A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 20 (Part 2)

The hostility between the Israelites and the Edomites would last for years, until at last King David put Edom under Israel’s control. 2nd Samuel 8:14—He also put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David's servants. But, again, as we see in so much of Israel’s history, this too did not last. For we read in 2nd Kings 8 that Joram becomes king of Israel (this was after Israel and Judah split), and Joram was a king after the ways of Ahab his father, and did not do what was right in the sight of God. And he attacked Edom, after Edom established a king for themselves. 2nd Kings 8:21-22—21 So Joram went to Zair, and all his chariots with him. Then he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; and the troops fled to their tents. 22 Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah's authority to this day. For Edom’s rebellion, God sent word by way of the prophet in Ezekiel 25:12-14—12 “‘Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because of what Edom did against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended by avenging itself on them," 13 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "I will also stretch out My hand against Edom, cut off man and beast from it, and make it desolate from Teman; Dedan shall fall by the sword. 14 I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, that they may do in Edom according to My anger and according to My fury; and they shall know My vengeance," says the Lord GOD.’”

This tension between the people of Edom and the people of Israel continued for many years. It got to the point that God gave His prophets messages to give to the people concerning Edom. Obadiah 1:18—“The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame; but the house of Esau shall be stubble; they shall kindle them and devour them, and no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,” for the LORD has spoken. Malachi 1:2-4—2 "I have loved you," says the LORD. "Yet you say, 'In what way have You loved us?' Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" says the LORD. "Yet Jacob I have loved; 3 but Esau I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness." 4 Even though Edom has said, "We have been impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places," thus says the LORD of hosts: “They may build, but I will throw down; they shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, and the people against whom the LORD will have indignation forever.” And God finally dealt the death blow to the land of Edom, although we don’t read about it in any of the canonical books of Scripture, but in the Apocryphal book of 1st Maccabees 5:3—Then Judas [Maccabee] fought against the children of Esau in Idumea, and them that were in Acrabathane: because they beset the Israelites round about, and he made a great slaughter of them. While Judas Maccabee may have been the overall ruler of the people, the military campaign against the Edomites was carried out by a man named John Hyrcanus. He led the battle and subdued the Edomites circa 120 BC. The victory was such that they forced the men of Edom to be circumcised and become Jews. Flavius Josephus writes in his Antiquities of the Jews (Book 13, chapter 9):

Hyrcanus took also Dora and Marissa, cities of Idumea, and subdued all the Idumeans; and permitted them to stay in that country, if they would circumcise their genitals, and make use of the laws of the Jews; and they were so desirous of living in the country of their forefathers, that they submitted to the use of circumcision, and of the rest of the Jewish ways of living; at which time therefore this befell them, that they were hereafter no other than Jews.

Unfortunately, this was not the last we heard from the Edomites, for a man was born in Idumea, whose father was an Edomite, and he would come to be king over the Jews. The man’s name was Herod. Yes, Herod the Great, who was king at the time of Jesus’ birth, was an Edomite, as were his sons. Which may explain why the Herods were so incensed that the child born in Bethlehem was celebrated as King of the Jews. “So how does an Edomite wind up being King over Israel?” Remember, at the time of Jesus’ birth Judea was under Roman occupation. And Herod was a very shrewd man. He was also a friend of Rome. And he was wealthy. Wealthy enough to buy the kingdom. Josephus (Antiquities, Book 14, chapter 14):

[Mark Antony] was very ready to give him [Herod] the assistance he desired, and this because he called to mind the friendship he had had with Antipater because Herod offered him money to make him king, as he had formerly given it him to make him tetrarch, and chiefly because of his hatred to Antigo he was very ready to give him the assistance he desired, and this because he called to mind the friendship he had had with Antipater because Herod offered him money to make him king, as he had formerly given it him to make him tetrarch, and chiefly because of his hatred to Antigonus; for he took him to be a seditious person, and an enemy to the Romans… And this was the principal instance of Antony’s affection for Herod, that he not only procured him a kingdom which he did not expect, (for he did not come with an intention to ask the kingdom for himself, which he did not suppose the Romans would grant him, who used to bestow it on some of the royal family, but intended to desire it for his wife’s brother, who was grandson by his father to Aristobulus, and to Hyrcanus by his mother,) but that he procured it for him so suddenly, that he obtained what he did not expect, and departed out of Italy in so few days as seven in all…when the senate was dissolved, Antony and Caesar went out of the senate house with Herod between them, and with the consuls and other magistrates before them, in order to offer sacrifices, and to lay up their decrees in the capitol. Antony also feasted Herod the first day of his reign. And thus did this man receive the kingdom, having obtained it on the hundred and eighty-fourth Olympiad, when Caius Domitius Calvinus was consul the second time, and Caius Asinius Pollio [the first time].

