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Why the Long Journey Around Edom?
This chapter is based on Numbers 20:14-29; 21:1-9.
Israel’s camp site at Kadesh was only a short distance from the
borders of Edom, and both Moses and the people strongly wanted to
follow the route through this country to the Promised Land. So they
sent a message to the Edomite king:
“Thus says your brother Israel: ... ‘here we are in Kadesh, a city
on the edge of your border. Please let us pass through your country.
We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water
from wells; we will go along the King’s Highway; we will not turn
aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through
your territory.’”
To this courteous request, the Edomite king sent a threatening
refusal: “You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against
you with the sword.”
The leaders of Israel sent a second appeal to the king, with the
promise, “We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink
any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on
foot, nothing more.”
“You shall not pass through,” was the answer. Armed groups
of Edomites were already posted at the difficult passes, and the
Hebrews were forbidden to use force. They must make the long
journey around the land of Edom.
If the people had trusted in God, the Captain of the Lord’s army
would have led them through Edom. The inhabitants of the land,
instead of reacting with hostility, would have shown them favor. But
the Israelites did not act promptly on God’s word, and the golden
opportunity passed. When they were finally ready to present their
request to the king, it was refused. Ever since they left Egypt,
Satan had been throwing obstacles in their way so that they might
not inherit Canaan, and by their own unbelief they had repeatedly
opened the door for him.
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