Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Obadiah 1:7

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Obadiah 1:7. All the men of thy confederacy — The Chaldeans are here intended, to whom the Idumeans were attached, and whose agents they became in exercising cruelties upon the Jews.

Have brought thee even to the border — Have hemmed thee in on every side, and reduced thee to distress. Or, they have driven thee to thy border; cast thee out of thy own land into the hands of thine enemies.

The men that were at peace with thee — The men of thy covenant, with whom thou hadst made a league.

That eat thy bread — That professed to be thy firmest friends, have all joined together to destroy thee.

Have laid a wound — Placed a snare or trap under thee. See Newcome.

There is none understanding in him. — Private counsels and public plans are all in operation against thee; and yet thou art so foolish and infatuated as not to discern thy own danger.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

OBADIAH’S MESSAGE

Edom’s sin (1-14)

The Edomites thought their land was unconquerable because of the defence system that they had built throughout their rocky mountains. Obadiah warns them that no matter how high up the mountains they go or how strong they make their defences, nothing will save them from the coming destruction. Already the enemy armies are preparing to attack Edom (1-4).
A house burglar steals only what he wants, and leaves the remainder of the goods in the house; a vineyard worker picks the grapes that are ripe and leaves the rest; but when the enemy soldiers plunder Edom they will take everything. They will seize even the treasures that the Edomites have hidden in caves in the mountains (5-6).
Edom prided itself in its political skill and military strategy. Its leaders thought they were cleverer than the leaders of neighbouring nations, and often used their cunning to cheat their allies. Their shame in defeat will therefore be the greater when they discover that some of these neighbouring nations, who they thought were trusted allies, have betrayed them and helped bring about their downfall (7-9).
Obadiah now gives the reason why God will punish Edom so severely. When the Babylonian armies attacked and plundered Jerusalem, Edom did nothing to help its brother nation. Rather the opposite; it gladly helped the attackers (10-11). The Edomites were glad to see Jerusalem plundered, and even joined in the plundering. Worse than that, they helped the Babylonians capture the Jerusalemites by cutting off the escape route of those who tried to flee (12-14).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee on thy way, even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee: there is no understanding in him."

"All the men of thy confederacy" These allies of Edom were identified by Deane as Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon;W. J. Deane, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 14, Obadiah (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 2. there may have been others. But not only were the formal allies of Edom to prove undependable, the inner structure of their society itself would revolt against them and contribute to their overthrow. All of the great nations of history that have been overthrown have likewise been confronted with this defection of significant segments of their own populations.

"The men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee" Peoples who were not openly hostile to Edom and who lived peaceably with them, would, in the great crisis, take the side of the destroyers.

"They that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee" Such persons as their domestic servants and other underlings in their society would join the foe in overwhelming the proud Edomites.

"There is no understanding in him" The prophet's address changes in this from remarks addressed to Edom to a declaration concerning him, and it is very effective. The pride and arrogance of the wealthy and powerful Edomites leave them totally and blissfully ignorant of the savage tides of hatred that flowed just beneath the surface of their precarious prosperity.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border - Destruction is more bitter, when friends aid in it. Edom had all along with unnatural hatred persecuted his brother, Jacob. So, in God’s just judgment, its friends should be among its destroyers. Those confederates were probably Moab and Ammon, Tyre and Zidon, with whom they united to resist Nebuchadnezzar Jeremiah 27:3, and seduced Zedekiah to rebel, although Moab, Ammon, and Edom turned against him Zephaniah 2:8; Ezekiel 25:0. These then, he says, sent them “to the border.” “So will they take the adversary’s part, that, with him, they will drive thee forth from the borders, thrusting thee into captivity, to gain favor with the enemy.” This they would do, he adds, through mingled treachery and violence. “The men of thy peace have deceived, have prevailed against thee.” As Edom turned peace with Judah into war, so those at peace with Edom should use deceit and violence against them, being admitted, perhaps, as allies within their borders, and then betraying the secret of their fastnesses to the enemy, as the Thessalians dealt toward the Greeks at Thermopylae. It was to be no common deceit, no mere failure to help them.

The men of “thy bread have laid a wound” (better, a snare) “under thee.” Perhaps Obadiah thought of David’s words Psalms 41:9, “mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” As they had done, so should it be done to them. “They that take the sword,” our Lord says Matthew 26:52, “shall perish by the sword;” so they who show bad faith, are the objects of bad faith, as Isaiah says . The proverb which says, “there is honor among thieves,” attests how limited such mutual faith is. It lasts, while it seems useful. Obadiah’s description relates to one and the same class, the allies of Edom; but it heightens as it goes on; not confederates only, but those confederates, friends; not friends only, but friends indebted to them, familiar friends; those joined to them through that tie, so respected in the East, in that they had eaten of their bread. Those banded with them should, with signs of friendship, conduct them to their border, in order to expel them; those at peace should prevail against them in war; those who ate their bread should requite them with a snare.

There is none understanding in him - The brief words comprise both cause and effect. Had Edom not been without understanding, he had not been thus betrayed; and when betrayed in his security, be was as one stupefied. Pride and self-confidence betray man to his fall; when he is fallen, self-confidence betrayed passes readily into despair. In the sudden shock, the mind collapses. People do not use the resources which they yet have, because what they had overvalued, fails them. Undue confidence is the parent of undue fear. The Jewish historian relates, how, in the last dreadful siege, when the outer wall began to give way , “fear fell on the tyrants, more vehement than the occasion called for. For, before the enemy had mounted, they were paralyzed, and ready to flee. You might see men, aforetime stouthearted and insolent in their impiety, crouching and trembling, so that, wicked as they were, the change was pitiable in the extreme. Here, especially, one might learn the power of God upon the ungodly. For the tyrants bared themselves of all security, and, of their own accord, came down from the towers, where no force, but famine alone, could have taken them: For those three towers were stronger than any engines.”

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Here the Prophet expresses the manner in which God would punish the Idumeans: trusting in their confederacies, they despised God, as we have already had to observe. The Prophet now shows that it is in the power of God to change the minds of men, so that they who were their friends being suddenly inflamed with rage, would go forth to destroy the Idumeans. Seeing then that they regarded the Assyrians not only as a shield to them, but also as a defense against God himself, the Prophet here declares that when it would be God’s purpose to punish them, there would be no need to send to a distance for agents or instruments to execute his vengeance; for he would arm the Assyrians themselves and the Chaldeans, inasmuch as he could turn the hearts of men as he pleased. We now see the Prophet’s meaning; for he here takes away and shakes off the vain confidence of the Idumeans, that they might not harden themselves for being fortified by confederacies and for having powerful friends, for the Lord would turn friends into enemies. To thy border, he says, have they driven thee שלח shilach is properly to send forth or to throw away; some render it, they have followed; as though the Prophet here spoke of the neighboring nations, and according to their view the meaning is, “However much thy neighbors may love thee, yet nothing will they show of this love, except that they will follow thee with feigned tears, when thine enemies shall lead thee away captive.” But this is a strained exposition, and corresponds not with the context. The Prophet then describes here, I doubt not, the change, such as would take place, that the Idumeans might know, that they trusted in vain in their power and defenses. The men of thy covenant, he says, have driven thee away; as though he said, “See what thou gainest in anxiously seeking the friendship of those who will yet be thy enemies; hadst thou remained quiet in thy clefts, it would have been much better for thee: but now thou runnest to Assyria and Chaldea, and this will be the cause of thy ruin. Hence the men of thy covenant shall banish thee to the border: but if thou hadst had no friendship nor commerce with them, thou mightest have lived safely in thy recesses, no one would have driven thee out: just, then, has been the reward of thy ambition, for having thus resorted to the Assyrians and Chaldeans.”

