The Song of Solomon : and the Lamentations of Jeremiah

IV. 21, 22.] THE DEBT OF GUILT EXTINGUISHED 301
country—is mentioned to show that she is in a position
of exceptional prosperity. The poet mockingly en-
courages the jealous people to "rejoice and be glad"
at the fate of their rival. The irony of his language is
evident from the fact that he immediately proceeds to
pronounce the doom of Edom, The cup of God's
wrath that Israel has been made to drink shall pass to
her also ; and she shall drink deeply of it till she is
intoxicated and, like Noah, makes herself an object of
shame. Thus will God visit the daughter of Edom
with the punishment of her sins. The writer says that
God will discover them. He does not mean by this
phrase that God will find them out. They were never
hidden from God ; there are no discoveries for Him to
make concerning any of us, because He knows all
about us every moment of our lives. The phrase
stands in opposition to the common Hebrew expression
for the forgiveness of sins. When sins are forgiven
they are said to be covered ; therefore when they are
said to be uncovered it is as though we were told that
God does the reverse of forgiving them—strips them
of every rag of apology, lays them bare. That is their
condemnation. Nothing is more ugly than a naked sin.
The selection of this one neighbour of the Jews for
special attention is accounted for by what contemporary
prophets tell us concerning the behaviour of the
Edomites when Jerusalem fell. They flew like vultures
to a carcass. Ezekiel writes : " Thus saith the Lord
God, Because that Edom hath dealt against the house
of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended,
and revenged himself upon them ; therefore thus saith
the Lord God, I will stretch out Mine hand upon
Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it, and I
will make it desolate from Teman ; even unto Dedan