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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
O B A D I A H.
CHAP. I.
This book is wholly concerning Edom, a nation nearly allied and near
adjoining to Israel, and yet an enemy to the seed of Jacob, inheriting
the enmity of their father Esau to Jacob. Now here we have, after the
preface,
I. Threatenings against Edom,
1. That their pride should be humbled,
2. That their wealth should be plundered,
3. That their wisdom should be infatuated,
4. That their spiteful behaviour towards God’s Israel should be avenged,
II. Gracious promises to Israel; that they shall be restored and
reformed, and shall be victorious over the Edomites, and become masters
of their land and the lands of others of their neighbours
(ver. 17-20),
and that the kingdom of the Messiah shall be set up by the bringing in
of the great salvation,
| The Doom of Edom. | B. C. 587. |
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1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning
Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is
sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her
in battle.
2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art
greatly despised.
3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that
dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high;
that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set
thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith
the LORD.
5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou
cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the
grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?
6 How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his
hidden things sought up!
7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to
the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived
thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread
have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in
him.
8 Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the
wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of
Esau?
9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end
that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.
Edom is the nation against which this prophecy is levelled, and which,
some think, is put for all the enemies of Israel, that shall be brought
down first or last. The rabbin by Edom understand Rome. Rome Christians
they understand it of, and have an implacable enmity to it a such; but,
if we understand it of Rome antichristian, we shall find the passages
of it applicable enough. And though Edom was mortified in the times of
the Maccabees, as it had been before by Jehoshaphat, yet its
destruction seems to have been typical, as their father Esau’s
rejection, and to have had further reference to the destruction of the
enemies of the gospel-church; for so shall all God’s enemies perish;
and we find
the sword of the Lord coming down upon Idumea, to signify
the general day of God’s recompences for the controversy of Zion,
v. 8.
Some have well observed that it could not but be a great temptation to
the people of Israel, when they saw themselves, who were the children
of beloved Jacob, in trouble, and the Edomites, not only prospering,
but triumphing over them in their troubles; and therefore God gives
them a prospect of the destruction of Edom, which should be total and
final, and of a happy issue of their own correction. Now we may observe
here,
I. A declaration of war against Edom,
(v. 1):
“We have heard a rumour, or rather an order, from the
Lord, the God of hosts; he has given the word of command; it is his
counsel and decree, which can neither be reversed nor resisted, that
all who do mischief to his people shall certainly bring mischief upon
themselves. We have heard a report that God is raised up out of his
holy habitation, and is preparing his throne for judgment; and an
ambassador is sent among the heathen,” a herald rather, some
minister or messenger of Providence, to alarm the nations, or the
Lord’s prophets, who gave each nation its burden. Those whom God
employs cry to each other, Arise ye, stir up yourselves and one
another, and let us rise up against Edom in battle. The
confederate forces under Nebuchadnezzar thus animate themselves and one
another to make a descent upon that country: Gather yourselves
together, and come against her; so it is in the parallel place,
Note, When God has bloody work to do among the enemies of his church he
will find out and fit up both hands and hearts to do it.
II. A prediction of the success of that war. Edom shall certainly be
subdued, and spoiled, and brought down; for all her confidences shall
fail her and stand her in no stead, and in like manner shall all the
enemies of God’s church be disappointed in those things which they
stayed themselves upon.
1. Do they depend upon their grandeur, the figure they make among the
nations, their influence upon them, and interest in them? That shall
dwindle
(v. 2):
“Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen, so that none
of thy neighbours will court thy friendship, or court an alliance with
thee; thou art greatly despised among them, and looked upon with
contempt, as an infatuated and unfaithful nation.” And thus
(v. 3)
the pride of thy heart has deceived thee. Note,
(1.) Those that think well of themselves are apt to fancy that others
think well of them too; but, when they come to make trial of them, they
will find themselves mistaken, and thus their pride deceives them and
by it slays them.