Continuing the same subject, the Prophet says, Deceived thee have the men of thy peace — friends and confederates; for the Hebrews call those men of peace, who are connected together by any kind of alliance. The men then of thy peace, that is those whom thou thoughtest thou mightest trust, and on whom thou midst rely; — these have deceived thee, even these have prevailed against thee, and oppressed thee through craft and treachery. The men of thy bread have placed under thee a wound: the men of bread were those who were guests or friends. Some give this rendering, “Who eat thy bread;” and it is an admissible interpretation, for the Assyrians and Chaldeans, as they were insatiable, had taken booty from the Idumeans; for whosoever then hunted for their friendship, must have brought them some gifts. Since then they thus sold their friendship, the Prophet rightly calls them the men of bread with regard to those whose substance and wealth they devoured. If then we take the men of bread in this sense, there is a probability in the meaning. But we may give another interpretation, as though he had said that they were guests and friends: these then have fixed under thee a wound, that is, they have been thy destruction, and that through guile and hidden artifices. When one attacks another openly, he who is attacked can avoid the stroke; but the Prophet says, that the Assyrians and Chaldeans would be perfidious to the Idumeans, so as to conquer them through treachery. Fix then shall they a wound under thee, as when one hides a dagger between the bed and the sheet, when a person intends to go to sleep. So also he says that a wound is placed underneath, when a feigned friend hides himself, that he may more easily hurt him whom he assails deceitfully and craftily.

He at length thus concludes, There is no intelligence in him. Here the Prophet no doubt derides in an indirect way the foolish confidence with which the Idumeans were blinded; for they thought themselves to be in a superlative degree wary, so that they had no reason to fear, as they could see afar off, and arrange their concerns with the utmost prudence. Since then they thought that they excelled in wisdom, and could not be surprised by any craft, the Prophet says here, that there would be in them no understanding.

But he immediately subjoins the reason, “Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah, destroy, or extinguish, the wise from Edom?” While the Idumeans were prosperous, because they acted wisely, it was incredible that they could thus in a moment be overthrown: but the Prophet says, that even this was in the hand and power of God; “Can I not,” he says, “put an end to whatever there is of wisdom in the Idumeans? Cannot I destroy all their prudent men? This will I do.” We now then perceive the import of the words.

But this place deserves notice: the Prophet upbraids the Idumeans, and says, that their confederates and friends would prove their ruin, because they had conspired among themselves beyond what was just and right. When men thus mutually join together, there are none of them who do not greedily seek their own advantage; in the meantime, both sides are deceived; for God disconcerts their counsels, and blasts the issue, because they regard not the right end. And when the wicked seek friendships, they ever blend something that is wrong; they either try to injure the innocent, or they seek some advantage. All the compacts then which the ungodly and the despisers of God make with one another, have always something vicious intermixed; it is therefore no wonder that the Lord disappoints them of their hope, and curses their counsels. This is then the reason why the Prophet declares to the Idumeans, that those, whom they thought to be their best and most faithful friends, would be their ruin.

But here it may be objected and said, that the same thing happens to the children of God. For David, though he acted towards all with the utmost faithfulness and the greatest sincerity, yet complains, that the man of his peace and a friend had contrived against him many frauds,

‘Raised up his heel against me,’ he says,
‘has the man of my peace;
eat bread together did I with him, and he with me,’
(Psalms 41:9)

It was necessary also that this should have been the case with Christ himself. Now, if the children of God must be conformed to the image of Christ, what the Prophet says is no more than what applies to the whole Church, and to every member of it. This may appear strange at the first view; but a solution may be easily given: for while we strive to maintain peace with all men, though they may perfidiously, through treachery, oppress us, yet the Lord himself will succor us; and in the meantime, however hard may this trial be, we yet know that our patience is tried by God, that he may at last deliver us, so that we may confidently flee to him and testify our sincerity. But while the ungodly mutually cheat one another, while with wicked and sideway artifices they oppress and circumvent each other, while they cast forth their hidden virulence, while they turn peace into war, they know that their recompense is just and merited: they cannot flee to God, for their conscience restrains them. They indeed understand that they have deserved what the Lord has justly repaid them. It is then no wonder that the conspiracy in which the Idumeans trusted, when they made the Chaldeans their friends, should have been accursed; for the Lord turned to their ruin whatever they thought useful to themselves.

This then is the import of the whole, — that if we wish not to be deceived, we must not attempt anything without an upright heart. Provided then we exceed not the limits of our calling, let us cultivate peace with all men, let us endeavor to do good to all men, that the Lord may bless us; but if it be his purpose to try our patience, he will be still present with us, though false friends try us by their treacheries, though we be led into danger by their malice, and be for a time trodden under their feet; if, on the contrary, we act with bad faith, and think that we have fortunate alliances, which have been obtained by wicked and nefarious artifices, the Lord will turn for our destruction whatever we think to be for our safety.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Tonight shall we turn now to Obadiah.

Who Obadiah was, or where he came from, when he prophesied, nobody knows for sure. There have been a lot of guesses as to who Obadiah actually was, but they are all just guesses.

It is amazing how much men can say whenever the Bible is silent on a subject. And it seems to just be a take-off place for guys to develop theories and to write theme papers or doctrinal dissertations on some area where the Bible is silent. But at best, when God's Word is silent, all we can do is offer conjecture, and at best, our conjecture is worthless. So I prefer not to make any conjecture. The Bible is silent; we'll remain silent. All I can tell you is that the name Obadiah means "worshiper of God," or "worshiper of Jehovah," more literally, or Yahweh. And thus, it is a very beautiful name.

Some believe that he prophesied just before Joel, but again, that isn't important. What is important is what he prophesied. And Obadiah directed his prophecy against the Edomites.

