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Ezekiel chapters 34-48
Millennial Kingdom of God Prophecies
Ezekiel 34:1-10, 11-31
God’s
Judgment on the false shepherds of Israel
This is about the false shepherds in contrast to the True Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the
Messiah. False shepherds, the priesthood in Judah and Jerusalem had
led to the fall of Judah and Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar historically. But this
is addressing all false priesthoods, ministers and pastors of God’s flock
leading up to the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ. I like what J. Vernon McGee has to say
about these verses, “The false prophets of
Israel [Judah and Jerusalem] have now been shown to be liars because of the
destruction of Jerusalem as prophecied by Ezekiel has become a reality.” That was historic, they learned the hard
way that they were false prophets. As a result, the land they lived and preached in was conquered and those
few false shepherds who did not die in the ensuing siege and warfare were taken
captive to Babylon. But this is written for all false prophets as well, called
“shepherds” in this chapter, and compares them to the True Shepherd, Yeshua the
Messiah and what he will do after his 2nd Coming. So here is what J. Vernon McGee has to say about Verses 1-10: “Ezekiel did not say these things
about the false prophets---God said them. Very candidly, I have always been opposed to promotion---that is,
furthering the growth or development of a Christian work. This does not mean that there aren’t
many very wonderful and fine works which deserve our financial support [many of
them mentioned in the Mission Statement and the Evangelism section of this
website]. My point is that they
should not be just a promotion agency; they should be feeding the people---they
should be giving out the Word of God. I feel that an organization has no right to fleece people for an
offering when it has not given the people something first. We should be able to support ministries
where we ourselves have received a blessing. The business of the ministry is not to
beg for money all the time, but to give out the Word of God and to be feeding
the sheep. This was God’s criticism
of the false prophets---they had not given the people the Word of God. I feel this should still be the standard
by which we judge a ministry today. All of us are needy people, and the only thing which can minister to our
deep needs is the Word of God. If a
minister is not giving the Word of God, he is not ministering to the
people. The Word must be
given out. These little sermonettes
delivered to Christianettes by preacherettes are not quite doing the job
today. [In verse 5] “Meat” could
also be translated “food.” In other
words, when people are not being fed in a church, they will scatter. They’ll go find some place where they
can be fed. There is no point in
criticizing them, because sheep want to be fed. That is also the nature of the child of
God: he wants to hear the Word of
God.” Verses 7-10: “God holds
these false shepherds responsible. He says, “I am against them, and
I am as much opposed to them as I am to any sinner or any sin. I am going to hold them responsible.”” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol. III, pp.
503-504] Here we see a powerful
historic/prophetic word of warning to false shepherds, those that claim the
title, but don’t feed God’s sheep. Just as the false shepherds died in the siege and final conquering of
Jerusalem, so we are living in the end-times, and God is going to hold all the
false shepherds living today personally responsible for their actions during
the destruction that will come upon the whole world when the Tribulation, World
War III strikes. He will not forget
them in repayment. So these first
ten verses contain a powerfully implied warning for the false shepherds we find
in churches and ministries today.
Verses 1-10, “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son
of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them,
Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the
flocks? You eat the fat and clothe
yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak have not been strengthened,
nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought
back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty
you have ruled them. So they were
scattered because there was no
shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were
scattered. My sheep wandered
through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, my flock was scattered
over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word
of the LORD: ‘As I live,’
says the Lord GOD, ‘surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became
food for every beast of the field, because there
was no shepherd, nor did my shepherds search for my flock, but the
shepherds fed themselves and did not feed my flock’---therefore, O shepherds,
hear the word of the LORD!’ Thus says the Lord
GOD: ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their
hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall
feed themselves no more; for I will
deliver my flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for
them.’” In other words, these false shepherds will become
unemployed. Taken to its full
historic fulfillment in the past with the fall of Jerusalem, these shepherds
will pay the ultimate price, they will die. As J. Vernon McGee so aptly put it in
another place, he said he’d rather be a pagan Hottentot in darkest Africa than
be someone claiming the name of “Christian,” or even worse, to claim to be a
minister of Christ. Of these
people, Jesus says, “Not everyone who
says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does
the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in
your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your
name?’ And then I will declare to
them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23.)
Christ the Good Shepherd is Coming Back
Verses 11-16, “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Indeed I myself will seek them
out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock
on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out my sheep and
deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark
day. And I will bring them out from
the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their
own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in
all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high
mountains of Israel. There they
shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of
Israel. I will feed my flock, and I
will make them lie down,’ says the Lord GOD. I will seek
what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and
strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the
fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.’” J.
Vernon McGee says here about these verses, “Here you have God’s
Shepherd---Jesus, who said “I am the Good Shepherd.” Ezekiel said that Christ would come,
and, my friend, He is coming again because He has not yet fulfilled all the
prophecies concerning His shepherding of this earth. Now we begin to look into the
future. These are God’s words of comfort
to the children of Israel in their captivity---they should listen to Him.” And
these words, although they may have comforted those Israelites back then, are
specifically written to whomever is Israel, the ten northern tribes of Israel,
the House of Israel, wherever and whomever they are (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html and read through that series for a general picture of who the House of Israel
is---and it is not the Israelis!). These words are for all of Israel, all 12 tribes, wherever they are on
earth today, scattered as nations among the Gentile nations. Continuing with J. Vernon McGee, he
says, “He’s the Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd of the sheep. He says, “I will search out my
sheep.” David said, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps 23:1). The thing that impresses us in the rest
of this chapter is the repetition of a wonderful statement by God, “I will,”
which occurs eighteen times in verses 11 through 29. I get a little weary listening to men speak
of what they have done. This is a
new note here---God says, “I will.” This is grace when God says this. The Good Shepherd one day said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest [rest you]” (Matt. 11:28, italics mine). The Shepherd also said “I [will] Give unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish…” (John 10:28). That is what my wonderful Shepherd
said. The Good Shepherd came more
than nineteen hundred years ago, and He still says, “My sheep hear my voice…”
(John 10:27). Do you know why they
hear his voice? There are two
reasons: He is calling them, and His sheep know Him. They hear His voice, and they
know Him. What a wonderful Shepherd
we have! [verse 13] The Shepherd is
talking about the nation of Israel, what He is going to do for them in the
future. They are [will be, during the Great Tribulation] in captivity
now because of their sin and because they listened to the false prophets. But He says,
“I am not through with them. I have
not thrown them overboard. You
Amillennialists ought to read the Book of Ezekiel; then you would find out that
I am not through with My sheep---I intend to bring them back to their
land. I will feed them in good
pasture [verses 14-15], and when they lie down they will be safe. Obviously this is for a future
time. The land of Israel does not
lie in safety at all today. When he
has one lost sheep [verse 16], this Shepherd goes out to find it. He will do that for the nation of Israel
[and that is all 12 tribes, not just
those who call themselves Israelis]. When our Lord told the parable of the lost sheep, that shepherd had one
hundred sheep, and one sheep got lost. What did the shepherd do? Did he just forget about that sheep? Did he say, ‘Well, if one little one
wants to run off, that’s all right; after all, ninety-nine sheep is a pretty
good number to come through with’? No, this shepherd said, ‘I started out with one hundred and I am going
to come through with one hundred.’ My friend, Vernon McGee is going to be in heaven [the Kingdom of
heaven]---not because he’s a smart sheep; all sheep are stupid---I am going to
be there because I’ve got a wonderful Shepherd, and He says ‘I will, I will,’
again and again.” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol. III, pp. 504-505] In the
last part of verse 16 the LORD says “but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.” That is a scary statement. “the fat and the strong” refers directly
to the false shepherds, the false prophets just prior to the coming of the True
Shepherd at his 2nd Coming. He says he will destroy them by feeding them in judgment, and this
judgment is none other than the Great Tribulation. If you are a “liberal” anything goes
preacher, I’d find another profession, fast. You’d be better off bagging groceries
and living than going through what you’re going to go through.
