Tanak Foundations- Concepts in Deuteronomy-Chapter 2

Deut 2.1-37 tells us that after leaving Kadesh they go around Mount Seit through Esau’s territory; on the border of Moab; crossing the Zered Valley; through the territory of the Ammonites and the Amorites; the victory over Sihon the king of Heshbon. We believe that this may be the same path Yeshua will take when he returns and on his way to Jerusalem.

v 1…”Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea (Gulf of Aqaba northeast), as the Lord spoke to me, and circled Mount Seir for many days (38 years-v 14; Wadi Rum; they circled the area needing fuel, sanitation and moved in this 300 square mile area like Beduins).

v 2…And the Lord spoke to me, saying,

v 3…’You have circled this mountain (area) long enough. Now turn north (that means Kadesh Barnea must be south of Edom and Canaan),

v 4…and command the people, saying, “You will pass through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau (Edom) who live in Seir (not through the midst of them because they were not allowed to, but on the border to the west), and they will be afraid of you (because of the numbers of Israel). So be very careful,

v 5…do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, even as little as a footstep They could not put one foot on their land without their permission) because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.

v 6…You shall buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink.

v 7…For the Lord (Yehovah) your God has blessed you in all that you have done. He has known your wanderings through the great wilderness (Wadi Rum). These forty years the Lord has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.”

v 8…So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah (south of the Dead Sea to Hebron) road, way from Elath and from Ezion-geber (north end of the Gulf of Aqaba). ANd we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab (east-Num 21.11).

v 9…Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar (the capital of Moab) to the sons of Lot as a possession.

v 10…The Emim (dreaded ones) lived there (Gen 14.5) formerly, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim (“long-necked”; large bodies and tall, like the the spies had seen in Hebron-Num 13.22).

v 11…Like the Anakim they were also regarded as Rephaim (evil amongst us; because of their large bodies and tall-Gen 14.5; 15.20) but the Moabites called them Emim.

v 12…The Horites (cave dwellers and lived in Seir-Gen 14.6; 36.20) formerly lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the Lord gave to them (across the Jordan-Num 32).

v 13…Now arise and cross over the brook Zered (a wadi-Num 21.12) yourselves.’ So we crossed over the brook Zered (probably dried up at the time).

v 14…Now the time that it tokk for us to come from Kadesh-barnea (Wadi Rum), until we crossed over the brook Zered, was thirty-eight years; until all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp, as the Lord has sworn to them (Num 14.20-23)..

v 15…Moreover, the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from within the camp, until they all perished.

v 16…So it came about when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people,

v 17…that the Lord spoke to me, saying,

v 18…’You shall cross over Ar, the border of Moab, today.

v 19…And when you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not harass them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession (between the Arnon and Jabbok); because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’

v 20…It is also regarded as the land of the Rephaim, for Rephaim (evil against us; tall and large) formerly lived in it, but the Ammonite fall them Zamzummim (may be the Zuzims in Gen 14.5; their name may have come from “mezuzah” or doorpost because they were tall),

v 21…a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim (long-necked), but the Lord destroyed them before them. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place,

v 22…just as he did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they dispossessed them, and settled in their place.

v 23…and the Avvim (ruins; mentioned in Josh 13.3; possibly Philistine) who lived in the villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim who came from Caphtor (crown; Crete-Gen 10.14) destroyed them and lived in their place.

v 24…Arise, set out and pass through the valley of Arnon. Look! I have given sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand, begin to take possession and contend with him in battle.

v 25…This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under heaven (Exo 15.14), who, when they hear the report of you, shall tremble and be in anguish because of you (not only the Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, Philistines, and Canaanites, but nations afar off throughout the world).

v 26…So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth (the name is seen again in Josh 13.18; and as a Levitical city in the territory of Reuben) to Sihon, king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

v 27…’Let me pass through your land, I will travel only on the highway (the king’s highway-Num 21.22; I will not turn aside to the right or to the left.

v 28…You will sell me food for money so that we may eat, and give me water for money so that I may drink, only let me pass through on foot,

v 29…just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross over the Jordan into the land which the Lord (Yehovah) our God is giving to us.’

v 30…But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today (so he would not listen to the requests Moses made to him; Yehovah has mercy on whom he has mercy, and he hardens whom he will harden-Rom 9.15-18).

v 31…And the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to occupy, that you may possess the land.’

v 32…Then Sihon with all his people came to meet us in battle at Jahaz (trodden down).

v 33…And the Lord your God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him with his sons and all his people.

v 34…So we captured all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed (treated as “cherem” meaning under the ban of extermination) the men, women and children of every city. We left no survivor.

v 35…We took only the animals as our booty and the spoil of the cities which we had captured.

v 36…From Aroer (destitute ruins) which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon and from the city (Ar-v 9) which is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was no city that was too high for us, the Lord our God delivered all over to us.

v 37…Only you did not go near to the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the river Jabbok (Jacob wrestles with the Lord at the Jabbok in Gen 32.22-31; Elijah lived in Tishbe, in the vicinity of the Jabbok-1 Kings 17.1) and the cities of the hill country, and wherever the Lord our God had commanded us.”

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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