In fact, the entire family was in Rome’s back pocket. No wonder Christ referred to Herod Antipas as “that fox” in Luke 13:32!

Numbers 20:20-29—20 Then he said, "You shall not pass through." So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him. 22 Now the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. 23 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying: 24 "Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; 26 and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; for Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there." 27 So Moses did just as the LORD commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28 Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 Now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.

Again, this Aaron, who was the first high priest over the people of Israel, gets a very short notice of his death. So as we took a brief glimpse at the life of Miriam at the beginning of the chapter, let us end the chapter by examining the life of Aaron. He was three years old when Moses was born (Exodus 7:7), and we first see his name mentioned in Exodus 4:14 when God tells Moses that Aaron will be his mouthpiece, since Moses expressed reluctance at speaking to Pharaoh. And we see Aaron called a prophet by God in Exodus 7:1—So the LORD said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.” And most times when you see Aaron mentioned, Moses is mentioned with him. That is how closely these two were knit together. They are mentioned together 295 times. It is Aaron who cast down his rod at Pharaoh’s feet and it became a serpent (Exodus 7:10). It is Aaron who took his rod and smote the waters of the Nile to turn them to blood (Exodus 7:20). It was Aaron who, with his rod, smote the dust and turned it into lice (Exodus 8:17). So many times Aaron was faithful to do the commands of God and to glorify Him in Pharaoh’s sight. However…

In Exodus 32 we see just how human Aaron was. Moses is up on Mount Sinai as God is giving him the law for the people. He is up there 40 days and 40 nights. The people start wondering if he is going to come back down. They have not seen God, only the smoke and the fire on the mountain. But in Egypt, they could see Ra. They could see Osiris. They could see Isis. But they could not see יהוה‎. And since their leader is on the mountain, they turn to the one they believe to be the second in command, that being Aaron. They want a god that will lead them, and more specifically a god they can see. Exodus 32:1—Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." And in the same way that Adam did not correct Eve when she took and ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, so Aaron does not correct the people of their folly here. Rather, Aaron said to them, "Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me" (Exodus 32:2). This man that God used so many times in speaking to and against Pharaoh had now cast in his lot with the people who were so fondly reminiscing of the gods they had in Egypt. They had forgotten יהוה and now wanted a god they could touch and see and feel. Abraham knew the God he could not see (Genesis 13:4). Isaac knew the invisible God (Genesis 25:21). Jacob knew God (Genesis 28:13). Joseph knew God (Genesis 39:4).

But now these people had been in servitude to Egypt and Pharaoh for 430 years, and had forgotten the name of God, and only knew of the dumb idols worshipped by Egypt. Aaron, who should have corrected the people and given them hope in the Living God, instead went along with their foolishness and made a golden calf. And it happened in the most peculiar manner! Exodus 32:24—And I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out." Yep, just threw all the precious metal into the fire and *POOF!* This fully formed calf miraculously popped out! Not only that, he laid the charge at the people’s feet (Exodus 32:22-23). If this sounds familiar, it should. Genesis 3:12—"The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree." Both Aaron and Adam were in position to prevent grievous sin, and instead of doing so they brought the sin full circle (see also Exodus 32:25).

And this is why Jesus is our better High Priest, one who is fully submitted to the will of the Father, and who has never disobeyed nor has even thought of being disobedient. Hebrews 9:26-28—26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. The Levitical priests were set apart from their brethren, but Jesus was set apart from all Creation, as He did no sin, nor was guile found in His Mouth (1st Peter 2:22; Isaiah 53:9). He would not have fashioned the Golden Calf simply by the whims of the people; He would not have quarreled with Moses about who was greater. In fact, He calmed such a spirit among His apostles. Matthew 20:26-27—26 “Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.” As humble as Moses was, our Great High Priest was even more humble, and humbled Himself to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). May we be as humble as He, and serve one another in love. 

