Edom’s Zionist Dream (from ch. 2. Malachi the Mesenger)

[allodial]

Edom’s Zionist Dream (from ch. 2. of Malachi God's Messenger)
(NASB quoted by original author)

[The opinions or views of the author of the book Malachi God's Messenger are not necessarily those of the poster.]



(full book and other chapters available online; available for purchase)

Chapter Sections:
Mount Seir: Edom Occupied Territory (scroll down)
Divine Judgment Against Mount Seir (Edom) (scroll down)
The Incorporation of Edom into Jewry
Two Baskets of Figs
The Cursed Fig Tree
The Nation of Edom

Esau was nicknamed Edom, which means “red.” According to Gen. 25:29, 30, he got this nickname when he sold his birthright.

29 And when Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.

Gen. 36:1 and 8 says,

1 Now these are the records of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom)…. 8 So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.

Esau lived by the power of the flesh. But whereas Jacob tried to fulfill prophecy by the flesh, Esau tried to fight prophecy by the flesh. Jacob eventually learned his lesson, and when he ceased trying to help God, he became an overcomer named Israel. Esau did not learn this lesson, nor to this day have his descendants ceased to fight against the word of God, but have remained dependent upon the power of flesh.

Esau’s desire was to inherit the birthright on his own moral terms. He saw the birthright as his by right of birth, with no regard to his character. Apparently, Esau believed that as long as his father loved him enough to indulge his moral weaknesses, he would never be disinherited. So when he lost the birthright, he blamed Jacob’s deceit without taking into account the sovereign promise of God that had been revealed while he was yet fighting with his brother in the womb.

Mount Seir: Edom Occupied Territory
Esau passed his carnal viewpoint to his descendants. They desired to inherit the Promised Land, always believing it was rightfully theirs. So when Israel and Judah were sent into captivity to Assyria and Babylon, they rejoiced and seized the opportunity to lay claim to the land. They had already usurped the inheritance of Mount Seir, a story that is told in the ancient book of Jasher. Jasher 30:26, 27 tells us,

26 And in those days, in the land of Canaan, there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of Esau and the herdsmen of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, for Esau’s cattle and goods were too abundant for him to remain in the land of Canaan, in his father’s house, and the land of Canaan could not bear him on account of his cattle. 27 And when Esau saw that his quarrelling increased with the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, he rose up and took his wives and his sons and his daughters, and all belonging to him, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and he went away from the inhabitants of the land to the land of Seir, and Esau and all belonging to him dwelt in the land of Seir.

Esau moved to Seir during the time that Jacob was in Haran working for Laban. Jasher 30:23 says that Esau had already spent considerable time in Seir. When Jacob returned to Canaan with his wives and children, Laban sent word to inform Esau of Jacob’s return, and Esau then mustered an army from the men of Seir to kill Jacob. However, God sent angels (Gen. 32:1; Jasher 32:28) to put the fear of God into the army of Seir. Esau found himself welcoming Jacob instead of killing him. Jasher 32:40 says, “Esau concealed his hatred against Jacob.”

Many years later, after the death of Jacob and Esau, the Edomites fell out of favor with the people of Seir. They fought, and in the end the Edomites won the battle and then proceeded to kill nearly all of the people of Seir, sparing only a few boys for slaves and women for wives. Jasher 57:36 concludes,

36 And the children of Esau dwelt in Seir in the place of the children of Seir, and they inherited their land and took possession of it. 37 And the children of Esau took all belonging in the land to the children of Seir, also their flocks, their bullocks and their goods… and the children of Esau divided the land into divisions to the five sons of Esau, according to their families.

This, says Jasher, was how Edom came to inherit Mount Seir. Even so, they never lost their desire to expand their territory into the land of Canaan. When Israel and Judah were deported, the Edomites rejoiced and came into the land to occupy it in their absence.

Divine Judgment Against Mount Seir (Edom)
And so many years later, Ezekiel prophesied to Edom, who was living in Mount Seir at the time, saying in Ezekiel 35:1-4,

1 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 and say to it, ‘Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out My hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste. 4 I will lay waste your cities, and you will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am the Lord’.”

The reason for this divine judgment is given in verses 10 and 11,

10 “Because you have said, ‘These two nations [Israel and Judah] and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,’ although the Lord was there, 11 therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your envy which you showed because of your hatred against them…”

Again, God says in Ezekiel 36:5,

5 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.”

Here it is plain that Mount Seir and Edom are synonymous, and it supports the story of Edom and Seir told in the book of Jasher.

There are two conflicts in this situation. First, it is a question of who is the real inheritor of God’s promises. Second, it is a question of whether the inheritance may be obtained by fleshly means or by divine action and/or intervention.

Isaiah 34:8 (KJV) refers to this conflict with Edom as “the controversy of Zion.”

8 For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.

It is clear from earlier verses that God intends to destroy Edom and to consume their land with fire, such as what happened with Sodom and Gomorrah. That “fire” appears to be nuclear, because verse 10 says,

10 it shall not be quenched night or day; its smoke shall go up forever [olam, “indefinitely”]; from generation to generation it shall be desolate; none shall pass through it forever and ever [netsach, “altogether, completely”].

Isaiah had no concept of nuclear fallout or radiation, which can burn indefinitely. The real question is if this will hit the Negev, which is where Edom resided in Mount Seir, or if the destruction will fall upon Edom-occupied Palestine and Jerusalem.

During the Babylonian captivity of Judah, the Edomites apparently occupied Judea and Israel, at least to some extent, as Ezekiel’s prophecy indicates. However, Malachi, who lived after the captivity, wrote of a time when Edom would again occupy the land. Mal. 1:4 says,

4 Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins”; thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever.”

There is no historical record that the Edomites occupied the land of Judea after the Jews returned from their Babylonian exile. Did Edom’s Zionist dream end when Judah returned from its Babylonian captivity? In other words, did their dream end even before Malachi prophesied that they would indeed “return and build up the ruins”? How could God tear something down that was never built?