Millennial
Kingdom of God, With Jesus Christ ruling the world, and David ruling as King
over Israel
Verses 17-24, “And as for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I shall judge between sheep and
sheep, between rams and goats. Is it too little for you to have eaten
up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of
your pasture---and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the
residue with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat what you have
trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your
feet.’ Therefore thus says the Lord
GOD to
them: ‘Behold, I myself will judge
between the fat and the lean sheep. Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones
with our horns, and scattered them abroad, therefore I will save my flock, and
they shall no longer be prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. [there’s a judgment process that’s going to take place
here. And by the description of
some of these sheep, some of this judgment is
going to take place during the Tribulation, and some of it is going to take place after Jesus has returned with all the
saints to earth, and is ruling the entire earth from Jerusalem. The next two verses, 23-24 are really
exciting, especially for our Jewish brethren, as Jesus sets the resurrected and
immortal King David back as King over the whole 12 tribes of Israel.] “I
will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them---my servant
David. He shall feed them and be
their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God,
and my servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.”
Millennial
Conditions Overtake the Land and People of Israel
What
follows is truly a description of Millennial conditions overtaking the land and
people of Israel. Verses 25-31, “I will make a covenant of
peace with them [cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34, the new covenant!], and cause wild
beasts to cease from the land [cf. Isaiah 11:6-9]; and they will dwell safely
in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing; and I
will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of
blessing. Then the trees of the
field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and
they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken
the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved
them.” This is not talking about historic Israel, which was long
gone from Palestine when Ezekiel penned this, nor is it talking about the House
of Judah, because taken in context with verses 23-24, the resurrected, immortal
David is now king over all Israel, and that hasn’t happened yet. David, like us, is not resurrected to
immortality until the 7th Trumpet of Revelation 11:15-18 is blown
(the exact same trumpet described by Paul in 1st Corinthians
15:49-54 at the first resurrection to immortality). So this “yoke of enslavement” the 12
tribes of Israel are under is a future yoke of enslavement, i.e. the Great
Tribulation. “And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts
of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. I will raise up for them a garden [Hebrew: planting place] of
renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear
the shame of the Gentiles anymore. Thus they shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are my people,’ says the Lord GOD.” And from our study in Kings & Chronicles, we all know
who the House of Israel refers to when mentioned in Isaiah, Jeremiah and
Ezekiel now, don’t we? It refers to
the ten tribes of Israel which dwelt just north of the House of Judah and
Jerusalem. (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html if you haven’t read about this history of the two houses of Israel and Judah as
recorded in the historic section of the Bible.)] “‘You are my flock, the
flock of my pasture; you are men, and
I am your God,’ says the Lord GOD.” For
a more complete study covering the prophecies of the Millennial Kingdom of God,
log onto http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg1.htm.
Ezekiel 35:1-15
Who Are the Palestinians?
Judgment on Mount Seir---Edom
Chapter 35 may appear to be out of step with
the overall theme of chapters 34 through 48, the overall Millennial Restoration
of all 12 tribes of Israel to the Promised Land in Palestine. But just as chapter 34 showed the false
prophets must first be taken care of before the establishment of the Millennial
Kingdom of God, so must the problem of the Edomites. He’s dealt with the false prophets in
chapter 34. Now before Israel---all
12 tribes---can re-enter the Promised Land at the tail-end of the Tribulation,
there is a problem that must be dealt with, and that problem is Edom.
A
little history---Edom always trying to reclaim the Birthright---and why---a
“smoking gun” trail
It’s time for some Biblical and secular
history to be combined here to show just who Edom is in order to understand
this prophecy in chapter 35 and how it applies. First realize that the Jewish people,
the tribe of Judah (along with the half-tribe of Benjamin and Levi) were
prophecied to return to Palestine in the “end-times.” Zephaniah
2:7, “The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed
their flocks there; in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at
evening. For the LORD their God will intervene for them, and return their
captives.” These prophecies
in Zephaniah 2 are all centering around the land of Palestine, the Promised
land, in the end-times. This short
little prophecy shows Yahweh, the pre-incarnate Christ, has decreed that the
Jews will return to the coast of Palestine from their captivity. What captivity did the Jews just suffer
through before the State of Israel was founded in 1948? Duh, the Holocaust! And furthermore, whatever rest they have
is due to the Divine intervention of Yahweh, now the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and
yes, before he has called them to Salvation! So if you harbour anti-Semitic attitudes
toward the Israelis, you’d better drop them fast. Read through this chapter to see that
the context is all for the land of Palestine. God is using the House of Judah, the
Israelis, to lead the way for the total Restoration of the 12-tribed nation of
Israel. We’ll get back to this
Jewish-Israeli restoration history as soon as we finish looking at this
Biblical-secular history of who Edom is. Esau was Jacob’s twin brother, and there was real jealousy over the
Abrahamic birthright between the two brothers, which was ultimately given to
Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel). This whole history is covered from Genesis 25 through 36. In Genesis 33:16, we will see that peace
has been restored between the two brothers, but over time the two families
became two races of people (Genesis 35 through 36). Edom from Esau, as a nation living
around the Petra area of southern Jordan attempted to block Israel’s first
entrance into the Promised Land (Numbers 20:14-21; and 24:15-19). Ongoing conflicts with Israel and Judah
occurred when Saul, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaz were kings (see 1st Samuel 14:47; 1st Kings 11:14-22; 2nd Chronicles 20:1-25;
2nd Kings 8:21). The
prophets of God regularly referred to this age-old jealousy between the
children of Esau and Jacob, now Edom and Israel (see Isaiah 11:11-16; Daniel
11:41; Amos 2:1; Malachi 1:2-5). Take the time to read those Scripture passages to get an idea of how God
feels about Edom, the children of Esau. In this study today, I will attempt to show you why God feels that way,
it is because of the way Edom is.
