CRITICAL NOTES.]
Obadiah 1:17.] Yet this Mount shall become a sanctuary for God and his people, who will possess, regain their possessions.
Obadiah 1:18.] Israel, again united and unassailed, shall execute judgment upon others. A fire] Numbers 21:28; Isaiah 5:24.
Obadiah 1:19.] Extend its territory to every region under heaven.
Obadiah 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.
Obadiah 1:21. Saviours] Deliverers (see 1Ma. 5:3-5); Jewish leaders and conquerors (Judges 3:9; Isaiah 19:20); or spiritually, preachers of salvation (cf. Obadiah 1:17 and Amos 9:12). Judge] i.e. to punish (1 Samuel 3:13). Kingdom] shall become universal under the Messiah (Psalms 22:28). “The fulfilment of Obadiah 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.—Obadiah 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 (Obadiah 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 sin’s dominion. The city of God is a sanctuary undefiled and free (Joel 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.—Obadiah 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 (Obadiah 1:20). The prophet looks beyond the return from captivity and conquest of Canaan. He points to the original promise (Genesis 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
Obadiah 1:18. The flame and the stubble. Cf. Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah 10:17. I. God’s 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 master’s 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” (Isaiah 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.”
Obadiah 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; Saviour’s 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” (Micah 4:7; Psalms 146:10; Zechariah 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
Obadiah 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 God’s 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 Lord’s house is established on the top of the mountains, and all people are flowing into it. In other words—just 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].