Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Many days


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 2:1–7, “Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days. And the LORD spake unto me, saying, Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink. For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.”
Mount Seir is a large mountain range that runs along the eastern side of the Jordan River. It would seem that Israel wandered for a long time in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula after they had finished receiving the Law from the Lord in Mount Sinai. However, after a long time of wandering in that desert the Lord told them to turn towards the north and move towards Seir, where the descendants of Esau lived. Esau was Jacob’s (Israel’s) brother so they were forbidden from taking his land and attacking his descendants for the Lord had already allocated them Land because they, too, were descended from Abraham. In fact, they were to buy any food or water that they needed from these people. This was because the Lord had already provided far more abundantly for Israel than He had for any of the other nations.

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