Obadiah 1:12

But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. BUT THOU SHOULDEST NOT HAVE LOOKED ON - with malignant pleasure and a brutal stare. So the antitypes, Messiah's foes (Psalms 22:17). Translate rather as margin, and as the Hebrew [ 'al (H408)] always means, 'Do not look (gaze not with pleasure) upon thy brother in the day of his becoming a stranger-do not rejoice-do not speak proudly-do not enter into the gate-do not look on their affliction-nor lay hands on their substance-neither stand in the crossway-neither deliver those of his that remain!' It is a warning...

The Prophet enumerates here the kinds of cruelty which the Idumeans exercised towards the Church of God, the children of Abraham, their own kindred. But he speaks by way of prohibition; it is then a personification, by which the Prophet introduces God as the speaker, as though he taught and admonished them on the duties of human kindness. Engraven, indeed, on their hearts ought all these to have been, on account of which he now reproaches them; for by forgetting humanity they had departed from everything right which nature requires. God indeed did not commence by instructing or teaching the Idumeans what were their duties; but the Prophet reminds them of things which must have been well known to them, and were beyond all dispute true. Hence he says, _Thou shouldest not look on in the day of thy brother, in the day of his alienation_. The day of Judah he calls that in which God visited hi...

1-16 This prophecy is against Edom. Its destruction seems to have been typical, as their father Esau's rejection; and to refer to the destruction of the enemies of the gospel church. See the prediction of the success of that war; Edom shall be spoiled, and brought down. All the enemies of God's church shall be disappointed in the things they stay themselves on. God can easily lay those low who magnify and exalt themselves; and will do it. Carnal security ripens men for ruin, and makes the ruin worse when it comes. Treasures on earth 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. Those that make flesh their trust, arm it against themselves. The God of our covenant will never deceive us: but if we trust men with whom we join ourselves, it may prove to us a wound and dishonour. God will justl...

Verse Obadiah 1:12. _THOU SHOULDEST NOT HAVE LOOKED_] It shows a malevolent heart to rejoice in the miseries of those who have acted unkindly or wickedly towards us. The Edomites triumphed when they saw the judgments of God fall upon the Jews. This the Lord severely reprehends in Obadiah 1:12. If a man have acted cruelly towards us, and God punish him for this cruelty, and we rejoice in it, we make his crime our own; and then, as we have done, so shall it be done unto us; see Obadiah 1:15. All these verses point out the part the Edomites took against the Jews when the Chaldeans besieged and took Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and divided the spoils....

BUT THOU SHOULDEST NOT - , rather it means, and can only mean , “And look not (i. e., gaze not with pleasure) on the day of thy brother in the day of his becoming a stranger ; and rejoice not over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; and enlarge not thy mouth in the day of distress. Enter not into the gate of My people in the day of their calamity; look not, thou too, on his affliction in the day of his calamity; and lay not hands on his substance in the day of his calamity; And stand not on the crossway, to cut off his fugitives; and shut not up his remnants in the day of distress.” Throughout these three verses, Obadiah uses the future only. It is the voice of earnest, emphatic, dehortation and entreaty, not to do what would displease God, and what, if done, would be punished. He dehorts them from malicious rejoicing at their brother’s fall, first in look, then in wor...

BUT THOU SHOULDEST NOT HAVE LOOKED ON THE DAY OF THY BROTHER,.... The day of his calamity, distress, and destruction, as afterwards explained; that is, with delight and satisfaction, as pleased with it, and rejoicing at it; but rather should have grieved and mourned, and as fearing their turn would be next: or, "do not look" t; so some read it in the imperative, and in like manner all the following clauses: IN THE DAY THAT HE BECAME A STRANGER; were carried into a strange country, and became strangers to their own: or, "in the day of his alienation" u; from their country, city, houses, and the house and worship of God; and when strange, surprising, and unheard of things were done unto them, and, among them: NEITHER SHOULDEST THOU HAVE REJOICED OVER THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH IN THE DAY OF THEIR DESTRUCTION; the destruction of the Jews, of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, by the Chaldea...

OBADIAH 1:1 B. THE DESERVED DOWNFALL OF EDOM. The prophet declares that interpretation of current events which Yahweh has revealed to him. Other nations are combining against Edom (Obadiah 1:1) and Yahweh will make their combination successful (Obadiah 1:2; the perfect tenses are prophetic). Edom has been confident in the inaccessibility of his mountainous land (Obadiah 1:3; see Intro. and read with VSS making high his habitation), but vainly does he build (his nest) on high (for the EAGLE, see on Jeremiah 4:13). This is no passing raid, for the work of the f

THOU SHOULDEST NOT HAVE LOOKED ON, &C. All these are Prohibitives in Hebrew: i.e. they are addressed to Edom as from. spectator looking on and saying; "Look not thou, "&c. CHILDREN. sons. SPOKEN PROUDLY. Hebrew enlarged thy mouth [with laughter]. Compare Psalms 35:21.Isaiah 57:4.Ezekiel 35:13....

The Cause of Edom's Destruction The scene changes. Another picture of violence and cruelty now rises before the prophet's eyes. He sees Jerusalem encompassed by enemies and overcome. Strangers carry away captive her forces, foreigners enter into her gates. And there, not only standing aside in unbrotherly neutrality, but exulting with malicious joy, speaking words of proud scorn, doing acts of robbery and wrong, are seen the Edomites. The two pictures, one of the past, the other of the future, he is commissioned to portray before the eyes of men, and to reveal the hidden link that binds them together in the relationship of cause and effect. Obadiah 1:10 contains a general statement of the sin and its punishment. In Obadiah 1:11 the prophet writes in the impassioned strain of a spectator and describes at lengt

_THE LORD CONDEMNS EDOM'S CRUELTY -- OBADIAH 1:10-14:_ God condemned Edom for violence done to Jacob. There was a physical relationship there and yet there was a great deal of hostility, especially from Edom toward Jacob. This is one of the reasons that motivated God to cut off Edom. Edom did nothing to help when "strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem." Edom took pleasure in the misfortunes of Jacob. When the inhabitants of Judah were carried into Babylon Edom celebrated the disaster. (2 Kings 25) God asked Edom, "Why did you celebrate when such a dreadful disaster struck your relatives? Why were you so pleased when everyone in Judah was suffering?" Edom did not stop with taking delight in the misfortune of Judah. God reminded them that they had personally been cruel to His people. Edom went through the cities of Juda