Brother, let me be your servant/Let me be as Christ to you.

Pray that I might have the grace/To let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey/We are brothers on the road.

We are here to help each other/Walk the mile and bear the load.

 I will hold the Christ-light for you/In the night time of your fear.

I will hold my hand out to you/ Speak the peace you long to hear.

(“The Servant’s Song”, Richard Gillard)

The next important event in Aaron’s life is when he strives, along with Miriam, against the leadership of Moses due to Moses’ Ethiopian wife (Numbers 12:1). Now we see here in Numbers 20 that Aaron is about to die and his mantle passed to his son Eleazar. We will see God make a covenant with the house of Eleazar in Numbers 25, so we will not go into that now. Let us focus for a moment on Mount Hor. It was, according to most experts, to the northeast of Kadesh, on the edge of the land of Edom (but not within its boundaries), in the land of what we now call Jordan near the city of Petra. There is another site that some have thought to be this Mount Hor, and its location is near the Israel-Egypt border (the position of historian Henry Clay Turnbull), while yet another hypothesis says it is near Medina in Saudi Arabia. Most evidence points to the Petra location. We will read of yet another Mount Hor in Numbers 34, but we will address that when we get there. At any rate, it is only mentioned a few times in the book of Numbers, and nowhere else in Scripture. It is only noteworthy as the place where Aaron died and was buried. But, as they have done so often throughout their history, this was appropriated by the Muslims, who built a mosque at its summit atop an old Byzantine church.

So we see at the beginning of Numbers 20 Moses’ sister dies, and at the end of the chapter his brother dies. Most men would have thrown in the towel and called on God to choose someone else to take his position. But not Moses. He was a most humble man (Numbers 12:3), fully submitted to the will of God and whatever He had planned for his life. As we should be.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 20 (Part 1)

So in Numbers 16 we read about the rebellion of Korah and Dathan and how they were destroyed for their insolence. In Numbers 17 we read about how God showed that Aaron was High Priest as decreed by God. In Numbers 18 we saw the sacrifices the priests were to bring to purify the priesthood following the rebellion. In Numbers 19 we saw the commands concerning the red heifer. And no we read Numbers 20:1—Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there. Wait, what? That’s it? That is all we read about the death of Moses’ sister? That she died and was buried? Let’s see some more about the life of Miriam. 

The name Miriam (מִרְיָם) is Hebrew for “rebellion”. And this name fit the woman well, for we see from the earliest account of her life that Miriam played a vital role in rescuing Moses from the death prescribed by Pharaoh and helping Israel escape the servitude the people were in. Had she not been there at the time when Pharaoh’s sister was bathing, and had she not convinced Pharaoh’s sister to keep the child alive, the people would not have been delivered from the hand of Pharaoh. So she was actually responsible for Moses even being alive to lead the people of Israel.  We first see Miriam in the second chapter of Exodus. Exodus 2:1-9—1 And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. 2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. 5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6 And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?" 8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the maiden went and called the child's mother. 9 Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him. 

But did the people think her to be their deliverer? Did they erect altars to her, to call on her as their deliverer? No. The people were not to follow her or to revere her more highly than they ought. The same can be said of the virgin Mary, whose name in Hebrew would also be “Miriam”. Yet she did not rebel, but rather submitted to the will of God in bearing the One who would lead us out of our servitude to sin. Was she important? Yes, and to say otherwise would be folly. But she, like Miriam, should not be elevated above her station. 

