God and bad men.
"The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle." Of the history of Obadiah we literally know nothing. His name, which signifies "Worshipper of Jehovah," and his short prophecy afford the only information concerning him From Obadiah 1:11 to 14, which are thought to contain an allusion to the exultation of the Edomites over the final capture and plunder of Jerusalem, we might with some confidence infer that he flourished after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. In all probability he must have lived near the time of Jeremiah; and indeed there is almost a verbal agreement between his utterances in verses 1-8 and those contained in Jeremiah 49:1-39. If we take this view we might suppose that his prophecy was delivered between the year B.C. 588, when Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans, and the termination of the siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. As to his prophecy, it is the shortest in the Bible: one chapter comprehends all. Its subject is the destruction of Edom on account of its cruelty to Judah, Edom's brother, and the restoration of the Jews. Its style is marked by animation, regularity, and clearness. These words of the first verse suggest two thoughts concerning God and bad men.
I. THAT GOD MAKES A REVELATION CONCERNING BAD MEN. Here is a revelation concerning Edom, the enemy of God and his people. Isaac had two sons by Rebekah—Esau and Jacob. Esau was called Edom, "red," in memory, it is said, of the red pottage for which he sold his birthright (Genesis 25:30). Observe:
1. The forms of the revelation.
2. The character of this revelation—a message. "An ambassador is sent among the heathen." Did he mean by the ambassador, himself, or any other prophet or prophets, or some celestial minister? It does not matter. The message is the thing—a message from Jehovah to the nation. God sends his messages to the nations in many ways and by many agents.
3. The subject of the revelation. "Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle." The object of the message was to stir up the Assyrians, and afterwards the Chaldeans, against Edom. But our proposition is that God makes a revelation concerning bad men; and the subject of that revelation embraces at least two things.
II. THAT GOD PUNISHES BAD MEN BY BAD MEN. He now sent a messenger amongst the nations. What for? To stir up the Assyrians and Chaldeans—both bad people—to wreak vengeance on corrupt Edom. Why does he employ bad men for this awful work of retribution? He could do is without any secondary agency at all, or, if he chose to employ any instrumentality, could use the forces of nature and the monsters of the forest alone to do the work; why employ bad men to punish bad men, fiend to punish fiend? By doing so:
1. He reveals in the most powerful way to the victim the enormity of his sin. The torture which his fellow man brings on him he is made to feel is but a slight stroke of that fiend of depravity which has set his own soul against his Maker.
2. He reveals his own absolute power over the workings of the human heart. Thus he maketh "the wrath of men to praise him," etc. (Psalms 76:10). He makes even the devil himself to carry out his will. But though God employs bad men to punish bad men by rapine, plunder, and bloody wars, it is not by his instigation; they act by their own free will. He is not the Author of evil. All good proceedeth from him, and all evil is overruled by him for the order and blessedness of the universe. The devil is not less a devil because he inflicts the penalties of justice on men.—D.T.