The
story starts with two twin brothers, but in personality and looks they were
anything but twins. They were
fighting even in the womb. Genesis 25:19-28, “This is the genealogy of
Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham begot
Isaac. Isaac was forty years old
when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram,
the sister of Laban the Syrian. Now
Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife,
because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together
within her; and she said, ‘If all is well, why am I like this?’ So she went to inquire of the LORD. And the LORD said to her: ‘Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your
body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve
the younger.’ So when her days were
fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so
they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother [the younger in the LORD’s prophecy to Rebekah] came out, and his hand took hold of
Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob [Hebrew: heel grabber]. So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of
the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of
his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” So, right off the bat, we see Jacob was a domestic kind of
man who hung around in the tents with his mother (mama’s boy?), while Esau was
a “manly man”, a great hunter and outdoorsman. Continue reading verses 29-34, see Jacob
was also a good cook, which was a woman’s domestic thing. Now time passes, Isaac is very elderly,
and it’s time for Isaac to bestow the Abrahamic Birthright on his first-born
son, Esau. (To see what this
birthright was, see Genesis 12:1-4;15:4-7, 13-21; 26:1-5; 27:28-29;
35:9-12. And then in 1st Chronicles 5:1-2 we see that the birthright was handed to the sons of Joseph,
Ephraim and Manasseh, while the kingly throne of rulership, called the Sceptre,
was handed to Judah. That is the
Abrahamic Birthright, and is a whole other story.) Genesis 27:1-29, “Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes
were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said
to him, ‘My son.’ And he answered
him, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said,
‘Behold now, I am old. I do not
know the day of my death. Now
therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to
the field and hunt game for me. And
make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my
soul may bless you before I die.’ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game
and to bring it. So Rebekah spoke
to Jacob her son, saying, ‘Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your
brother, saying, Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it
and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death. Now therefore, my
son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from
there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for
your father, such as he loves. Then
you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you
before his death.’ And Jacob said
to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a
smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my
father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall
bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.’ But his mother said to him, ‘Let your
curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.’ And he went and got them and brought them
to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of
her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her
younger son. And she put the skins
of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she gave the savory food and the
bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. So he went to his father and said, ‘My
father.’ And he said, ‘Here I am. Who are you, my son?’ Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau
your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of
my game, that your soul may bless me.’ But Isaac said to his son, ‘How is it that you have found it so quickly,
my son?’ And he said, ‘Because the
LORD your God brought it to me.’ Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Please come near,
that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.’ So Jacob went near to Isaac his father,
and he felt him and said, ‘The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the
hands of Esau.’ And he did not
recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so
he blessed him. Then he said, ‘Are
you really my son Esau?’ He said,
“I am.’ He said, ‘Bring it near to
me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so that my soul may bless you.’ So he brought it near him, and he ate;
and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, ‘Come near now and kiss me, my
son.’ And he came near and kissed
him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said:
‘Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed. Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the
earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let
your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless
you!’” We just read here
in this set of Scriptures that Jacob, at his mother’s urging and coaching,
stole his brother Esau’s birthright. The birthright going to the eldest son in
the Middle East was a serious thing, not taken lightly, although we saw
previously, Esau had taken it lightly (Genesis 25:29-34). Now notice something in these Scriptures, the birthright Isaac
bestows on each young man suits the personality of the man. Esau was so distraught, as we’ll read,
that he asked for a “blessing too”, a birthright of his own. Isaac was inspired to give him one that
suited his personality and life, as we’ll see. Genesis
27:30-46, “Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and
Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau
his brother came in from his hunting. He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to
his father, ‘Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may
bless me.’ And his father Isaac
said to him, ‘Who are you?’ So he
said, ‘I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.’ Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and
said, ‘Who? Where is the one who
hunted game and brought it to me? I
ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him---and indeed he shall be
blessed.’ When Esau heard the words
of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to
his father, ‘Bless me---me also, O my father!’ But he said, ‘Your brother came with
deceit and has taken away your blessing.’ And Esau said, ‘Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two
times. He took away my birthright [Genesis
25:29-34], and now look, he has taken
away my blessing!’ And he said,
‘Have you not reserved a blessing for me?’ [Comment: Notice, these
“blessings” were modifiers of the birthright that had been handed down from
Abraham to Isaac, and now to Jacob, this blessing spelled out more details
going into the birthright promise, a promise which God had to fulfill in the
case of the birthright. So the
Birthright and the Blessing are sort of one and the same thing.] Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, ‘Indeed I have made him your
master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and
wine I have sustained him. What
shall I do now for you, my son?’ And Esau said to his father, ‘Have you only one blessing, my
father? Bless me---me also, O my
father!’ And Esau lifted up his
voice and wept. Then Isaac his
father answered and said to him: ‘Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of
the dew of heaven above [some translations render this “away from
the fatness of the earth, and away from the dew of heaven from above”,
which would make sense, taken in context with where Esau as a race ends up
dwelling. And what Esau ended up
receiving for a ‘blessing’ sort of proves this rendering]. By your sword you
shall live, and you shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when
you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.’ So Esau hated Jacob because of the
blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, ‘The
days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother
Jacob.’ And the words of Esau her
older son were told to Rebekah. So
she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, ‘Surely your
brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my
voice: arise, flee to my brother
Laban in Haran. And stay with him a
few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, until your brother’s anger
turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from
there. Why should I be bereaved
also of you both in one day?’ And
Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth;
if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the
daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?’” So Isaac sends Jacob on his way to live
at uncle Laban’s in Padan Aram, giving him a further blessing, with promises to
inherit the land of Palestine. Genesis 28:1-5, “Then Isaac called Jacob
and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: ‘You shall not take a wife from the
daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to
Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a
wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. ‘May God Almighty bless you, and make
you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; and give
you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may
inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.’ [Comment: That is the bone of contention, who owns
the Promised Land, who God bequeathed it to, one of two races of people, and it
was the race of people descended from Jacob, who became Israel, not the people
of Esau, Isaac’s real firstborn son. As we will come to see, there is a jealousy and real tension between the
two races of peoples descended from these two dissimilar brothers.] So
Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel
the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.” Now notice whom Esau marries, one of his
wives is the daughter of Ishmael, whom the Arabic race comes from. Let’s take a good look at who Esau
married, and who his children were and became. Genesis 28:6-9, “Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him
away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed
him he gave him charge, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife from the daughters
of Canaan,’ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to
Padan Aram. Also Esau saw the
daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. [So understand at this
point, Esau is married to two daughters of Canaanite origin.] So
Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son,
the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to his wives he had.”