Now the Edomites were descendents of Esau the brother of Jacob. And you remember when Jacob, through the advice and counsel of his mother Rebekah, disguised himself and went in and deceived his aged father, receiving the birthright, blessing, from his father Isaac, that Esau hated his brother Jacob and he vowed to kill him. Well, they did patch up their differences in years to come. However, that animosity that seemed to exist between the brothers, Esau and Jacob, did continue on through the years. And the Edomites became the perennial enemies of Israel. They had a very vicious nature that caused them every time Israel had any problem with any enemy, every time that Israel was invaded from either from Egypt or by the Syrians or by the Assyrians, whatever, whenever Israel was pressed in battle, Edom would always attack them also from the south. They took advantage of every situation. And many times when Jerusalem was being overthrown by the Babylonians and all, as the Israelites would seek to flee to Edom, the Edomites would block their borders and turn them back to their enemies, and thus, they were the perennial enemies of Israel, but always taking advantage. So there is that psalm in which the psalmist asked God to take vengeance upon the Edomites who, while Jerusalem was being destroyed, encouraged the destroyer saying, "Raise it, raise it."

Obadiah prophesies against the Edomites, and it is because of this perennial attitude of hatred against God's people Israel that God brings Edom into judgment. Edom was once a great kingdom. The people carved great cities out of the cliffs. The city of Petra today is one of the cities of the Edomites. All we have, of course, today are the ruins of Petra, but it testifies of the grandeur of the Edomite Kingdom. These great palaces and all that were carved right out of the rock. Sort of cliff dwellers, but you don't want to think of them in terms of cavemen. When you see these marvelous really dwelling places, palaces and all that were carved right out of the rock there in Petra. They were the Edomites.

So this is the vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom ( Obadiah 1:1 );

So the prophecy immediately is directed by God against Edom.

We have heard a rumor from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us go up against her in battle. [So the Lord said concerning Edom,] Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock ( Obadiah 1:1-3 ),

No doubt a reference to Petra and the other cities that the Edomites had carved out of the rocks.

whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? ( Obadiah 1:3 )

They felt very safe and secure in these cities such as Petra. To get to Petra you have to go back through this narrow canyon that is only wide enough for one horse and a rider to pass through single file, and then you break out sort of into this wider area when you get to Petra. And there these large caves that are dug out of the sandstone rock and it opens up and you see the vastness which was once the great city of Petra. But because of the narrow entry in, dwelling high in the rocks, they felt very secure. They could stop the enemy very easily who tried to make their way up these narrow canyons by just being up on the ledges and tossing rocks down on them. And they dwelt very secure and they felt very secure there within their dwellings. And so God speaks of the pride of their heart as they dwelt in these high cliffs and just felt so secure, saying, "Who shall bring us down to the ground?"

But though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, from there will I bring thee down, saith the LORD. If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? ( Obadiah 1:4-5 )

In other words, they wouldn't completely destroy you. They would take from you, but they would also leave some.

if the grape gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up! 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. Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and the understanding out of the mount of Esau? 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 ( Obadiah 1:5-9 ).

So God predicts that though they feel very secure, exalted in their position, that God is going to utterly cut them off, every one of them will be cut off. The question, "Where is thy wise men?" and the mention of Teman.

Now you will remember that when Job had his affliction and his friends came to comfort him, one of the friends that came to comfort Job was Eliphaz the Temanite. Teman was one of the major cities of Edom, and Edom was known for its wise counselors. And, of course, as Eliphaz counsels Job, he expresses the wisdom and the philosophy of the world. And so the Lord makes reference to the understanding of Mount Esau. "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." So God predicts the total eradication of the Edomites.

Now do you know any Edomites today? Then God's Word must indeed be true. God did what He said. He cut off all the Edomites. In fact, historically the last of the Edomites was the family of Herod. From there they disappear from history. Herod the Great was from Idumea, or he was an Edomite. At his death his sons reigned in his stead. But with the dynasty of Herod and the end of that dynasty comes historically the end of the Edomites, and they became lost into the other nations at that time. So God's Word was fulfilled, the Edomites had been cut off from being a people.

Now God gives the reason why Edom was to be cut off. At the time that Obadiah prophesied they were a very powerful kingdom, dwelling smugly, filled with pride.

For thy violence against thy brother Jacob ( Obadiah 1:10 )

Remember Esau and Jacob were brothers, and so there was a close relationship, and yet their violence against them.

You remember when Moses was bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt to the Promise Land, he came to Edom and the king of Edom came out and met him at the borders, and Moses said, "Look, we would like to pass through your land. We will not eat your bread, nor will we even drink your water. We just want passage through the land." And the king of Edom forbade Moses passage through the land so that Moses and the children of Israel meekly turn and circumvented Edom going way out and around. So Edom was the perennial foe to Israel, though in the beginning they were brothers, Jacob and Esau. And so, "For thy violence against thy brother Jacob,"

shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and the foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even you were as one of them ( Obadiah 1:10-11 ).

And as I said, they would always take advantage whenever Jerusalem was under a siege by their enemies. Edom would always send their troops up there to join in the battle. Edom was finally conquered by David and became sort of a vassal state for a time, but under Rehoboam, actually, is when the Edomites began to rebel against the kingdom of Israel and then began to join their enemies in every attack.

But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither should you have spoken proudly in the day of his distress ( Obadiah 1:12 ).

So this was the sin of Edom, was rejoicing in the judgment of God against the nation of Israel.

Now God, like a father, reserves the right to punish His own children, but don't let anybody else enter in or interfere. And this is exactly the situation. God was chastising His own children, but Edom was there cheering Him. God said, "I don't need any cheering section when I'm chastising My people." And the fact that they were rejoicing in the chastisement of God upon the nation is the very thing that God is using as His indictment against them.

You should not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity ( Obadiah 1:13 );

Edom would enter in and take what spoil they could. They would rip them off every chance they had.

yes, you should 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; Neither should you have stood in the crossway, to cut off those that did escape; neither should you have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress ( Obadiah 1:13-14 ).

So they would stand at the borders, turn the children of Israel back. If any of them escaped, they would turn them over to their enemies. And so God said this was wrong. You should not have done it. And for this cause Edom was to be totally destroyed.

Now the Lord declares,

For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: and as you have done, it shall be done unto thee ( Obadiah 1:15 ):

Here is one of those basic truths that we find also expressed in the New Testament, "As a man soweth, that shall he also reap" ( Galatians 6:7 ). As you have done, so shall it be done unto thee.

thy reward [for that which you have done] will return on your own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all of the heathen drink continually; yes, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been ( Obadiah 1:15-16 ).

Though Edom is to be destroyed, yet God promises that His people who were being chastised, and Edom was rejoicing in it, they are to be preserved and remain. And so He pronounces the judgment: Edom is to be destroyed.

But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions ( Obadiah 1:17 ).

Now that is one thing the house of Jacob has never yet done.

