Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah.
This portion basically telescopes the events from the sin of the spies until the new generation was ready to enter the promised- land. This Torah portion also offers valuable insight into the nature and challenges the end time called out ones will encounter before the return of Messiah.
Deu 2:1 “Then we turned and set out into the
wilderness, the way of the Sea of Reeds, as יהוה spoke to me,
and we went round Mount Sĕʽir, many days.
Deu 2:2 “And יהוה spoke to me,
saying,
Deu 2:3 ‘You have gone around this mountain long
enough, turn northward.
Deu 2:4 ‘And command the people, saying, “You are
about to pass over into the border of your brothers, the descendants of Ěsaw,
who live in Sĕʽir, and they are afraid of you. So be on your guard.
Deu 2:5 “Do not strive with them, for I do not give
you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given
Mount Sĕʽir to Ěsaw as a possession.
Deu 2:6 “What food you buy from them with silver you
shall eat. And also, what water you buy from them with silver you shall drink.
Deu 2:7 “For יהוה your Elohim
has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He has known your wandering
through this great wilderness. These forty years יהוה your Elohim
has been with you, you have not lacked any matter.” ’
To understand this section we need to understand who and what Esaw represents here on earth.
What is the hidden truth of Esaw?
Oba 1:6 “How Ěsaw shall be searched out! His hidden
treasures(matters) shall be sought out!
Oba 1:10 “Because of your violence against your brother
Yaʽaqoḇ, let shame cover you. And you shall be cut off forever.
Oba 1:18 “And the house of Yaʽaqoḇ shall be a fire, and the house of Yosĕph a flame, but the house of Ěsaw for stubble. And they shall burn among them and they shall consume them, so that no survivor is left of the house of Ěsaw.” For יהוה has spoken.
Esaw’s favourite hiding place has been in religion - Christian religion – Jewish religion and Islamic religion. The most dangerous enemy is the one who deceives you, who pretends to be your friend, who claims to really have your interests at heart but is only concerned about how they can manipulate and control you for the sake of their cause, to plunder you and enrich themselves – this is the Edomite spirit.
Esaw will earn his lving by the sword, plundering from wars or working as a mercenary, often in the name of their God. We see this is what Esaw has done. According to the Torah, Esaw did not receive the blessing of the first born from Yitschak. Esaw receives only a secondary blessing, yet it is said that he will for a time have ascendancy over Yakov.
Gen 27:40 And by your sword you are to live, and serve your brother. And it shall be, when you grow restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
This is possibly the current state of affairs in the world – however when Messiah returns Esaw and his descendants will be completely destroyed – Obad 1:18.
In an article on "Edom", the Jewish
Encyclopdia (1925 edition), has this statement:
"(In 163BC) Judas
Maccabeus conquered the [Edomite[ territory for a time. They [the Edomites] were
again subdued by John Hyrcanus (about 125 BC), by whom they were forced to
observe Jewish rites and laws. They were then incorporated with the Jewish
nation, and their country was called by the Greeks and Romans,
"Idumea." With Antipater began the Idumean dynasty that ruled over
Judea till its conquest by the Romans . . . From this time the Idumeans ceased
to be a separate people."
Why? – because they assimilated into all the nations of the world.
In Num 31:16 we see how Bilaam advised to destroy Yisrael – by causing them to intermarry with the nations around them.
One of the most famous Edomites in the Scriptures was Herod. It is a historical fact that Herod is recognized not as a Jew from the Tribe of Judah, but as an Idumaean an Edomite.
Clarke's Commentary says that Constantine and the emperors after him were all Edomites. This comes from Adam Clarke’s commentary on ISAIAH 34: "This chapter points out the future destruction of Rome, which is here called Bosra; for Bosra was a great city of the Edomites. Now a major part of the Romans are Edomites, who profess the law of Jesus. The Emperor Caesar was an Edomite, and so were all the emperors after him.
http://www.yeshuatyisrael.com/bozrah.htm
Bosra or Botzrah was only a
nick name for the city of Rome. Botzra is actually one the chief cities of
Edom. In the last days this very stronghold of Esaw will become the place of
refuge for a fleeing multitude of Yakov -
those who have the testimony of Yahshua and keep the commandments.
Rev 12:17
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to fight with the
remnant of her seed, those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the
witness of יהושע Messiah.
