Edom

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Numbers 20:14–21, “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: How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers: 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: 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. And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. 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. And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.”

Jacob, who later became Israel and the father of the nation, had a brother called Esau. Esau had a second name, Edom, meaning red because he was willing to sell his birthright for a plate of red lentils (Gen 25:29–34, “And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.”). In the passage of time both these brother were the fathers of two different nations, Israel and Edom. In spite of this both the nations were, ultimately descended from Abraham. For this reason, Israel was not to take any land from Edom and they were not to instigate a war against their close relatives. In order to avoid a war but move from the wilderness to the Promised Land, Moses asked the Edomites if Israel could pass through their land without any conflict and without taking any of Edom’s resources. The Edomites, however, decided that they would prefer to fight a war against Israel, their relatives and refused to let them pass through their territory. Perhaps they had heard about the Lord’s dealings with Egypt and were afraid to allow Israel to enter their land and take it away from them. Even though Israel was justified in fighting a war, Moses chose to follow the Lord’s command and took Israel the long way around rather than taking a few days to take the most direct route towards the Promised Land.