You remember when God was bringing the children of Israel into the land and Joshua was leading them in the conquest of the land. Several times over in Joshua you read, "But they did not possess all of the land." There was a failure to go in and to possess all of their possessions. Now God had promised them the land from the great river in Egypt even to the Euphrates. That is what God had promised to Israel. They have never in all of their history possessed all of that land that God had promised to them. When Joshua was leading the children of Israel into the land that God had promised, God said to Joshua, "Behold, I have given you the land. I'll go before you. I'll drive out the inhabitants, but I'm not going to drive them all out at once. I'll drive them out only as you go in and possess. If I drove them out all at once then the wild beasts and all would come in and you'd have that problem when you arrived. The land would become overgrown and desolate. So I will drive them out little by little before you and every place you put your foot I have given it to you for a possession." In other words, "It's all there, Joshua. It's all yours. All you have to do is go in and lay your foot down on it and say, 'Hey, this is mine.' You have to go in and claim your possession. You have to go in and take by faith that which I have given you and possess the land."

But the sad story of Joshua is the failure of the children of Israel to possess all that God has given to them. The city of the Jebusites was not taken until the time of David, and much of the land of the Philistines was not taken until the time of David. I think of how God has to given to us, as Peter said, "Exceeding rich and precious promises, that by these we might become the partakers of the divine nature" ( 2 Peter 1:4 ). And yet, how we fail to possess all that God has given to us. There is so much more that God has for us that we have not yet obtained because of our own failure to possess our possessions. It is ours by divine gift. God has promised us these things. But yet, as with the children of Israel, through our lack of faith we're not stepping in and laying claim to that which God has promised to us. Yet the same principle is true; every place you place your foot God has given it. Not, "I will give it to you," but, "I have given it to you." It's already given; all you have to do is go in and lay claim to it and these glorious promises of God. What we need to do is to just go in and lay claim. "All right, Lord, You've promised it and I claim it," and begin to possess our possessions.

Now here is the prophecy that the day will come, the day of the Lord is going to come, in which there in Mount Zion will be deliverance. This deliverance in Mount Zion is prophesied in other passages of the Old Testament and is made reference to by Paul in the book of Hebrews when God removes the blindness from the nation of Israel and begins to deal with Israel once again. Romans, chapter 11, "For blindness has happened to Israel in part until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, and then all Israel shall be saved as saith the scripture. There shall be a deliverer in Zion." So a reference to this passage and other parallel passages in the prophets as God speaks of that last day revival of the Jewish people when God claims them again. God takes back His bride Israel and bestows again His blessing and His favor upon it; the deliverer in Zion. And there shall be holiness, and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. Their borders will be expanded to those territories that God promised unto Abraham and also unto Jacob and then unto Moses.

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 ( Obadiah 1:18 ).

So Esau is to be destroyed, none remaining, and Jacob, Joseph, shall the tribes of Israel possess.

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. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even to Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be Jehovah's [or Yahweh's] ( Obadiah 1:19-21 ).

So the prophecy of Obadiah, basically addressed against Edom, but going into the day of the Lord when God blesses Israel once again when the deliverer is in Zion and the Lord reigns. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

C. The Plundering of Edom’s Treasures Obadiah 1:5-7

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Edom’s allies would treacherously betray their friend. Thus Edom would not only deceive herself, but her trusted allies would also deceive her. They would do what in the ancient Near East was most despicable, namely, break a covenant with a covenant partner (cf. Psalms 55:20; Amos 1:9). Edom’s allies would prove to be the worst of enemies. They would fail to assist her in her hour of greatest need. Three parallel descriptions of covenant disloyalty in this verse picture the treachery as certain. Moreover this disloyalty would completely surprise the Edomites.

"Edom was a weak country militarily, its small population and its limited agricultural wealth precluding powerful armed forces. Therefore its ability to attack Judah’s Negeb and help plunder Jerusalem had depended on its obsequious alliance with more powerful states, especially Babylon." [Note: Stuart, pp. 417-18.]

This writer believed Obadiah wrote after the Babylonians defeated Jerusalem.

Gann's Commentary on the Bible

Obadiah 1:7

Confederacy -- Her ambassadors to other nations would be sent home. Those nations she thought were her friends would turn against her.

Lay a trap -- Ambush; By not rendering expected aid.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee [even] to the border,.... Or of "thy covenant" r; that are in league with thee; thine allies, even all of them, prove treacherous to thee, in whom thou trustedst; when they sent their ambassadors to them, they received them kindly, promised great things to them, dismissed them honourably, accompanied them to the borders of their country, but never stood to their engagements: or those allies came and joined their forces with the Edomites, and went out with them to meet the enemy, as if they would fight with them, and them; but when they came to the border of the land they left them, and departed into their own country; or went over to the enemy; or these confederates were the instruments of expelling them out of their own land, and sending them to the border of it, and carrying them captive; or they followed them to the border of the land, when they were carried captive, as if they lamented their case, when they were assisting to the enemy, as Kimchi; so deceitful were they. The Targum is to the same purpose,

"from the border all thy confederates carried thee captive s:''

the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, [and] prevailed against thee; outwitted them in their treaties of peace, and got the advantage of them; or they proved treacherous to them, and joined the enemy against them; or they persuaded them to declare themselves enemies to the Chaldeans, which proved their ruin; and so they prevailed against them:

[they that eat] thy bread: so the Targum and Kimchi supply it; or it may be supplied from the preceding clause, "the men of thy bread"; who received subsidies from them, were maintained by them, and quartered among them:

have laid a wound under thee; instead of supporting them, secretly did that which was wounding to them. The word signifies both a wound and a plaster; they pretended to lay a plaster to heal, but made a wound; or made the wound worse. The Targum is,

"they laid a stumbling block under thee;''

at which they stumbled and fell: or snares, as the Vulgate Latin version, whereby they brought them to ruin:

[there is] none understanding in him; in Esau, or the Edomites; they were so stupid, that they could not see into the designs of their pretended friends, and prevent the execution of them, and their ill effects.

r אנשי בריתך "viri foederis tui", V. L. Montanus, Vatablus, Burkius. s So R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 51. 2. and 52. 1.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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 (Isaiah 34:5) the sword of the Lord coming down upon Idumea, to signify the general day of God's recompences for the controversy of Zion, Obadiah 1:8; Obadiah 1:8. 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, (Obadiah 1:1; Obadiah 1:1): "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, Jeremiah 49:14. 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 (Obadiah 1:2; Obadiah 1:2): "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 (Obadiah 1:3; Obadiah 1:3) 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 (Psalms 10:5), 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, Obadiah 1:4; Obadiah 1:4. 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 Jeremiah 49:15; Jeremiah 49:16. 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, Obadiah 1:5; Obadiah 1:6. Much to this purport we had Jeremiah 49:9; Jeremiah 49:10. 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, Obadiah 1:6; Obadiah 1:6. 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 (Obadiah 1:7; Obadiah 1:7): "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, Obadiah 1:8; Obadiah 1:8. 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 (Psalms 49:10), 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, Jeremiah 49:7. This was, (1.) The just punishment of their folly in trusting to an arm of flesh: There is no understanding in them,Obadiah 1:7; Obadiah 1:7. 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 12:17.