Can
you imagine the tremendous hostility and jealousy that was between Esau and
Jacob at this point in time? Jacob,
understandably, has to flee for his life. Then from Genesis chapters 29-31 Jacob marries his uncle Laban’s two
daughters and has 12 sons and one daughter through them, from which quite a
clan will spring up, becoming the nation of Israel, and then even an assembly
of nations. Then Jacob is forced to
flee from uncle Laban and his sons and return to the land of Canaan and his
father Isaac. Here we find
something interesting. Esau comes
to meet Jacob and his large family as they are returning home to Isaac. Naturally, Jacob is scared to death of
this coming encounter with his brother Esau. But take careful note of what Esau has
become, the leader of a band of four-hundred men who are apparently on
horseback, traveling swiftly toward him and his family. Esau is also now living in the Mount
Seir region, the region which was later to be called Edom as his family
expanded to become a race called Edomites. This region is at or near Petra in southwest Jordan, bordering on the
Negev desert. [See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edom] Genesis
32:3-7, “Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land
of Seir, the country of Edom. And
he commanded them, saying, ‘Speak thus to my lord Esau, Thus your servant Jacob
says: I have dwelt with Laban and
stayed there until now. I have oxen,
donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord,
that I may find favor in your sight.’ Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, ‘We came to your
brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with
him.’ So Jacob was greatly
afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the
flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. And he said, ‘If Esau comes to one
company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will
escape.’” Genesis 33:1, 4-9, 12-14,
16, “Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with
him were four hundred men…But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell
on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, ‘Who
are these with you?’ so he said,
‘The children whom God has graciously given your servant.’ Then the maidservants came near, they
and their children, and bowed down. And Leah also came near with her children and bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near,
and they bowed down. Then Esau
said, ‘What do you mean by all this company which I met?’ And he said, ‘These are to find favor in
the sight of my lord.’ But Esau
said, ‘I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.’…Then Esau
said, ‘Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.’ But Jacob said to him, ‘My lord knows
that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with
me. And if the men should drive
them hard one day, all the flock will die. Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which
the livestock that go before me, and the children, are able to endure, until I
come to my lord in Seir…So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.” Driving the flocks hard here would
strongly imply Esau and his band of 400 men were on horseback, most definitely
not on foot. Esau was now leading a band of men,
400 of them, and by the context here, he and they were on horseback, traveling
fast to meet up with Jacob and his returning family. Let’s take a look at the descendants of
Esau. Genesis 36:1-14, “Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom. Esau took his wives from the daughters of
Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon
the Hittite; Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the
Hivite; and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth. Now Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau [his
firstborn], and Basemath bore Reuel. And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were
born to him in the land of Canaan. Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons
of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he
had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence
of his brother Jacob. For their
possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they
were strangers could not support them because of their livestock. So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom. And this is the genealogy
of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir. These were the names of Esau’s
sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the
wife of Esau, and Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman,
Omar, Zephon, Gatam, and Kenaz. Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she bore
Amalek to Eliphaz. These were
the sons of Adah [the Hittite], Esau’s wife. These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shamamah, and
Mizzah. These were the sons of
Basemath Esau’s wife [Ishmael’s daughter]. These were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah,
the daughter of Zibeon [the Hivite]. And she bore to Esau: Jeush,
Jaalam, and Korah.” He married
a Hittite woman (the Hittite empire was in Asia Minor at this point in time,
all the way up through the time of the Exodus. The Mitanni warriors may have been
Hittites). He had three wives, a
Hittite, a Hivite and an Ishmaelite. The Ishmaelite wife was an attempt to please Isaac and Rebekah. As we go on we’ll just see the hostile
family dynamics working here. Notice Amalek, the father of the Amalekites and great enemy of Israel
was Esau’s grandson. I can just
imagine where Amalek got his intense hatred for the sons of Jacob, as he sat on
his grandfather Esau’s knee listening to him recount what happened to him in
Genesis 27:30-41.
The Chiefs of Edom [King James, “Dukes of
Edom”]
Next, let’s see who the Chiefs of Edom were,
and where this leads us in history. Genesis 36:15-19, “These were the
chiefs of the sons of Esau. The
sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau, were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief
Zepho, Chief Kenaz, Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek. These were the chiefs [King James:
“dukes”] of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. There were the sons of Adah [the Hittite]. These were the sons of Reuel, Esau’s
son: Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah,
and Chief Mizzah. These were the
chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom. These were the sons of Basemath [Ishmael’s daughter], Esau’s wife. And these were the sons of Aholibamah,
Esau’s wife: Chief Jeush, Chief
Jaalam, and Chief Korah. These were
chiefs [dukes] who descended from Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of
Anah. These were the sons of Esau,
who is Edom, and these were their chiefs.”
The Sons of Mount Seir, the Horites
Now we see by this genealogical listing that
Esau and his children had married into the Horite people, who were the original
occupants of the Mount Seir region. Genesis 36:20-30, “These were the
sons of Seir the Horite who inhabited the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah. Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs of the Horites, the
sons of Seir, in the land of Edom. And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman. Lotan’s sister was Timna [who was the
concubine of Eliphaz and bore Amalek, Esau’s grandson]. These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and
Onam. These were the sons of
Zibeon: both Ajah and Anah. This was the Anah who found water in the
wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon. These were the children of Anah: Dishon and Aholibamah the
daughter of Anah. These were the
sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban,
Ithran, and Cheran. These were the
sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and
Akan. These were the sons of
Dishan: Uz and Aran. These were the chiefs [dukes] of the
Horites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal,
Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah, Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, and Chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites,
according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.” So Esau, a powerful man, and
skillful hunter married into the Horite family in the Mount Seir region, and
ended up taking over that region from the Horites, intermarried with them, and
perhaps ultimately driving them out.
The
Kings of Edom
Genesis
36:31-39, “Now these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any
king reigned over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was
Dinhabah. And when Bela died, Jobab
the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. When Jobab died, Husham of the
land of the temanites reigned in his place. And when Husham died, Hadad the
son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his
place. And the name of his city
Avith. When Hadad died, Samlah of
Masrekah reigned in his place. And
when Samlah died, Saul of Rehoboth-by-the-River reigned in his place. When Saul died, Baal-Hanan the son of
Achbor reigned in his place. And
when Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadar reigned in his place; and the
name of his city was Pau. His
wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.” This brings us to the beginning of our
secular historic trail. Two names
stand out here in the king list, Husham and the grand-daughter of another king
whose name was Mezahab (Me Zahab). Why? Because they are found on the ancient
list of kings for ancient Persia [Persia and the Elamites before Cyrus]. From here on out we’re going to walk
through secular history to trace where the Edomites traveled to in a swath of
conquering destruction on horseback. Now that king list we just read gives us the foundation from which we
will be able to trace the race which descended from Esau, which conquered
halfway across the globe at various times in history. This is the history of the Turkic
people, as well as a branch called the Idumeans, which tended to stay around
Edom and Judea in the times of the kings of Judah and Judea under the
Maccabees. We will trace through
all of this to the best of my ability and others who have sleuthed this out,
taking us right up to now with the Israeli-Palestinian problems of today.
The
Sons of Edom
Eliphaz:
Teman
Omar
Zepho
Gatam
Kenaz
Amalek
(mother, Timna)
Reuel:
Nahath
Zerah
Shammah
Mizzah
Jehush
Jaalam
Korah
Descendants
of Teman
Teman the son of Eliphaz was a grandson of
Esau and his wife Adah the Hittite. The region of Persia and Turkestan became known as the “land of Temani”
after Teman. One of the kings of
Temani was Husham, who is also called, as we shall see, king Hushan or Hushang
in the ancient Persian king list. His native land was in ancient Persia, showing that the Edomites were
already migrating out of their ancient land of Edom in what is now southwestern
Jordan and the Negev region of Israel. Archeological studies in pottery connect this Sialk culture to
Turkestan. One of Husham’s
descendants was Alphidun. Alphidun had two sons, Tur, who ruled the Edomites of
Central Asia (thought to have given the various names of Turkestan, Turk, and
Turanian. So we see the Edomites
named the rocky Persian and Turkestan plateaus the “land of Temani.” As we study what historians have
discovered, we’ll trace the Turkic peoples to the Oghuz or Uighurs who came out
of Central Asia and Turkestan into Asia Minor in the 11th century
AD. Their tribal ancestors (the
Ertoghrul) carved out the Seljuk and Ottoman empires. Some historians think the name Teman has
been carried over into the Ottoman empire in the phrase “O Teman, or O-Thman in
Obediah verse 9, which equals Ottoman. Now lets try to prove some of this out. From Dr. Herman Hoeh, late historian of
the Worldwide Church of God we get an excellent skeletal outline of Edomite
history, conclusively connecting the Turkic peoples to Edom.
From Dr. Herman Hoeh’s Compendium of World
History, Volume II we get this about Husham or Hushang, and ancient Persian
history: “Persia, the modern Iran,
like most other nations, has preserved its history from early times. Traditions and legends have no doubt
been added along the way. But the
main framework and sequence of events is so clearly preserved that no double
about the facts need exist. Of
course there is a reason why early Persian history is rejected. It includes several Biblical
heroes! That alone, in the eyes of
modern interpreters of history, is enough to condemn any record…After Kajoraras
no supreme rulers in Persia are recorded for a space of 200 years---1671-1471BC. This period of Interregnum has an
important bearing on the history of the Tatars…
3.
