Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Obadiah 1:17
But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
17. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance ] Unlike Edom ( Oba 1:9) and the other heathen nations ( Oba 1:16) whose destruction will be complete, Israel even in her worst calamities shall have “a deliverance,” i. e. remnant of the people, who shall escape destruction and be delivered out of trouble, to be as it were a fresh nucleus and starting-point of the nation. The word here rendered “deliverance” occurs in Exo 10:5, “that which is escaped,” to denote the remnant of the fruits of the earth left by the plague of hail. It is used in the same sense as here in Isa 37:31-32, “that is escaped,” “they that escape;” and in Joe 2:32 [Heb 3:5 ].
there shall be holiness ] rather (margin, and R.V.), it (Mount Zion) shall be holy, lit. “holiness,” comp. Joe 3:17 [Heb., 4:17]; Rev 21:27.
their possessions ] Not the possessions of Edom and of the heathen that is spoken of in the following verses, but their own possessions. “When the children of Israel shall have returned from exile God will at the same time restore to them their ancient country, so as for them to possess whatever had been promised to their father Abraham.” Calvin.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
17 21. The Restoration of Israel
By an easy transition the prophet passes to the second and brighter part of his picture. The destruction of her enemies is accompanied by the restoration and salvation of Israel. There is however no sudden break between the two portions of the prophecy. The key-note of deliverance had already been struck in the earlier portion by the implied promise ( Oba 1:16) that the punishment of Israel was not to be, like that of her enemies, continual. The tones of vengeance are heard still in the later portion, and are only lost at length in the final strain of victory, “The kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” Israel is to regain her former possessions ( Oba 1:17), to overcome her ancient foes ( Oba 1:18), to spread abroad in all directions ( Oba 1:19-20), till as the ultimate issue which in the fulness of time shall be reached, God’s kingdom is set up in the world ( Oba 1:21).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But (And) upon (in) Mount Zion, shall be deliverance, or, an escaped remnant, and there (and it) shall be holiness – The sifting times of the Church are the triumph of the world; the judgment of the world is the restoration of the Church. In the triumph of the world, the lot was cast on Jerusalem, her sons were carried captive and slain, her holy places were desecrated. On the destruction of the nations, Mount Zion rises in calm majesty, as before; a remnant is replaced there, after its sifting; it is again holiness; not holy only, but a channel of holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions (literally inherit their inheritances); either their own former possessions, receiving and inheriting from the enemy, what they had lost; or the inheritances of the nations. For the whole world is the inheritance of the Church, as Jesus said to the apostles, sons of Zion Mat 28:19, Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. and Mar 16:15, Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Holiness is its title-deeds to the inheritance of the world, that holiness, which was in the upper chamber in Mount Zion, the presence of God the Holy Spirit, issuing in holy teaching, holy Scriptures, holy institutions, holy sacraments, holy lives.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Oba 1:17-20
But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness.
Holiness on Mount Zion
The imagery of Scripture poetry often presents instructive truths, referring to more general subjects than those on which the sacred writer might, at the particular time, be called to dwell.
I. Regard the text as respects Mount Zion. A grand Scripture type. Not only there God was worshipped, but there God Himself, as the object of worship, dwelt. Conceive of God, accepting Christs atonement,–Christ standing as Mediatorial King on the holy hill,–the redeemed from earth actually worshipping there–and, in spirit, all true worshippers coming to God by Christ. You have thus that state of things of which Mount Zion, with its temples, its glory, its services, its worshippers, was a type.
II. What shall be there?
1. The text says, deliverance; marg. reads, They that escape. Two aspects of the same subject. Where do they come that flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them? To Christ on this Mount Zion. They escape for their lives,–come to Him, and He casts them not out. They have deliverance therefore. Pardon, spiritual freedom, and blessedness.
2. Then there shall be holiness. An undoubted truth, the penitent sinner, coming to God in truth, by faith, for pardon, is made holy, becomes a new creature. Justification and sanctification thus connected; the favour, and the image of God. Real holiness;–holiness of life, as well as of heart;–growing holiness. Nor is it anywhere else. They who will not come to Christ may sometimes have human virtue; they cannot have Divine holiness. Look at this mount. Oh, the blessedness of dwelling there. Well fortified, well supplied. God is there. You live in peace. He is preparing you for the higher blessings. There is the heavenly Zion. Only they pass to it who on earth dwelt on the spiritual Zion. (G. Cubitt.)
The Church delivered, purified, and privileged
I. The deliverance of the Church of God. Mount Zion signifies the Church, the entire mass of those who are given to the Lord Jesus Christ, and whom He has ransomed by His blood. It is remarkable that what is exhibited as the liberation of the Church is always conjoined with the destruction of some opposing power. The fact is, that the destruction of the opposing power is the means used for the liberating of the Church. Conquest in the world is triumph in the Church. Consolation is combined with liberation. Deliverance is the first and principal object which presented itself to the mind of the Lord Jesus. His death was a necessary step to His resurrection, His resurrection to His exaltation, His exaltation to the assumption of His mediatorial power. We see that Jesus Christ first fought and conquered, and then He became the liberator of the world. In the world He works liberation by instrumentality, and the great agency employed in carrying it on is the Holy Spirit. Liberation begins with Christ, but it does not end with Him; for, as He Himself obtained resurrection by the power of God, so there is another resurrection which takes place in the breast of every man who is the subject of His kingdom.
II. The grand effect which the text sets forth. There shall be holiness. The mount of deliverance is always the mount of holiness. Another name for holiness is spiritual health. Bring the whole to this one point, that the test of state is character; that wherever this holiness is met with, there the deliverance that has been effected on Mount Zion by the Lord Jesus is applied, and there the liberation that the Spirit of God works in the souls of His people is likewise brought to pass.
III. The privileges to which this effect leads, and for which it prepares. Shall possess their possessions. Canaan for the earlier saints. For us the inheritance of the saints. (John Campbell.)
Mount Zion and its blessings
The coming of the Lord in glorious majesty to judge the earth is the burden of the Churchs message to-day. Throughout the writings of the prophets the choicest and most consoling promises concerning the Christian Church follow close upon Gods terrible threatenings against His enemies. The main scope of Obadiahs prophecy was to warn the Edomites of the destruction which awaited them. The true Mount Zion is the Christian Church, typified by Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The prophet in the text points us to Mount Zion as the place where we may look for deliverance. From what? From a mere local religion with its centre at Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Gods dear Son is for the whole world. From the blackness and condemnation of Sinai and the violated law. With this deliverance will be seen its never-failing attendant–holiness. It was the great design of our Divine Redeemer to produce the fruits of holiness in His Church. The kingdom of God is not only the manifestation and free offer of Christs pardon to penitent sinners, but it is holiness of heart and life. When the tree is made good, the fruit will be good also. (John N. Norton.)
The true Church, or the community o/ the good
I. A beneficient power.
1. It is connected with deliverance.
2. With purity.
3. With enjoyment. Possess here means, enjoy their possessions.
II. A consuming power. There is a fire in the true Church (Oba 1:18).
1. The characteristics this fire displays. What is the fire? The fire of truth, that burns up error; the fire of right, that burns up wickedness; the fire of love, that burns up selfishness. It is a strong fire; an extending fire; a steady fire; an unquenchable fire.
2. The materials this fire consumes. Stubble. What is moral depravity in all its forms, theoretical and practical, religious, social, and political? Stubble. Error to truth, wrong to right, malice to love, is but stubble to fire.
III. An aggressive power. The Gospel is at once the inspiration, the life, and the instrument of the true Church.
1. The elements of which the Gospel is composed. Grace and truth, or eternal reality and Divine benevolence. To show the aggressiveness of these principles, state three facts.
(1) The human soul is made to feel their imperial force.
(2) The human soul is bound to yearn after these elements as its highest good.
(3) The human soul is everywhere restless without these elements.
2. The proselytising spirit which the Gospel engenders. Every genuine recipient of the Gospel becomes a missionary.
3. The triumphs which the Gospel has already achieved. Such thoughts as these tend to demonstrate the essential aggressiveness of the true Church. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance] Here is a promise of the return from the Babylonish captivity. They shall come to Zion, and there they shall find safety; and it is remarkable that after their return they were greatly befriended by the Persian kings, and by Alexander the Great and his successors; so that, whilst they ravaged the neighbouring nations, the Jews were unmolested. See Calmet.
And there shall be holiness] They shall return to God, separate themselves from their idols, and become a better people than they were when God permitted them to be carried into captivity.
The house of Jacob shall possess] They were restored to their former possessions. But this may refer also to their future restoration under the Gospel, when they shall be truly converted, and become holiness to the Lord; for salvation and holiness shall be the characteristics of Zion-the Christian Church, for ever.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But. or
And, Heb.
Upon Mount Zion; historically, and in the letter, this refers to the people of the Jews, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and those who worshipped God in the temple. In the mystical sense or typical, it refers. to the gospel church, and the setting up the kingdom of Christ, and the salvation and redemption of Gods Israel.
Deliverance; a remnant that shall escape the enemies sword, and which, after seventy years captivity, shall be delivered and restored by Cyrus: a hieroglyphic of Israels redemption by Christ.
There shall be holiness; or, it shall be holy, the temple, the city rebuilt, the people returned from captivity, shall be holy to the Lord; they shall obey his law, attend his temple service, and offer a pure offering to the Lord, &c. All this typical, and accomplished in the Christian church, though not fully and perfectly till the church is glorified in the heavenly Zion.
The house of Jacob; literally the survivors of the two tribes in the Babylonish kingdom, and some others of the ten tribes, but including the elect of God, the house of Jacob in the extent of it, as taken in Isa 59:20; Rom 11:26.