      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 (Obadiah 1:9; Obadiah 1:9), 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.

Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible

POSSESSING POSSESSIONS

NO. 2136

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD’S-DAY MORNING, MARCH 23, 1890,

“But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness;

THIS is a remarkable passage. Its wording is singular. It begins with a, “but,” because the previous verses have been denouncing judgments upon Edom. When God comes forth to punish His enemies He also comes forth to bless His friends. When Pharaoh is overthrown in the Red Sea, it is that Israel may pass onward to Canaan. When Amalek is overcome, it is that Israel may be at peace. There is a black cloud as well as the silvery rain. The acceptable year of the Lord is the day of vengeance of our God. This combination so constantly occurs that the Psalmist said, “I will sing of mercy and judgment.”

The sword of vengeance is displayed at the same time as the scepter of Divine Grace. In that Last Great Day that coming of the Lord which is the joy and expectation of His people there will be confusion to His adversaries. To the ungodly, “the day of the Lord will be darkness and not light.” When He comes forth there will as surely be a curse to the left hand as a blessing to the right and both will be everlasting. Hell is as deep as Heaven is high, for God, who delights in mercy, also hates iniquity and will put away the wicked of the earth like dross. God grant to you and to me that we may know on which side we stand and may be found in Christ, wearing His righteousness and accepted in the Beloved so that whenever the Lord comes forth with plagues for His adversaries, He may have favor towards us.

When, in the words of verse 16, His foes, “shall be as though they had not been,” may the full force of the present text be revealed in our case “But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.” I have no doubt that this promise has been fulfilled already and that there was a time when the house of Israel, restored from captivity, came back to Zion and Edom was utterly consumed. “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 has spoken it.”

But the former fulfillment of a promise does not make it useless like a cashed check the promise may be presented again and it will again be honored. God’s rules of action are immutable and therefore what He did to one company of His people He will do to others of them. God is Sovereign but yet He acts according to His unchanging Nature so that from one of His proceedings we may infer the rest. The temporary restoration of the captives to Jerusalem can only have fulfilled the promise upon a very small scale it has a wider meaning than such an event could exhaust. The Lord is prepared to do the same on a larger scale for all those who put their trust in Him.

Taking the text as containing a general principle, I shall use it for our own encouragement and edification, praying God the Holy Spirit to make it truly useful. I notice, in the text, first, a privilege to be desired “The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.” Secondly, a favor to be remembered “Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance.” And, thirdly, a character to be conspicuous “And there shall be holiness.”

I. First of all, consider A PRIVILEGE TO BE DESIRED. The land of Canaan had been granted to Israel by the Lord of All. Each family had a lot and portion which belonged to it forever, being entailed upon it by a Covenant of salt. Through their sins the tribes were carried into captivity the land was taken from them by their conquerors and they could no longer possess their possessions. Now, the promise comes to them by the prophet Obadiah: “The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.”

A property may be my lawful possession and yet, for different reasons, I may not be able to get at it it may be in the hands of one who defrauded me of it, or I may be far away and unable to reach it. The words are singular, but their meaning is distinct “They shall possess their possessions.” Let us use the words as applicable to souls who shall be led to take what is promised to Believers . “The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.” We set before many of you, every Lord’s-Day, the great possessions of eternal life, of pardon, of justification, of the new birth, sanctification and all the other treasures of the Covenant of Grace. But though they are set before you and you long after them, many of you feel unable to grasp them as your own.

You know that the tenure of these possessions is faith, but either you do not understand what faith is, or you, for some other reason, fail to exercise it and so you do not appropriate what the Gospel freely gives to you. You are either confused by ignorance, dazed by fear as to your sin or held back by the temptations of the devil. I pray that you may be granted Divine Grace speedily to take what Jesus freely gives so that you may come to possess your possessions. If you have the power given you today, by faith, to take the Lord Jesus Christ as yours and if you now trust in His most precious blood you need not be afraid that you will be taking possession of what does not belong to you, for every believing soul may know that what he takes by faith was bestowed upon him in the Covenant of Grace from before the foundation of the world!

If you believe in Christ, you were chosen of God before the world began! For Believers, redemption was specially offered by our Lord upon the Cross He bought for them the Covenant heritage and He has made it over to them so that it shall be theirs forever. You cannot know this before you believe! But faith reveals the Divine choice and gift. You who now believe were once strangers to such an extraordinary joy as that which comes by faith. You wandered up and down in sin, knowing nothing of what free Grace and dying love had done for you but now you have come to God and you have ventured by faith to take possession of what the Lord so freely offers in the Gospel and behold, it is revealed to you that these things were yours in the purpose of God, even from everlasting! Now is it fulfilled to you “The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.”

God gave you all Covenant blessings in Christ Jesus according as He chose you, in Him, from before the foundation of the world. God saw you in Christ as His elect, His Beloved, His redeemed and therefore for you He prepared a kingdom which you inherit through His Grace. If you have now the confidence to believe in Christ Jesus and to say, “My Beloved is mine, and I am His,” then you shall know that in grasping gracious blessings you do but come to your own!

You possess your possessions!

Let it be the prayer of everyone here who by faith has entered into rest, that others may now be brought in that so the number of the elect may be accomplished and that all Covenant provisions may be received by those for whom they are prepared. Oh, for the bringing home to their God and to their own possessions those who are now prodigals, starving in the far-off country! Let us go a step further. Beloved Friends, many by faith have laid hold upon the Covenant possessions, but yet they do not fully possess them. The text leads me to pray that Believers may enjoy fully what they have grasped by faith .

Christ is mine, but, Beloved, who among us knows all that is ours in Christ? He is a case which is all ours, but we do not open its doors and take out all its treasures! Our possessions in Christ are very wide but we need to be bid, like Abraham, to lift up our eyes to the north and to the south and to the east and to the west, that we may form a clearer idea of the goodly land which the Lord our God has given us! We see the blessings of the Covenant but do we feed on them as we might! Do we drink deep into them and is our soul satisfied as with marrow and fatness by them? I fear we do not by

enjoyment possess our possessions!

Alas, with many Believers times of actual realization and enjoyment are rare they can talk about the blessing but they do not habitually rejoice in it themselves. “Oh, yes,” they say, “it is a very delightful thing to be washed in the blood of the Lamb.” But do they enjoy the peace which flows from cleansing? Have they “received the Atonement” and with it that peace with God which follows upon justification by faith? Do they delight in “the peace of God which passes all understanding”?

You know, dear Brothers and Sisters, that it is your high privilege to have access to the Mercy Seat but do you use that access and come often and boldly to the Throne of Grace? Do you avail yourselves of your opportunities? Do you make the utmost use of prayer? In other holy matters do you really stand where God would have you stand? Are you as rich as Christ has made you? A man may have large possessions and yet be practically poor because he is miserly in his expenditure. Is it not so with many a child of God? All things are ours and yet we live as if nothing were ours! Like a horse shut out of the pastures we nibble round the hedges better far for us to be like sheep which enter in and lie down in green pastures. Oh, for Grace to appropriate by enjoyment those treasures of the Covenant which make the soul to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory!