Hushang, surnamed Pishdud (meaning judge). Hushang began the Dynasty of
judge-kings---the Pishdadians. Who
was this man? His Persian
name---Hushang---would be Husham in Hebrew. Is there in the Biblical record a Husham
living about the time of Moses and Joshua? Indeed there is! Turn to the
record in Genesis 36:31 and 34: “And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there
reigned any king over the children of Israel…of Temani reigned….” [Teman was the firstborn of Eliphaz, who
was the firstborn of Esau, so the lines of kings in Genesis 36 is probably the
line of Teman.] This Husham or
Hushang, famous in Biblical record, is the Temanite king who ruled over the
children of Esau or Edom. His
native land was in Persia---proving how early certain of the children of Esau
were moving out of the land of Edom by the Red Sea into the land of Persia and
Turkestan, Husham was king over the widely scattered tribes of Edom. He was the great ruler who ordered Moses
not to cross his territory in the year 1448-1447 [actually, revise that date to
near 1405-1406BC after the children of Israel had wandered in the Sinai Desert
for 40 years. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/lamb/exodus1.html Some of the
dates in Dr. Hoeh’s work are now suspect of being off by 40 years or so, but
the facts of what he wrote remain valid.]
7.
Alphidun---1361-1241BC [probably 1321-1201BC]---The new king lived
123 years. He married the daughter
of Dahak. He divided his realm
between his sons. To Tur he gave Turkestan. To Irege, son of a Persian woman, the
realm of Persia was assigned. From
Tur the Temanite inhabitants of Turkestan took the name Turan or Turk. In the family quarrels which followed,
all the sons of Alphidun were slain, and the kingship passed to Manougeher, son
of Irege.
8. Manougeher, surnamed Phirouz---1241-1121BC---[again, probably subtract
40 years]. From him the people of
Iran called the Persians. Phirouz
is the Perses of Greek tradition who lived at the time of Troy!....
9. Nodar---1121-1114BC [again, probably
subtract 40 years from those dates]
10. Apherasiab---1114-1102BC
[again, subtract 40 years] He was a
great Khan of Turkestan, a descendant of Tur, and joined Persia with
Tartary. Constant rebellion led at
length to the establishment of a descendant of Kajomaras on the Persian throne.
11. Zaab or Bazab---1102-1072BC [again,
subtract 40 years] Who was this
Zaab? Turn to Genesis 36:39. Hadar, king of Edom, married “Mehetabel,
the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zehab” (“Jewish Publ. Soc.”). (Mezahab is the KJV spelling.) Bazab is but an altered and shortened
spelling of the Hebrew Me-zahab…Hadar is the last king of Edom who began to
reign before Saul. The chronology
of Persia is in perfect harmony with the Biblical account. Here again is proof that the Bible is
the foundation of knowledge. Without the list of rulers of Edom in Genesis 36, it would not be
possible to understand fully who the early rulers of Persia were.
12. Gustasp or Kischtasp---1072-1042BC [again, subtract 40 years]…The reign of Gustasp was put to
an end by struggles with Apherasiab of Turkestan. In this time of national
struggle, and heir of the line of Nodar and Zaab established Persian independence from the Turks and founded
the Dynasty of the Kaianites or the “second race” of Persian historians.
Continuing with quotes for Dr. Hoeh’s
Compendium of World History, Vol. II
TURKESTAN,
TURKS AND MONGOLS
[or, ‘They’re all related’]
In the vast stretches north of Persia live a
medley of peoples. Mongols, Tatars,
Turks, Turkomen, and Persians, among many others. The history of this area is intimately
connected with ancient Persia [out of which migrated in a conquering swath the
descendants of Esau and Edom]. The
history of this area is intimately connected with ancient Persia. The nomadic
tribes inhabiting the region have not preserved any chronological framework of
their past history, but their line of great Khans has sufficient parallels that
the main events of Turkestan or Eastern Scythia may be ascertained…The western
half of these vast reaches belongs today to the Soviet Union. The eastern part is Mongolia and a part
of China (Sinkiang Province). The
whole area is called Turkestan by geographers [I wonder why]. The word Turk has in the Turkic or
Mongolian languages the meaning of “strong warrior.” (The Mongoloid Turks are to be
distinguished from the Caucasian Osmani Turks of modern Turkey---the sons of
Teman who acquired the name Turk from living in that geographic area.) The son of Turk in Tartar history was
Taunak Khan. (Khan means
ruler.) He was, at least in part,
an earlier contemporary of Kajomaras of Persia…He was the father of Tartar
Khan, from whom the Tartars trace their name, and of Mogul Khan, from whom the
Moguls or Mongols trace their name. The son of Mogul Khan was Kara Khan…Hushang of Persia was ruler in
Persia.”
OGUS KHAN
“In the days of Kara Khan, after the Exodus
of Israel out of Egypt, his son Oguz or Ogus Khan revolted against the idolatry
of his father (see the “Universal History”, Vol. XX). Later Ogus, after 72 years of war, created
a vast Mongol Empire…Ogus Kkan was succeed by Kiun Khan (1276-1206) [again,
perhaps subtract 40 years]. His
name mans “sun.” The history of
Persia indicated that hereafter the kings of Persia dominated the accessible
steppes of Turkestan. This would be
the time of Alphidun, who set his
son Tur over Turkestan. He was followed by Apherasiab. In order there followed Juldus Khan,
Mengli Khan, Tengis Khan and Il Khan. In the days of Il Khan (in the 600s BC) the Tartars warred against the
Mongols and nearly obliterated them. Il had a son Kajan who survived the struggle. For 400 years the Monguls disappear from
the pages of Tartar history into the vastness of the mountains of Asia. Now to return to the time of Alanza Khan
and his son Tartar Khan. The
Tartars in the Soviet Union trace their early Khans from Tartar the brother of
Mogul…After this great victory of the Tartars split up under petty rulers and
have left us but few names of their rulers. Based on the number of generations this
victory over the Mongols occurred in the 600s. After multiplying in the mountains
bordering on Mongolia, the Moguls finally rose to power in the late 200s
(BC). In another fifty years they
challenged the Tartars, conquered them and became the masters of much of eastern
Scythia. The Tartars and
Mongols---descendants of Turk…preserved for posterity the names of over 20
Khans (ibed. “Universal History” Vol. II) who ruled Mongolia and adjacent
territory until the twelfth century [AD] of the present era. Then it was that the Mongols burst forth
on the world, ravaged Asia and plunged with terrible swiftness west into the
heart of Europe under Jenghis Khan.” [Dr. Herman Hoeh, Compendium of World History, Vol. II]
I found an interesting article online titled
“The Craddle of the Turks”, written for Saudi Aramco World by John Lawton. I will quote excerpts from his
article. “Although only five
percent of Mongolia’s present population is turkic, the ancient Altay Turks
once ruled not only Mongolia but the entire Eurasian steppe. Stone statues, such as these at Jargalant,
were erected as memorials to Turkic noblemen all over Mongolia, in southern
Siberia and Kazakstan. Most were
cut to portray a man’s head and trunk. They wear earrings, carry a sword or dagger in their belt, and clasp a
chalice. Despite the statues’ static
pose, the Turks they portrayed were fierce, martial nomads who won a series of
decisive victories over their powerful neighbors in 552 [AD?] and created an
enormous steppe empire that lasted almost 200 years. Despite their relative obscurity today,
the historical role of the Altey Turks was considerable. They gave their name to all the
Turkic-speaking peoples of Eurasia, and forged a solidarity among them that
persists to this day. To most
people, the term “Turk” denotes simply an inhabitant of Turkey. Few realize that as many as 60 percent
of the world’s 90 million Turks---defined as anyone who speaks a Turkic
language as a native tongue---live outside the Republic of Turkey. [36 million inside Turkey, 54 million
outside of Turkey.] In Central Asia,
for example, where they recently re-emerged as independent nations from a
century of [Russian, then Soviet,
Stalinist] repression, Turkic Azeris, Kazaks, Kirgiz, Turkomans and Uzbeks
roughly equal the number of Turks in Turkey itself. There are sizable Turkic minorities too
in Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Mongolia, Russia and
the Ukraine. In northwest China,
Uighur Turks outnumber Han Chinese, and give the country’s largest administrative
unit its name. Turkic peoples, in fact,
are one of the most widespread ethnic groups in the world, inhabiting a vast
region from the Great Wall of China in the east to the Balkans in the West, and
from Siberia in the north to Afghanistan in the south. Although Ottoman Turkey, at the beginning
of the century, was dubbed the “Sick Man of Europe”, the Turks have for 1500
years lived up to their name, which, in Turkic, means “forceful” or
“strong.” In the sixth century of
our era the Turks swept across Central Asia to found an empire extending as far
west as the Black Sea. In the 11th century---under the banner of Islam---they conquered most of India and the
Middle East (See Aramco World, November-December 1991). Advancing into Europe and Africa in the
15th century, they built one of the largest empires the world has
known.” [p. 1, par. 4-8, “The
Cradle of the Turks” by John Lawton in Aramco World (online article)]
Turkic weapons, archery on horseback, isn’t
that a trait of Esau?
