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I. THE WORLD'S QUESTION. In the first instance it is a question put by the Edomites of Mount Seir to Israel's watchman. It is worth noting that a people animated with such hostile feelings should thus open up communication with the objects of their hostility. Two expiations might be given. It may be they asked the question tauntingly in a spirit of mockery, or they may have asked it earnestly in a spirit of anxious inquiry. Either of these views will fit the historical conditions.

I. If we adopt the first, we must suppose the Jews to be in captivity and the Edomites prospering, and we know from history that they did prosper during the Babylonish captivity, At that time they got possession of a portion of Jewish territory in southern Palestine, having been permitted to settle there as a reward for their services to the Babylonians during the struggle that preceded the captivity. While occupying this new settlement, their fortunes rose, and in the exuberance of success they retaliated on their now oppressed brethren, as much as to say, You who boasted of being the special favourites of Heaven, where is now your God? Your night of oppression has continued long enough, is there any sign of deliverance? Surely it is time for your God to show His hand! The picture is something like this: On Mount Seir, the highest eminence in the land, the Edomites are convened, elated by their fleeting prosperity; while in a foreign land are the captive Jews, groaning under the yoke of the oppressor, and their watchman or prophet standing on his watchtower, eager to catch the first ray of deliverance. From the one to the other passes the taunting, call, "Watchman, what of the night?" And the watchman returns the reply, "The morning is coming, and also the night. Do not deceive yourselves, ye taunting Edomites, your momentary prosperity will become a night of gloom and our present calamities will be followed by a glorious day. The morning of deliverance will come to the captive Jews, but the night of desolation to the mocking Edomites." The question is still thrown out by the unbeliever with a fling of scorn, "Watchman, what of the night?" "Tell us what progress you are making, etc. There are not wanting in these days men who affect to throw discredit on Christian and missionary effort. Look, say they, how little has been accomplished by these means in the past, and how much remains to be done. Instead of the Gospel, let us try civilisation, the spread of commerce, and the wider diffusion of knowledge, and the morning will soon dawn. Now, if this were so, it would indeed be a serious charge. But what are the facts! Let it he conceded that the visible marks of Christian progress are not overwhelming; at the same time no one who will cast his eyes over the earth can fail to see that the nations most advanced in civilisation and what is called modern culture are also the most Christian.

2. Let us think of the question as being asked in a spirit of anxious inquiry. In this case, the once captive Jews must be regarded as a prosperous people, living in their own land, and the once prosperous Edomites as an oppressed People. In their distress they cry to those whom they previously mocked. But their cry has a different meaning now that the tables have been turned. "What of the night" now means an earnest desire to know how long their calamities are likely to last. As if they had said, It has been a night of dire adversity with us, tell us, you who are a watchman in Zion, is that night nearly past? We have suffered much, and are longing for relief. Are our sufferings nearly at an end? If this view is adopted, it is still a question addressed by the world to the Church; no longer, however, in mockery, but in a spirit of anxious inquiry. There do come times in the history of godless nations and individuals, when, in the midst of trouble, they are constrained to pay homage to the Church, and call upon her for advice. There are in the Bible several instances of the wicked consulting God's ministers in times of calamity. And have we not seen examples of men calling on God in the hour of calamity, who never bowed a knee to Him in the hour of their prosperity! When such a question is asked with a true motive, that of itself is an indication to the watchman that the morning is coming. It is the duty of the spiritual watchman to declare to the people the whole counsel of the King, to discern wisely the signs of the times, so as to be able to impart the needed instruction.

II. THE CHURCH'S REPLY, whether the question is asked by way of taunt or in an earnest spirit. In either case, the inquirer is assured that the morning of a glorious deliverance will come to the. oppressed Church, while a night of awful desolation will fall upon her foes.

1. This prophecy was unmistakably fulfilled in the after history of the Edomites. The morning did come, as the watchman said, and for a short period the Edomites were a flourishing people in the land of Seir; but they refused to inquire, they did not return, they wandered further from the path of righteousness, and the long night of desolation overtook them. The prophecy regarding it, in Isaiah 34:12, 13, has been literally fulfilled. And this is the inevitable doom of those who will not improve the day of their merciful visitation — "the night cometh."

2. But while the watchman's message to the enemies of the Gospel is one of woe and warning, he has a message of encouragement to the people of God. "The morning cometh." Night and morning! Unlike air, and yet they go hand in hand. What will be morning to some will be night to others.

3. Yet again, the watchman says, "If ye will inquire, inquire ye." Addressed originally to the inquiring Edomites, the words still apply to their modern successors whether they put their questions in jest or in earnest. The inquiring spirit here meets with no rebuff, for it is a healthy sign. History records instances of men who studied the Christian evidences in order to refute them, and ended by becoming devoted Christians. Religion, so far from shunning investigation, rather invites it. And if there is a sure solution of his -perplexities awaiting the critical investigator, there is also an answer that will satisfy the inquirer after salvation.

4. There is another class of persons to whom the watchman's commission extends. To them he says, "return" — a word which may he taken to refer to backsliders.

5. The text contains one other word — a word of encouragement to all. This word is, "come"; a word that Jesus, when on earth, was never weary of uttering, and which He has left behind Him as the Church's invitation call to Gospel privileges.

(D. Merson, M. A. , B. D.)

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KJV: The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

WEB: The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?"