MASADA WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN

Part 7

THE TRUE CAUSE OF TROUBLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!

The prophet Ezekiel writes of the Edomites' envious craving for the land: "'Because you have said, "These two nations and countries will be ours and we will take possession of them," even though I the Lord was there, therefore as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will treat you in accordance with the anger and jealousy you showed  in your hatred of them and I will make myself known among them when I judge you.(Ezekiel 35:10-11).

God's word is clear: Even after millennia, Esau's descendants still long to "possess" the land and say to themselves that it "shall be mine," leading them to act in "envy," "anger," and "hatred." And God inspired Amos to record, "For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because he pursued his brother [Jacob, Israel] with the sword, and cast off all pity; his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever" (Amos 1:11).

Can you see it?

Both  Edom and Israel had descended from Isaac: Edom from Isaac's son Esau, and Israel from Esau's twin brother Jacob. But these two nations, like the two brothers, were always fighting. Edom had rejoiced at Israel's misfortunes. As a result, God promised to destroy Edom completely, from Teman in the South to Bozrah in the North.

Again and again, we see that the anger of Esau's descendants over the lost inheritance is a perpetual anger, and that Edom "kept his wrath forever." That wrathful attitude against Israel-and that centuries-long craving for the lost inheritance that characterizes the Edomites-can be seen in the terroristic attack of the Amalekites. And in their violent desire to take possession for themselves of the promised land that their ancestor sold for a bowl of soup, they are, in reality, fighting against what God has determined. And, as Exodus 17 said, in doing so they raise their hand against the throne of Almighty God, Himself!

So, who is Amalek? Amalek is a particularly violent branch of the Edomites, descendants of Esau, that continues to claim the lost inheritance as its own and against whom God has declared war "from generation to generation"!

Who Are the Palestinians?

Now, let us return to the modern day, my friends, and ask, Who are the Palestinians?

Surely, we can see similarities between today's Palestinians and the Edomites of the Bible, at least in attitude. The cries of "From the river to the sea!" mirror the sentiment of Esau and Edom, jealous to possess a land given by God not to them but to the descendants of Israel. And the heinous and cowardly terroristic attack of October 7 clearly mirrors the ancient terrorism of Amalek. If we use the principle Jesus taught and seek to "know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:20), the identity of the Palestinians in the Bible should be clear! Is it possible that today's Palestinians are, in fact, of the descendants of Esau? Are they modern Edomites? Don't be confused by the words "Palestinian" or "Palestine." Early in the second century AD, with the crushing of the Second Jewish Revolt, Rome sought to erase the name of Israel from the land (cf. Psalm 83:4). The land was renamed "Palestine" after the ancient Philistines, who had occupied the small area on the southern Mediterranean coast. That name does not reflect the identity of the land of Israel, nor of the people there today! The Roman historian Dio Cassius, writing in the early part of the third century AD, wrote in his account of the Second Jewish Revolt that the Romans razed  985 of the Jews' cities to the ground and that "nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate" (Roman History, 69.14, translated by E. Cary).

For the almost 19 centuries that followed, the Jews were not a majority in their own land. So, what happened during this time? As was the case when Babylon devastated Judah, the Edomites to the south saw opportunity! Little by little, pressed by the Arab Nabatean tribes to the east, the Edomites-now called Idumeans-entered the emptied land of Israel, reflecting God's word against them in Ezekiel 35:12: "Then you will know that I the Lord have heard all the blasphemies you have said against the mountains f Israel. You said, "They have been laid waste and had been given over to us to devour."  

While many Edomites now make up the nation known as Turkey, the evidence is clear that many persist in the Holy Land as the Palestinian peoples, continuing to contend that the land God gave to Israel is their own. The ancient Amalekites offended God to such a degree that He declared that "the Lord will wage war against Amalek from generation to generation." (TO BE CONTINUED)