John Lawton continues, “The founder of
Turkic power was a wily politician named Bumin, who bore the title of khagan,
or ruler. How he became leader of
the Altey Turks is not known. But having forged an alliance with the Western
Wei dynasty of China, Bumin deliberated provoked the Jaun-juan into a war by
demanding one of their princesses in marriage. Aided by Chinese forces, the Turks
routed the Jaun-juan in 552 and then subjugated neighboring nomadic tribes to
become uncontested master of the Mongolian steppe. Mounted bowmen were the formidable and
very mobile force of the Turkic armies. The middle of the first millennium [AD] saw the first widespread use of
the rigid saddle with stirrups. Accurate shooting on the run became possible for the first time when a
rider could stand up in his stirrups, absorbing with his bent knees the jounce
of this galloping steed. All later
types of saddle can be traced to the ancient Turkic type, while archery---of
which we witnessed several massive displays in Mongolia---remains after riding
and wrestling, one of the most popular sports of the steppe. Bumin dies soon after his victory and
his domains were split into two parts. The eastern part, which had the primacy if not the supremacy of the two
halves, was ruled by his son Mu han (553-572 [AD]) and the western part by Bumin’s
brother Ishtemi (553-573)---both aggressive expansionists. Mu-han conquered the Khitans in the east
and seized the north Chinese kingdoms. In the West, Ishtemi expanded his territory as far as the rivers Ili and
Chu and brought Turkic rule to the frontiers of the Hephtalite empire of
Central Asia...The Turks were the first steppe people to realize the importance
of trade. They offered security to
caravans and concluded treaties with the Sassanids and Byzantines, protecting
commerce along the Silk Roads---the network of caravan trails which linked East
and West across Central Asia (See Aramco World, July-August 1988).” [ibid. p. 7, par. 7-9, p. 3, par.
3] From here we trace the movement
of Turkic power and influence moving back west into the Middle East and Turkey
itself as the Ottoman Empire is established. This historic link comes through the
conquering Seljuqs. Back to John
Lawton’s article: “The Uighur
rising marked the end of unity among the Turkic tribes of Central Asia. From
that point on, the larger tribal coalitions either created kingdoms of their
own in Central Asia or migrated to the Russian steppe and the Middle East. [emphasis mine] The collapse of the Turkic empire marked
the beginning of a long period of instability on the steppe that did not end
until the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 12th century. The principal Turkic states created in
Central Asia during this period were those of the Qarakhanids, the
Khwarizm-Shahs and the Seljuqs. All abandoned the nomadic life and
adopted Islam. Even today, the
Turks’ most important cultural link, along with history and language, is
Islam. With the exception of the
Yakut of eastern Siberia and the Chuvash of the Volga region of Russia, the
Turks are all Muslim…Meanwhile, on the
western flank of Islam, the Seljuq Turks scored a landmark victory over the
Byzantines at Malazgirt in 1071 [AD] confirming their occupation of the
grasslands of Anatolia. Thus,
modern Turkey became Turkish for the first time. Which brings us geographically full-circle,
and to the conclusion that the various similarities that exist among the
various Turkic peoples today go back to the Altey Turks---whose weathered stone
statues still stand vigil over the land of their origin in the Mongolian
mountains and steppes.” [ibid. p.
6, par. 2-4, 7-8] From here we will
take a closer look at the Seljuq Turks, who swept back into the Middle East and
what is now Turkey. One branch of
Esau and Edom are returning home to the Middle East, historically, through the
Seljuqs, as we’ll see.
The Seljuq Dynasty
“The Seljuq were a Turco-Persian Sunni
Muslim dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to the 14th Centuries [AD]. They established an empire, the Great Seljuq Empire, which at its height
stretched from Anatolia through Persia and which was the target of the First
Crusade. The dynasty had its
origins in the Turcoman tribal confederations of Central Asia. After arriving in Persia, the Seljuqs
adopted the Persian culture adopting the Persian language as the official
language of the government…Prior to the ninth century [AD], hordes of Turks had
crossed the Volga River into the Black Sea steppes. Originally, the House of Seljuq was a
branch of the Qinik Orhuz Turks who in the 9th century [AD] lived on
the periphery of the Muslim world, north of the Caspian and Aral seas in their
Yabghu Khaganate of the Oghuz confederacy, in the Kazakh Steppe of Turkestan.”
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seljuk_Turks ]
The Seljuqs brought the Turkic race back
into the Middle East, and control of it, from modern day Turkey down the coast
all the way through Syria, Lebanon and Israel, all of Iran and half of Iraq. The Seljuq empire
lasted from 1071AD to about 1325AD, until it was supplanted by the Ghazhi’s
under Osman I, starting the Ottoman Empire, which we will look at next. But don’t forget, conquering Seljuq
Turks, and then conquering Ottoman Turks bring the Turkic race of people,
armies and whatnot into the land of Palestine. Where armies are (and I’m painting this
with a wide brush historically) people settled down, they marry, have families
and to some degree became part of the indigenous race living in the land. Seljuq Turks were in control of the land
that is modern day Israel now. Then, as we’ll see, Ottoman Turks were in control of the land that is
modern day Israel now.