Shall possess their possessions; either the possessions of the heathen, their enemies, or rather their own ancient possessions, out of which the violence of their enemies did east them when they were led captive, and dispossessed of all.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. upon . . . Zion . . .deliveranceboth in the literal sense and spiritual sense(Joe 2:32; Isa 46:13;Isa 59:20; Rom 11:26).MAURER as the Marginexplains it, “there shall be a remnant that shall escape.”Compare Isa 37:32; to thedeliverance from Sennacherib there described GROTIUSthinks Obadiah here refers. “Jerusalem shall not be taken, andmany of the neighboring peoples also shall find deliverance there.”Unlike Judah’s heathen foes of whom no remnant shall escape (Oba 1:9;Oba 1:16), a remnant of Jewsshall escape when the rest of the nation has perished, and shallregain their ancient “possessions.”
there shall be holinessthatis, Zion shall be sacrosanct or inviolable: no more violated byforeign invaders (Isa 42:1;Joe 3:17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance,…. Not only by Cyrus, at the end of the seventy years’ captivity; and by the Maccabees from the Idumeans, and other enemies; but by the Messiah; for not merely temporal deliverance is here intended, unless as a shadow, type, and figure; but spiritual deliverance from the law, sin, Satan, the world, death, hell, and wrath to come, by Christ; who is the Deliverer that should both come to Zion and out of Zion, and who has wrought the above deliverance for Zion, his church and people; and where it is preached and proclaimed, and where those who are delivered come and dwell: or, “upon Mount Zion shall be an escape”; or, “they that escape” b; the pollutions of the world, the vengeance of divine justice, the curses of the law, and the damnation of hell, by fleeing to Christ for refuge:
and there shall be holiness: that is, on Mount Zion, on the church, which is the holy hill of God, and where only holy persons should dwell; and for whomsoever deliverance is wrought out, sooner or later there will be in them holiness, both of heart and life; and indeed, without this, complete deliverance and salvation, which will be in heaven, will not be enjoyed; hence those that are chosen to this salvation are chosen through sanctification of the Spirit; and such as are redeemed and delivered by Christ are purified to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works; and are, in consequence of such deliverance and redemption, called with a holy calling, and have principles of holiness implanted in them, and live holy lives and conversations; and such kind of holiness, as it appeared in Zion, in the churches of Christ in the first times of the Gospel, so it will be more conspicuous among them in the latter day; see Isa 4:3
Zec 14:20; or, “there shall be an Holy One”, or “thing” c; the holy Jesus, who is holy in both his natures, in all his offices, works, and words; the Lamb that should, and has been, seen on Mount Zion; and the Holy Spirit of God, who dwells and abides in his church, and among his people, to anoint and assist the ministers of the word; to accompany the word with power, and make it successful; and to sanctify and comfort the Lord’s people in Zion; and there are the holy word of God, the doctrines of grace according to godliness preached, and the sacred ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper administered. The Targum is,
“and they shall be holy;”
the Lord’s people: and so Kimchi interprets it of Israel being holy to the Lord;
and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions: that is, either the Israelites shall possess the possessions of the Heathens, particularly of the Edomites; so the Targum,
“and they of the house of Jacob shall possess the substance of the people that possessed them;”
see Am 9:11; which was fulfilled spiritually in the first times of the Gospel, when the apostles, who were of the house of Jacob, and were Israelites indeed, preached the Gospel to the Gentiles, and were the means of converting many of them, and of bringing them into the Gospel church; which may be called the house of Jacob, when they and theirs become their possession, and Christ, the master of this house, had the Heathen given him for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, Ps 2:8; or else the sense is, that the people of God, true Christians, shall in Gospel times possess their own possessions; God himself, who is their portion and inheritance, and shall enjoy communion with him; Christ, and all that are his, all spiritual blessings in him; the Spirit and his graces, as the earnest of a future and eternal inheritance; exceeding great and precious promises they are heirs of, and a kingdom and glory hereafter; of which the possessions in the land of Canaan, restored to the right owners of them in the year of jubilee, were a type. R. Moses says this prophecy has respect to the times of Hezekiah; in which he is followed by Grotius, very wrongly; R. Jeshuah, better, to the times of the second temple; but Japhet, best of all, to time to come, to the times of the Messiah, to which it no doubt belongs: here begin the prophecies concerning Christ, his church, and kingdom.
b “erit evasio”, Vatablus, Piscator, Mercerus, Liveleus. c “erit sanctus”, V. L. Liveleus, Drusius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Kingdom of Jehovah Established upon Zion. – The prophecy advances from the judgment upon all the heathen to the completion of the kingdom of God by the raising up of Israel to world-wide dominion. While the judgment is falling upon all the heathen nations, Mount Zion will be an asylum for those who are delivered. Judah and Israel will capture the possessions of the nations, destroy Edom, and extend its borders on every side (Oba 1:17-19). The Israelites scattered among the nations will return into their enlarged inheritances, and upon Zion will saviours arise, to judge Edom, and the kingdom will then be the Lord’s (Oba 1:20, Oba 1:21). This promise is appended as an antithesis to the proclamation of judgment in Oba 1:16.
Oba 1:17
“But upon Mount Zion will be that which has been saved, and it will be a sanctuary, and the house of Jacob will take possession of their possessions.” Upon Mount Zion, which the Edomites have now desecrated by drinking carousals, there will then, when the nations are obliged to drink the cup of intoxication even to their utter destruction, be p e letah , that which has escaped, i.e., the multitude of those who have been rescued and preserved throughout the judgment. See the explanation of this at Joe 2:32, where this thought is still further expounded. Mount Zion is the seat of the kingdom of Jehovah (cf. Oba 1:21). There the Lord is enthroned (Joe 3:17), and His rescued people with Him. And it (Mount Zion) will be qodesh , a sanctuary, i.e., inviolable; the heathen will no more dare to tread it and defile it (Joe 3:17). It follows from this, that the rescued crowd upon it will also be a holy people (“ a holy seed,” Isa 6:13). This sanctified people of the Lord, the house of Jacob, will capture the possessions of their foes. The suffix attached to is supposed by many to refer to : those of the house of Jacob, i.e., the rescued Israelites, will take their former possessions once more. This view cannot be overthrown by the simple remark that yarash cannot mean to take possession again; for that meaning might be given to it by the context, as, for example, in Deu 30:5. But it is a decisive objection to it, that neither in what precedes nor in what follows is there any reference to Israel as having been carried away. The penetration of foes into the gates of Jerusalem, the plundering of the city, and the casting of lots upon the booty and the prisoners (Oba 1:11), do not involve the carrying away of the whole nation into exile; and the galuth of the sons of Israel and Jerusalem in Oba 1:20 is clearly distinguished from the “house of Jacob” in Oba 1:18. And since we have first of all (Oba 1:18, Oba 1:19) an announcement of the conquest of Edom by the house of Jacob, and the capture of the mountains of Esau, of Philistia, etc., by the inhabitants of the south-land, i.e., by Judaeans; and then in Oba 1:20 the possession of the south-land is promised to the galuth (captivity); this galuth can only have been a small fragment of the nation, and therefore the carrying away can only have extended to a number of prisoners of war, whilst the kernel of the nation had remained in the land, i.e., in its own possessions. The objection offered to this, namely, that if we refer the suffix in morashehem (their possessions) to kol – haggoym (all nations), Judah would have to take possession of all nations, which is quite incredible and even at variance with Oba 1:19, Oba 1:20, inasmuch as the only enemies’ land mentioned there (Oba 1:19) is the territory of the Edomites and Philistines, whilst the other countries or portions of country mentioned there are not enemies’ land at all. For there is no incredibility in the taking of the land of all nations by Judah, except on the assumption that Judah merely denotes the posterity or remnant of the citizens of the earthly kingdom of Judah. But this is not what Obadiah says. He does not mention Judah, but the house of Jacob, and means thereby not the natural Israel, but the people of God, who are eventually to obtain the dominion of the world. The discrepancy between Oba 1:17 and Oba 1:19 is not greater than that between in Oba 1:16 and in Oba 1:16, and disappears if we only recognise the fact that Edom and the Philistines are simply mentioned in Oba 1:19 as types of the heathen world in its hostility to god. We therefore regard the application of the expression morashehem to the possessions of the heathen nations as the only correct one, and that all the more because the in Oba 1:19 is very clearly seen to be a more exact explanation of the in Oba 1:17. In Oba 1:17 Obadiah gives, in a few brief words, the sum and substance of the salvation which awaits the people of the Lord in the future. This salvation is unfolded still further in what follows, and first of all in Oba 1:18, Oba 1:19, by a fuller exposition of the thought expressed in Oba 1:17.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Promises to Israel and Judah. | B. C. 587. |
17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. 18 And 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 there 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 mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. 21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD‘s.
After the destruction of the church’s enemies is threatened, which will be completely accomplished in the great day of recompence, and that judgment for which Christ came once, and will come again, into this world, here follow precious promises of the salvation of the church, with which this prophecy concludes, and those of Joel and Amos did, which, however they might be in part fulfilled in the return of the Jews out of Babylon notwithstanding the triumphs of Edom in their captivity, as if it were perpetual, are yet, doubtless, to have their full accomplishment in that great salvation wrought out by Jesus Christ, to which all the prophets bore witness. It is promised here,
I. That there shall be salvation upon Mount Zion, that holy hill where God sets his anointed King (Ps. ii. 6): Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, v. 17. There shall be those that escape; so the margin. A remnant of Israel, upon the holy mountain shall be saved, v. 16. Christ said, Salvation is of the Jews, John iv. 22. God wrought deliverances for the Jews, typical of our redemption by Christ. But Mount Zion is the gospel-church, from which the New-Testament law went forth, Isa. ii. 3. There salvation shall be preached and prayed for; to the gospel-church those are added who shall be saved; and for those who come in faith and hope to this Mount Zion deliverance shall be wrought from wrath and the curse, from sin, and death, and hell, while those who continue afar off shall be left to perish.
