And [they of] the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the lowland the Philistines; yea, they shall possess the field of Ephraim and the field of Samaria; and Benjamin [shall possess] Gilead;
Obadiah's last section turns from Edom's fall to a map. The south takes Esau's mountain, the lowland takes Philistine country, and Israel takes back Ephraim, Samaria and Gilead. So the first question is simple. Is this poetry about spiritual victory, or a real handover of real land?
Samaria and Gilead are not symbols. They are districts with borders. One writer makes that detail the key:
Because the places are named one by one, we should not explain them away by what people call spiritualising. In fact spiritualising is the wrong word for it. It should be called allegorising. Denying the hopes of Israel has nothing spiritual about it. In these matters true spirituality means understanding the word of God in the sense He intended.
The same writer notes that reading this passage as the gospel has a long history, and he names a famous example:
Luther, for instance (blessed man as he was), through not holding fast to the general scope and connection, as well as the propriety of each phrase in detail, so far lost the true force of the prophecy as to suppose this chapter means the gospel... The golden rule is never to force scripture: otherwise we never fail to enfeeble the truth by confounding things that differ.
The verse reverses history. Edom pushed north into Judah's land while Judah was weak. Now Judah's south pushes back into Edom's mountain:
Everyone knows that the Edomites pressed their advantage as Israel and Judah declined. They even took some of the southern districts and towns of Palestine. They became closely mixed with the Jews. Then came a people called the Nabateans, who took the land of Edom and drove out the sons of Esau to a great extent. Because these men pushed up into Edom, the earlier inhabitants crowded into the Holy Land. Some of them gained large holdings there. But this situation is the reverse of the prophecy, not its fulfilment.
This swap is not random. It follows a rule in God's ways:
Obadiah shows the Jews themselves as God's instruments for the destruction of Esau... The destruction will be complete. Everyone on Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter, and no one will be left of the house of Esau (Obadiah 9, 18). Israel will take their land, for God repays what people do. The prophecy ends with "the kingdom shall be the LORD's."
Ephraim, Samaria and Gilead lay in the north, not in Judah. Naming them beside the southern district points to a people made whole again. One writer rejects any attempt to shrink these names to a surviving group from Judah:
Scholars work in vain to explain how a remnant of Judah can be called "the house of Jacob" and "the house of Joseph." The difficulty is only created by the false system. That system exaggerates the past, points to the future, and robs God's ancient people of their hope. It is a Gentile notion (see Romans 11), and not the truth.
The land itself is also larger than anything Israel ever held:
The land is not the limited portion that the Israelites of old took. It matches far more closely the large promise given to Abraham... Take it literally, as every spiritual Israelite must have understood it, and there is no difficulty at all. It simply gives interesting details of that blessed time when Israel will be delivered from her enemies and restored to the LORD's favour. Under the Messiah's rule she will enjoy the promises made to Abraham and David, which are still unfulfilled.
Some place the fulfilment in Israel's military victories between the Testaments. One writer answers that this period ended in the opposite of the prophecy. An Edomite family ruled in Jerusalem:
It is a poor idea that Obadiah, in such bright terms, predicted anything like the successes of the Maccabees for a little over a century, followed by the Edomite family that ruled over the Holy Land. The days of King Herod were far from the time when the kingdom would be the LORD's.
Another writer ties the timing to a regathering still to come:
This will be at the close of the age. Then the Lord will gather all Israel again, and Judah and the ten tribes will be reunited. At that time, and before it, Edom will appear once more in prominence.
Four times this verse says that someone will possess something. One writer applies that word to Christians now:
There is a statement in Obadiah that the house of Jacob will yet "possess their own possessions" (v. 17). Now is the time for us to possess our possessions... It is one thing to have title to all these blessings, quite another to have them as light in our souls.
- Named — Esau's mountain, Philistine plain, Ephraim, Samaria, Gilead. These are real places on a map. So commentators refuse to read the verse as an allegory.
- Reversed — Edom seized Judah's southern towns while Judah was weak. Now the south will take Edom's mountain. God repays.
- Reunited — the listed districts lie in the north as well as the south. This points to all Israel restored, not to Judah alone.
- Enlarged — the land matches the promise given to Abraham more closely than anything Israel ever held.