I pray that we may not look in at the windows of the banqueting hall, but may sit at the table and possess our possessions. Why should we be hungry and thirsty when Christ has given us His flesh to be meat, indeed, and His blood to be drink, indeed? Why should we be hanging down our heads like bulrushes when the Lord loves us and would have His joy to be in us that our joy may be full? Why are we so dispirited by our infirmities when we know that Jehovah is our strength and our song He also has become our salvation? I tell you, Brothers and Sisters, we do not possess our possessions! We are like an Israelite who should say, “Yes, those terraces of land are mine. Those vineyards, olives, figs and pomegranates are mine. Those fields of wheat and barley are mine, yet I am starving.”

Why do you not drink the blood of the grapes? He answers, “I can scarcely tell you why, but so it is I walk through the vineyards and I admire the clusters, but I never taste them. I gather the harvest and I thrash it on the barn floor, but I never grind it into corn, nor comfort my heart with a morsel of bread.” Surely this is wretched work! Is it not folly carried to an extreme? I trust the children of God will not copy this madness! Let our prayer be that we may use and enjoy to the utmost all that the Lord has given us by His Grace and so possess our possessions!

Go a step further. We possess our possessions when we hold firmly what we enjoy . Too many Christians hold their blessings with a feeble hand they expect where they ought to enjoy and think where they ought to know . They are never sure and thus they do not “possess their possessions.” They are not sufficiently at home with spiritual things to be said to possess them. At times they rise into rapturous joy I think I heard one of them sing the other day

“My willing soul would stay

But the Brother very soon came down from that mountain the Sister soon quit Tabor and made her way to the place of Wailing. Why this fickleness? Some do not stay long enough in the garden of Assurance to see a single fruit ripen they do not possess their possessions.

It is a grand thing when the Grace of God enables a man to say, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him.” When happy feelings vanish, faith abides the same. Be it night or be it day, our soul waits only upon God, for our expectation is from Him! When you have such a grip of the Everlasting Covenant that if all the devils in Hell were to try to drag it from you, you would defy their efforts, it is well with you! We know, then , that we have passed from death unto life! We know that Christ is ours and that we are His. We are resting in Him and are saved in Him with an everlasting salvation. Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord?

When we are thus assured, we then really possess our possessions our title deeds are before us and the inheritance is within sight of our faith. If a man is living in a house which does not belong to him, he can hardly be said to possess it. He may be at any moment disturbed, if not ejected altogether. If one who can prove his claim comes that way, out he must go! Beloved, our God has given us a Covenant right in Christ Jesus to the blessings of His Grace we cannot be ejected! Justice is on our side as well as Grace since Jesus died. Our tenure is not uncertain because Jesus lives we shall live, also. Blessed is he who, having believed in the Lord Jesus, is able to sing

“Now I can read my title clear

May this be the lot of all the members of this Church and of all my Lord’s servants in every place!

I have not come to the end of my tether yet. I will fix another meaning upon these words and apply them to souls realizing things to come . Brothers and Sisters, we have possessions which we have not yet seen and cannot as yet enter upon

“I have a heritage of joy

We believe in the Second Coming of our Lord from Heaven and in the Glory that shall follow. We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the eternal bliss of the godly in Heaven. We believe that we shall dwell with Christ forever and ever. Can we possess these possessions even now? We cannot now rise from the dead, for we are not yet buried. We cannot yet walk the golden streets, for we have not passed through the gate of pearl. Yet, by the realizations of faith , we may make these things to be so near that we may measurably enjoy them even now and so already possess our possessions!

“He has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Though we are not actually in Heaven, yet in union with our Lord we are virtually there. We have been buried and risen with Him in Baptism. We have been raised from spiritual death into newness of life and we have gone up above all earthly things into the heavenlies, where we dwell. Yes, Beloved, faith has a strange realizing faculty imagination can do much in this direction but faith can do far more. By imagination a man can make fiction appear fact faith has nothing to do with fiction, but it makes the sure hopes of the future to be the pleasures of the present.

Earth can become the vestibule of Heaven! Life here may be the rehearsal of the Glory-Life above. Even here we may possess our possessions by enjoying a period of rest, “as the days of Heaven upon the earth.” Already we have the earnest of the inheritance in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and we have obtained that inheritance in Christ

“The men of grace have found Glory begun below

More and more may we enjoy the peace, the rest, the purity, the victory of Heaven and thus possess our possessions!

One other meaning and upon this I am going to lay emphasis we long to see souls winning others for Jesus . I think when it says, “The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions,” it may also mean the possessions of their enemies, for, in the 19 th and 20 th verses, we read “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. 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 Zarephath, shall possess the cities of the south.”

The saints annex the territories of their enemies which are theirs in Christ Jesus. The whole world belongs to Christ and in His name we are to possess it for Him. As yet we see not all things put under Him the enemy abides in His strongholds. Ah, how terribly does the enemy keep his hold on London! Beloved, we long that this text may prove true to us by our achieving the capture of this great city. “There is very much land yet to be possessed,” and we must press on our conquest in the name of Jesus! We must carry the war into the enemy’s country and storm fort after fort for Jesus! This land is a part of Christ’s own kingdom let us take it! Is this to be done? It must be done! We must not be satisfied till millions bow at our Lord’s feet until Jesus, by the Grace of God, possesses the east and the west, the north and the south. I regard this as a promise to us “The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.”

Drunkenness must come down like Jericho before the trumpets of Israel! Sin and lechery, like the iron chariots of the Canaanites, must be broken in pieces before our holy faith. Unbelief and superstition, like the hosts of Jabin, must give way before the everlasting Gospel which must and shall conquer. Oh that the whole Church would be up and doing for the Lord our King! Oh, for a dauntless faith to go up and possess the gates of our enemies! This is one of God’s great designs. He has chosen us and brought us to Zion that there we may find deliverance for ourselves and then may lead others to the Deliverer! Is it not written in the 21 st verse, “And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s”?

If we have been chosen of God we have been chosen with this objective that we gather out from the world the rest of the Lord’s redeemed and win for our King the nations now in revolt against Him. Many of us are, just now, praying day and night that this may be our best year that we may have a larger increase than ever before. I invite you all to join with me in this continual supplication and may it come to pass before our own eyes, that, in this Tabernacle, “the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.”

II. So much upon the main part of our discourse. There are two other things to be handled and, first, comes this A FAVOR TO BE REMEMBERED “Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance.” This fact should help us to possess our possessions! See what God has done for us! What can He not do? Is anything too hard for the Lord? That you may see the force of the passage, let me work out its meaning. We have been saved, for, “Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance” and we have found it so. In Christ Jesus we have been saved!