(2.) God can easily lay those low that have magnified and exalted
themselves, and will find out a way to do it, for he resists the
proud; and we often see those small and greatly despised who once
looked very big and were greatly caressed and admired.
2. Do they depend upon the fortifications of their country, both by
nature and art, and glory in the advantages they have thereby? Those
also shall deceive them. They dwelt in the clefts of the rock,
as an eagle in her nest, and their habitation was high,
not only exalted above their neighbours, which was the matter of their
pride, but fortified against their enemies, which was the matter of
their security, so high as to be out of the reach of danger. Now
observe,
(1.) What Edom says in the pride of his heart: Who shall bring me
down to the ground? He speaks with a confidence of his own
strength, and a contempt of God’s judgments, as if almighty power
itself could not overpower him. As for all his enemies, even God
himself, he puffs at them
(Ps. x. 5),
sets them all at defiance. Their father Esau had sold his
birthright, and yet they lifted up themselves, as if to them had
still pertained the excellency of dignity and power. Many
forfeit their privileges, and yet boast of them. Because Edom is high
and lifted up, he imagines none can bring him down. Note, Carnal
security is a sin that most easily besets men in the day of their pomp,
power, and prosperity, and does, as much as any thing, both ripen men
for ruin and aggravate it when it comes.
(2.) What God says to this,
v. 4.
If men will dare to challenge Omnipotence, their challenge shall be
taken up: Who shall bring me down? says Edom. “I will,”
says God. “Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle that soars
high and builds high, nay, though thou set thy nest among stars,
higher than ever any eagle flew, it is but in thy own imagination, and
thence will I bring thee down.” This we had
Note, Sinners will certainly be made ashamed of their pride and
security of their pride when it has a fall and of their security when
their confidences fail their expectation.
3. Do they depend upon their wealth and treasure, the abundance of
which is looked upon as the sinews of war? Is their money their
defence? Is that their strong city? It is so only in their own conceit,
for it shall rather expose them than protect them; it shall be made a
prey to the enemy, and they for the sake of it,
Much to this purport we had
Only here comes in, in a parenthesis, How art thou cut off! thou
and all thy stores. The prophet foretels it, but laments it, that the
thread of their prosperity was cut off. How art thou fallen, and how
great is thy fall! How art thou stupefied! so the Chaldee words
it. How senseless art thou under these desolating judgments, as if they
were but common strokes! But he shows that it should be an utter ruin,
not a usual calamity; for,
(1.) It is indeed a usual calamity for those that have wealth to have
it stolen, and to lose a little out of their great deal. Thieves
come to them (for where the carcase is, there will the birds of
prey be gathered together), robbers come by night, and they
steal till they have enough, what they have occasion for, what
they have a mind for; they steal no more than they think they can carry
away, and out of a great stock it is scarcely missed. Those that rob
orchards, or vineyards, carry off what they think fit; but they
leave some grapes, some fruit for the owner, who easily bears
his loss perhaps and soon recruits it. But,
(2.) It shall not be so with Edom; his wealth shall all be taken away,
and nothing shall escape the hands of the destroying army, not that
which is most precious and valuable,
v. 6.
How are the things of Esau, the things he sets his heart upon
and places his happiness in, his good things, his best things, how are
these things, which were so carefully treasured up and concealed, now
searched out by the enemy and seized! How are the hidden
things, his hidden treasures, plundered, rifled, and sought
up! His hoards, that had not see the light for many years, are now
a spoil to the enemy. Note, Treasures on earth, though ever so fast
locked up and ever so artfully hidden, cannot be so safely laid up but
that thieves may break through and steal; it is therefore our wisdom to
lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven.