- Future — no past age fulfilled this. An Edomite king in Jerusalem was the opposite of the prophecy. It waits for the day when the kingdom is the LORD's.
and the captives of this host of the children of Israel [shall possess] what belonged to the Canaanites, unto Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, who [were] in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
Obadiah closes with a map, not a sermon. Two groups of exiles are named, and each is told which land it will hold. Do the place-names mean what they say? And when could such a homecoming happen?
This verse sits in the book's last section. One commentator sums up what those verses promise:
The final section of Obadiah's brief prophecy concerns the kingdom, the victory over the enemies and the restoration of His people. What God had promised to be the remnant of His people will come true. They will be a holy people, and then they will hold their possessions — all that the Lord in His infinite grace had promised them. The house of Esau will be consumed, so that none of Esau will be left, while Israel will occupy Edom's territory.
The first group's land reaches as far as Zarephath. That town belonged to Sidon, and it is known from a famine story:
A city belonging to Sidon, where Elijah stayed with a widow during part of a time of drought and famine. He was kept alive there by a miracle: the widow's flour and oil kept increasing. 1 Kings 17:9-10; Obadiah 20. Called SAREPTA in Luke 4:26.
Sepharad is harder to place. The old translations did not agree on it:
Place where the Jews were in captivity, but from which they would be brought to possess "the cities of the south." Obadiah 20. The Greek Old Testament has "as far as Ephratha." The Latin has "in Bosphoro." Jerome thought the word meant "boundary," and applied it to the scattering of the Jews in any region.
The quotes say "the cities of the south"; the ESV calls the same place "the cities of the Negeb." Commentators differ on Sepharad itself. One writer takes it as a known capital city, and then dates the promise:
And the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad [Sardis, the chief city of the Lydian kingdom], shall possess the cities of the south... Obadiah cannot justly be taken to refer to the Christian state of things. He plainly speaks of the days before the millennium, when the kingdom will be Jehovah's.
The towns and districts are named one by one. That fact shapes how we should read them:
The places are specified by name, and that shows we should not explain them away by what people call spiritualising. In fact spiritualising is the wrong word for it; it should be called allegorising instead. There is nothing spiritual about denying the hopes of Israel. In these matters true spirituality means understanding the word of God in the sense He intended.
Applying a passage is one thing. Deciding what it means is another:
The word of God must have a true and full object. That is in no way against the principle of applying particular passages in the meantime. Such use is all right, and no one would object to it for a moment. But we must distinguish between applying scripture and interpreting it rightly.
History went the other way. Jewish victories under the Maccabees came and went. Then an Edomite family ruled the Holy Land.
This state of things is the reverse of the prophecy, not its fulfilment. In fact the close of our prophecy awaits the great future day of Jehovah. It is a miserable idea that Obadiah, in such bright terms, predicted nothing more than the successes of the Maccabees. Those lasted a little over a century, and were followed by the Edomite family that reigned over the Holy Land.
When that day comes, Israel will not just watch. Another writer notes who does the fighting:
The Lord carries out some judgments in person when He comes. Yet we read of Israel also in action, and of human wars in which they take possession of the lands destined for them (Jeremiah 51:20-24; Obadiah 18-21; Micah 5:7-9).
One writer finds the same order in every prophet, and in Christ Himself:
Obadiah's message is short. Even so, it does not close without noticing the kingdom that follows the judgment. And this is so with all the prophets. Resurrection follows upon death; the kingdom and its glories come after the judgments. Jesus the Lord never speaks of His death alone, but of His resurrection after it.
- Scattered. The verse names two groups of exiles far from home. One takes land as far north as Zarephath, a town of Sidon. The other waits in Sepharad, a place the old translations could not agree on.
- Named. Real towns and districts are listed, so no one should allegorise the promise away. True spirituality takes God's word in the sense He intended.
- Possessed. Each group gets real ground. The exiles of Jerusalem receive the cities of the Negeb, and Israel takes over Edom's territory.
- Pending. The Maccabees' successes and an Edomite family on the throne were the reverse of this promise, not its fulfilment. It waits for the day of the Lord.
- Kingdom. As in every prophet, judgment is not the last word. The kingdom follows it, the way resurrection follows death.
And saviours shall come up on mount Zion, to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be Jehovah's.
