And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau;
for the LORD has spoken it.
All Commentaries on Obadiah 1:18 Go To Obadiah 1
Jerome
AD 420
The spiritual interpretation is as follows: Through destruction of the works of the flesh and the desolation of earthly kingdoms, there will be salvation in the church for those who do not go out from their mother church. And the saints who die inside her—concerning whom it is said in Isaiah, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabbaoth,” because it refers to those whom he sanctifies as well as those who are sanctified—all are from one and the same church. And the house of Jacob the supplanter will occupy that which they possess by heredity from those who persecuted the Christians. And Edom itself will be received by faith into the church…. The house of Esau will not survive, for when the wise men [who came from Edom] come to see Jesus, they will be turned into nothing, that is, they will be absorbed into his salvation near the same place where, in blessing, Isaac said to Esau, “I have given him your master, all your sons I have given to him as servants.” And there will be no remnant of the house of Esau left when all the heavens and earth bow to Christ and hell and the universe is subjected to him so that God may be all in all. .