The next time we see Miriam is at the other side of the Red Sea, after it had parted and the people of Israel walked across on dry land, and the Egyptians who pursued them were swallowed up by the waters. Exodus 15:20-21—20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21 And Miriam answered them: "Sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!" This is called the “Song of Miriam”. Some claim that the “Song of the Sea” (Exodus 15:1-18) was also sung (and perhaps led) by Miriam, and there may be some evidence in the Dead Sea Scrolls that support this position. The evidence is limited, so we will not delve further into it, as it would only be speculation. Then we next find Miriam complaining with Aaron about Moses’ position as prophet and her being cursed by God with leprosy in Numbers 12, which we have already seen. And now we read about her death and burial. It is interesting to note that when we do read about Miriam there is almost always water involved. When Moses, as a baby, is set upon the water; after the parting of the Red Sea; and here in Numbers 20. Here we see water surrounding the events of her life (and death) as well. Numbers 20:2-5—2 Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. 3 And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: "If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 4 Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink." This is almost an echo of what happened after the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of the Egyptian military in Exodus 15:23-24, when the people complained because of the bitter waters of Marah. The Wilderness of Zin is indeed a desert, located in the northeast section of the Sinai Peninsula, about halfway between Paran and Canaan. At this point, the people sound like your kids when you take them on a long trip and they keep asking “Are we there yet?” No, the people were not yet in the Promised Land, but—as they have been told before—they were getting there. 

(https://www.thetorah.com/article/solving-the-problem-of-kadesh-in-the-wilderness-of-paran)

They were at a place called Kadesh Barnea. Now, allow me to do some explaining here, because it can get tricky. We also read of a place called Meribah Kadesh—this is, from everything I have read, the same place. The word “Meribah” (וּמְרִיבָה) is Hebrew for “strife” or “contention”, and “Kadesh” (קָדֵשׁ) is simply the name given to the area. It was also called “Massah” (מַסָּה, “temptation” or “testing”) by Moses in Exodus 17:7. So, we have Massah, and Meribah Kadesh, and Kadesh Barnea, which are all the name of the same place. It was where the people of Israel were when the twelve spies came back from Canaan in Numbers 13:26. So why the different names? Well, in those days, people and places were given names according to their chief characteristic. The name “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, Hebrew “Moshe”) means “drawn”, corresponding to his being drawn from the water. Exodus 2:10—So she called his name Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.” Kadesh received the names “Meribah” and “Massah” in Exodus 17:7 because the people complained against Moses for the lack of water. So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?" We will see in Numbers 32 the name Kadesh Barnea as the name of the place.

So this is not the first time the people have been here, and like the first time, the people complained about the lack of water. Only this time, the results are different than before. In Exodus 17:6, when the people complain about having no water, God commands Moses to strike the rock. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. This time, God commands Moses to speak to the rock. Numbers 20:8-9—8 "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals." 9 So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. So far so good. God commanded Moses to take his rod in his hand, which Moses does obediently. But here is where Moses defies God, and his frustration with the people boils over, and his obedience is incomplete. If he had only spoken to the rock as God commanded, all would have been okay. But he didn’t. As you have noticed throughout the book of Numbers, the people complained a lot. Their complaining even irritated Moses a bit in Numbers 11, and in response he cried out to God in Numbers 11:11—“Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me?” This was almost a plea of desperation, borne out of his inability to give the people what they wanted. And it was almost a question of whether he was really the one to lead these people. Yes, he was a humble man (Numbers 12:3), but his humility made him almost too humble. And at that time, God was patient with him.

But now, his humility gave way to anger, and instead of being a tender shepherd coming to them with a staff to lead them, he came to them with a rod to rebuke them in anger. Numbers 20:10-13—10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. 12 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." 13 This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed among them. It wasn’t because of Moses striking the rock that God told him to speak to that he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. The striking of the rock was simply the outward display of what was inside him. Does God say “because you struck the rock you will not enter Canaan”? No. "Because you did not believe Me…you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." His striking the rock was a manifestation of his unbelief. Yes, it may have been a momentary bout of unbelief, but Moses was not an ordinary man. He was the prophet of God to the people, and should have never had even a moment of unbelief. Thus, he was not allowed to lead the people into Canaan. He could lead them to the border, but not into the land itself.

