And saviours shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
Christ as a Conqueror
This is a vision concerning Edom, or the Mount of Esau, or Idumea, which are different names of one and the same country, the mountainous region to the south of Judaea. It is a prophecy of ruin to the Edomites, for their treatment of their kindred nation the Jews at the time of their trouble. When the remnant of the Jews were carried into Babylon, the Edomites behaved ill to their subjugated and suffering kindred. They “stood on the other side” (Obadiah 1:11-14). Edom came to ruin; but Israel, though sorely chastised and brought low, was never to be crushed. The text shows how the difference is to be effected, and its issue. Esau should have none to help him, but shame should cover him, and he should be cut off for ever. But saviours should come up on Mount Zion, and that for judgment against Esau, and the Lord’s inheritance should be preserved, and the kingdom should be His. Possibly two, or more than two, events have been purposely mixed up together in the prophet’s vision.
1. Understand by the “Saviours,” the great Saviour. The Maccabean princes were saviours, but the Saviour Simeon and Anna hailed is the great Saviour.
2. The purpose for which He came to Mount Zion. For judgment.
(1) The distinguishing between profession and practice, between the literal and the spiritual Israel. He came that the thoughts of many hearts should be revealed.
(2) The same intermixture of judgment with present imperfection in it is visible in every part of the Saviour’s work on earth. The prince of this world is judged, but he is not cast out. He is not abashed.
(3) It is the same with the spiritual enemies of the soul of man, and of God. Yet we see imperfection in every part,--the imperfection of non-completion.
(4) He is come for judgment upon the enemies within His people, as well as without them, the old heart that holds with the world and the flesh, and is in league with the devil. And the same incompleteness during our present state we mourn over here.
3. Look at the predicted end. The kingdom shall be the Lord’s. That is promised and certain.
(1) The kingdom shall be His over our rebel hearts. It often seems impossible, or at least hopeless now.
(2) The Gospel kingdom is, and shall be, His.
(3) The kingdom over all the earth, over all that rises up against Him, is His. To this end was He born, that as a Saviour He should come to Mount Zion, to judge the Mount of Esau, and that the kingdom should be the Lord’s. (G. Jeans, M. A.)
The God of our salvation and His instruments
The vision presented to Obadiah is shadowed all over with calamities of various kinds; but still we see God all the way through, justifying Himself in the eyes of the heathen, lest they should say that the punishment He threatened, was more than equal to the offence. There is a tenderness of spirit in what He says to the opposers of Israel, in the twelfth verse, which, while it does not and cannot alter His purpose, gives us a delightful view of His heart.
I. Who and what are they whom the prophet calls saviours? The redeeming Saviour of man stands apart from all common saviours, because He is exclusively the redeeming Saviour of the Body, the Church. We cannot confound Him with deliverers of any secondary kind. He is separate from all others in this, that though He is without sin, He is in friendship with sinners; though He knows not what it is to commit sin, He does know what it is to take the burthen of sin upon His pure and righteous person. The saviours in the text are the messengers of God to the blessed children of Mount Zion, to those whom He has begotten in Christ Jesus; and they stand here in strong contrast with the enemies of all holiness, who are described as Mount Esau, or the carnally minded children of this world. These helpers of our feebleness are only instrumental; God appoints them and employs them; but they are to Him what the axe is to the woodman, they would be powerless but for the power of the hand that holds them. What a mercy that God sends these saviours among us to publish His will, and to stir us up to our duty! Divine providences are often saviours. The Gospel Word is a Saviour, inasmuch as it guides us immediately to Him who is the great mystery of godliness, and in whom alone is the life which makes a man alive unto God. The preaching of the Word is one of the saviours that is sent upon an embassy of peace to Mount Zion.
II. In what manner are these saviours to judge Mount Esau? Literally, the land of Edom. Typically, the world, which, in its scriptural interpretation, is “enmity against God.” These saviours will sit in judgment upon the careless, the prayerless, and the ungodly,
1. Every chastening providence of God that has passed away from a sinner unimproved shall be a sentence of condemnation against him. Not to improve a dispensation is to undervalue it.