II. That, where there is salvation, there shall be sanctification in order to it: And there shall be holiness, to prepare and qualify the children of Zion for this deliverance; for wherever God designs glory he gives grace. Temporal deliverances are indeed wrought for us in mercy when with them there is holiness, when there is wrought in us a disposition to receive them with love and gratitude to God; when we are sanctified, they are sanctified to us. Holiness is itself a great deliverance, and an earnest of that eternal salvation which we look for. There, upon Mount Zion, in the gospel-church, shall be holiness; for that is it which becomes God’s house for ever, and the great design of the gospel, and its grace, is to plant and promote holiness. There shall be the Holy Spirit, the holy ordinances, the holy Jesus, and a select remnant of holy souls, in whom, and among whom, the holy God will delight to dwell. Note, Where there is holiness there shall be deliverance.
III. That this salvation and sanctification shall spread, and prevail, and get ground in the world: The house of Jacob, even this Mount Zion, with the deliverance and their holiness there wrought, shall possess their possessions; that is, the gospel-church shall be set up among the heathen, and shall replenish the earth; the apostles of Christ by their preaching shall gain possession of the hearts of men for him whose messengers and ministers they are, and when they possess their hearts they shall possess their possessions, for those who have given up themselves to the Lord give up all they have to him. When Lydia’s heart was opened to Christ her house was opened to his ministers. When the Gentile nations became nations of those that were saved, were disciplined, walked in the light of the Lord, and brought their glory and honour into the new Jerusalem (Rev. xxi. 24), then the house of Jacob possessed their possessions. This is the part fulfilled by the planting of the Christian religion in the world, and shall be fulfilled yet more and more by the setting up of Christ’s throne where Satan’s seat is, and the erecting of trophies of his victory upon the ruins of the devil’s kingdom. Now here is foretold,
1. How this possession shall be gained, and the opposition given to it got over (v. 18): The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, for their God is, and will be, a consuming fire; and the house of Esau shall be for stubble, easily devoured and consumed by this fire. This is fulfilled, (1.) In the conversion of multitudes by the grace of Christ; the gospel, preached in the house of Jacob and Joseph, and there owned and professed, shall be as a fire and a flame to melt and to soften hard hearts, to burn up the dross of sin and corruption, that they may be purified and refined with the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. Christ, when he comes, shall be as a refiner’s fire,Mal 3:1; Mal 3:2. (2.) In the confusion of all the impenitent implacable enemies of the gospel of Christ, that oppose it and do all they can to hinder the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah by it. The gospel day is a day that burns like an oven, in which all the proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be a stubble, Mal. iv. 1. Jacob and Joseph shall be as a fire and a flame; for those that meddle with them, to do them hurt, will find that they do so at their peril; they shall be to them as a torch of fire in a sheaf, Zech. xii. 6. The word of God in the mouth of his ministers is said to be like fire, and the people as wood to be devoured by it, Jer. v. 14. And the man of sin is to be consumed by the breath of Christ’s mouth, 2 Thess. ii. 8. Those that are not refined as gold by fire of the gospel shall be consumed as dross by it; for it will be a savour either of life or of death. When idols and idolatry were abolished, and the wealth and power of nations were brought into the service of Christ and his gospel, and the spoils of the strong man armed were divided by him that was stronger than he, then the house of Jacob and Joseph devoured the house of Esau, so that there was none of them left remaining. This the Lord spoke by his prophets, and this he did by his apostles.
2. How far this possession shall extend, Oba 1:19; Oba 1:20. This is described in Jewish language, which speaks the accession made to the land of Israel, after the return out of captivity into Babylon. The captivity of this host of Israel, that is, this host of Israel that have been so long in captivity and now they have come back are still called the children of the captivity, these shall not only recover their own land, but shall gain ground upon their neighbours adjoining to them, some of whom shall become proselytes and shall incorporate with the Jews, who, by possessing them in a holy communion, possess their land. We must reckon ourselves truly enriched by the conversion of our neighbours to the fear of God and the faith of Christ, and their coming to join with us in the worship of God. Such an accession to our Christian communion we must reckon to be more our wealth and strength than an accession to our estates. Or, The ancient inhabitants of those lands that were carried away into captivity being lost, and never returning to their estates, the children of Israel shall take possession of that which lies next them; for their numbers shall so increase that their own land shall be too strait for them, and their neighbours’ estates shall escheat to them ob defectum sanguinis–through default of heirs. They shall enter upon that which is adjoining to them. The country of Esau shall be possessed by those of the south parts of Canaan, for to them it lies contiguous. Those of the plain, on the west of Canaan, which was a champaign country, shall enter upon the land of the Philistines, their neighbours. Those of Judah, which was the chief of the two returning tribes, shall possess the field of Ephraim and Samaria, which before belonged to the ten tribes; and Benjamin, the other tribe, shall possess Gilead on the other side of Jordan, which had belonged to the two tribes and a half. The kingdom of Israel shall join with that of Judah both in civil and sacred interests, and, as friends and brethren, shall mutually possess and enjoy one another; and both together shall possess the Canaanites, even to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon; and Jerusalem shall possess the cities of the south, even to Sepharad. Thus did the Jews enlarge their borders on all sides. The modern rabbin teach their scholars by Zarephath and Sepharad to understand France and Spain, grounding upon this a foolish groundless expectation that some time or other the Jews shall be masters of those countries; and they call and count the Christians Edomites, over whom they are to have dominion. But the promise here, no doubt, has a spiritual signification, and had its accomplishment in the setting up of the Christian church, the gospel-Israel, in the world, and shall have its accomplishment more and more in the enlargement of it and the additions made to it, till the mystical body is completed. When ministers and Christians prevail with their neighbours to come to Christ, to yield themselves to the Lord, they possess them. The converts that Abraham had are said to be the souls that he had gotten, Gen. xii. 5. The possession is gained, not vi et armis–by force and arms; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual; it is by the preaching of the gospel, and the power of divine grace going along with it, that this possession is got and kept.
IV. That the kingdom of the Redeemer shall be erected and maintained, to the comfort of his loyal subjects and the terror and shame of all his enemies (v. 21): The kingdom shall be the Lord’s, the Lord Christ’s. God shall give it to him, by putting all things into his hand, all power both in heaven and in earth; men shall give it to him, by resigning themselves to him as his willing people, and appointing him their head. Now the work of kings is to protect their subjects and suppress their enemies; and this Christ will do; he will both reward and punish. 1. The mountain of Zion shall be saved; on it saviours shall come, the preachers of the gospel, who are called saviours, because their business is to save themselves and those that hear them; and in this they are workers together with Christ, but to little purpose if he by his grace did not work together with them. 2. The mountain of Esau shall be judged; and the same that come as saviours on Mount Zion shall judge the mountain of Esau; for the word of the gospel in their mouth, that saves believers, judges unbelievers, convinces and condemns them. Christ’s ministers are saviours on Mount Zion when they preach that he that believes shall be saved; but they judge the mount of Esau when they preach that he that believeth not shall be damned, which they are not only commissioned, but commanded to do, Mark xvi. 16. And in the course of God’s providence his scripture is fulfilled; when God raises up friends to the church in her distress (as he raised up judges to deliver Israel of old, Judg. ii. 16), then saviours come on Mount Zion, to save it from being sunk and ruined; and when the enemies of the church are brought down, and their power broken, then is the mount of Esau judged; and this shall be done in every age in such a way as God thinks best; we may depend upon it that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church, but the church shall prevail against them; for the kingdom shall be the Lord’s; the kingdoms of the world shall become his, and he has taken, and will take, to himself his great power and reign.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Edom, Yet To Be In The Kingdom, v. 17-21
Verses 17-21:
Verse 17 then pledges deliverance or liberation for Zion, the city of God. They shall escape from their captivity and oppressive judgment, after many years, both in the literal and spiritual sense, Joe 2:32; Isa 46:13; Isa 59:20; Rom 11:26. Zion shall be sanctified again, no more a victim of captivity, when a remnant of Jacob shall “possess their possessions.” Foreign invaders and strangers (heathen) shall no more pass through her gates and streets to rape and pillage, Isa 52:1; Joe 3:17.
Verse 18 declares that at that time the house of Jacob, Judah and Israel shall be a flame, forming one kingdom again, with their former breach healed, their feud and bitterness gone forever, Isa 11:12-13; Eze 37:16-17; Eze 37:19; Eze 37:22; Jer 3:18; Hos 1:11. But Esau their proud, hostile, treacherous brother shall be as stubble, consumed by their captivity under the Nabateans, never to rise as a nation again, as the Lord had spoken, v. 7; Eze 24:14; Dan 11:41; Mal 4:1.
Verse 19 prophecies that they of the south (the Negev desert area) shall possess the mount of Esau (the Petra area). The Jews of the southern Beersheba area, in the golden millennial era, shall control all Edom, Amo 9:12. And those regathered Jews of the Philistine plains, of the south and southwestern Palestine, along the seacoast, between the hills and the sea, shall occupy the plains of the Philistines, Zep 2:7. The rightful family lineage owners of the Israelites shall once again possess and occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria. While Benjamin shall possess Gilead, the region east of Jordan, formerly occupied by Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh. They too shall possess the adjoining territories of former Moab and Ammon.
Verse 20 certifies that the Israelites of the northern kingdom, upon their final liberation and return (the ten tribes), shall possess the territory of the Canaanites, north-west Palestine and Phoenicia, Jdg 3:3. It extends southward to Zarephath, near Zidon on the seacoast, called Serepta, Luk 4:26. It was the place from which came the “woman of Canaan,” Mat 15:21-22, near Tyre and Sidon, Joe 3:3-4; Amo 1:9. And those from Judah and Jerusalem, wherever scattered in captivity, shall return to possess the cities of the south, the southern cities of Judah.