4. Do they depend upon their alliances with neighbouring states and
potentates? Those also shall fail them
(v. 7):
“The men of thy confederacy, all of them, the Ammonites and
Moabites, and other thy high allies that were at peace with
thee, that entered into a league offensive and defensive with thee,
that solemnly engaged not only to do thee no hurt, but to do thee all
the service the could, did eat thy bread, were magnificently
treated and entertained by thee, lived upon thee; their soldiers had
free quarter in thy country, and took pay as thy auxiliaries; they
brought thee even to the border of thy land, were very
respectful to thy ambassadors, and brought them on their way home, even
to the utmost limits of their country; they seemed forward to serve
thee with their forces when thou hadst occasion for them, and came
along with thee to the border, till thou wast just ready to
engage the invading enemy; but then,”
(1.) “They had deceived thee; they flew back and retreated when
thou wast in extremity, and proved as a broken reed to the traveller
that is weary, and as the brooks in summer to the traveller that is
thirsty; they bear no weight, yield no relief.” Nay,
(2.) “They have prevailed against thee; they were too hard for
thee in the treaty imposed upon thee, and by cheating thee ruined thee,
brought thee into danger, and there left thee an easy prey to thy
enemy.” Note, Those that make flesh their arm arm it against them. Yet
this was not the worst.
(3.) “They have laid a wound under thee; that is, they have laid
that under thee for a stay and support, for a foundation to rely on,
for a pillow to repose on, which will prove a wound to thee; not as
thorns only, but as swords.” If God lay under us the arms of his power
and love, these will be firm and easy under us; the God of our covenant
will never deceive us. But if we trust to the men of our
confederacy, and what they will lay under us, it may prove to us a
wound and dishonour. And observe the just censure here
passed upon Edom for trusting to those who thus played tricks with him:
“There is no understanding in him, or else he would never have
put it into their power to betray him by putting such a confidence in
them.” Note, Those show they have no understanding in them who, when
they are encouraged to trust in the Creator, put a cheat upon
themselves by reposing a confidence in the creature.
5. Do they depend upon the politics of their counsellors? These shall
fail them,
v. 8.
Edom had been famous for great statesmen, men of learning and
experience, that sat at the help of government, and were masters of all
the arts of management, that in all treaties used to outwit their
neighbours; but now the counsellors have become fools,
and the wise God makes them so: Shall I not in that day destroy the
wise men out of Edom? As men they shall fall by the sword in common
with others
(Ps. xlix. 10),
and their wisdom shall not secure them; as wise men they shall be
infatuated in all their counsels; their best-laid designs shall be
baffled, their measures broken, and those very projects by which they
thought to establish themselves and the public interests shall be the
ruin of both. Thus wisdom perishes from Teman, as it is in the
parallel place,
This was,
(1.) The just punishment of their folly in trusting to an arm of flesh:
There is no understanding in them,
v. 7.
They have not sense to trust in a living God, and a God of truth, but
put confidence in men that are frail, fickle, and false; and therefore
God will destroy their understanding. Note, God will justly deny
those understanding to keep out of the way of danger that will not use
their understanding to keep out of the way of sin. He that will be
foolish, let him be foolish still.
(2.) It was the forerunner of their destruction. A nation is certainly
marked for ruin when God hides the things that belong to its peace from
the eyes of those that are entrusted with its counsels. Quos Deus
vult perdere, eos dementat–God infatuates those whom he designs to
destroy.
Job xii. 17.
6. Do they depend upon the strength and courage of their soldiers? They
are not only able-bodied, but men of spirit and courage, that can face
an enemy and stand their ground; but now
(v. 9),
Thy mighty men, O Teman! shall be dismayed; their courage shall
fail them, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut
off by slaughter, and none escape. The weak, and feeble, and
unarmed must fall of course into the hand of the destroyer when the
mighty men are dismayed, and not only lose the day, but lose
their lives, because they have lost their spirit. Howl, fir-trees,
if the cedars be shaken. Note, The death or disuniting of the
mighty often proves the death and destruction of the many; and it is in
vain to depend upon mighty men for our protection if we have not an
almighty God for us, much less if we have an almighty God against
us.
| The Guilt of Edom. | B. C. 587. |
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10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall
cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day
that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and
foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem,
even thou wast as one of them.
