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Home , Edom, Kingdom of Judah, Mount Seir, Qos (deity), Shasu, Shishak

Session Outline (9) “And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD...and some of them also I will make for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.” - ​ 66

1. Who was ? What’s his role in ’s story? - Genesis 34 (/Shechem), 49:5-7

2. Who are the Levites? What is their unique role of the Levites within the nation of Israel? a) “first -born (redeemed) sons” - Exodus 32 - Exodus 13; Numbers 18:16 ​- Pidyon Haben

a) “guards and ministers (caretakers)” of the -complex (Numbers 3:7-8) - avad​ - to work; serve; minister - hamar​ - to keep; guard

b) “warrior-priests” (Numbers 8:23-26) - tsaba ​ - come to do (war) duty

c) “sounds of joy” (I Chronicles 15)

d) “messengers of the ” (Malachi 2) - Truthful judges who settle disputes - Interpreters who help people understand the word/commands of Yahweh. - Tangible representatives who “walk in the way” of Yahweh - Physical symbols of 's salvation, mercy, and presence - Turn away (rescue) many from iniquity - Yaheweh is their inheritance; reliant upon others

2. There are two important stories in the that both involve a Levite. a) Numbers 16 - Korah: What makes Korah a ‘rebel’? What does he want that he cannot have? - Jude 1; 2 Peter 2

b) Numbers 25 - Phinneas: What makes Phinneas ‘a loyal son’? What causes Yahweh to bless him?

c) How is Phinehas’ actions an example of Christ’s actions to come? - kaphar ​ - atonement; covering; forgiveness

4. Peter refers to those loyal to Christ (our Great High Priest) as a “royal priesthood”. After considering the scriptures this week, what do you think he means? (1 Peter 2:9-11; 1-3)

Why does this matter today? -

Edomites outline - Part 1 Session 8

1. Geography of

2. Edom and it’s

3. Edom during Israel’s conquest

4. Family Tree

Part II Session 9

1. Israel meets Edom

2. Numbers 20:14-21, Deut 2: 1-8

3. Edom during

4. Edom during foreign rule

5. Intertestamental Period

6.

Study Questions (9)

1. To which Hebrew tribe did belong? What is the reputation and story of this particular tribe of Israel? - Exodus 2; Genesis 34; Genesis 49, Exodus 32, Numbers 3

2. What inheritance did the tribe of Moses receive in the land Yahweh gave to Israel? - 13:32-33; Numbers 35

3. For what reasons was this tribe scattered throughout Israel? - Nehemiah 8:1-12; Malachi 2:1-9

4. What was this tribe’s unique role within Israel? - Numbers 1:47-51; 3:5-10; 18:2-7; Deuteronomy 21:5I Kings 8:4

5. The Hebrew words ​avad​ (“to work”) and s​ hamar​ (“to keep”) can also be translated “serve/minister” and “guard,” respectively. Who else was tasked by God to “work and keep” sacred space?

6. There are two important stories in the book of Numbers that both involve a Levite. a) What makes Korah a ‘rebel’? What does he want that he cannot have? - Numbers 16

b) What makes Phinneas ‘a loyal son’? What causes Yahweh to bless him? - Numbers 25; Psalm 106:28-31

c) Why does Jude bring up Korah’s rebellion in his letter to the 1st-century Christian church? (Jude 1) Why do you think that Jude links Korah and Cain?

8. Peter refers to those loyal to Christ (our Great High Priest) as a “royal priesthood”. After considering the scriptures this week, what do you think he means? - 1 Peter 2:910

9. What is the thrust of Isaiah’s final prophecy? What will Yahweh do? With an ancient Israelite perched on your shoulder, what is being communicated? - Isaiah 66:15-24

I am praying for you this week! Shalom to you and yours.

Edomites

Part 1 Last week we were introduced to the first people that the encountered when they left . Israel encountered many enemies as they traveled to and conquered , and Edom was one of those early enemies. Edom mentioned over 100 times in scriptures. -more info in the biblical record about Edom than any other one of Israel’s neighbors.