Mic 2:12
“I shall certainly gather all of you, O Yaʽaqoḇ, I shall bring
together the remnant of Yisra’ĕl, put them together like sheep of the fold,
like a flock (Botzra) in the midst of their pasture, they being noisy(distressed)
because of men.
Mic
2:13 “The breach-maker(Yahshua) shall go
up before them. They shall break out, and pass through the gate, and go out by
it, and their sovereign(Yahshua) passes before them, with יהוה at their
head!”
Isa 63:1 Who is this coming from Eḏom, with garments of
glowing colours from Botsrah, who is robed in splendour, striding forward in
the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to
save.”
Isa
63:2 Why is there red on Your raiment,
and Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?
Isa
63:3 “I have trodden the winepress
alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. And I trod them down in My
displeasure, and I trampled them in My wrath. Their blood is sprinkled upon My
garments, and I have defiled all My raiment.
Isa
63:4 “For a day of vengeance is in My
heart, and the year of My redeemed has come.
Mal 1:3 but I have hated Ěsaw, and have laid waste his mountains and his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” (repeated Rom 9:13)
The Edomites were the founders of the
Catholic Church under Constantine. And Esau was a pagan who would have
practiced the moon god religion of his Canaanite and Ishmaelite wives.
Heb 12:17 For you know that afterward, when he wished to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it with tears.
This ancient history also gives us insight into the challenges we will face in the last days.
However we need to remind ourselves that Yehoshua and Kalev were the only two men and their families of generation of Israel counted in the first census who made it into the promised land.
It is also amazing that Yehoshua was an Ephramite and Kalev was an Edomite- Caleb the spy is the son of Jephunneh. Jephunneh is called a Kenizzite (Numbers 32:12, Joshua 14:6,14). The Kenizzites are listed (Genesis 15:19) as one of the nations who lived in the land of Canaan, The Kenizzites are generally considered an Edomite clan (see Genesis 36:40–43)
Deu 2:8 “And when we passed beyond our brothers, the
descendants of Ěsaw who dwell in Sĕʽir,
away from the way of the desert plain, away from Ěylath and Etsyon Geḇer, we
turned and passed over by way of the Wilderness of Mo’aḇ.
Deu 2:9 “And יהוה said to me,
‘Do not distress Mo’aḇ, nor stir yourself up against them in battle, for I do
not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the
descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”
Deu 2:10 (The Ěmites had dwelt there formerly, a
people as great and numerous and tall as the Anaqim.
Deu 2:11 They were also reckoned as Repha’ites, like
the Anaqim, but the Mo’aḇites call them Ěmites.
Deu 2:12 And the Ḥorites
formerly dwelt in Sĕʽir, but the descendants of Ěsaw dispossessed them and
destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, as Yisra’ĕl did to
the land of their possession which יהוה gave them).
Deu 2:13 “ ‘Now rise up, and pass over the wadi Zereḏ.’ So
we passed over the wadi Zereḏ.
Deu 2:14 “And the time we took to come from Qaḏĕsh
Barnĕa until we passed over the wadi Zereḏ was
thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of battle was consumed
from the midst of the camp, as יהוה had sworn to
them.
Deu 2:15 “And also, the hand of יהוה was against them, to destroy them from the
midst of the camp until they were consumed.
Deu 2:16 “And it came to be, when all the men of
battle had finally perished from among the people,
Deu 2:17 that יהוה spoke to me,
saying,
Deu 2:18 ‘This day you are to pass over at Ar, the
boundary of Mo’aḇ.
Deu 2:19 ‘And when you come near the children of
Ammon, do not distress them nor stir yourself up against them, for I do not
give you any of the land of the children of Ammon as a possession, because I
have given it to the descendants of Lot as a possession.’
Deu 2:20 (That was also reckoned as a land of
Repha’ites. Repha’ites formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them
Zamzummim, (Heb ‘’plotters of evil’’)
Deu 2:21 a people as great and numerous and tall as
the Anaqim. But יהוה destroyed them
before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place,
Deu 2:22 as He had done for the descendants of Ěsaw,
who dwelt in Sĕʽir, when He destroyed the Ḥorites
from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this
day.
Deu 2:23 And the Awwim who dwelt in villages as far as
Azzah, the Kaphtorim who came from Kaphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their
place).
Deu 2:24 ‘Arise,
set out and pass over the wadi Arnon. See, I have given into your hand Siḥon the
Amorite, sovereign of Ḥeshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and stir up
yourself against him in battle.
