translation is very obscure. It is intended to show how in the day of Israel's prosperity the Jews would take possession of the countries of their bitterest foes:—'They (the Jews) who dwell in the Negeb (the southern district of Judæa) shall possess all Edom; and they who inhabit the Shephelah (the specific name of a plain at the western base of the mountains of Judæa) shall possess the country of the Philistines; and they will take possession of the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria; and Benjamin will take possession of Gilead.' By this paraphrase the sense is brought out.—P.
20 Andj the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto kZarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall 1possess the lcities of the south.
j Eze.xlviii. Am.9.14,15. Ho.1.10,11. Is.11.11. Je.3.18. Eze.34.12-14;36.1-24;37.21-28.
k Ju.1.32,33. 1 Ki.17.9. Mat.15.21,22.
1 Or, shall possess that which is in Sepharad.
l Je.32.44.
Notes
Ver. 3-7. However proud ye Edomites be, and however rocky and inaccessible your country, I will cause the Chaldeans and others to lay it desolate and destroy your nation. And, worse than robbers or gatherers of grapes, they shall utterly spoil you of all that you have, even of what you think best secreted. Yea, your allies, who have marched to your borders as assistants, and received your subsidies and provision, shall betray you, and turn their arms against you: 10-16. Because, contrary to natural relation and duty, ye took pleasure in the ruin of the Jews, and even helped the Chaldeans to destroy Jerusalem, murder its inhabitants, apprehend captives, and seize on the spoil; or insulted the unhappy sufferers, and even barbarously endeavoured to apprehend, murder, or deliver to the Chaldeans, such as had fled; your conduct shall draw upon you similar sufferings in the day of the Lord's destruction of the heathens around you; and your joyous revellings in Judea, on account of the destruction of my people, shall issue in your drinking up, to the very bottom, the cup of unbelief, to your utter ruin, and the perpetual desolation of your country. 17-21. These verses had a partial fulfilment when Cyrus restored the Jews to their country, and when the Maccabees subdued the Edomites and the nations around, and in the apostolic spread of the gospel among the heathen; but will have a more signal accomplishment when the Hebrews return to their own land in the future, and when the Antichristians and Turks are cut off, to make way for the universal kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Ver. 17. The fulfilment of this prophecy is still future—for though Judah obtained temporary restoration, and gained, by the Maccabees, distinguished victories over Edom, yet they did not abide in 'their possessions'—neither, alas! were they 'holiness' to the Lord;—neither has 'the captivity of Israel' yet been reclaimed or restored. The time is still future, but the event certain. C.
Reflections.—God can easily find both hearts and hands for the most bloody work he can intend against sinners. And pride and carnal security dangerously deceive and ripen men for destruction. Their self-exaltation but tends to debase them; their carnal confidences but betray them; their wealth but allures their enemies to hunt out and destroy them; their hired allies assist them to their ruin; their understanding, not employed to keep them from sin, being infatuated, decoys them into danger; the bravery of their warriors but serves to make the slaughter more universal; their joys but issue in embittering their anguish; their undutiful and barbarous conduct towards God's distressed people but fills up an uncommon cup of misery to themselves.—But marvellously connected are the confusion of Christ's impenitent foes, the deliverance of his church, and the conversion and purification of multitudes of sinners; and great is the honour that Jesus obtains therein. Yea, if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him, and be glorified together.