12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother
in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have
rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their
destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the
day of distress.
13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked
on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid
hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;
14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut
off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have
delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.
15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as
thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall
return upon thine own head.
16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all
the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they
shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not
been.
When we have read Edom’s doom, no less than utter ruin, it is natural
to ask, Why, what evil has he done? What is the ground of God’s
controversy with him? Many things, no doubt, were amiss in Edom; they
were a sinful people, and a people laden with iniquity. But that
one single crime which is laid to their charge, as filling their
measure and bringing this ruin upon them, that for which they here
stand indicted, of which they are convicted, and for which they are
condemned, is the injury they had done to the people of God
(v. 10):
“It is for thy violence against thy brother Jacob, that ancient
and hereditary grudge which thou hast borne to the people of Israel,
that all this shame shall cover thee and thou shalt be cut
off for ever.” Note, Injuries to men are affronts to God, the
righteous God, that loveth righteousness and hateth wickedness; and, as
the Judge of all the earth, he will give redress to those that suffer
wrong and take vengeance on those that do wrong. All violence, all
unrighteousness, is sin; but it is a great aggravation of the
violence if it be done either,
1. Against any of our own people; it is violence against thy
brother, thy near relation, to whom thou shouldst be a goël–a
redeemer, whom it is thy duty to right if others wronged him; how
wicked is it then for thee thyself to wrong him! Thou slanderest
and abusest thy own mother’s son; this makes the sin
exceedingly sinful,
Ps. l. 20.
Or,
2. Much more if it be done against any of God’s people; “it is thy
brother Jacob that is in covenant with God, and dear to him. Thou
hatest him whom God has loved, and because God espouses and will plead
with jealousy, and in whose interests God is pleased so far to interest
himself that he takes the violence done to him as done to himself.
Whoso touches Jacob touches the apple of the eye of Jacob’s
God.” So that it is crimen læsæ majestatis–high
treason, for which, as for high treason, let Edom expect an
ignominious punishment: Shame shall cover thee, and a ruining
one; thou shalt be cut off for ever.
In the
we are told more particularly,
I. What the violence was which Edom did against his brother Jacob, and
what are the proofs of this charge. It does not appear that the
Edomites did themselves invade Israel, but that was more for want of
power than will; they had malice enough to do it, but were not a match
for them. But that which is laid to their charge is their barbarous
conduct towards Judah and Jerusalem when they were in distress, and
ready to be destroyed, probably by the Chaldeans, or upon occasion of
some other of the calamities of the Jews; for this seems to have been
always their temper towards them. See this charged upon the Edomites
that in the day of Jerusalem they said, Rase it, rase it, and
They are here told particularly what they did, by being told what they
should not have done
(v. 12-14):
“Thou shouldst not have looked, thou shouldst not have
entered; but thou didst so.” Note, In reflecting upon ourselves it
is good to compare what we have done with what we should have done, our
practice with the rule, that we may discover wherein we have done
amiss, have done those things which we ought not to have done.
We should not have been where we were at such a time, should not have
been in such and such company, should not have said what we said, nor
have taken the liberty that we took. Sin thus looked upon, in the glass
of the commandment, will appear exceedingly sinful. Let us see,
1. What was the case of Judah and Jerusalem when the Edomites behaved
themselves thus basely and insulted over them.
(1.) It was a day of distress with them
(v. 12):
It was the day of their calamity, so it is called three times,
With the Edomites it was a day of prosperity and peace when with the
Israelites it was a day of distress and calamity, for judgment commonly
begins at the house of God. Children are corrected when
strangers are let alone.
(2.) It was the day of their destruction
(v. 12),
when both city and country were laid waste, were laid in ruins.