Verse 21 describes that reign of peace era, when Israel’s saviors (the ancient order of just judges) shall dispense justice in judgment again from Jerusalem, even over all the mount of Edom, her once arrogant, treacherous brother’s land, when the whole kingdom shall be the Lord’s, with Him in her midst, Psa 22:28; Isa 1:26; Eze 4:5; Zec 12:8; 1Co 15:28; Zec 14:9; Luk 1:33; Rev 11:15; Rev 19:6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Here the Prophet promises deliverance to the Jews; for other consolations would have been of no great moment, had they, who then were perishing, no hope of being some time restored to safety. The Jews might indeed have objected, and said, “What is it to us, though the Lord may avenge our wrongs? Should the Idumeans be destroyed for our sake, what profit will that be to us? We are in the meantime destroyed and have no hope of deliverance.” The Prophet here meets this objection, and says, In mount Zion shall be escape Though then the Idumeans had attempted to intercept all outlets, as it has been before mentioned, yet God promises here that there would be an escape in mount Zion: he says not, from mount Zion, but in the very mountain. What does this mean? even that God would restore those who might seem then to be lost. Then Obadiah clearly promises that there would be a restoration of the Church.
But we are taught in this place, that the punishment, by which the Lord chastises his people for their sins, is ever for a time. Whenever then God inflicts wounds on his Church, prepared at the same time is the remedy; for God designs not, nor does he suffer, that his own people should be wholly lost. This we may learn from the Prophet’s words, when he says, that there would be escape in Zion. And it was no ordinary comfort for the Jews to know, that even in their extreme decay, there remained for them some hope of deliverance, and that the people, who might appear at the time to be extinct, would yet be saved, and preserved alive, as though they arose from the dead.
He says that mount Zion would be holiness or holy, by which he means that God would be mindful of his covenant. As then he had chosen mount Zion where he would be worshipped, the Prophet intimates that God’s name was not there involved presumptuously or in vain. Inasmuch as God had chosen this mount for himself, it was holy; for God is said to have profaned the land and the temple, when he forsook them and delivered them up into the hands of enemies. So also now when the Prophet says, that mount Zion would be holy, it is the same as though he had said, that God would have a care for this mountain, because he had once consecrated it to himself, and designed it to be his own habitation. The cause then is put here for its effect. He had said, that the Jews would survive, how much soever like the lost and the dead they might for a time be, — How could such a thing be? The reason is this, — mount Zion shall be holy: it was a dreadful profanation of mount Zion when the temple was destroyed, when the holy vessels were taken away by the Babylonians, when, in short, the enemies showed there every kind of insolence. But when the Lord restored his people, when the altar was built again, and sacrifices were offered, then mount Zion recovered its holiness, that is, God manifested that the grace of his election had not been abolished, for he had again sanctified mount Zion, and thus designed it to be preserved safe. Holy then shall be mount Zion Were any one disposed to refine more on the Prophet’s words, he might say, that it is evidently the manner of our salvation that is intended, when God is said to sanctify or govern us by his Spirit: but the Prophet, I have no doubt, has regard here simply to the election of God.
And the house of Jacob shall again possess his own possessions, that is whatever God has given as an heritage to the children of Abraham, he will restore to them when they return from exile. If any one prefers to take possessions to be those of Edom, I do not object. But yet I think that the real meaning of the Prophet is, that when the children of Israel should return from exile, God would restore to them their ancient country, that they might possess whatever had been promised to their father Abraham. He means then, by their possessions, the whole land, which came by lot into the possession of the chosen people, as it had been promised to Abraham. It follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Oba. 1:17.] Yet this Mount shall become a sanctuary for God and his people, who will possess, regain their possessions.
Oba. 1:18.] Israel, again united and unassailed, shall execute judgment upon others. A fire] Num. 21:28; Isa. 5:24.
Oba. 1:19.] Extend its territory to every region under heaven.
Oba. 1:20. Captivity] Exiles among the Canaanites shall possess the country of the Canaanites; and those whom the Edomites had enslaved shall possess the cities of their masters. See Lowth.
Oba. 1:21. Saviours] Deliverers (see 1Ma. 5:3-5); Jewish leaders and conquerors (Jdg. 3:9; Isa. 19:20); or spiritually, preachers of salvation (cf. Oba. 1:17 and Amo. 9:12). Judge] i.e. to punish (1Sa. 3:13). Kingdom] shall become universal under the Messiah (Psa. 22:28). The fulfilment of Oba. 1:17-21 can only belong to the Messianic times, and in such a way that it commenced with the founding of the kingdom of Christ on earth, advances with its extension among all nations, and will terminate in a complete fulfilment at the second coming of our Lord [Keil].
HOMILETICS
THE KINGDOM AN ASYLUM IN JUDGMENT.Oba. 1:17
Mount Zion is a type of the Church of God. While heathen nations suffer in judgment it shall be restored, enlarged, and beautified. It will become the seat of empire, and God shall reign over a redeemed race for ever (Oba. 1:17-21).
I. The Church of God is a centre of refuge. Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance. The return of the Jews is a type of redemption. The Church of God consists of those who have fled for refuge in Christ. They are delivered from self and sins dominion. The city of God is a sanctuary undefiled and free (Joe. 3:17). It is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Its citizens are those who have escaped of Israel, those who claim its privileges through Divine grace. In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
II. The Church of God is a moral beauty. There shall be holiness. Physical beauty is seen in creation, moral in the Christian Church. In Christian life we see the beauty of holiness.
1. Holiness is promised. There shall be. God will complete his work. First, deliverance; then holiness, redemption, adornment, and service. That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
2. Holiness should be pursued. By this we are qualified for enjoyments on earth and in heaven. In this consists the dignity of our character and the consummation of our bliss. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.
III. The Church of God is a secure inheritance. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
1. They shall regain their own inheritance. Recover their possessions from the hands of Edom and Syria.
2. They shall possess the territories of their enemies. The world is the inheritance of the Church. All things are yours. Ungodly nations will be judged and their dominions taken from them; but the Church will regain its privileges, enlarge its bounds, and enjoy perpetual security. I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
THE KINGDOM REGAINED AND ENLARGED.Oba. 1:18-21
The holy land would be repossessed, and adjoining regions annexed.
I. The kingdom regained.
1. The exiles should return. The captivity, prisoners of war, would be reclaimed, and wandering exiles owned as sons of Israel.
2. The enemies would be subdued. There shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau. The victory of the Church is not by physical, but moral power; not by carnal, but spiritual weapons. The word of God, the gospel, like a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning, melts the penitent and consumes the impenitent; restores the sinner and confirms the saint. Multitudes shall be converted, and truth, like an unquenchable fire, shall burn up error and superstition. Most distant tribes shall be brought to Christ, and most unlikely things shall come to pass. For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble.
II. The kingdom enlarged. Judah and Israel shall become one, and extend their boundaries to the four quarters of the globe.
1. Union of the tribes. All feuds and divisions shall cease, and Jew and Gentile become one in Christ.
2. Conquest of other nations (Oba. 1:20). The prophet looks beyond the return from captivity and conquest of Canaan. He points to the original promise (Gen. 28:14). The gospel is aggressive in spirit and purpose. All nations are to be conquered, and Christ must have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.
III. The kingdom supreme. When Israel takes possession of the border nations, judges will ascend Mount Zion to defend it and govern their enemies. The mountains of Esau express the idea of other lands in contrast to Zion. To judge means not simply to settle disputes, but to exercise dominion. Hence the kingdom will be supreme and Jehovah will declare himself to be the Ruler of the universe. His royal sceptre does not yet sway all the world. The Saviour, of whom others are only types, is still ruling his people and gaining his dominions. Soon shall his blessings extend, remote as the curse. He must reign till he hath put all things under him. Willingly or by force, they must submit. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Oba. 1:18. The flame and the stubble. Cf. Isa. 5:24; Isa. 10:17. I. Gods people like a fire. Jacob a fire and Joseph a flame.
1. In their personal love to Christ. This is the fire that he kindles in the earth. It burns upon the altar within, and like the fire of old, never goes out. The love of Christ constraineth us.
2. In their personal zeal for Christ. They burn themselves, and seek to excite others to love and good works. The Psalmist and the Saviour were consumed by the zeal of their masters house. Brainerd wished to be a flame of fire in the cause of God. Basil was represented as a pillar of fire, and Latimer longed for the spark of the Spirit in the preaching of the day. II. The wicked like stubble. Esau for stubble. Vital force has forsaken them. They are empty and worthless; ready for the touch of the flame.
1. In their moral character, and
2. In their moral condition. This fire shall eventually consume all hypocrisy, infidelity, and opposition. The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day (Isa. 10:17-18).
Opposers and meddlers will be destroyed. There shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau. Persecution fans the flame. Stubble can never quench the fire. Let all enemies beware. Our God is a consuming fire.
Oba. 1:21. Mount Zion. The perpetuity of the Church. Mount Zion.
1. The residence of God.
2. The seat of universal government. God the Head; Saviours temporal and spiritual vicegerents.
God will raise up rulers for his people. These rulers judge and condemn the world, but defend and save the Church. But Jehovah is supreme, and executes his judgments by all agencies and instrumentalities. Let none contest his power, for his glory will be revealed in the defeat of his enemies and the salvation of his people. His kingdom can never be destroyed. The Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever (Mic. 4:7; Psa. 146:10; Zec. 14:9).
Majestic, comprehensive simplicity of prophecy! All time and eternity, the struggles of time and the rest of eternity, are summed up in those three words; Zion and Edom retire from sight; both are comprehended in that one kingdom, and God is all in all. The strife is ended; not that ancient strife only between the evil and the good, the oppressor and the oppressed, the subduer and the subdued; but the whole strife and disobedience of the creature towards the Creator, man against his God [Pusey].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE CHAPTER
Oba. 1:17-21. The earth is to come under the dominion of Christ, and is given to Him for this purpose. It is thus to Him as Canaan was to the Jews. All opposition will be as vain as it is unreasonable. His enemies shall lick the dust. The word is gone out of Gods mouth and shall not return, that to Him every knee shall bow and every tongue confess [Jay]. We see Jerusalem emerging from her ashes and standing more beautiful than ever. From Zion goes forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and in the Christ of the Jew all nations are blessed. The mountain of the Lords house is established on the top of the mountains, and all people are flowing into it. In other wordsjust as the nations owe their conversion instrumentally to the Jews, so do they look to the Jewish Church as the heart and centre of Christian life, and seek communion with it. It is thus that the union and unity of the whole catholic Church will be consummated and perfected [Ferguson].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
VICTORY FOR GODS COVENANT PEOPLE
TEXT: Oba. 1:17-21
17
But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
18
And 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 burn among them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining to the house of Esau; for Jehovah hath spoken it.