-Edom is a kingdom to the south and east of the all the way to the Gulf of in the south. Modern day Israel and . -MAP:The northern border of Edom was the Zered River which was also the southern border of ​ ​ (Deut. 2:13) and the eastern border was the desert. The southern border was Ezion-Geber. was also on the western border of Edom (Num 20:23) - where Aaron died and was buried. -biblical writers refer to Edom often as or Seir which is a mountain range running from the dead sea to the . (ack a buh) -main cities from the biblical record are , and Dedan.

-Archeological surveys have shown a highly civilized society in this area, called the ) at the end of the 3rd millennium, or around 2300-2200BC, but all the great fortresses and settlements were totally destroyed around 1900BC. -It became a camping spot for shepherds and nomadic peoples until the 13th/14th century BC. After that, there was a revival of civilization among the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites and Amorites who quickly divided into national groups with territorial boundaries which were mainly defined by rivers. All these kingdoms underwent a fast development of prosperity and growth from the 13th-8th centuries and then a period of decline and then utter destruction in the 6th c BC.

-The two historical periods in Edoms are the Period of the Chiefs and Period of the Kings, roughly parallel to period of judges and period of kings in Israel.

-The Edomites worshipped mainly fertility gods and numerous clay figures have been discovered around the territory of ancient Edom.. Their chief god was . There seemed to be an early connection between the religion of the people of Seir and that of Yahweh. There is an Egyptian list from the time of Ramses II that juxtaposes the land of of YHW with the Land of Shasu of Seir, leading us to believe that the Egyptians thought Edomites were worshippers of Yahweh early on in their history. -The biblical text might even be depicting Moses father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Middian, as a worshipper of Yahweh. Exodus 18: 9-12. -The wisdom of Edom was held in high esteem by the . (Jer 49:7, 8)

-when Israel encountered Edom, it was a strong kingdom with well defined borders. -archeologists have unearthed extensive copper mining and copper smelting in Edom dating back thousands of years. Edom appeared to be a thriving, centralized kingdom before Israel showed up in the middle of the 2nd millennium. From 1300 through 800BC, the Edomites improved their copper smelting techniques very gradually but a great leap in technology shows up in the archeological record around 925 BC when an Egyptian Pharoah, started invading Israel and . The invasion likely changed the market and demand for copper and the Edomites adopted new innovations. -Interesting that copper and the surrounding hills and soil can all be described as red.

Family tree -Edomites are descendents of , twin of . Edom means ‘red’ in Hebrew, both from Esau’s coloring at birth and the color of the stew he sold his birthright for from Jacob. -Remember Jacob escaped and went to take a wife from outside the land, in Paddan , from his mother Rebekah’s people, as instructed by who didn’t want him to marry a Canaanite woman just as his father,, had found a wife for him from outside Canaan. -Esau, however, married two Hittite women and a daughter of Ishmael and caused Isaac and Rebekah grief (Gen 26:34-35) Gen 28: 8-9 Esau decides to marry within the family to please his parents and take a wife or two from his uncle Ishamel...and marries his cousin(s). Family Tree -Gen 36:6-8 tells us that Esau was living in Canaan when Jacob returned from Paddan Aram And that he moved some distance from Jacob as their possessions were too great for them to remain together, the land could not support them both. Thus he moved to Edom, the hill country of Seir (Gen 32:3). Seir is southwest of Gulf of Aqaba. Edom was Israel’s ‘kin’ and the term ‘brother’ is used in relation to the Edomites or descendents of Esau. -Like the twin brothers, Israel and Edom had a tumultuous relationship.

-Genesis 36 gives us a detailed description of Esau’s descendents. We know that the Edomites were governed by chiefs and kings -The kings of Edom are listed in vs. 31-40, before there was any Israelite king.

Part II Last week, we talked about Edom and their family tree. Edomites are descendents of Esau with Ismael’s daughter and canaanite women.

First encounter with the Edomite people occurs as Israel is trying to enter the promised land after the 40 years of wandering. Remember, they left Sinai, went to , sent out spies,’failed to go into land and were punished with wandering for 40 years.

Numbers 20 begins with dying and the people rebel, again regarding water to drink. Moses and Aaron do not follow the Lord’s instructions and though water flows freely from the rock Moses struck, Moses and Aaron are disciplined by being told they will not be entering the land promised to them.