Deu 2:25 ‘This day I begin to put the dread and fear
of you upon the peoples under all the heavens, who, when they hear the report
of you, shall tremble and shake because of you.’
Zec 12:2 “See, I am
making Yerushalayim a cup of reeling to all the people all around, and also
against Yehuḏah it is in the siege against Yerushalayim.
Zec 12:3 “And in that
day it shall be that I make Yerushalayim a very heavy stone for all peoples –
all lifting it are severely injured. And all the nations of the earth shall be
gathered against it.
Zec 12:6 “In that day I
make the leaders of Yehuḏah like a fire pot among trees, and like a torch of
fire in the sheaves. And they shall consume all the peoples all around, on the
right and on the left. And Yerushalayim shall dwell again in her own place, in
Yerushalayim.
Zec 12:7 “And יהוה shall
save the tents of Yehuḏah first, so that the comeliness of the house of Dawiḏ
and the comeliness of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim would not become greater
than that of Yehuḏah.
Zec 12:8 “In that day יהוה shall
shield the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. And the feeble among them in that day
shall be like Dawiḏ, and the house of Dawiḏ like Elohim, like the Messenger of יהוה before
them!
Zec 12:9 “And it shall
be in that day that I seek to destroy all the nations that come against
Yerushalayim.
Zec 13:8 And it shall be
throughout all the soil,(Heb ‘’ha aretz’’ the land) declares יהוה, “that
two thirds therein are cut off and die, and one third is left therein.
Zec 13:9 “And I shall
bring the third into fire, and refine them as silver is refined, and try them
as gold is tried. They shall call on My Name,b and I shall answer them. I shall
say, ‘This is My people,’ while they say, ‘יהוה is my
Elohim.’ ” Footnote: b Zep_3:9.
Deu 2:26 “Then I sent messengers from the Wilderness
of Qeḏĕmoth to Siḥon
sovereign of Ḥeshbon, with words of peace, saying,
Deu 2:27 ‘Let me pass over through your land on the
highway. I shall go on the highway and turn neither to the right nor to the
left.
Deu 2:28 ‘What food you sell me for silver I shall
eat, and what water you give me for silver I shall drink. Only let me pass over
on foot,
Deu 2:29 as the descendants of Ěsaw who dwell in Sĕʽir and
the Mo’aḇites who dwell in Ar did for me – until I pass over the
Yardĕn to the land יהוה our Elohim is
giving us.’
Deu 2:30 “But Siḥon
sovereign of Ḥeshbon would not let us pass over, for יהוה your Elohim
hardened his spirit and strengthened his heart, to give him into your hand, as
it is this day.
Deu 2:31 “And יהוה said to me,
‘See, I have begun to give Siḥon and his land over to you. Begin to possess – in order
to possess his land.’
Deu 2:32 “And Siḥon and
all his people came out against us to fight at Yahats,
Deu 2:33 and יהוה our Elohim
gave him over to us, so we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.
Deu 2:34 “And we
took all his cities at that time, and we put the men, women, and little ones of
every city under the ban, we left none remaining.
Deu 2:35 “Only the livestock we took as plunder for
ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we captured.
Deu 2:36 “From Aroʽĕr,
which is on the edge of the wadi Arnon, and the city that is by the wadi, as
far as Gilʽaḏ, there was not one city too high for us. יהוה our Elohim gave all to us.
Deu 2:37 “Only you did not go near the land of the
children of Ammon – anywhere along the wadi Yabboq, or to the cities of the
mountains, or wherever יהוה our Elohim had
forbidden us.
Deu 3:1 “Then we turned and went up the way to
Bashan. And Oḡ sovereign of Bashan
came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Eḏreʽi.
Deu
3:2 “And יהוה said to me,
‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into
your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Siḥon
sovereign of the Amorites, who dwelt at Ḥeshbon.’
Deu 3:3 “So יהוה our Elohim
also gave into our hands Oḡ sovereign of Bashan, with all his people, and we smote
him until he had no survivors remaining.
Deu 3:4 “And we captured all his cities at that time.
There was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities, all the
district of Argoḇ, the reign of Oḡ in
Bashan.
Deu 3:5 “All these cities were fenced with high
walls, gates and bars, besides a great many unwalled towns.
Deu 3:6 “And we put them under the ban, as we did to
Siḥon sovereign of Ḥeshbon,
putting the men, the women, and the children
of every city under the ban.
Deu 3:7 “But all the livestock and the spoil of the
cities we took as booty for ourselves.
