John Calvin Commentary Obadiah 1:17

"But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions." — Obadiah 1:17 (ASV)

Here the Prophet promises deliverance to the Jews, for other consolations would have been of no great importance if those who were then perishing had no hope of being restored to safety at some time. The Jews might indeed have objected, saying, “What is it to us, even if the Lord avenges our wrongs? If the Edomites are destroyed for our sake, what profit will that be to us? In the meantime, we are destroyed and have no hope of deliverance.”

The Prophet here addresses this objection, saying, In Mount Zion shall be escape. Even though the Edomites had attempted to intercept all escape routes, as has been mentioned before, God still promises here that there would be an escape in Mount Zion. He does not say from Mount Zion, but in the very mountain. What does this mean? It means that God would restore those who might then seem to be lost. Thus, Obadiah clearly promises that there would be a restoration of the Church.

But we are taught in this passage that the punishment by which the Lord chastises His people for their sins is always temporary. Therefore, whenever God inflicts wounds on His Church, the remedy is prepared at the same time, for God does not intend, nor does He allow, His own people to be wholly lost.

We may learn this from the Prophet’s words when he says that there would be escape in Zion. And it was no ordinary comfort for the Jews to know that, even in their extreme decay, some hope of deliverance remained for them, and that the people, who might appear at the time to be extinct, would nevertheless be saved and preserved alive, as though they rose from the dead.

He says that Mount Zion would be holiness, or holy, by which he means that God would be mindful of His covenant. Since He had chosen Mount Zion where He would be worshipped, the Prophet intimates that God’s name was not invoked there presumptuously or in vain. Inasmuch as God had chosen this mount for Himself, it was holy, for God is said to have profaned the land and the temple when He forsook them and delivered them up into the hands of enemies.

So also now, when the Prophet says that Mount Zion would be holy, it is the same as if he had said that God would care for this mountain, because He had once consecrated it to Himself and intended it to be His own habitation. The cause, then, is put here for its effect.

He had said that the Jews would survive, however much like the lost and the dead they might be for a time—How could such a thing be? The reason is this—Mount Zion shall be holy; it was a dreadful profanation of Mount Zion when the temple was destroyed, when the holy vessels were taken away by the Babylonians, and when, in short, the enemies showed every kind of insolence there.

But when the Lord restored His people, when the altar was rebuilt and sacrifices were offered, then Mount Zion recovered its holiness; that is, God manifested that the grace of His election had not been abolished, for He had again sanctified Mount Zion and thus intended it to be preserved safe.

Holy, then, shall be Mount Zion. If anyone were disposed to refine more on the Prophet’s words, he might say that it is evidently the manner of our salvation that is intended when God is said to sanctify or govern us by His Spirit; but the Prophet, I have no doubt, is referring here simply to the election of God.

And the house of Jacob shall again possess his own possessions; that is, whatever God has given as an inheritance to the children of Abraham, He will restore to them when they return from exile. If anyone prefers to interpret 'possessions' as those of Edom, I do not object.

But I still think that the real meaning of the Prophet is that when the children of Israel return from exile, God will restore their ancient country to them, so that they might possess whatever had been promised to their father Abraham. He means then, by 'their possessions,' the whole land which came by lot into the possession of the chosen people, as it had been promised to Abraham.