19
And they of the South shall possess the mount of Esau, and they of the lowland the Philistines; and they shall possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria; and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20
And the captives of this host of children of Israel, that are among the Canaanites, shall possess even unto Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, that are in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South.
21
And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be Jehovahs.
QUERIES
a.
Where is Mount Zion and how shall it afford escape?
b.
How shall the houses of Jacob and Joseph consume the house of Esau?
c.
Who are the saviours to judge Mount Esau?
PARAPHRASE
While Gods Day of Judgment is coming upon all His enemies, He will be delivering His covenant people; they shall be made holy and shall be given the spiritual blessings He promised they would possess when He spoke to the patriarchs. The re-united covenant people of God shall become as a fire sweeping through the enemies of God as if they were dry stubble and Gods people shall devour their enemy until the house of Esau shall be completely obliterated. The Lord has spoken it and it shall surely come to pass. And the literal conquest of Edom will be one more step in Gods plan of redemption symbolizing the ultimate fulfillment of all that God has promised to the Messianic people, including victory over the Gentiles and establishing of the Messianic kingdom in every land and among all peoples of the earth. Many saviors of God shall be raised up to preserve a remnant of the Covenant people looking forward to the One Great Savior when God shall manifest Himself to the world as King of the world and ruler of His kingdom.
SUMMARY
Obadiah comforts the covenant people with Gods promise of victory over their inveterate enemies. Not only will they have victory but they will possess the promises God made with their fathers. Obadiahs promises find their ultimate fulfillment in the Messianic kingdom, the church, when the kingdom shall be Jehovahs.
COMMENT
Oba. 1:17 BUT IN MOUNT ZION SHALL BE . . . ESCAPE . . . IT SHALL BE HOLY . . . AND JACOB SHALL POSSESS . . . Obadiah speaks of the day of Jehovah . . . near upon all nations in Oba. 1:15. Now God, through the prophet extends His strong right arm of salvation and victory to the covenant people, in Oba. 1:17, making Zion a place of escape. Mount Zion, the southeastern hill of Jerusalem, is the place where the presence of God dwelt according to the Old Testament way of saying things. The prophets used Mount Zion to mean the place where God would manifest His salvationin other words the Messianic kingdom (the church). Mount Zion became the symbol of Messianic deliverance, peace, security and realization of the promises made to the fathers (patriarchs). The prophets were not intending that all they predicted of Mount Zion would be fulfilled literallytheir predictions of the glorious things that were to happen there were intended to be fulfilled in the Messiah and His kingdom. This is plainly apparent when one compares just a few scriptures (Isa. 33:17-24; Eze. 34:11-31; Isa. 28:16; 1Pe. 2:6; Zec. 9:9; Mat. 21:5; Isa. 59:20-21; Rom. 11:25; and especially, Gal. 4:25 ff; Heb. 12:22-24). That the members of the New Testament church were to be the recipients of the prophetic blessings is shown quite conclusively by the following scriptures (Act. 3:11-26; Act. 13:29-37; Act. 15:13-18; Rom. 3:21-22; Rom. 9:2-8; Rom. 15:8; Rom. 15:12; Rom. 15:20-21; Rom. 15:27; Rom. 16:25-27; Heb. 12:18-29). Now God started His work of redemption through the Messianic kingdom when He made promise first in Gen. 3:15. All who, by faith, kept covenant with God (in whatever covenant they found themselves) found their deliverance in Mount Zion. Abraham saw His day and rejoiced (Joh. 8:56). The verb shall be deliverance is in the imperfect and indicates a continuous flow of the deliverance to be found in Mount Zion (this mountain being symbolic of Messianic promise and covenant), All who remained true to God in. Old Testament timesever looking forward in faith to what God was going to do on Mt. Zionhad deliverance, for Christ died for the transgressions done aforetime (cf. Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:15-17).
As a result of the future deliverance which will be accomplished ultimately by the Messiah there shall also come an imputed holiness or perfection. Other prophets spoke much about this cleansing the Messiah would bring (Isaiah 35; Isa. 4:2-4; Zec. 13:1; Eze. 36:25 ff) and the writer of the Hebrew epistle explained it in Hebrews 9-10. Of this holiness the apostle Peter speaks more than once (1Pe. 1:15-16; 1Pe. 2:9-10; 2Pe. 1:4; 2Pe. 3:11-14).
Jacob possessing his possessions was never completely fulfilled until the coming of the Messiah. In the Old Testament God promised to the patriarchs a certain land for their habitationHe promised a proliferous progenyHe promised that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through their seed. The Lord did give them a land and numerous offspring. And even when God took them from their land in chastisement for their idolatry and sent them into exile, He promised to return them to their land. But the careful student of the O.T. will discover that when the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity under Ezra and others, they did not repossess all their former land. A large portion of the land originally given them by God was possessed by other nations and never regained by the Jews.
Oba. 1:18-19 . . . JACOB SHALL BE A FIRE . . . JOSEPH A FLAME . . . ESAU . . . STUBBLE . . . NOT ANY REMAINING TO THE HOUSE OF ESAU . . . THEY OF THE SOUTH SHALL POSSESS MOUNT ESAU . . . PHILISTINES . . . FIELD OF EPHRAIM . . . SAMARIA . . . AND GILEAD. In spite of the fact that the Jews never again repossessed the entire land promised to them Obadiah prophesies that they shall not only regain all that had been promised to them but the covenant people would also possess territory which had never been promised themnamely Edom. In Oba. 1:18 Jacob represents the southern kingdom, Judah, while Joseph represents the northern kingdom, Israel. Thus Obadiah sees the great victory over Edom coming to a re-united covenant people. The fulfillment of this prophecy had its beginning when the Edomites were expelled from their homeland sometime between 550 and 400 B.C. by the Nabateans. The Edomites were driven to the southern wastelands of the desert Negeb, where they became the Idumeans. Simon of Gerasa (see Josephus, War, IV, ch. IX, 7) attacked Idumaea, ravaging cities and villages, laying waste the whole country. By promising them the liberty to plunder and murder at will, Simon succeeded with the aid of Idumean mercenaries in entering Jerusalem where he engaged in bloody battle against other leaders of the city then under siege by Titus the Roman general. At the beginning of of the Roman siege, Simon had about 5000 Jews and 5000 Idumeans under his command. The Idumeans, seeing the hopelessness of resisting the Romans any longer, sent messengers to Titus asking him to spare them if they surrendered. Their plea granted, they were about to leave the city, but Simon discovered it, killed the messengers, imprisoned the Idumean commanders and forced the remaining Idumeans to fight on. The few survivors took refuge among the desert tribes and were absorbed into their communities. Thus ended the proud and cruel nation of Edom. But this was not the ultimate fulfillment as we shall see.
Oba. 1:20 AND THE CAPTIVITIES OF THIS HOST OF CHILDREN OF ISRAEL . . . SHALL POSSESS . . . When and how, then, were the promises of Oba. 1:19-20 fulfilled? The Bible itself indicates both the manner and the time of fulfillment. As long as the Old administration of the Covenant continued, God had promised a literal, temporal portion of land as the possession of a repentant Israel (cf. Deu. 30:1-5). The Lord kept His promise and raised up Cyrus, king of Persia, as His servant (Isa. 45:1 ff; 2Ch. 36:22-23; Ezr. 1:1-4), to return a repentant remnant of Jews to their Land of Promise. But this was not the final goal toward which God was working. It was a step in that direction, but not the final one. The ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy of Obadiah concerning Jacob and Joseph possessing even Edom is to be tied directly to the prophecy made by Balaam in Num. 24:17-18. There it is prophecied that Edom (Seir) is to be a possession of Israel when the star comes forth out of Jacob and the scepter out of Israel. This, of course, points to fulfillment in the Messianic age. Amo. 9:11-12 reveals that when the tabernacle (family, dynasty) of David has been rebuilt, not only will the remnant of Edom be possessed by the covenant people but all the nations. There can be no doubt about the fulfillment of this for it has the sanction of apostolic pronouncement (Act. 15:13-18) as having been fulfilled when the Gentiles were received into the New Testament church. And so the book of Acts records the fulfillment of Oba. 1:17-21, the churchs (the true Mt. Zion) victorious conquest of the Gentiles by the preaching of the gospel.
Oba. 1:21 . . . SAVIOURS . . . ON MOUNT ZION TO JUDGE THE MOUNT OF ESAU; AND THE KINGDOM SHALL BE JEHOVAHS. This word saviours is the same word used of the judges (Samuel, Samson and company). These saviours would not come upon mount Easu to inflict punitive judgment but to bring deliverance. Deliverers will be sent (in the Messianic age) to Edom so that even a remnant of Edom (Amo. 9:12) will be saved. These saviours are those who were ambassadors of The Savior taking His gospel to all the world enlarging His kingdom.
The last phrase is majestic! Both Edom and Zion fade from view as all becomes His! All kingdoms are united in that one kingdom, and God is all in all. It began when the One Shepherd united all Gods sheep in one flock (Ezekiel 34; John 10) and will find its consummation when the Savior appears the second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him (Heb. 9:28).
Gods goal, as Obadiah sees it, is the fulfillment of Gods covenant promises. In one form or another this is the closing note of almost every prophetic book in the Old Testament (cf. Oba. 1:21; Joe. 3:21; Amo. 9:14; Mic. 7:20; Hab. 3:18; Zep. 3:17; Hag. 2:19; Eze. 48:35; Zec. 14:20-21, etc.), The composite picture given by such passages as these is that of the victory of God and His kingdom over every foe; of unbroken fellowship between a people finally made holy to the Lord and their ever-present faithful God; of a new Covenant which does not supplant but fulfills the old. God reaches this goal through a series of successive acts of judgment and redemption in history culminating in the Messianic judgmentredemption which is to be consummated at His second coming.
