“Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own. You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.”-Deuteronomy 2:4-6
If there is any set of verses in the whole Bible that prove Israel’s conquest of Canaan was NOT about imperialism and world domination, Deuteronomy 2:4-6 is a prime candidate.
In these verses, God makes it clear to Israel they are to avoid any conflict whatsoever with Edom.
He tells them they are even to go out of their way to “pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink”.
Do you recall who Edom was?
Edom was simply another another name for Esau.
You remember who Esau was, right?
He was Jacob’s twin brother who sold his birthright to Jacob for a mere bowl of soup.
And remember “Israel” was just another name for “Jacob”.
What about the word SEIR?
SEIR is just another name for EDOM.
That’s right.
“Esau”, “Edom”, and “Seir” are all referring to the same thing.
Let’s take a look at the phrase “They will be afraid of you, but be very careful“.
Why is God telling them to “be careful”?
In the context here, God is not telling them they need to be wary or afraid of the Edomites.
The opposite actually.
It is the Edomites who are shaking and quaking in their boots because of Israel.
What the Lord really means here is…
“Be careful not to do any harm to the Edomites”.
It was well understood in those times that when a people your were afraid of approached, the first thing you did was confront them in battle as a means to convince them that entering into a treaty would be the better option than to continue fighting.
Entering into a treaty allowed the weaker nation to save face because the current king would be allowed to stay in his post.
God was telling Moses and the leadership of Israel in no uncertain terms that they were to bend over backwards in being most hospitable to Edom.
They were not to step foot on Edomite territory nor would they to take any food or water from them.
So instead, Israel ended up going around the land of Edom and headed up north towards the Arabah which was in Moabite territory.
Speaking of the Moabites, do you remember where this race of people came from?
Well…do you remember Abraham’s nephew Lot who barely escaped from Sodom and Gomorrah before God completely destroyed the place?
The Moabites are descended from Lot’s seed.
Remember, God respected the love that Abraham had for his nephew Lot.
As a result, not only did God save Lot from being destroyed with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, he also set apart land for Lot’s descendants and made it clear to Israel they were not to touch it.
God not only loves those who love Him…
…but loves those whom those who love Him love.
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