Obadiah 1:18

And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it. THE HOUSE OF JACOB SHALL BE A FIRE. See the same figure, ; ; . HOUSE OF JACOB ... JOSEPH - i:e., the two kingdoms, Judah and Ephraim or Israel (Jerome). The two shall form one kingdom, their former feuds being laid aside (Isaiah 11:12, "He shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah ... The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, a...

Here again the Prophet meets a doubt, which might come into the mind of each of them; for the Idumeans were flourishing, and their condition was independent, when the Israelites as well as the Jews were led into exile, and Jerusalem with its temple was destroyed. They might under such circumstances despair; but the Prophet shows, that though for a time the house of Jacob seemed to be dead, yet a fire would be kindled, which would consume the Idumeans, though they were then proud of their power and their wealth, and also of the prosperous issue of the victory over the Jews, for they had been enriched, and well as the Assyrians, by the overthrow of their brethren. A similar mode of speaking Isaiah also adopts; though he directs his discourse, not to the Idumeans, but to others, yet his manner of speaking is the same when he says, that God, the light of Israel, would be a fire and a flame t...

17-21 There should be deliverance and holiness at Jerusalem, and the house of Jacob would again occupy their possessions. Much of this prophecy was fulfilled when the Jews returned to their own land. But the salvation and holiness of the gospel, its spread, and the conversion of the Gentiles, seem also to be intended, especially the restoration of Israel, the destruction of antichrist, and the prosperous state of the church, to which all the prophets bear witness. When Christ is come, and not till then, shall the kingdom be the Lord's in the full sense of the term. As none that exalt themselves against the Lord shall prosper, and all shall be brought down; so none that wait upon the Lord, and put their trust in him, shall ever be dismayed. Blessed be the Divine Saviour and Judge on Mount Zion! His word shall be a savour of life unto life unto numbers, while it judges and condemns obstina...

Verse Obadiah 1:18. _THE HOUSE OF JACOB SHALL BE A FIRE_] After their return from captivity, the _Jews_, called here the _house of Jacob_ and the _house of Joseph_, did break out as a flame upon the Idumeans; they reduced them into slavery; and obliged them to receive circumcision, and practise the rites of the Jewish religion. See _1Macc 5:3_, c. _2Macc 10:15-23_; and _Joseph_. Antiq., lib. xiii. c. 17. _THERE SHALL NOT BE_ ANY _REMAINING_] As a _people_ and a _nation_ they shall be totally destroyed. This is the meaning; it does not signify that _every individual_ shall be destroyed....

Having given, in summary, the restoration and expansion of Judah, Obadiah, in more detail, first mentions a further chastisement of Edom, quite distinct from the former. In the first, for which God summoned the pagan, there is no mention of Judah, the desolation of whose holy City, Jerusalem, for the time, and their own captivity is presupposed. In the second, which follows on the restoration of its remnant, there is no mention of pagan. Obadiah, whose mission was to Judah, gives to it the name of the whole, “the house of Jacob.” It alone had the true worship of God, and His promises. Apart from it, there was no oneness with the faith of the fathers, no foreshadowing sacrifice for sin. Does the “house of Joseph” express the same in other words? or does it mean, that, after that first destruction of Jerusalem, Ephraim should be again united with Judah? Asaph unites, as one, “the sons of J...

AND THE HOUSE OF JACOB SHALL BE A FIRE, AND THE HOUSE OF JOSEPH A FLAME,.... The former may denote the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the latter the ten tribes, which after the separation in Rehoboam's time were called Ephraim, and sometimes Joseph; though they may here signify one and the same, since all the tribes will be united, and become one people, at the time the prophecy refers to: the meaning is, that the people of Judah and Israel shall have strength and power to conquer and destroy their enemies, with as much ease, as flames of fire consume chaff or stubble, or any such combustible matter they light upon, as it follows: AND THE HOUSE OF ESAU FOR STUBBLE, AND THEY SHALL KINDLE IN THEM, AND DEVOUR THEM; that is, the Israelites shall fall upon the Edomites, who will be no more able to withstand them than stubble can stand before devouring flames of fire, and shall utterly was...

OBADIAH 1:15 A, OBADIAH 1:16. THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS. The Day of Yahweh approaches; Judah has already drunk her cup of suffering (_cf._ Jeremiah 25:15; Jeremiah 49:12), and now the other nations shall drink destruction. Mount Zion shall be a sanctuary, and the house of Jacob (here for Judah) shall recover what has been lost (Obadiah 1:17). Judah shall be joined by the restored northern kingdom (the house of Joseph), and together they shall utterly destroy the Edomites (Esau,...

THERE SHALL NOT BE. Compare verses: Obadiah 1:9; Obadiah 1:9; Obadiah 1:16. ANY REMAINING. him that remaineth. Twenty-four centuries ago this prophecy was written, and to-day no Edomites can he identified. Compare Obadiah 1:14, and Numbers 24:19 (the same word). There will be. restored Edom, "in that day", or Isaiah 63:1; Jeremiah 49:7 could not be fulfilled....

The Restoration of Israel By an easy transition the prophet passes to the second and brighter part of his picture. The destruction of her enemies is accompanied by the restoration and salvation of Israel. There is however no sudden break between the two portions of the prophecy. The key-note of deliverance had already been struck in the earlier portion by the implied promise (Obadiah 1:16) that the punishment of Israel was not to be, like that of her enemies, continual. The tones of vengeance are heard still in the later portion, and are only lost at length in the final strain of victory, "The kingdom shall be the Lord's." Israel is to regain her former possessions (Obadiah 1:17), to overcome her ancient foes (Obadiah 1:18),

_THE DAY OF THE LORD IS NEAR-- OBADIAH 1:15-20:_ God reminded Edom of His law that you reap what you sow. "The day of the Lord" was near for all nations. It was time for Edom to pay in full for what she had done. God said, "As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head." Other nations, in addition to Edom would feel the wrath of God. Especially Edom, but other nations also, would drink the cup of God's anger and wrath. Concerning those nations the Divine message was, it "shall be as though they had never been." God promised that His people would return from Babylonian captivity and "the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions." It was prophesied that Judah would retake some of their lost territory. The Edomites were to be completely overthrown as a ruling power. "Israel will be a fire, and Edom will be straw going up in flam