“Just for one moment of weakness?” Yes, for even this moment of weakness welling up into anger. For he, being a prophet of God, had the responsibility of leading the people and displaying for them the qualities God desires in His people. Consider the Prophet who was like unto him (Deuteronomy 18:15). Imagine if He had a moment of unbelief. Imagine if He let His emotions get the better of Him. “But what about when Jesus flipped over the tables in the Temple (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15; John 2:15)?” Yes, let’s consider that. Did Jesus do that out of anger? Yes. Was His anger swift and did He simply lose His temper? No, on the contrary. He was very deliberate in His anger. John 2:14-15—14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. The Apostle tells us in his account that our Lord had time to braid a whip of cords; He had time to think about what He was doing. And He did so, not out of a quick flash of temper, but out of a desire for purity in the house where God had put His name. John 2:17—Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up." His desire for the holiness of God to be upheld was what drove Him to flip the tables and to cast out the money-changers. In Moses’ case, he was simply angry, and did contrary to what God commanded him to do. And if God didn’t punish him, what kind of message would this send to the people? But His punishing of Moses caused the people to fear Him and He was hallowed among them.

Psalm 106:32-33—32 They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses on account of them; 33 because they rebelled against His Spirit, so that he spoke rashly with his lips. Another way to look at it is this: It is possible that Moses was not striking just any rock, but it could be that He was striking the Rock--Christ. “Okay, you lost me with this one.” Please, hear me out.  1st Corinthians 10:1-4—1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. “But rock is a fixed thing, and now we are supposed to believe that the rock was Christ and walked along with them?” Not quite. It is true, rock—bedrock, πετρα (petra)—is fixed and immoveable. And it did not so much as move, but stayed fixed with them, and so it could be said to “follow” them. And water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. “So you’re saying that Jesus was a literal rock?” In a way. For the water came flowing out of the rock. And if you remember what we said in Numbers 19 about flowing water, how it was also called “living water”, and remember what Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4:14, It is not a stretch to say that Jesus, who told the woman that He would give living water to any who asked, also provided the people of Israel with this living water. Joseph Benson said, “A manifest type of him, the Rock of ages, who, being smitten in his death and sufferings, poured forth streams of redemption, grace, and heavenly blessings, which follow his people through all this wilderness, and will end in rivers of pleasure at the right hand of God for ever.” The living water Christ gives is not like what the people in the desert drank, or what the woman was drawing up from the well, and thirsted again. He gives us living water which will never run dry!

Numbers 20:14-21—14 Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. "Thus says your brother Israel: 'You know all the hardship that has befallen us, 15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers. 16 When we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border. 17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King's Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.'" 18 Then Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword." 19 So the children of Israel said to him, "We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more." 20 Then he said, "You shall not pass through." So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him. This was a very common custom at the time, and even today, to seek permission from a kingdom in order to traverse their land. Today we see nations ask permission from other nations to use, not only their land and sea routes, but even their airspace. It can be seen as, at the very least, a breach of protocol, and at worst an act of war, for one nation to take a shortcut through a country’s land, or even their waters or airspace without permission.

 

Here we see another important event in the history of Israel, the refusal of the Edomites to permit passage of Israel through the land of Edom. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob. Esau, who was also called Edom (Genesis 25:30), established a land to the south and to the southwest of the Dead Sea. And we read about Esau meeting Jacob as Jacob left Laban after making a covenant with him in Genesis 31. Jacob was preparing to enter the land of Seir, where Esau was living. Jacob gets scared, knowing how he weaseled Esau out of the blessing of Isaac as well as the birthright. So he splits up his company, sends one half one way and Jacob goes the other way with the rest of his company. When he finally meets Esau, he bows his face to the ground and calls himself Esau’s servant (Genesis 33:3). And Esau could have been rightly incensed at seeing his heel-catching brother, as he was when Jacob stole the birthright from Isaac, and Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob" (Genesis 27:41). But what do we read of their reunion? But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself" (Genesis 33:9). Esau had been blessed with wealth and camels and wives, and no longer held a grudge against his brother.

But that peace did not last. As the people of Israel were preparing to leave Kadesh, they were preparing to head north, a trek that would have necessitated their travelling through the land of Edom. And they would have passed through the narrow northwest sliver of Edom, not very long at all, even for their large numbers. Now, they would not have taken the King’s Highway, as this passed on the east of the Dead Sea, but rather one of the other well-trodden highways in the area. But whereas previously, Jacob feared Edom, now Edom feared Jacob, as the king said "You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword."  He thought that Israel would try to fight them as they fought the Amalekites, and as God had defeated Egypt. This denial of passage would cause Edom to be despised in God’s sight. What peace the brothers themselves may have had between them was now supplanted with hostility between their descendants.

Part 2 next week

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.