(3.) It was a day when foreigners entered into the gates of
Jerusalem, when the city, after a long siege, was broken up, and
the great officers of the king of Babylon’s army came, and sat in the
gates, as judges of the land; when they cast lots upon the spoils of
Jerusalem, as the soldiers on Christ’s garments, what shares each of
the conquerors shall have, what shares of the lands, what shares of the
goods; or they cast lots to determine when and where they should attack
it.
(4.) It was a day when the strangers carried away captive his
forces
(v. 11),
took the men of war prisoners of war, and carried them off, in poverty
and shame, to their own country, or such a multitude of captives that
they were as an army.
(5.) “It was a day when thy brother himself, that had long been at
home, at rest in his own land, became a stranger, an exile in a
strange land.” Now, when this was the woeful case of the Jews, the
Edomites, their neighbours and brethren, should have pitied them and
helped them, condoled with them and comforted them, and should have
trembled to think that their own turn would come next; for, if this
was done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? But,
2. See what was the conduct of the Edomites towards them when they were
in this distress, for which they are here condemned.
(1.) They looked with pleasure upon the affliction of God’s people;
they stood on the other side
(v. 11),
afar off, when they should have come in to the relief of their
distressed neighbours, and looked upon them, and their day,
looked on their affliction
(v. 12, 13),
with a careless unconcerned eye, as the priest and Levite looked upon
the wounded man, and passed by on the other side. Those have a
great deal to answer for that are idle spectators of the troubles and
afflictions of their neighbours, when they are capable of being their
active helpers. But this was not all; they looked upon it with a
scornful eye, with an eye of complacency and satisfaction; they looked
and laughed to see Israel in distress, saying, Aha! so we would have
it. They fed their eyes with the rueful spectacle of Jerusalem’s
ruin, and looked at it as those that had long looked for it and often
wished to see it. Note, We must take heed with what eye we look upon
the afflictions of our brethren; and, if we cannot look upon them with
a gracious eye of sympathy and tenderness, it is better not to look
upon them at all: Thou shouldst not have looked as thou didst
upon the day of thy brother.
(2.) They triumphed and insulted over them, upbraided their brethren
with their sorrows, and made themselves and their companions merry with
them. They rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their
destruction. They had not the good manners to conceal the pleasure
they took in Judah’s destruction and to dissemble it, but openly
declared it, and rudely and insolently declared it to them; they
rejoiced over them, crowed, and hectored, and trampled upon them.
Those have the spirit of Edomites that can rejoice over any, especially
over Israelites, in the day of their calamity.
(3.) They spoke proudly-magnified the mouth (so the word is),
against Israel, talked with a great disdain of the suffering
Israelites, and with an air of haughtiness of the present safety and
prosperity of Edom, as it if might be inferred from their present
different state that the tables were turned, and now Esau was beloved,
and the favourite of heaven, and Jacob hated and rejected. Note, Those
must expect to be in some way or other effectually humbled and
mortified themselves that are puffed up and made proud by the
humiliations and mortifications of others.
(4.) They went further yet, for they entered into the gate of
God’s people in the day of their calamity, and laid hands on their
substance. Though they did not help to conquer them, they helped to
plunder them, and put in for a share in the prey,
Jerusalem was thrown open, and then they entered in; its wealth was
thrown about, and they seized it for themselves, excusing it with this,
that they might as well take it as let it be lost; whereas it was
taking what was not their own. Babylon lays Jerusalem waste, but Edom,
by meddling with the spoil, becomes particeps
criminis—partaker of the crime, and shall be reckoned with
as an accessary ex post facto—after the fact. Note,
Those do but impoverish themselves that think to enrich themselves by
the ruins of the people of God; and those deceive themselves who think
they may call all that substance their own which they can lay their
hands on in a day of calamity.
