Friday, December 11, 2020

Numbers 20:14-21 comments: Edom refuses passage

 


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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