2. God’s Word also enters into judgment with the unbelieving. The Word preached, but not laid profitably to heart. The Gospel Word has much to testify concerning many sinners in every congregation, who are satisfied with having the olive-leaf in their mouths, whilst there is no savour of fruit in their lives.
3. The ambassador of Christ has also something to testify in this judgment. He is likewise appointed to assist in judging Mount Esau. Can a condemning judgment possibly accord with the good news that we are commissioned to preach? Yes, for it is not the good news simply in itself, but the good news not believed in, not rejoiced in, that makes the judgment.
III. What description of kingdom did the prophet intend? He says, The kingdom shall be the Lord s; He meant to say this, that however Mount Zion shall be blessed, or Mount Esau cursed, the new throne which will be set up from this overthrow of the wicked, and this gathering together of the righteous, shall be Christ’s. It is called a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Of righteousness, because every subject of it is righteous; of peace, because God is at peace with all who rest in it; of joy in the Holy Ghost, because in the Church triumphant there shall be no delight equal to that of calling the glorious God our Father, and the Son of God our Redeemer. One remarkable feature in this kingdom is, that they who are worthiest in the world’s judgment are not selected to fill it, but they who feel themselves to be the unworthiest. This kingdom is also an invisible treasure within the heart of every child of God’s adoption. Inquire concerning two things.
1. Whether the incorruptible seed is within you.
2. Whether you are checking its growth by doing every thing you can to sweeten your journey to the grave, and as little as you can to adorn your self for the happy home that lies beyond it. Each of us should connect the kingdom of God with the spirituality and heavenly character of our own souls. (F. G. Crossman.)
The kingdom shall be the Lord’s
But we are Christians as well as Britons. We acknowledge Victoria as Queen; but we acknowledge Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We acknowledge Him as King not of Britain alone, but of all the earth. We acknowledge allegiance to Him in a far deeper sense than to Victoria. Great as are her claims upon us, His are infinitely greater. Our Christian patriotism, then, will be proportionately greater. We shall be still more eager about news of His kingdom from foreign lands than we ever have been of news from Pekin or Port Arthur. If we willingly give up millions for the maintenance of the fleet, we shall gladly give up tens of millions for the extension of that kingdom which is the Lord’s. The great trouble is that it needs faith to realise the greatness of the kingdom and the certainty of its prospects. The whole realm of the spiritual and eternal is to many of us so shadowy and unreal. The glorious things which are spoken of Zion are difficult to credit. There is a wide door and effectual before us in these days of ours; but there are so many adversaries that faith fails and hope is dim and enthusiasm languishes and dies. But surely, surely faith ought to be much easier for us than it was for Obadiah in his dreary, hopeless exile. He had no tens of thousands to share his hope and expectation; no thrilling tidings from the seat of war, say rather from the seat of desolation; yet see with what confidence he looks forward to the coming time, and with what assurance he declares that “saviours shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” May his faith, inspire ours; may his patriotism, awaken ours. (J. Monte Gibson.)
The kingdom of God
What is the kingdom of the sun? It is here on earth, and is in everything that lives and moves. It sings in the bird, and waits in the egg not yet hatched out; it is in the fragrant blossom and in the bud unopened; it is in the blades of grass upspringing, and in the germinant seeds just breaking through their shell in the darkness of the earth. Thus this kingdom of God that is to be is already here. This is the second truth that Jesus Christ taught about the kingdom--it is not something postponed; it has already begun. Here, as the day is here when the sun begins to rise; here, as the summer is here when spring begins to come; here, as manhood is here when the babe lies in the cradle, for then the man begins when he is born. The kingdom of God begins when it is first upon the earth, and it is first on the earth when the spirit of righteousness and justice and love and peace is in the hearts of men, and is working its way into the institutions of men. So Christ said to men, “Do not say, Lo, here, lo, there: the kingdom of God is among you.” Look for it all about you; look for it in the mother’s love, in the hero’s sacrifice, in the patriot’s devotion; look for it in the honest labourer, the faithful servant, the loyal friend. It is here; it is now. (Lyman Abbott, D. D.)