Paraphrase of the Hard Texts of Scripture, Scripture 27
OBADIAH.
1 Wee have heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassadour is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battell.WE that are the prophets of God, have heard the Lord declaring his purpose cōcerning Edom; & sending his Angel to stirre up the Chaldees against him, saying,2 Behold I have made thee small among the heathen, thou art greatly despised Arise ye (and I shall assist you) to make warre against the Edomites.
Behold, though thou art but an handfull, in respect of the rest of the heathen round about thee, and art but meanly thought of, for thy power;
Yet thou art foolishly lifted up in the pride of thine owne heart; and deceivest thy selfe,3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee: thou that dwellest in the clifts of the rocke, whose habitation is high, that saith in his heart, who shall bring mee downe to the ground? with a false confidence in thine impregnable situation; thou dwellest aloft in the clefts of the rocks, which thou thinkest inaccessible, and sayest in thine heart, who shall bee able to bring me downe?
But know, that though thy forts,4 Though thou exalt thy selfe as the Eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the starres, thence will I bring thee downe saith the Lord. and castles were as high, as the Eagle can build her nest, or flie; yea, though thou couldst build as high as the starres, this shold not availe thee; thence will I fetch thee downe, saith the Lord.
How art thou, contrary to thy expectation,5 If theeves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off,) would they not have stollen, till they had enough; if the grape gatherers came to thee, would they not leave som grapes. utterly cut off, O Edom; without all remainders of hope of recovery? If theeves, if robbers by night come to steale from thee, they would onelyonly take their bouty, so much as they can thinke enough to serve their turne, and leave the rest; If the grape gatherers come to pull the clusters from thy vine, they would leave some grapes for the gleaners, that shall come after.
But as for thine enemies, the Chaldees,6 How are the …hings of Esau searched out? how are his hid things sought up? they shall ransacke, and rifle all the things of Edom; and shall search out all thine hidden commodities,7 All the men of thy confederacie have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee, have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee, they that eate thy bread have laid a wound under thee, there is none understanding in him. and carry them away at once.
All those of thy confederacy, to whom thou trustedst, even the Moabites, and Ammonites, which were in league with thee, have deceived thee, and have driven thee out of thy owne seat, even to the utmost borders of thy country; thine intire associates have craftily drawne thee into that inconvenience, which thou canst not avoid, nor remedy; and (for all thy pretence of wisedome) thou hast no understanding of this plot laid for thy ruine.
As thy wise men, so thy valiant soldiers,9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shalbe dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. even those of Teman (which are most famous for skill and courage) shall be utterly cut off; that there may be none left alive in all the mount of Esau.
11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive.In the day of battle, thou stoodst opposite to thy brethren, the issue of Jacob; and wert willing enough, that the enemies should carry them away captive, &c.
13 Thou shouldest not have entred into the gate of my people in the day of their calamitie.Thou shouldest not have entred into the gates of the cities of Israel, my people, in the day of their calamity, to help to spoile, and sacke them, &c.
16 For as yee have drunke upon mine holy mountaine, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea they shall drinke, and they shall swallow downe, and they shall be as though they had not beene.For, as ye my people, which dwell and worship upon mine holy mountaine, have drunke up the cup of my bitter affliction; so shall all the heathen pledge you continually of the same cup; yea, they shall drinke it to the very dregges, and shall swallow it downe; and they shall bee so cut off, as if they had never beene.
17 But unto mount Zion shall bee deliverance, and there shall be holinesse, and the house of Iacob shall possesse their possessions.But, in the end, upon mount Zion shall be an happy restauration of my people; there shall be holy service performed to my name, in the re-edified Temple; and the sonnes of Jacob shall bee restored to their old possessions.
18 And the house of Iacob shall bee a fire, and the house of Ioseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devoure them, and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau for the Lord hath spoken it.And I will make the house of Jacob, (both Judah, and Ephraim) to be as a fire, whiles the posterity of Esau, is as stubble; so as the fire of Israel shall consume the stubble of Esau, till there be none left of that accursed generation.
And they of the South (which are the tribe of Judah) shall possesse the mountainous Country of Edom; and they of Benjamin,19 And they of the South shall possesse the mount of Esau, and they of the plaine, the Philistimes; and they shall possesse the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria, and Benjamin shal possesse Gilead. which are of the plaine, shall possesse the cities of the Philistims; and the rest of Israel shall returne to, and recouer their ancient bounds of inheritance, with much inlargement; in a figure of the spirituall extending of the borders of my Church, under the Gospel, over all the coasts of the earth.
And the host of those Israelites, which shall be returned from their captivity,20 And the Captivitie of this hoste of the children of Israel shall possesse that of the Cananites, even unto Zarephath, and the captivitie of Ierusalem which is in Sepharad, shall possesse the citie of the South. shall possesse the land of the Canaanites, even to the utmost bounds thereof, which is Sarepta, as they formerly injoyed it; And the returned, captives of Juda (which are in Sepharad, the remotest part of Babylon) shall possesse those cities of the South, which are their ancient limits.
21 And Saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau, and the Kingdome shall be the Lords.And God shall, from time to time raise up mighty, and gracious deliverers of his people in that his royall, and holy hill of Zion, which shall represse the rage of his enemies, and pull downe the pride of Edom; and God shall challenge to himselfe the right and protection of his Kingdome of Israel.