(5.) They did yet worse things; they not only robbed their brethren,
but murdered them, in the day of their calamity; laid hands not only on
their substance, but on their persons,
When the victorious sword of the Chaldeans was making bloody work among
the Jews many made their escape, and were in a fair way to save
themselves by flight; but the Edomites basely intercepted them,
stood in the cross-way where several roads met, by each of which
the trembling Israelites were making the best of their way from the
fury of the pursuers, and there they stopped them: some they
barbarously and cowardlike cut off themselves; others they took
prisoners, and delivered up to the pursuers, only to ingratiate
themselves with them, because they were now the conquerors. They
should not have been thus cruel to those that lay at
their mercy, and never had done, nor were every likely to do, them any
hurt; they should not have betrayed those whom they had such a fair
opportunity to protect; but such are the tender mercies of the
wicked. One cannot read this without a high degree of compassion
towards those who were thus basely abused, who when they fled from the
sword of an open enemy, and thought they had got out of the reach of
it, fell upon and fell by the sword of a treacherous neighbour, whom
they were not apprehensive of any danger from. Nor can one read this
without a high degree of indignation towards those who were so
perfectly lost to all humanity as to exercise such cruelty upon such
proper objects of compassion.
(6.) In all this they joined with the open enemies and persecutors of
Israel: Even thou wast as one of them, an accessary equally
guilty with the principals. He that joins in with the evil doers, and
is aiding and abetting in their evil deeds, shall be reckoned, and
shall be reckoned with, as one of them.
II. What the shame is that shall cover them for this violence of
theirs.
1. They shall soon find that the cup is going round, even the cup of
trembling; and, when they come to be in the same calamitous condition
that the Israel of God is now in, they will be ashamed to remember how
they triumphed over them
(v. 15):
The day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen, when God will
recompense tribulation to the troublers of his church. Though judgment
begin at the house of God, it shall not end there. This should
effectually restrain us from triumphing over others in their misery,
that we know not how soon it may be our own case.
2. Their enmity to the people of God, and the injuries they had done
them, shall be recompensed into their own bosoms: As thou hast done,
it shall be done unto thee. The righteous God will render both to
nations and to particular persons according to their works; and
the punishment is often made exactly to answer to the sin, and those
that have abused others come to be themselves abused in like manner.
The just and jealous God will find out a time and way to avenge the
wrongs done to his people on those that have been injurious to them.
As you have drunk upon my holy mountain
(v. 16),
that is, as God’s professing people, who inhabit his holy mountain,
have drunk deeply of the cup of affliction (and their being of the holy
mountain would not excuse them), so shall all the heathen drink,
in their turn, of the same bitter cup; for, if God bring evil on the
city that is called by his name, shall those be unpunished that
never knew his name? See
And it is part of the burden of Edom
Those whose judgment was not to drink of the cup (who had reason
to promise themselves an exemption from it) have assuredly drunken, and
shall Edom that is the generation of God’s wrath go
unpunished? No, thou shalt surely drink of it; the cup of
trembling shall be taken out of the hand of God’s people, and put
into the hand of those that afflict them,
Isa. li. 22, 23.
Nay, they may expect their case to be worse in the day of their
distress than that of Israel was in their day; for,
(1.) The afflictions of God’s people were but for a moment, and soon
had an end, but their enemies shall drink continually the
wine of God’s wrath,
Rev. xiv. 10.
(2.) The dregs of the cup are reserved for the wicked of the
earth
(Ps. lxxv. 8);
they shall drink and swallow down, or sup up (as the
margin reads it), shall drink it to the bottom.
(3.) The people of God, though they may be made to drink of the wine of
astonishment for a while
(Ps. lx. 3),
shall yet recover, and come to themselves again; but the heathen shall
drink and be as though they had not been; there shall be neither
any remains nor any remembrance of them, but they shall be wholly
extirpated and rooted out. So let all thy enemies perish, O
Lord! so they shall perish, if the turn not.
| Promises to Israel and Judah. | B. C. 587. |
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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,
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. iii. 1, 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,
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,
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,
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,
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.
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