Deu 3:8 “And at that time we took the land, from the
hand of the two sovereigns of the Amorites, that was beyond the Yardĕn, from
the wadi Arnon to Mount Ḥermon
Deu 3:9 “(Tsiḏonians
call Ḥermon, Siryon – and the Amorites call it Senir),
Deu 3:10 all the cities of the plain, all Gilʽaḏ, and
all Bashan, as far as Salḵah and Eḏreʽi, cities of the reign of Oḡ in
Bashan.
Deu 3:11 “For only Oḡ
sovereign of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Repha’ites. See, his
bedstead was an iron bedstead. Is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon?
Nine cubits is its length and four cubits its width, according to the cubit of
a man. (about 4m)
Deu 3:12 “And this land, which we possessed at that
time, from Aroʽĕr, which is by the wadi Arnon, and half the mountains of
Gilʽaḏ and its cities, I gave to the Re’uḇĕnites
and the Gaḏites.
Deu 3:13 “And the rest of Gilʽaḏ, and
all Bashan, the reign of Oḡ, I gave to half the tribe of Menashsheh – all the
district of Argoḇ, with all Bashan, called the land of the Repha’ites.
Deu 3:14 “Yaʽir son
of Menashsheh had taken all the district of Argoḇ, as
far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maʽaḵathites,
and called them after his own name: the Bashan of Hawoth Yaʽir, to
this day.
Deu 3:15 “And to Maḵir I
gave Gilʽaḏ.
Deu 3:16 “And to
the Re’uḇĕnites and the Gaḏites I gave from Gilʽaḏ as far as the wadi Arnon, the middle of the wadi as the
border, as far as the wadi Yabboq, the border of the children of Ammon,
Deu 3:17 and the desert plain, with the Yardĕn as the
border, from Kinnereth as far as the Sea of the Araḇah,
the Salt Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
Deu 3:18 “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘יהוה your Elohim has given you this land to
possess. All you sons of might, pass over armed before your brothers, the
children of Yisra’ĕl.
Deu 3:19 ‘But let your wives and your little ones, and
your livestock – I know that you have much livestock – stay in your cities
which I have given you,
Deu 3:20 until יהוה has given rest
to your brothers as to you, and they also possess the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving them beyond the
Yardĕn. Then you shall return, each man to his possession which I have given
you.’
Deu 3:21 “And I commanded Yehoshua at that time,
saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that יהוה your Elohim
has done to these two sovereigns. יהוה does the same
to all the reigns which you are passing over.
Deu 3:22 ‘Do not fear them, for יהוה your Elohim Himself fights for you.’
We need to remind ourselves that the command to put a people under the ban is an issue that is both painful and unpleasant to even consider. There are commands in the Torah that command the total and complete annihilation of certain people groups.
Deu
7:1 “When יהוה your
Elohim brings you into the land which you go to possess, He shall also clear
away many nations before you: the Ḥittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites
and the Kena‛anites and the Perizzites and the Ḥiwwites and the Yeḇusites,
seven nations greater and mightier than you.
Deu 7:2 “And when יהוה your
Elohim gives them over to you, you shall strike them and put them under the
ban, completely. Make no covenant with them, and show them no favour.
Deu 7:3 “And do not
intermarry with them – you do not give your daughter to his son, and you do not
take his daughter for your son,
Deu 7:4 for he turns
your sons away from following Me, to serve other mighty ones. Then the
displeasure of יהוה shall burn against you and promptly
destroy you.
Deu 7:5 “But this is
what you do to them: Break down their slaughter-places, and smash their
pillars, and cut down their Ashěrim, and burn their carved images with
fire.
Deu 7:6 “For you are a
set-apart people to יהוה your Elohim. יהוה your
Elohim has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a treasured possession above
all the peoples on the face of the earth.
Deu 7:7 “יהוה did not
set His love on you nor choose you because you were more numerous than any
other people, for you were the least of all peoples,
Deu 7:8 but because of יהוה loving
you, and because of Him guarding the oath which He swore to your fathers, יהוה has
brought you out with a strong hand, and ransomed you from the house of bondage,
from the hand of Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim.
Deu 7:9 “And you shall
know that יהוה your Elohim, He is Elohim, the trustworthy
Ěl guarding covenant and loving-commitment for a thousand generations with
those who love Him, and those who guard His commands,
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu,
Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu.
Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have
given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within our
midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn