Numbers
20:14 ¶ And Moses sent messengers from
Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all
the travail that hath befallen us: 15
How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long
time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers: 16 And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our
voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold,
we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: 17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy
country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither
will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s high
way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed
thy borders. 18 And Edom said unto him,
Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. 19 And the children of Israel said unto him, We
will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will
pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through
on my feet. 20 And he said, Thou shalt
not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a
strong hand. 21 Thus Edom refused to
give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.
Moses now reaches out
to the king of Edom. We know from Genesis that this country received its name
from Esau, Jacob or Israel’s brother. Edom which eventually will be known as
Idumea.
Genesis
36:1 Now these are the generations of
Esau, who is Edom…8 Thus dwelt Esau in
mount Seir: Esau is Edom.
Ezekiel
35:15 As thou didst rejoice at the
inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto
thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and
they shall know that I am the LORD.
The
kingdom of Edom no longer exists but its geography lies within the southern
reaches of the country known as Jordan. Some commentators believe that it is
the location of the wilderness where the survivors of the Beast of Revelation’s
final fight against the Jews will flee in Revelation 12. There lies the famous
rock city of Petra. Esau’s legacy then runs throughout history and Jacob and
Esau will be united in a manner of speaking in the end, if this is correct.
The
king of Edom refused Israel passage through his kingdom, possibly out of fear
of the consequences of such a large body of people entering his kingdom over
whom he had little control. The king blocked Israel’s forward progress with a
large body of people.
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