And, so to speak, Obadiah becomes a proto-type of all the later prophets who, speaking the portion God has given them to speak and in the manner God has lead them to speak, (Heb. 1:1), amplify his brief but basic message.
QUIZ
1.
What is the holiness which Obadiah says will be in Mt. Zion?
2.
What are the possessions which Jacob would possess according to Obadiah?
3.
What does Oba. 1:21 show as to the ultimate purpose of God and thus the principle message of Obadiah?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
17-21.ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF JEHOVAH ON MOUNT ZION.
(17) Deliverance.Better, as in margin, the fugitives of Israel who have survived the recent calamity. This is clear from Isa. 10:20, where phelytah is in parallelism with shear=remnant, as well as Joe. 2:32; Heb. 3:5, where it is parallel to serdm, also remnant. (Comp. also Jdg. 21:17; 2Ch. 20:24.) While the judgment is falling upon all the heathen nations, Mount Zion will be an asylum for all the Israelites who had fled for safety, and been scattered and dispersed.
Holiness.See margin. Zion was once more to become a sanctuary, and those who inhabited it holy. (Comp. Isa. 6:13.)
Their possessions.Whosetheir own that had been lost, or those of the nations? The Vulgate, following the LXX., read those who had possessed them, indicating subjugation of the heathen tribes. But the parallelism is undoubtedly in favour of the other viewthe remnant of Israel would be saved, and regain their old possessions. Having stated this, the prophet goes on to describe what would happen to Edom and its possessions.
(18) Though, in the preceding verse, house of Jacob would seem to embrace all the restored Israel, without any reference to the distinction of the two kingdoms, in this verse, being opposed to house of Joseph, it requires to be taken as synonymous with Judah; as in Isa. 46:3 : Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel. (Comp. Psa. 77:15; Psa. 80:1; Psa. 81:4-5.)
For the expressive imagery, comp. Nah. 1:10; Isa. 27:4; Isa. 10:17.
Any remaining.Heb., sard, a fugitive. The LXX. must have had a different text, as they read here , i.e., wheat-bearer, apparently (as the various reading shows) a mistake for , fire-bearer.
(19) After the destruction of the heathen the new kingdom of Zion will be restored, at least as far as the ancient territories which are at present held by the Idumans, to the north and west of the original Edom, are concerned. Three divisions are enumerated of the house of Jacob (i.e., Judah; see Note, Oba. 1:18), and separate mention made of Benjamin.
They of the south.Those at present occupying the southHeb., negevi.e., the dry parched country forming the southern portion of the tribe of Judah (Jos. 15:21), are to inhabit Mount Esau: i.e., are to extend their territory to its extreme south-eastern limit; they of the Shephelah, i.e., the western lowland on the Mediterranean, are to seize on the neighbouring Philistia, at present Iduman; while they at present confined to the hill-country in the north and centre of Judah are to spread themselves over Ephraim and Samaria. Our present Hebrew text leaves the subject of this latter clause uncertain, as it is in the Authorised Version they. But the LXX., indicates that hahor=the mountain, has dropped out, a conjecture which is abundantly borne out by the geographical arrangement of the localities in the passage. Benjamin, for which no room is left on the west of Jordan, is to push across it into Gilead instead. This prophetic vision recalls Gen. 28:14.
(20) But there are still others of the restored Israel, besides those comprised within the ancient territory of Judah. The prophetic survey proceeds northwards, and we get a general idea from this verse that there were exiles, who had found refuge on the north-western and northern boundaries of ancient Palestine, who would settle themselves partly on the sea-coast of Tyre and Sidon, partly in the south country, whose inhabitants had pushed downwards into Edom. But while this is plainly its general drift, the text is full of difficulties.
It is difficult to attach an intelligible meaning to the captivity (i.e., exiles, galuth; comp. Isa. 20:4; Isa. 45:13) of this host of (literally, to) the sons of Israel.
The prophet seems to allude to some body of exiles, including himself, who had escaped from the army. But there is a difference of opinion among grammarians as to the identification of chl with chayil = host. Ewald takes it to be a dialectic variety of chol = sand, generally of the sea-coast; and so here the banished ones of this coast, where the prophet was at the time. The rendering chl=trench, or fortification, which some adopt, is out of the question. The LXX. have , but whether = power, or beginning, with allusion to the first dispersion of exiles, cannot be determined. Another difficulty arises with respect to the words that of the Canaanitesasher Khenaanm (literally, which Canaanites). To make it an object, as in our version, the particle eth is wanted, and Ewald, instead of asher, reads eth-ari = the cities of. That some change has taken place in the text appears from the LXX., who have , the land (Heb., erets). Keil, keeping the present reading, renders, And the captives of this army of the sons of Israel (will take possession) of what Canaanites there are as far as Zarephath . . . Pusey: And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel which are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, making it joint subject with the captives of Jerusalem to shall possess the cities of the south, which is in accordance with the construction of the LXX. and the Syriac. But the absence of the preposition be before Khenaanim seems to make this rendering impossible. The Hebrew as it stands can only mean which are Canaanites. The choice lies between Ewalds emendation of the text and Keils interpretation. The Jews understand by Zarephath the country of France.
The last clause is better in the text than in the margin: The exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall take possession of the cities of the south. The only difficulty is in the name Sepharad, a place never mentioned elsewhere, and which has not yet been satisfactorily identified. The various conjectures have been
1. That of the LXX., followed by the Arabic translation, probably from reading Sepharath. Jerome, in his Commentary on Obadiah, appears to have understood this reading as pointing to the Hebrew Phrath, since he translates, Transmigratio Jerusalem usque Euphratem.
2. The reading of the Vulg., qu in Bosphoro est, was derived by Jerome from a Jewish instructor, who treated the particle in Bisparad as part of the name, and rejected the final d altogether.
3. The Targum Jonathan, the Peshito-Syriac, and from them the modern Jews, interpret Sepharad as Spain (Ispamia or Ispania); hence Sephardim, a name for the Spanish Jews.
4. Sipphara in Mesopotamia. But this is more probably identified with Sepharvaim.
5. Sardis, from a supposed connection with PaRaD. or (parda, mentioned in the great arrow-headed inscription of Nakshi Rustam, in a list of names of tribes between Cappadocia and Ionia, which De Sacy identified with Sepharad, and Lassen with Sardis.
6. Sparta. Some relations there were between the Jews after the captivity and the Lacedmonians (see 1Ma. 12:2, seqq., 14:16, seqq., 15:23). Possibly there was a colony of the exiles in Sparta.
7. Ewald conjectures Sepharam instead of Sepharad, and finds the place in Shefa Amar, a well-known place a few miles south-east of Acco. The general drift of the passage seems to require some place not far distant from, and in the direction of, Zarephath. The only serious objection to this conjecture is the fact that Shefa Amar was within the boundaries of Palestine, and therefore those who had taken refuge there would not strictly be exiles. But it is distinctly stated that these were of Jerusalem, and they might well be called refugees, since they had had to go so far north to find an asylum.
(21) Saviours.Comp. Jdg. 3:9; Jdg. 3:15; Neh. 9:27. The Jewish interpreters understood by saviours men like the judges of old, Gideon, Barak, &c., who will chastise the Christians and subdue them. The Mount of Esau is of course, according to this interpretation, Rome.
And the kingdom shall be the Lords.See the reference in margin to Zechariah, who gives this anticipation of the pure form of the theocracy in its wider extent. But here, too, the prophetic look over the world seems to extend far beyond Judah and the fortunes of the Jewish race, and as the vision widens Zion and Edom both retire from sight; both are comprehended in the one Divine kingdom, and God is all in all. For the bearing of this conclusion to the prophecy on its date, see Excursus.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
The exaltation of the Jews, Oba 1:17-21.
The judgment upon the nations is accompanied and followed by the restoration and glorification of Zion (compare Joe 2:32 ff.). The prophet’s hope of the future embraces four elements: (1) the restoration of the remnant (Oba 1:17); (2) the annihilation of Edom (Oba 1:18); (3) the expansion of the territory of the Jews (Oba 1:19-20); (4) the supremacy of Jehovah (Oba 1:21).
Oba 1:17 a is rendered more accurately in R.V., “But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy.” For the interpretation of the first clause see on Joe 2:32. The nations are to be destroyed (16); even some Jews seem to be doomed, but not all; a remnant consisting of the loyal sons of Jehovah shall be saved (see on Amo 9:9).
It Mount Zion.
Shall be holy Literally, holiness; the noun is used instead of the adjective for the sake of emphasis (G.-K., 141c). The nations that defiled the temple mount (Oba 1:16) having been destroyed, it will be consecrated to Jehovah, who sanctifies it by his presence; no unclean stranger will be allowed to pass through it and defile it again (Joe 3:17).
The house of Jacob Identical with “those that escape.” Since the prophetic expectation includes a reunion of Judah and Israel at the time of the restoration (Hos 1:11; Eze 37:15 ff.; Zec 10:6, etc.), “house of Jacob” must include all Hebrews, whether of Israel or of Judah, who pass through the crisis unhurt (compare Oba 1:18).
Shall possess their possessions Not the possessions of Edom and of the nations, which is promised in Oba 1:18-19, but their own former possessions (Oba 1:20) which, through their sin, they had lost in 721 and 586. The restoration of the exiles to the promised land is considered by all prophets the first step toward the realization of the felicity of the new kingdom of God.
Vocalizing the last word somewhat differently, LXX. renders “and the house of Jacob will possess those who possessed them,” that is, those who formerly robbed the Jews of their possessions. Several modern commentators accept this as original, but, since this thought is the burden of Oba 1:18-19, the above interpretation of Oba 1:17 is to be preferred.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Deliverance of God’s People
v. 17. But upon Mount Zion, v. 18. And the house of Jacob, v. 19. And they of the South, v. 20. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel, v. 21. And saviors,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Oba 1:17. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions Shall possess what they had before possessed; that is to say, their return from the Babylonish captivity.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
“But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.”
