The Prophecy of Obadiah Opened and Applied, Sermon 9
VERSE 17. 18.
17 But vponupon mount Sion shalbe deliverance, and it shall be holy, and the house of Iacob shall possesse their possessions.
18 And the house of Iacob shalbe a fire, and the house of Ioseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble, & they shall kindle in them, and devour them, and there shalbe no remnant of the house of Esau: for the Lord hath spoken it.
THE first sense and meaning of these words is, that the Ievves, which should be carried captiue to Babylon, should returne again to their owne land, and destroie the Idumeans. By mount Sion the fortresse of Ierusalem, the beauty of Iewrie, is meant all the land of Iudea, and there by all the people. By these wordes then but vponupon mount Sion, &c. The Prophet meant, that the Iewes should be delivered out of captivitie, clensed frō their sinnes become holy & righteous, reposs…sse their possessions, and by adding that the house of Iacob, should be a fire, &c. and Esau stubble, that they should bee kin…led and burne, and be consumed till none were left aliue, and that the Iewes with the Israelites should destroy the I dumeans, even as the flame and fire consumeth the stubble till none be left; which the Prophet sealeth with this infallible marke, the Lord hath spoken it.
As it hath beene said before, that the temporal things in the old Testament, are figures vntounto vsus of things spirituall: so is there in these words, another further mea ning then that which I hauehave opened; namely, that the Church of GOD shall at length bee delivered from bondage, and clensed from sinne, ēdued with holines, and so recover that everlasting inheritance, which they were deprived of, and that they shall adiudge the wicked & vngodly all their enimies, vntounto eternal fire, whereby they shall all be consumed. And in this sense is that liuely doctrine fully verified, which in the other is not so fully. Wherein as in a picture slenderly shadowing the lineaments, some part only is obscurely expressed. For although the Iewes after their returne conquered the Edomites, yet were they not consumed 1. Mach. 5 3.as that none of them remained. For Iosephus writeth that some leved even at the sacking of Ierusalem to Lib. 4. cap. vl.…indle and set on fire the Iewes. Wherefore the especiall meaning of this place is, that the Church of GOD shall be delivered from the captivitie, wherein it is held, endued with holines, inherite heaven, whence they were exiled their inheritance, and consume till none of them be left, because the Lord hath said it.
The Church of God therefore, that is, all the godly shall be delivered, the enimies from whom, their sins, the chaines and bands, from which they shall bee loosed, are the paines and torments due vntounto sinne. These cords are loosed, when wee beleeue and embrace the Gospell, wherein Christ Iesus is preached vntounto vsus, who saveth vsus from our sinnes, and from the consequents of our sinnes: and as they who were caried away captiues, returned to their possessions, who were content to receiue the proclamation of Cyrus; so all such as vponupon the proclamation of Christs Gospell, receiue and embrace the same, are most sure to be delivered. This deliverance is to returne back from Babylon to Ierusalem, that is, from the captivitie and slaverie of this world, to the kingdome of heaven.
In those, which are thus to be delivered there is required holines of life. For so also it is said in the gospell, that we are delivered from our sinnes to serue God in holinesse, &c. and it shall be well, saith the Prophet, but to whom? to the iust and holy, not the wicked & prophane: to such as are careful to performe their duty towards GOD and man, to such as sanctifie the Lord in their soule and bodie. There is a book of remembrance written Mal. 3. 16.before the LORD, but it is for them that feared him, & thought vponupon the Lord there is life for them that seek immortalitie, and glorie &c. Let vsus then assure our selues, that if we meane to attaine deliverance, and the fruit thereof, the repossessing of our inheritance, wee must be holy and iust, yer we bee delivered from the hands, &c. For although it may be, that some of them were not holy at such time as they were dispossessed, yet needs must they be holy, before they can possesse them againe. Such were some of you saith Paul, but yee are washed; let this then be especially noted of vsus, that none can receiue the crowne, but such as fight. The possessions 1. Cor. 6 9, 10 & 11.are the kingdome of heaven, w…ich wee possesse by inheritance. No Canaanite or polluted person cā enter into the Lords inheritance, into the kindome of heavē. And as the godly are delivered, so is there another benefit promised thē, namely that for their sakes the wicked shalbe consumed. For it is said, the house of Iacob shalbe fire. Where first we may note; the Emphaticall speach, whē he saith, the house of Iacob shalbe a fire, when he meaneth, that it shalbe like the name of the thing, as it is vsuall, being put for that, which is Resembled to it. Which indeed were not worthy the noting, but for the fanaticall Imagination of Transubstā tiation, which they wil needes proue, for that it is said, This is my body, whence they conclude, that therefore it is his body indeed. But so might we hence also gather that the house of Iacob, was fire indeed, &c. For all mysticall speeches bee not like to that of our Saviour, yet this is common to them, that the names of the signes are given to the thing signified, & so Christ is called Vid. August. e…. 23. ad B…nisac.a Vine, his Father a husbandman, his Disciples branches: and if the Papists, had had any occasion to maintaine any errour on this place of the Prophet, as they hauehave vponupon that of our Saviour, they might hence with greater shew hauehave gathered that Edom was transubstantiated into stubble, for that it is in the Hebrew, that Edom shall not only be stubble, but into stubble. For their owne Schoolemen confesse, that those words of Christ doe not proue, that the bread becommeth Christ his body.
It is said that the godly shall cōsume thē, &c. Which is also meant when it is said that Christ shall Receiue his chosen to iudge the world, which is not only ment of the Apostles, but of all the Saints. As S. Paul saith, know yee not that the Saints shall iudge the Angels, the wicked Angels. God indeed is he who iudgeth, but because he worketh it for his chosen sake, they are said to do it. As it is said that whatsoever is done to one of the little ones, is done to him, and whosoever Receiveth the Apostles Receiveth him, because this is done for his sake. So that it is attributed to the godly, which GOD doth for their cause. As it is in the commandement, honor thy Father &c: that thy daies may be long. The words are, that they may prolong thy daies. That is, thy parēts, not as though they could do it, but for that the parents pray to GOD, for the prosperity of their obedient children, which they therefore are said to work, because God for their sake doth it: In the 16 of Luke, we are commanded to make vsus friends of the vnrighteous mammon, that when we hauehave need, they may Receiue vsus into their habitations: not as if the poore and needy whom we helpe, should do it, but for that GOD for their sakes doth it. Even so is it here said, that the people of GOD should consume their enimies, because God would do it for Heb. 12. 29.their sakes, which is gathered by the Apostle, that our God is a consuming fire.
The last point which is the seale of all is this, the Lord hath spoken it. This is the onelyonly ankerhold indeed in all tempests. For if we would leane on the words of man, let vsus remember they are lyers. Flesh and bloud is not sufficient to assure and strengthen vsus; but onelie the word of the Lord, who performeth all that he saith, who is not as man to lie, nor as mortall man that he should repent, shall he speake, and not performe? For so certainely Numb. 23. 19.as he cannot deny himselfe, so certainely wil he performe, what he saith. Which his name foreign that he here vseth confirmeth vntounto vsus. As he saith to Moyses I hauehave appeared to thē not in my name foreign but in my name Iehovah, which is hee that maketh his promises to be: and so would he then be called, for that hee would then make good the things which hee had before promised. In like manner let vsus remember, that hee hath appeared vntounto vsus in his name Almighty, in the workes of his creation and regeneration, but in his good time he will appeare to vsus in his name Iehovah, and most certainely perfourme all his promises.