The
Ottoman Turks
“With the demise of the Seljuq Sultanate of
Rum (c 1300), Turkish Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent
states, the so-called Ghazi emirates. By 1300 a weakened Byzantine Empire had lost most of the Anatolian
provinces to ten Ghazi principalities. One of the Ghazi emirates was led by Osman I (from which the name
Ottoman is derived), son of Ertugrul, around Eskisehir in western
Anatolia. Osman I extended the
frontiers of Ottoman settlement toward the edge of the Byzantine Empire. He moved the Ottoman capital to Bursa,
and shaped the early political development of the nation. Given the nickname
“Kara” (which means “black” in modern Turkish, but alternatively means
“big/great” or “strong” in old Turkish) for his courage…Mehmed II made the city
[Constantinople] the new capital of the Ottoman Empire, and he assumed the
title of Kayser-I Rum (Caesar Romanus = Roman Emperor). The Russian Tsars also claimed to be the
successors to the eastern imperial title. To consolidate his claim, Mehmed II wanted to gain control over the
Western capital, Rome, and Ottoman forces occupied parts of the Italian
peninsula. They started with the
invasion of Otranto and Apulia on July 28, 1480. After Mehmed II’s death on May 3, 1481,
the campaign in Italy was cancelled and Ottoman forces retreated. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople
in 1453 by Mehmed II cemented the status of Empire as the preeminent power in
southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean…During this period in
the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ottoman Empire entered a
long period of conquest and expansion, extending its borders deep into Europe
and North Africa. Conquests on land
were driven by the discipline and innovation of the Ottoman military; and on
the sea, the Ottoman navy aided this expansion significantly. The navy also contested and protected
key seagoing trade routes, in competition with the Italian city states in the
Black Sea, Aegean and Mediterranean seas and the Portuguese in the Red Sea and
Indian Ocean. The state also
flourished economically thanks to its control of the major overland trade
routes between Europe and Asia. This lock-hold on trade between western nations and Asia is often cited
as a primary motivational reason for Isabella I of Castile to fund Christopher
Columbus’s westward journey to find a sailing route to Asia…Another group of historians led by the
Turkish historian M. Fuat Koprulu championed the “gazi thesis” that saw the
Ottoman state as a continuation of the nomadic Turkic tribes on a much larger
scale, and argued that the most important influences on the Ottoman state came
from Persia…” That is a very
interesting observation, since we have seen the Edomites, parts of their race,
had migrated early on into Persia, then northeastward as far as Mongolia and
Turkestan, and then back to the Caspian Sea, and finally back into Asia Minor
as the Seljuqs, and now as the Ottomans they were again conquering and moving
back into all of the eastern Mediterranean sea region and as we’ll see, parts
of Western Europe. “…The Empire
prospered under the rule of a line of committed and effective Sultans, Sultan Selim
I (1512-1520) dramatically expanded the Empire’s eastern and southern frontiers
by defeating the Shah Ismail of Safavid Persia, in the Battle of
Chaldiran. Selim I established
Ottoman rule in Egypt and created a naval presence on the Red Sea. Selim’s successor, Suleiman the
Magnificent (1520-1566), further expanded upon Selim’s conquests. After
capturing Belgrade in 1521, Suleiman conquered the southern and central parts
of the Kingdom of Hungary. (The western,
northern and northeastern parts remained independent.)…He then laid siege to
Vienna in 1529, but failed to take the city after the onset of winter forced
his retreat. In 1532, he made
another attack on Vienna with an army thought to be over 250,000 strong, but
was repulsed in the Siege of Guns, 97 kilometers (60 mi) south of the city at
the fortress of Guns…Anyway, Suleiman withdrew at the arrival of the August
rains and did not continue towards Vienna as previously planned, but
homeward…Under Salim and Suleiman, the Empire became a dominant naval force,
controlling much of the Mediterranean Sea. The exploits of the Ottoman admiral Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, who
commanded the Ottoman Navy during Suleiman’s reign, led to a number of military
victories over Christian navies. Among these were the conquest of Tunis and Algeria from Spain; the
evacuation of Muslims and Jews from Spain to the safety of Ottoman lands
(particularly Salonica, Cyprus, and Constantinople) during the Spanish
Inquisition; and the capture of Nice from the Holy Roman Empire in 1543…As the
16th century progressed, Ottoman naval superiority was challenged by
the growing sea powers of western Europe, particularly Portugal, in the Persian
Gulf, Indian Ocean and the Spice lands. With the Ottomans blockading sea-lanes to the East and South, the
European powers were driven to find another way to the ancient silk and spice
routes, now under Ottoman control. On land, the Empire was preoccupied by military campaigns in Austria and
Persia, two widely separated theatres of war. The strain of these conflicts on the
Empire’s resources, and the logistics of maintaining lines of supply and
communication across such vast distances, ultimately rendered its sea efforts
unsustainable and unsuccessful. The
overriding military need for defense on the western and eastern frontiers of
the Empire eventually made effective long-term engagement on a global scale
impossible…In southern Europe, a coalition of Catholic powers, led by Phillip
II of Spain, formed an alliance to challenge Ottoman naval strength in the
Mediterranean Sea. Their victory
over the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto (1571) was a startling blow to
the image of Ottoman invincibility…[but] within six months of the defeat a new
Ottoman fleet of some 250 sail including eight modern galleasses had been
built, with the harbours of Constantinople turning out a new ship every day at
the height of construction. In
discussions with a Venetian minister, the Turkish Grand Vizier commented: “In capturing Cyprus from you, we have
cut off one of your arms; in defeating our fleet you have merely shaved off our
beard.” The Ottoman recovery persuaded Venice to sign a peace treaty in 1573,
and the Ottomans were able to expand and consolidate their position in North
Africa. However, what could not be
replaced were the experienced naval officers and sailors. The battle of Lepanto was far more
crucial as sapping experienced manpower than loss of ships…On September 15,
1656 the octogenarian Koprulu Mehmed Pasha accepted the seals of office having
received guarantees from the Valide Turhan Hatice of unprecedented authority
and freedom from interference. Å
fierce conservative disciplinarian, he successfully reasserted the central
authority and the empire’s military impetus. This continued under his son and
successor Kopulu Fazil Ahmend (Grand Vizier 1661-1676). The Koprulu Vizierate saw renewed
military success with authority restored in Transylvania, the conquest of Crete
completed in 1669 and expansion into Polish southern Ukraine, with the strongholds
of Khotyn and Kamianets-Podilskyi and the territory of Podolia ceding to
Ottoman control in 1676. This
period of renewed assertiveness came to a crashing end when Grand Vizier Kara
Mustafa Pasha in May 1683 led a huge army to attempt a second Ottoman siege of
Vienna. The final assault being
fatally delayed, the Ottoman forces were swept away by allied Habsburg, German
and Polish forces spearheaded by the Polish king Jan Sobieski at the Battle of
Vienna. The alliance of the Holy
League pressed home the advantage of the defeat at Vienna and 15 years of
see-sawing warfare, culminated in the epochal Treaty of Karlowitz (January 26,
1699), which ended the Great Turkish War and for the first time saw the Ottoman
Empire surrender control of significant European territories (many
permanently), including Ottoman Hungary. The Empire had reached the end of its ability to effectively conduct an
assertive, expansionist policy against its European rivals and it was to be
forced from this point to adopt an essentially defensive strategy within this
theatre. Only two Sultans in this
period personally exercised strong political and military control of the
Empire: the vigorous Murad IV (1612-1640) recaptured Yerevan (1635) and Baghdad
(1639) from the Safavids and reasserted central authority, albeit during a
brief reign.