Obadiah's short prophecy ends with Edom's mountain judged and a kingdom that belongs to the LORD. Two questions follow: who are the saviours who go up to Zion, and when does this kingdom come?
Obadiah spends most of his short prophecy on ruin, yet he refuses to stop there. One writer sees this as the settled habit of every prophet.
But short as Obadiah's word is, it does not close without taking notice of the kingdom that follows the judgment. And this is so with all the prophets. Resurrection follows upon death, the kingdom and its glories succeed the judgments. Jesus the Lord never speaks of His death alone, but of His resurrection after it. His prophets spoke by His Spirit. They never speak of the judgments that will cleanse the earth without also telling of the glory that follows.
The place names here are not symbols for spiritual ideas.
In verse 17 Obadiah speaks of a deliverance that comes from God but takes place on earth. It is the restoration of Israel, not of the church. The Spirit speaks of Mount Zion literally, and in the same way of Mount Esau, the plain of the Philistines, and the fields of Ephraim and Samaria. The pictures of fire and flame burning others up like stubble do not stand for grace at all. They stand for judgment, when the world-kingdom of our Lord has come. Man, and even believers, may doubt; but "Jehovah has spoken."
Commentators differ on who these deliverers are. One sees them as instruments God will use in the coming day:
These deliverers are, no doubt, instruments that Jehovah will use in the day that is coming. He means to put great honour on His ancient people when they are brought to Himself. He promises to make the weakest of those living in Jerusalem like David, and the house of David like God, like an angel of Jehovah before them, as Zechariah said.
Another sees their work as teaching the nations:
The saviours mentioned in the last verse of this prophecy (or deliverers) must mean the chosen instruments who go out to teach all nations. They make the glory of the King known among them. For "the kingdom shall be the LORD's."
Where the ESV says the saviours will "rule" Mount Esau, older translations read "judge." One writer gives the sense of the word:
Saviours shall come up on Mount Zion to judge (that is, to govern) the mount of Esau... rule will be established over the world, and this too in connection with the mountain of God's pleasure.
Some have tried to locate this promise in Israel's later victories. The facts of history point in the opposite direction — instead of Zion ruling Edom, an Edomite family ruled from Jerusalem.
Yet it was an Idumean family which got the upper hand in the land. Antipater was the forefather of Herod the Great, who was reigning in Jerusalem when our Lord was born, and sought to kill Him. But this state of things is the reverse of the prophecy, not its fulfilment. The close of our prophecy still awaits the great future day of Jehovah.
The kingdom Obadiah names is a period of visible rule on earth, distinct from what follows it.
Christianity, on the other hand, knows only one Saviour. The bright promises of Obadiah are still unfulfilled... This is not the eternal state, when God shall be all in all. In that state the Son will have handed the kingdom over to God the Father... "The kingdom" will be that long period when divine power, exercised by the Son of Man, makes the earth show blessed results according to God's will and word, for His glory... It will be a time of just rule by the great King. Power joined with righteousness will openly reward on earth the good that God gives generously and sustains in mercy, and will put down whatever evil dares to show itself.
Though the fulfilment is future, the ground on which it rests is one believers already stand on.
Mount Zion brings before us the great principle of sovereign grace on which God will act in blessing for the earth when the day for it arrives. It is the spot on which He set His choice (Ps. 132:13) when everything committed to the hands of men had broken down. It speaks of Christ, risen from among the dead, the One in whom all God's purposes of blessing for men are made good. Since we Christians have already come there (as we are told in Heb. 12:22) we get the benefit of the two things connected in Obadiah with the literal Mount Zion, deliverance and rule.
- Zion first. God chose Zion by sovereign grace, after everything trusted to human hands had broken down. Zion speaks of Christ risen.
- Deliverance from Zion. From that place comes rescue for Israel. It is a real deliverance on earth for a real people, not a picture of the church.
- Rule from Zion. The saviours "judge" Esau's mountain. The word means to govern, so Edom comes under settled rule.
- Not yet. Herod, an Edomite reigning in Jerusalem, was the reverse of this promise. The verse waits for the day of the Lord.
- The Lord's alone. The kingdom is the open reign of the Son of Man on earth, power joined to righteousness. Christians already share its two benefits: deliverance and rule.