The Revised Version has it, “In Mount Zion there shall be those that escape.” We have escaped from sin, death and Hell. One of the greatest expositors of the Minor Prophets reads it, “Upon Mount Zion there shall be an escaped remnant,” which indicates a people small and weak but effectually rescued and such are we. This rendering reminds us of that other Prophet who said, “In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call” ( Joe_2:32 ). Glory be to God! We are saved!

Delitzsch reads it, “Upon Mount Zion will be that which has been saved.” Yes, we have been saved saved from spiritual death, saved from punishment, saved from sin itself saved unto the glory of our God! We have been saved, not on Mount Sinai, for there the Law thunders terribly but on Mount Zion where the blood of sprinkling speaks better things than that of Abel! Because of this deliverance let us go up and publish salvation and proclaim the name of our Deliverer! Hearken unto His voice, you captives, that you, also, may be delivered! Look to Him, you perishing, that you also may be saved! Now may we cheerfully possess our possessions, since we are saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation!

We are daily saved, for the text says, “Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance.” Salvation abides there at all times.Not only have we been saved, but we are saved continually from all evil. If we fall into trouble at any time, we fly to Jesus. If we have hourly temptations, we look to Jesus for hourly succor. We have present salvation. Let us not think of our salvation as a matter which was finished in us on a certain day and then and there ended. Conversion is the beginning of sanctification and sanctification is the life-long working out of salvation. Grace will always be needed from day to day until we enter into Glory. In Mount Zion, in Christ Jesus, in the Word, and in the Church of God there is a fountain of salvation which never dries up. If it is so, let us enjoy it, without stint, now and always! Let us be rich in abiding treasure. Let us be happy in never-failing safety and let us seek to bring this deliverance to others.

We are few, comparatively . I reminded you of that reading of the text “Upon Mount Zion shall be an escaped remnant.” I will not make guesses as to what the number of God’s chosen will be in the end. But at present, taking the most charitable view of things, the saved ones are as a handful of corn on the top of the mountains, or as the gleanings of the vintage. The world lies in the Wicked One, and those who are in Christ Jesus are a small remnant. That cheering word, “Fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom,” is still applicable to the Church. When we accept the most enlarged notion of the numbers making up the Church of God at the present day and compare that slender company with the population of the globe, it is like comparing a drop in a bucket to the favor of the temple.

Ah, me! Let us not despair if God has saved us, though we are but few, He will accomplish His purposes by us. He saves not by many nor by few His own right arm gets unto Him the victory. You are able to possess the land, few as you are! Only go forth in the same spirit as the 12 did when the Holy Spirit rested upon them at Pentecost and few as you may be you can yet subdue the nations for Christ.

We are chosen by Divine Grace . In Mount Zion the escaped remnant are men chosen by Grace and ordained unto this deliverance. If you believe that God has chosen you, nothing should daunt you. More courage comes into the heart through a grip of the doctrine of election than by any other Truth of God. Let a man believe that God has ordained him to this or that and he goes forward with irresistible resolve! The man impressed with his election crashes through every difficulty as though he were a bolt of iron shot from some tremendous cannon by a master marksman. Who shall hinder my accomplishing that to which God has appointed me? I shall fulfill my destiny! Who shall hinder me? In this there is a mighty motive for pressing on to possess our possessions and win for Christ the purchase of His blood. “The remnant has obtained it.” The victory remains with the people whom the Lord has chosen!

Notice this, that we are set for the deliverance of others. The Lord’s purpose of Grace to any man does not end with that one man. He chooses one man with a view to others. When God chooses a company of men to eternal life, it is that they may be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Jehovah chose Israel that the favored nation might receive the oracles of God and preserve them for the ages to come. If He has chosen us and brought us to His Mount Zion, it is that, finding deliverance for ourselves, we may go forth and bear the tidings of it to the ends of the earth! Is it not written, “Out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem”?

Brothers and Sisters, we ought to go in and possess the land and win the people for Jesus, for that is why we are we chosen! Has He saved you? Has He taken you out from among the fallen mass of mankind? Has He chosen you by His discriminating Grace? Oh, then you are not your own you are His forever and you are not to live for yourselves, but for His Glory and for the making known of His salvation among your fellow men! Beloved, take heart and courage and let your souls be big with high enterprise and noble purpose! Say to yourselves, “It shall be true, ‘the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions,’ for we know of a truth that there is deliverance upon Mount Zion.”

III. Our final word is perhaps the most important of all. I call your attention to a third matter, namely, THE CHARACTER TO BE CONSPICUOUS. “Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness .” It is through holiness that the house of Jacob shall enter into that possession of which I have spoken at so great length. If there is no holiness, then there has been no deliverance and there shall be no possessing of possessions. Holiness is a link which is essential to the golden chain of blessings. If we are without holiness, we shall not see the Lord on our side. To give you the bearing of the words before us, I remark, first, that it might be translated, “Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be a sanctuary ,” or, “a holy place” an inviolate sanctuary of God.

The people of God are the Temple of God. The Church of God should be God’s peculiar dwelling place where He walks as King in His own palace. The Temple of the Godhead, is, first of all, the Person of Christ, and next the Church of the living God. “This is My rest; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.” With what dignity is the Church invested, when it is, in very deed, the Temple of God! When we come together in our solemn gatherings and especially when we surround the communion table and are visibly seen as a Church, let us be filled with solemn awe and holy trembling for the Lord is among us as He was in Sinai or, better still, as He was in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle of old. True saints are living stones of the living Temple where the Lord Jehovah deigns to make Himself known!

Unless we can realize this we shall not possess our possessions. If your Church membership is a mere trifle to you. If you think that a Church is simply a community of people who meet together for religious purposes you miss the mark. The Church must be the sanctuary of God the place where God reveals Himself and if it is not so, the men and women who make up that Church have never tasted the Divine deliverance and neither will they possess their possessions! Without the Presence of God in the Church it has no power to subdue the world to the faith. The great thing that makes God’s people a holy people, is the Presence of God with them . He sanctifies both the place of His abode and those that come near to Him. It is holy ground where Jehovah reveals Himself, though it is but in a bush. God is everywhere but He is not everywhere as He is in His Church.

There is a special, gracious Presence of God in the midst of His chosen people and this it is that makes them “holiness unto the Lord.” Have you ever been forced to cry with Jacob, “How dreadful is this place!” and that because you had also cried, “Surely God was in this place!”? In a gathering of saints, when you have drawn near in solemn prayer to God and have laid hold upon the Covenant Angel and prevailed, have you not felt that you were the Lord’s? We are never so holy as when we are near to God! God’s overshadowing Presence sanctifies the man whom it covers! Beloved, we must have this or we cannot conquer the nations! If God is not with us and the shout of a King is not in the camp, there will be no brave deeds done in the battle! The Church needs reviving at home. We hear men talk of “getting up a revival.” What idle talk is this! If the Church of God becomes spiritually quickened, the revival will come but no way else. Let us carefully see to our holiness and God will see to our success .