Stagnation
and Reform (1683-1827)
King Charles XII of Sweden fled to the
Ottoman Empire following his defeat against the Russians at the Battle of
Poltava in 1709. A guest at the
Topkapi Palace for nearly five years, he persuaded the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III
to declare war on Russia, which resulted in the Russo-Turkish War of 1710-1711
that ended with an Ottoman victory…During this period much territory in the
Balkans was ceded to Austria. Certain areas of the Empire, such as Egypt and Algeria, became
independent in all but name, and later came under the influence of Britain and
France. In the 18th century, centralized authority gave way to varying degrees of provincial
autonomy enjoyed by local governors and leaders. A series of wars were fought between
Russia and Ottoman empires from the 18th to the 19th century. By the mid-19th century, the Ottoman Empire was called the “sick man” by Europeans…The Serbian
revolution (1804-1815) marked the beginning of an era of national awakening in
the Balkans during the Eastern Question. Suzerainty of Serbia as a hereditary monarchy under its own dynasty was
acknowledged de jure in 1830. In
1821, the Greeks declared war on the Sultan. A rebellion that originated in Moldavia
as a diversion was followed by the main revolution in the Peloponnese, which
along with the northern part of the Gulf of Corinth, became the first parts of
the Ottoman Empire to achieve independence (in 1829). The suzerain states---the Principality
of Serbia, Wallachia, Moldavia and Montenegro---moved towards de jure
independence during the 1860s and 1870s…In 1882 British forces occupied Egypt
on the pretext of bringing order and Sudan remained as Ottoman provinces de
jure until 1914, when the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers of World War
I. Great Britain officially annexed
these two provinces and Cyprus in response. Other Ottoman provinces in North Africa
were lost between 1830 and 1912, starting with Algeria (occupied by France in
1830), Tunisia (occupied by France in 1881) and Libya (occupied by Italy in
1912)…”
Decline
and modernization (1828-1908)
“During this period, the Empire faced
challenges in defending itself against foreign invasion and occupation. The Empire ceased to enter conflicts on
its own and began to forge alliances with European countries such as France,
the Netherlands, Britain and Russia. [like Rome in their final years, they formed alliances with their old enemies.] As an example, in the 1853 Crimean War,
the Ottomans united with Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia against
Russia.”
Crimean
War
“The Crimean War caused an exodus of the
Crimean Tartars. From the total
Tartar population of 300,000 in the Tauride Province, about 200,000 Crimean Tartars
moved to the Ottoman Empire in continuing waves of emigration…Since the 19th century, the exodus to present-day Turkey by the large portion of Muslim
peoples from the Balkans, Caucasus, Crimea and Crete, had great influence in
molding the country’s fundamental features…By the time the Turkish [Ottoman]
empire came to an end in 1922, half of the urban population of Turkey was
descended from Muslim refugees from Russia. Crimean Tartar refugees in the late 19th century played an especially notable role in seeking to modernize Turkish
education.” . [Quotes taken from
“Ottoman Empire” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire] Do you remember who the Tartars were,
descendants of Tur, also a Turkic people in the Steppes of Siberia. Now they have been driven back into what
is today Turkey, just another clan of Tur.
Edomites That Stayed in Palestine up to
the Fall of Jerusalem under Titus
Now that we’ve viewed the Turkic-Edomite
presence in the Middle East and all of Palestine from 1071AD through 1917,
let’s go back and take a brief look at the Edomites (also called Idumeans) who
remained in Judea up through the time of Nebuchadnezzar II, and on through to
the time of General Titus of Rome. “In the time of Nebuchadnezzar II the Edomites helped plunder and
slaughter the Jews. For this reason
the Prophets denounced Edom violently. Although the Idumaeans controlled the lands to the east and south of the
Dead Sea, their peoples were held in contempt by the Israelites [from Saul up
to the time of the Fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar II, 1 Sam. 14:47; 1 Kings 11:14-22; 2
Chron. 20:1-23; 2 Kings 8:21, 2 Chron. 28:17] Hence the Book of Psalms says “Moab is
my washpot: over Edom I cast out my shoe.” According to the Torah, the congregation could not receive descendents
of a marriage between an Israelite and an Edomite until the fourth
generation…During the revolt of the Maccabees against the Seleucid kingdom
(early 2nd century BC), II Maccabees refers to a Seleucid general
named Gorgias as “Governor of Idumaea”; whether he was a Greek or a Hellenized
Edomite is unknown. Some scholars
maintain that the reference to Idumaea in that passage is an error
altogether. Judas Maccabeus conquered
their territory for a time in around 163BC. They were again subdued by John Hyrcanus
(c. 125BC) [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hyrcanus],
who forcibly converted them to Judaism and incorporated them into the Jewish
nation, despite the opposition of the Pharisees.
Antipater the Idumaean, the progenitor of
the Herodian Dynasty that ruled Judea after the Roman conquest, was of Edomite
origin. Under Herod the Great
Idumaea was ruled for him by a series of governors, among whom were his brother
Joseph ben Antipater and his brother-in-law Costobarus. Immediately before the siege of
Jerusalem by Titus, 20,000 Idumaeans, under the leadership of John, Simeon,
Phinehas, and Jacob, appeared before Jerusalem to fight on behalf of the
Zealots who were besieged in the Temple…After the Jewish Wars the Idumaean
people are no longer mentioned in history, though the geographical region of
“Idumaea” is still referred to at the time of Jerome.” [taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edom] So that is the branch of Edom that did
not migrate out of Palestine very early on, into Persia and beyond. The Romans probably ended this line of
Edom with the slaughter of the Jews, and what remained were scattered just as
the Jews were.
in
conclusion
Notice one thing. The Ottoman Turks’ control of the Middle
East and Palestine was never lost
from 1512 to 1917. Previously the
Seljuq Turks had held the Middle East and Palestine from 1071 to 1300, when the
Ottomans took over their empire. Ottoman armies would have had to pass through Palestine, even perhaps
being garrisoned there on their journeys to the Eastern frontier of their
Empire, on their way to the “Eastern Front” battling Persia, Egypt and Baghdad
periodically. A Turkish military
army-navy presence was always in the Middle East and Palestine as a direct
result. As you can see, the
Ottomans wielded very large armies and navies of Turkish soldiers and
sailors. Intermarriage and
interbreeding of Turkic peoples as a result of occupation forces living in the
Middle East and the area of Palestine occurred over a very long period of time,
from the Seljuq’s in the 10th century, through Ottoman occupation
going from the 1500s all the way through to 1917 when the British defeated
Ottoman rule in Palestine at the hands of General Allenby in the West
Bank. My prognosis, based on
historic fact of military presence of Turkic military personnel, and Turkic
landowners in Palestine, that there is a good mixture of the Turkic race within
all those who call themselves Palestinians. All things considered, there must be a
strong ethnic presence of Edom, Esau within the Palestinians living in Gaza,
the West Bank and the Israeli nation itself. And “Esau” wants his birthright back,
and he’s willing to take it back by force, when Biblically God, Yahweh gave it
to Jacob and his sons, who became the 12 tribes of Israel. Now let’s see what the United Nations is
about to do in September of 2011, which if they succeed could lead to major
strife and war between the Israelis and Palestinians. The next page is copied from the
magazine Israel Today. What I
have given you up to this point explains who Edom is, and that a good portion
of Edom, Esau is probably mixed into those who call themselves
Palestinians. Right after the
Israel Today article, we will go right into the text of Ezekiel 35.
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