Numbers 20:14-21 - the King of Edom refuses to allow Israel to pass through Edom to get to ​ the Kings Highway and turn north toward the east side of Canaan. Kings Highway was famous north-south trade route connecting Damascus with Arabia, Sinai, and Egypt

Deuteronomy 2: 1-8 - Moses speaks of going around the hill country of Seir...God says that ​ ​ they had made their way around the hill country long enough and they could turn north. Tell the people that they were about to pass through the territory of their relatives, the descendents of Esau. Do not provoke them for I will not give you any land...I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own, just as Canaan is to be a gift to Israel.

Some thought Yahweh himself resided in Edom. Judges 5: 4-5 The Song of Deborah was written to the kings and rulers of Canaan and celebrates the arrival of Yahweh as a divine warrior marching from Seir/Edom to triumph over the god of Canaan, , who lived in the north, on Mt. Zaphon. Several other OT verses also refer to Yahweh as being associated with Seir/Edom.

Fast forward several hundred years...to the time of the monarchy in Israel. -King conquered Edom during his wars of expansion, turning Edom into a province ruled by appointed governors which paid Israel tribute. (2 Sam 8:14, I Chron 18:13) -David wanted to take control of the trade routes and sea ports that Edom controlled...namely the Kings HIghway and the port of Ezion-Geber on the Gulf of Aqaba.. -1 KIngs 11: 15-16‘For 6 months did remain there with all Israel until he had cut off every male in Edom. -Edom remained a province through David’s reign and most of ’s until , a descendent of the last Edomite king, rebelled against Solomon and overthrew the yoke of Israel’s rule, establishing an independent kingdom for about 50 years. -In the reign of , I kings 22:48 tells us that there was no king in Edom, so Edom had become subject to Judah once again. -the rule of Edom went back and forth between Judah and Edom

-Edom became a vassal Assyrian in the 7th C BC. (745-727BC) -Toward the end of the (6th c BC), Edom was among the peoples preparing to rise up against Babylonian king Nebachadnezzer . During the destruction of , however, Edom was on the other side, either sending its troops against Judah or taking advantage of the event. - Edom had a short respite from BAbylon but was eventually annexed and appears to have been destroyed during this time. The Kingdom of Edom had ended for good.

-It’s clear that Edom didn’t act as a “brother” in this time of distress. Isaiah prophesied against Edom several centuries before Judah was carried off to captivity (Isa 34: 5-6) ​

-It was during Babylonian conquest that Edom seems to become a villain in the Hebrew Scriptures. Edom appears to be complicit in the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem ( Ezek 25: ​ 12-14,, Ezek 35: 1-9, Jer 49:7-11) was a while in exile in Babylon and ​ ​ ​ was a prophet during the destruction of Jerusalem.

-the is a prophecy against Edom and was probably written around the time of the BAbylonian attacks on Jerusalem. (Obad 1: 8-9) Though Obadiah addressed Edom, the ​ ​ warning applied to Israel and was a caution against behaving as Edom had behaved lest the same disaster would befall Judah...which it did.

-During the of Greek rule (350-166BC) Edom became known as Idumea and was ruled by foreign rulers.

-things changed at the end of 2nd c BC. -intertestamental period, Judas Maccabee fought the Seleucids () who were ruling over them at the time...Idumeans assisted the Seleucids against Israel. Israel won and became an independent nation for about 100 years. -One of the rulers during this new Jewish dynasty, conquered all of Idumea and forced conversions of inhabitants to . Now the Idumenas have become a section of the Jewish people and became an ordinary administrative district of the Hasmoneans.

-The Hasmoneans used some of the respected families of Idumea to establish its domain in the area, and Antipas served as ruler of Idumea on behalf of the Hasmoneans. Herod the Great is the grandson of Antipas and was appointed King by Rome in 40BC when they took over Israel. - Idumea is the basis of Herod’s authority. He considers the Idumeans to be much more loyal than the and is dependent upon them for the military settlements throughout the Transjordan. Idumea in times was further north than in previous periods and covered a considerable part of the territory of the , including .

-After Herod’s death in 4BC, Idumea and Israel became blurred and the Roman government abolished the separate status of Idumean, as it became one of 11 ordinary districts of .

-Idumeans participated in the Roman War of 66-70BC. They helped the by freeing them during the siege of the Temple by .

-Edom had come full circle, from aiding those who harmed Israel to coming to their aid as the nation was destroyed.