Next to this, there must be holy teaching “there shall be holiness.” All the teaching that goes forth from us must be God’s holy Truth and not the dream of human wisdom. If I hear of a ministry under which there are no conversions, I usually find that it is not a holy ministry. If in the teaching there is nothing which is calculated to convert sinners, we cannot wonder that it is not used to that end. If I go fishing with a torn net, is it any wonder that I catch no fish? God will not convert souls by unholy sermons, for it would not be to His Glory to do so. Instrumentality must be fitted for what it aims at, and soul-saving sermons must deal with sin, salvation and with the blood of Jesus! What have we to do with themes which are foreign to our design?

If I were to come here and talk to you about strikes, or Home Rule, or Socialism and should you pray to God to convert souls by my discourse would it not be a mockery or worse? I think so. Zion must have holy preaching if she is to have conquering power. Whatever our ministry lacks, it must be said of it, “There shall be holiness,” or there will be death in the pot. Oh that the preacher might always be holy! Unless we preach a holy God, a holy doctrine, a holy Gospel and holy practice, we sow the wind! Beloved, we must maintain holy ordinances . God forbid that we should put a slight upon Baptism and the Supper of the Lord! Some have rejected these sacred institutions and how they will answer for it in the day when Christ shall come! If the Lord Jesus has ordained these institutions, how dare we set them aside? Surely this is presumptuously mounting to the Throne of Christ, pushing Him from the seat of legislation and daring to make laws for ourselves! No there shall be holiness and then we shall possess our possessions and find in the ordinances means of instruction and usefulness.

There must be holiness in the form of holy pleadin g. If every member of this Church, which has enjoyed so much of Divine favor, could be aroused to mighty intercession for the souls of men, should we not see great things? If every member were in earnest in praying for the visitations of God and if everyone pleaded day and night for the display of Divine power and added to his pleading that which would prove it to be sincere, namely, his own individual effort what a day would break upon us! It would be a morning without clouds! I see no reason why it should not be so. I pray it may be realized at once. May our ideal become a fact! May God Himself fulfill the promise, “There shall be holiness”!

Holiness will breed prayer and prayer will bring power and that power will work mightily for the Glory of the Lord. One thing more there must be holy living . Prayer Meetings what are they if they are held by a number of people who do not serve the Lord at home? Preaching what is that if the preacher preaches what he has never experienced and is not prepared to practice? Teaching in Sunday schools what is that if the children are taught by frivolous persons whose lives are destitute of piety? God will not bless us to the effecting of His purposes of salvation unless we are clothed with holiness as with a garment. Zion’s priests must put on their snow-white garments of holy living if they are to offer an acceptable sacrifice before Jehovah!

If I might plead on my knees with tears in my eyes, I would beseech every Brother and Sister here to be holy! Hear how the Lord says, “Be you holy, for I am holy.” “Be you imitators of God as dear children.” “Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh.” “Let your conversation be as it becomes the Gospel of Christ.” You cannot possess your possessions to your own joy unless your lives are holiness unto the Lord! You cannot have full assurance; you cannot rise to close communion with Christ; you cannot anticipate the joys of Heaven you cannot be useful to men

unless you carefully obey the Lord and walk in holiness before Him. Our hearts can truly pray

“Yet one thing we need,

If this panting is fulfilled, all things will go well with us. Suffer the word of exhortation. As we so eagerly desire that we may have a great increase to this Church through numerous conversions, let us lay this to our hearts that we must be holy for if we are not holy we shall not be fit to be blessed .

The unholy worker is not really in earnest . He may have a factitious or fictitious earnestness but heart-passion for souls is not found in unholy men. Unless you are thoroughly consecrated to God and then sanctified by the Spirit, you will not speak with that accent of conviction which carries the Truth of God home to the hearer. Do you not know yourselves that when you have listened to a clever preacher who has no spirituality but is a mere actor and known to be of worldly habits his preaching has no power in it for you? What he said was all very well but it fell flat he was a clever and eloquent man but he did not touch you.

When I heard George Muller some years ago, there was nothing of oratory in what he said but then there was George Muller behind it and every syllable had weight. That blessed man spoke as one who had experienced what he said. His long life of faith in God made every word powerful with the heart and conscience. Teachers of Bible classes and schools a holy life must be your power in your classes or your words will be to your children as idle tales! If they see your lives to be unholy, the ungodly will reject your testimony and it will be no wonder that they do so! They need to reject it. They are looking for excuses to reject it and they will gladly find an argument in your unhallowed conversation. They will say, “The man does not believe it, himself, or else he would not live as he does.” I heard of one who was asked by her minister whether she remembered last Sunday’s sermon. “No,” she said, “it is all gone.” “But you ought to remember it,” said the minister. “No,” she replied, “I am not to be expected to do so, for you did not remember it yourself you read it all from a paper.” The argument is if the preacher does not remember his own preaching to put it into practice, how can he expect others to do so? Shall the taught excel the teacher? Brother, you lose your leverage of power if you fail in holiness!

What is more, saints cannot pray for a blessing on a work which is not holy . If you work for God in an unholy way or work for God rightly, yet, nevertheless, are inconsistent in your ordinary life, the people of God will be grieved and will find it impossible to pray for you. “Ah!” said one to me, talking of his minister of whom I was sorry that he should have so to speak, “ You may well have a blessing, for God’s people love to pray for you but as for our minister, he is a fine preacher but there is nothing gracious about him and none of the Lord’s people feel drawn to him.” This is a grievous loss to a man a leak which will sink his ship. Can any good come of a ministry for which saints cannot pray? Unless the people of God see in a man downright consecration to God and holiness of spirit and life, they cannot feel that union of heart which produces intercession.

Lastly, God Himself will not honor a ministry which is not accompanied by holy character . How can God set His seal to an unholy life? Ah, Brothers! If we can go into the world and sin as others do all the days of the week, it will be in vain to pull over us the garb of sanctity on Sunday and say, “I am a witness for Christ.” What does God think of such conduct? Does He call on evil men to be His witnesses? He hates hypocrisy and therefore He cannot append the “signs following” to a ministry which is impure. O my Brothers, we desire honor from the Lord in conversions. We would not be as Saul,

when he laid hold on Samuel and cried, “Honor me before the people!” All the honor which rhetoric and oratory could bring would be nothing to us if we did not see souls saved!

O you that are not yet Believers in Jesus, how much I wish that you were so! May you be led to believe at once in Him whose death must be your life! Who must Himself be your salvation! Look to Him and live! And you that are Christ’s, I beg you to remember the remarkable expression of the text and may you “possess your possessions”! Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON Psalms 44:0 .

HYMNS FROM “OUR OWN HYMN-BOOK” 90, 957, 999.