The Pulpit Commentary — Obadiah — Section 14

instructions from his :Muter, with whom he ia in intimate communication. 2. The servant of the Lord is the agent in conveying the :M88ter'a will to hia fellow-men. This WILi! especia.lly the voca.tion of the prophet, who spoke forth the mind of the Almighty to the righteous and to the wicked, whether they would hea.r or forbear, Ver. 1.-The v'8ion. The designation sometimes given to the prophet, "the seer," corresponds with la.nguage which is in many places employed to denote the aot of communion with God, by which the honoured serva.nt was qualified for discharging his sa.cred office. The process and its results are thus brought very strikingly before our mind. I. THE REVELATION. There is something to be seen, something which is hidden from the minds of ordina.ry men, something from which, therefore, the veil must be withdrawn, if the spiritual eye is to ga.ze upon it. How God ma.kes himself, his cha.racter, his purposes, known to those whom he selects for this specia.l privilege, we do not know. But, unless Scripture is mislea.ding and deceptive, suoh a revelation has taken pla.ce. Especially to the prophets, things otherwise unseen, unknown, ha.ve been revea.led. II. THE INSIGHT. Unless there is an eye, the light shlnes in va.in; indeed, light is but an undulation of ether which it needs the susceptible optic nerve to appreciate. And in order tha.t God may ma.ke his counsels known to men, there must be not only objective revelation, but subjective inspiration. The spiritual fa.culty needs to be quickened, tha.t in God's light we may see light. The action of the Holy Spirit upon the mind of the prophet brought that mind into a receptive stste, so that the Divine rays occasioned human illumination. The prophet saw the mind, the will, the intentions, of the Eternal. III. THE PROPHECY. Because the spiritual eye discerned the spiritual reality, the seer became the prophet. What his eyes had seen he was thus enabled to communicate for the information, the warning, the encouragement, of his fellow-men. Vers. 3, 4.-.The deceptiv,maa of human pride. The prophecies of Obadiah were mainly addressed to the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, a wild and warlike people who inhabited the mountainous region to the south of the Dead Sea. Their hostility and trea.chery towards their kinsmen, the descendants of Israel, were the occasion of the threa.tenings with which this book abounds. Fancying themselves secnre and impregr:.able in their singular mountain fastnesses, they deemed their neighbours altogether incapable of chastising their perfidy and enmity. But man is only man, and not God; and this lesson Obadiah brings before the inhabita.nts of Idumea in the glowing and poetical language of the text. L SELF-EXALTATION. This was the state of mind in which the Edomites defied the people of Jehovah. Their homes were literally in the clefts of the rocks, where caves sheltered them at an elevation above those passing through the defile below, which seemed to secure their exemption from the assaults of their foes. They compared themselves with the eagle, whlch chooses the loftiest peaks for his dwelling-place. Nay, they seemed to disdain the earth, and to dwell among the stars. All this is indicative of human pride. :Men too often flatter themselves that physical strength, mental powers, social position, politica.l alliances, raising them above the common herd, raise them also above the common lot. II. SELF-OONJl'IDENOE. "Who," say the Edomltes, "who shall bring us down to the ground?" Men measure their strength with their fellow-men, and draw from the comparison most delllBive oonclllBions. Because they are superior to one, they fanoy themselves superior to all; and because they believe themselves above the reach of human enemies, they believe themselves above the reach of God himself. It is a sin to which strong natures are especially exposed. The powerful and the prosperous are temptt:d to place confidence both in their own wisdom and ability and in their own good fortune. But "let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" ill. HofilLIATION. We are assured upon the highest authority that "a haughty 1pirit cometh before a fall." In the plenitude of their power and pride, the Edomites ~eard a voice from heaven saying, "I will bring thee down." A retributive providence .18 a reality. Even the heathen believed in Nemesis, and regarded boastfulness as  1-21.] THE BOOK OJ!' OBADIAH, 9