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions – What are these? Are they not God in covenant with all his promises? Is it not the Lord Jesus with all that belongs to him? Yea, is it not God himself, Father, Sony and Holy Spirit, as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob made over to his people in that comprehensive promise, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And God in Christ implies all his fulness in grace here and glory hereafter. Precious, ‘precious Jesus! thou art’ the purchaser of all those possessions! Holy, holy Father! thou art the giver of them in JESUS! Blessed, blessed Spirit! thou makest over to thy people the whole of these blessings ‘by thy quickening, gracious operations! Glory be to the Holy Three in One for these unspeakable mercies! I crave the Reader’s indulgence, to allow me to add on this passage a memorandum of mine which I have this day found on this scripture in my Bible, and which I subjoin in this place verbatim.
“This view of the passage was opened to my mind when consulting ‘in my little Diary this motto for the day, Sept. 30, 1806. Gracious conclusion of the last morning of the month! Are not the Lord’s compassions new every morning? Great indeed is his faithfulness.” And the day on which I have now gathered it from my Diary, and inserted it in my Commentary is Feb. 27, 1812. Hitherto the Lord hath helped! What mercies, yea, what a series of mercies between those dates!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Oba 1:17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
Ver. 17. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance ] God will “turn again their captivity as the streams in the south.” He stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to send them home; he restored unto them both religion and liberty; he did all that could be done for them, by sanding his Son among them in the fulness of time, “made of a woman,” &c., made also unto all his people, “wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,” 1Co 1:30 . Jesus hath delivered us from the wrath to come, 1Th 1:10 . Neither is there any other name, whereby heaven is to be had, but only by the name of Jesus.
And there shall be holiness
And the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
upon mount Zion. Compare Isa 46:13. Joe 2:32.
shall be. Compare Jer 46:28. Joe 3:16. Amo 9:8.
deliverance = a delivered remnant. Compare Joe 2:32.
and there shall be, &c. Compare Isa 1:26; Isa 4:3, Isa 4:4. Joe 3:17.
shall possess, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Num 24:18, Num 24:19), App-92. Compare Isa 14:1, Isa 14:2. Joe 3:19-21. Amo 9:11-15.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Oba 1:17-21
VICTORY FOR GODS COVENANT PEOPLE
TEXT: Oba 1:17-21
Obadiah comforts the covenant people with Gods promise of victory over their inveterate enemies. Not only will they have victory but they will possess the promises God made with their fathers. Obadiahs promises find their ultimate fulfillment in the Messianic kingdom, the church, when the kingdom shall be Jehovahs.
Oba 1:17 BUT IN MOUNT ZION SHALL BE . . . ESCAPE . . . IT SHALL BE HOLY . . . AND JACOB SHALL POSSESS . . . Obadiah speaks of the day of Jehovah . . . near upon all nations in Oba 1:15. Now God, through the prophet extends His strong right arm of salvation and victory to the covenant people, in Oba 1:17, making Zion a place of escape. Mount Zion, the southeastern hill of Jerusalem, is the place where the presence of God dwelt according to the Old Testament way of saying things. The prophets used Mount Zion to mean the place where God would manifest His salvation-in other words the Messianic kingdom (the church). Mount Zion became the symbol of Messianic deliverance, peace, security and realization of the promises made to the fathers (patriarchs). The prophets were not intending that all they predicted of Mount Zion would be fulfilled literally-their predictions of the glorious things that were to happen there were intended to be fulfilled in the Messiah and His kingdom. This is plainly apparent when one compares just a few scriptures (Isa 33:17-24; Eze 34:11-31; Isa 28:16; 1Pe 2:6; Zec 9:9; Mat 21:5; Isa 59:20-21; Rom 11:25; and especially, Gal 4:25 ff; Heb 12:22-24). That the members of the New Testament church were to be the recipients of the prophetic blessings is shown quite conclusively by the following scriptures (Act 3:11-26; Act 13:29-37; Act 15:13-18; Rom 3:21-22; Rom 9:2-8; Rom 15:8; Rom 15:12; Rom 15:20-21; Rom 15:27; Rom 16:25-27; Heb 12:18-29). Now God started His work of redemption through the Messianic kingdom when He made promise first in Gen 3:15. All who, by faith, kept covenant with God (in whatever covenant they found themselves) found their deliverance in Mount Zion. Abraham saw His day and rejoiced (Joh 8:56). The verb shall be deliverance is in the imperfect and indicates a continuous flow of the deliverance to be found in Mount Zion (this mountain being symbolic of Messianic promise and covenant), All who remained true to God in. Old Testament times-ever looking forward in faith to what God was going to do on Mt. Zion-had deliverance, for Christ died for the transgressions done aforetime (cf. Rom 3:25; Heb 9:15-17).
Zerr: Oba 1:17. This verse introduces the second of the main subjects mentioned with the comments on verse 1, the return of the people of Israel from captivity. Other verses following will continue to predict some of the returning fortunes of the nation, including its retaking of certain lost territory.
As a result of the future deliverance which will be accomplished ultimately by the Messiah there shall also come an imputed holiness or perfection. Other prophets spoke much about this cleansing the Messiah would bring (Isaiah 35; Isa 4:2-4; Zec 13:1; Eze 36:25 ff) and the writer of the Hebrew epistle explained it in Hebrews 9-10. Of this holiness the apostle Peter speaks more than once (1Pe 1:15-16; 1Pe 2:9-10; 2Pe 1:4; 2Pe 3:11-14).
Jacob possessing his possessions was never completely fulfilled until the coming of the Messiah. In the Old Testament God promised to the patriarchs a certain land for their habitation-He promised a proliferous progeny-He promised that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through their seed. The Lord did give them a land and numerous offspring. And even when God took them from their land in chastisement for their idolatry and sent them into exile, He promised to return them to their land. But the careful student of the O.T. will discover that when the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity under Ezra and others, they did not repossess all their former land. A large portion of the land originally given them by God was possessed by other nations and never regained by the Jews.
Oba 1:18-19 . . . JACOB SHALL BE A FIRE . . . JOSEPH A FLAME . . . ESAU . . . STUBBLE . . . NOT ANY REMAINING TO THE HOUSE OF ESAU . . . THEY OF THE SOUTH SHALL POSSESS MOUNT ESAU . . . PHILISTINES . . . FIELD OF EPHRAIM . . . SAMARIA . . . AND GILEAD. In spite of the fact that the Jews never again repossessed the entire land promised to them Obadiah prophesies that they shall not only regain all that had been promised to them but the covenant people would also possess territory which had never been promised them-namely Edom. In Oba 1:18 Jacob represents the southern kingdom, Judah, while Joseph represents the northern kingdom, Israel. Thus Obadiah sees the great victory over Edom coming to a re-united covenant people. The fulfillment of this prophecy had its beginning when the Edomites were expelled from their homeland sometime between 550 and 400 B.C. by the Nabateans. The Edomites were driven to the southern wastelands of the desert Negeb, where they became the Idumeans. Simon of Gerasa (see Josephus, War, IV, ch. IX, 7) attacked Idumaea, ravaging cities and villages, laying waste the whole country. By promising them the liberty to plunder and murder at will, Simon succeeded with the aid of Idumean mercenaries in entering Jerusalem where he engaged in bloody battle against other leaders of the city then under siege by Titus the Roman general. At the beginning of of the Roman siege, Simon had about 5000 Jews and 5000 Idumeans under his command. The Idumeans, seeing the hopelessness of resisting the Romans any longer, sent messengers to Titus asking him to spare them if they surrendered. Their plea granted, they were about to leave the city, but Simon discovered it, killed the messengers, imprisoned the Idumean commanders and forced the remaining Idumeans to fight on. The few survivors took refuge among the desert tribes and were absorbed into their communities. Thus ended the proud and cruel nation of Edom. But this was not the ultimate fulfillment as we shall see.
Zerr: Oba 1:18. Fire and flame are used figuratively of the glowing recovery of the people of God from their depressed state, and of the downfall of their old enemy, the house of Esau which means the Edomites. This nation was to be utterly overthrown as a separate ruling power as already predicted in this book. Oba 1:19. The mention of the south, mount of Esau, plain, the Philistines, etc., is to indicate the various settlements that were to be observed when the Jews repossessed the land of Palestine after the return from exile.
Oba 1:20 AND THE CAPTIVITIES OF THIS HOST OF CHILDREN OF ISRAEL . . . SHALL POSSESS . . . When and how, then, were the promises of Oba 1:19-20 fulfilled? The Bible itself indicates both the manner and the time of fulfillment. As long as the Old administration of the Covenant continued, God had promised a literal, temporal portion of land as the possession of a repentant Israel (cf. Deu 30:1-5). The Lord kept His promise and raised up Cyrus, king of Persia, as His servant (Isa 45:1 ff; 2Ch 36:22-23; Ezr 1:1-4), to return a repentant remnant of Jews to their Land of Promise. But this was not the final goal toward which God was working. It was a step in that direction, but not the final one. The ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy of Obadiah concerning Jacob and Joseph possessing even Edom is to be tied directly to the prophecy made by Balaam in Num 24:17-18. There it is prophecied that Edom (Seir) is to be a possession of Israel when the star comes forth out of Jacob and the scepter out of Israel. This, of course, points to fulfillment in the Messianic age. Amo 9:11-12 reveals that when the tabernacle (family, dynasty) of David has been rebuilt, not only will the remnant of Edom be possessed by the covenant people but all the nations. There can be no doubt about the fulfillment of this for it has the sanction of apostolic pronouncement (Act 15:13-18) as having been fulfilled when the Gentiles were received into the New Testament church. And so the book of Acts records the fulfillment of Oba 1:17-21, the churchs (the true Mt. Zion) victorious conquest of the Gentiles by the preaching of the gospel.
Zerr: Oba 1:20, This verse continues the subject started in the preceding one.
Oba 1:21 . . . SAVIOURS . . . ON MOUNT ZION TO JUDGE THE MOUNT OF ESAU; AND THE KINGDOM SHALL BE JEHOVAHS. This word saviours is the same word used of the judges (Samuel, Samson and company). These saviours would not come upon mount Easu to inflict punitive judgment but to bring deliverance. Deliverers will be sent (in the Messianic age) to Edom so that even a remnant of Edom (Amo 9:12) will be saved. These saviours are those who were ambassadors of The Savior taking His gospel to all the world enlarging His kingdom.
The last phrase is majestic! Both Edom and Zion fade from view as all becomes His! All kingdoms are united in that one kingdom, and God is all in all. It began when the One Shepherd united all Gods sheep in one flock (Ezekiel 34; John 10) and will find its consummation when the Savior appears the second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him (Heb 9:28).
Zerr: Oba 1:21. It is not a rare thing for the prophets to pass from a prediction of favor to come to fleshly Israel, and prophesy some good fortune to come upon spiritual Israel. (See Isa 1:29 with Isa 2:1-4; Isa 4:2; Isa 4:4; Isa 40:1-4; Eze 21:24-27.) This is very understand-able, for even the New Testament system of religion was introduced into the world through the Jewish nation, and they were the first to accept the Gospel. So this verse is a prediction of the kingdom that was to be the Lord’s and “stand for ever.”
Gods goal, as Obadiah sees it, is the fulfillment of Gods covenant promises. In one form or another this is the closing note of almost every prophetic book in the Old Testament (cf. Oba 1:21; Joe 3:21; Amo 9:14; Mic 7:20; Hab 3:18; Zep 3:17; Hag 2:19; Eze 48:35; Zec 14:20-21, etc.), The composite picture given by such passages as these is that of the victory of God and His kingdom over every foe; of unbroken fellowship between a people finally made holy to the Lord and their ever-present faithful God; of a new Covenant which does not supplant but fulfills the old. God reaches this goal through a series of successive acts of judgment and redemption in history culminating in the Messianic judgment-redemption which is to be consummated at His second coming.
And, so to speak, Obadiah becomes a proto-type of all the later prophets who, speaking the portion God has given them to speak and in the manner God has lead them to speak, (Heb 1:1), amplify his brief but basic message.
Questions
1. What is the holiness which Obadiah says will be in Mt. Zion?
2. What are the possessions which Jacob would possess according to Obadiah?
3. What does Oba 1:21 show as to the ultimate purpose of God and thus the principle message of Obadiah?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
a Prayer from the Depths
Jon 1:17; Jon 2:1-10
The great fish was probably a shark. He who sent the storm prepared the fish. Life is full of contrivances on the part of the great Lover of men. To plunge beneath the wave is to fall into His arms. More than once the body of a man has been found in the belly of a shark in the Mediterranean. Even those who hold that this story is an elaborate parable must admit that it is probably founded on such a fact. Our Lords endorsement of this book and incident is very emphatic, Mat 12:39-41.
The psalm which follows is very helpful to those who have brought themselves into the depths by their wrongdoing. God will hear such out of the depths of Sheol. When you think you are cast out of His sight forever, if you will look toward His holy temple, you will find that His love is gradually extricating you from the pit. To trust in your own efforts and expedients is to regard lying vanities and to forsake your own mercy. Salvation is of the Lord. All nature waits upon His word. The big sharks and the tiny minnows are alike at the behest of God for the help of man. Only look again to God, and then be sure to pay your vows when delivered!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
great fish
No miracle of Scripture has called forth so much unbelief. The issue is not between the doubter and this ancient record, but between the doubter and the Lord Jesus Christ. Mat 12:39; Mat 12:40. Science, “falsely so called” 1Ti 6:20 failing to take account of the fact that it deals only with the outward phenomena of a fallen race, and of an earth under a curse Gen 3:17-19 is intolerant of miracles. To faith, and to true science, miracle is what might be expected of divine love, interposing God in a physically and morally disordered universe. Rom 8:19-23.
prepared
Four prepared things. Jon 4:6; Jon 4:7; Jon 4:8
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
upon: Isa 46:13, Joe 2:32
shall be: Jer 46:28, Amo 9:8
deliverance: or, they that escape, Jer 44:14, Jer 44:28, Eze 7:16
there shall be holiness: or, it shall be holy, Isa 1:27, Isa 4:3, Isa 4:4, Isa 60:21, Joe 3:17, Zec 8:3, Zec 14:20, Zec 14:21, Rev 21:27
possess: Isa 14:1, Isa 14:2, Joe 3:19-21, Amo 9:11-15
Reciprocal: Gen 27:40 – serve Psa 48:1 – mountain Isa 4:2 – them that are escaped Isa 59:20 – the Redeemer Isa 65:9 – I will Jer 8:19 – the Lord Jer 23:6 – Judah Jer 31:23 – and mountain Jer 32:37 – I will gather Jer 50:19 – bring Eze 20:41 – I bring Eze 28:25 – When Eze 36:12 – they shall Eze 37:21 – General Dan 12:1 – thy people Hos 11:11 – and I Zec 8:8 – and they shall dwell Zec 8:12 – to possess Zec 12:1 – for Act 1:6 – restore
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
POSSESSING OUR POSSESSIONS
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
Oba 1:17
As long as Edom invaded and annoyed the house of Jacob the people were unable to possess their possessions in peace. But its dominion was to be ended, and then there would be no cloud in the sky, no barrier to their uninterrupted joy.
I. There are many instances of people not possessing their possesions.Such are those who put their plate and valuables into furniture depositories, and for years leave them to neglect; who have shelves of unread, uncut books; who do not realise that coal and iron mines lie under their estates; who never enjoy the wealth of love and tenderness in their friends hearts; and refuse to avail themselves of resources which are well within their reach.
II. But too many of Gods people are like this.The Father has caused all His fullness to reside in the nature of Jesus; He hath given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness in Him; He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus; in our Saviour are treasures of wisdom, of purity, of prevailing power, of love and patience. The Divine Merchantman has come to us to give us gold tried in the fire, white raiment, and eyesalve. But we go blundering on in our own selfish, sinful, faltering way. We do not possess our possessions. We do not call into practical use the boundless reinforcements awaiting us, at every hour, within the tiniest beckoning of our faith. We are like the manufacturer who refuses to use the steam-power, though it is laid on into the mill; or the householder who refuses to touch the button of the electric light in his house.
Illustrations
(1) Some of us have received the crowning gift of God; but we have not fully received it. That is a striking passage in Obadiah: The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. What a great deal belongs to us that we do not possess! It lies beyond us untouched, unseen, unrealised; estates that we do not tread, gold that we do not reckon, dainties that we do not taste. We have a great inheritance in Christ; but we do not possess our possessions. The infinite light, grace, and energy which are really ours are most imperfectly actualised in our experience. This poor experience is not the measure of the gift of Christ. We possess the dust of gold rather than the gold itself, a few rose-leaves rather than the garden, the grape gleanings rather than the vintage. Let us afresh seek to possess the fullness of the blessing Christ came to bestow. He means to make us unutterably peaceful and pure; and we ought not to be satisfied with less. Oh, for an experience that will correspond with the unspeakable gift! We are ready enough to grasp the lesser gifts of time and sense; let not these abate our desire for the superlative blessings in heavenly places in Jesus Christ.
(2) Happy is the inhabitant of Zion, even in the most afflicted times! There alone is deliverance from the wrath to come, and from every evil; there holiness is communicated and resides: and while the Lord purifies His redeemed He both marks them out as His own, and prepares them to possess their purchased inheritance. His people will also be victorious, and as a flame to consume their enemies: and they shall inherit all things, whilst others shall lose even what they seemed to have. Blessed be God, for the Divine Saviour and Judge on Mount Zion, and for those whom He sends forth as His ministers, to bring sinners to partake of His salvation!
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Oba 1:17. This verse introduces the second of the main subjects mentioned with the comments on verse 1, the return of the people of Israel from captivity. Other verses following will continue to predict some of the returning fortunes of the nation, including its retaking of certain lost territory.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Oba 1:17-18. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance Literally taken, this refers to the Jews; mystically, to the gospel church. By deliverance here may be first meant an asylum, or place of refuge, to escape the evil; and it may be spoken with a reference to the invasion of Judea by Sennacherib, and his being prevented by God from taking Jerusalem, (though he took all the other fenced cities of Judah,) so that all persons of the neighbouring places found a deliverance, or an asylum, there; and so escaped falling into the enemies hands. It may also, perhaps, chiefly refer to the restoration of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon. But yet this promise was more remarkably verified in the time of the first preaching of the gospel, when Gods law went forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, Psa 100:2; Isa 2:3; and when, through believing in Christ, and embracing the gospel, the Christians escaped the destruction that came upon the Jewish nation, concerning which see note on Joe 2:32. And there shall be another and more glorious completion of it at the restoration of the Jewish nation, which is foretold in this and the following verses, as it is in many other places. And there shall be holiness So far as this refers to the Jews returned from captivity, it signifies that the temple, the city, and the people should be holy to the Lord. But the words more especially refer to gospel days; and are intended to express the holiness of the Christian Church, particularly after the conversion of the Jews, and during the millennium. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions Shall remain in possession of their own land or territories. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, &c. This was fulfilled in part by the Jews under Hyrcanus and the Maccabees, who made great slaughter of the Idumeans; here expressed by the strong image of their being the fire and flame, and the Idumeans stubble. But the passage will be more fully accomplished when the Lord shall make his church as a fire to all its enemies.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The future of Israel (restoration) contrasts with the future of Edom (judgment). In that future time of judgment (the Tribulation), there would be those who escaped from Jerusalem, namely, many Jews (cf. Zec 13:8; Rev 12:13-17). Some writers viewed this as taking place during the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. [Note: E.g., Armerding, p. 354.] But Jerusalem did not become holy and the house of Jacob did not possess their possessions after that event, as this verse predicts. The city would eventually become holy (at the Second Coming), and the house of Jacob, in contrast to the house of Esau, would then possess what God intended for them to have (in the Millennium).