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Chapter 10
Unmasking Today's Edomites: A Mystery within a Mystery
The solution to the mystery of the gentiles would be incomplete without uncovering the identity of those who pose as Israelites today. People unfamiliar with the Israelite ancestry of many gentiles are usually just as unaware of the Edomite ancestry of many Jews. Both of these mistakes contribute to the mystery of the gentiles.
The story of the Edomites and the Israelites began at the conception of their respective forefathers. Isaac's wife Rebekah conceived fraternal twin sons: Esau whose name was changed to Edom, and Jacob whose name was changed to Israel. When it became apparent that this pregnancy was unusual, Rebekah made inquiry of Yahweh:
And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of Yahweh. And Yahweh said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. - Genesis 25:22-23
The Hebrew word ratsats, translated struggled together, is defined by James Strong:
...to crack in pieces, literally or figuratively.106
"Ratsats" is the same word used in Judges 9:53 translated "to brake" when "a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head ... to brake his skull." In other words, some kind of intense battle was being waged between these two brothers even while in the womb. The next three verses appear to suggest that, at the very least, these two brothers were jockeying for position in order to be firstborn:
And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. - Genesis 25:24-26
Jacob held onto his twin brother Esau's heel in what may have been an attempt to prevent Esau from gaining the advantage of being firstborn. Although Jacob's attempt was in vain, Yahweh's will was not to be thwarted. He had promised Rebekah that the elder should serve the younger. Eventually, Jacob became the sole possessor of both the birthright and the blessing. This reversal of roles was not without conflict. Yahweh informed Rebekah that Esau and Jacob would invariably contend with one another and so would their descendants.
This promise began to find its fulfillment soon after the two boys were grown. Esau foolishly sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for a meager bowl of red lentil stew, and their father unwittingly bestowed the blessing upon him as well. Had Rebekah not intervened on Jacob's behalf, Esau would have destroyed him as result of his bitter jealousy:
And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him.... - Genesis 27:41
The struggle between these two men, and subsequently between their descendants, continued to manifest itself in the Edomites' hatred of the Israelites:
...thou [Edom] hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity.... - Ezekiel 35:5
Edom ... did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever. - Amos 1:11
In The History of Israel, Heinrich Ewald described the Edomites' hatred for the Israelites:
...the Idumeans [Edomites] ... were Israel's most bitter foes when Jerusalem was destroyed (by the Babylonians)....107
Since the days of the judges and the kings there was no neighbouring people with which Israel had been compelled to struggle so keenly as with Edom.108
In cunning ... as well as in a certain outward piety, they are far superior; and when they mingle in the internal disputes of a community, they operate like a corroding lie or cankering poison.... They ... penetrate in the unexpected guise of feigned friendship and apparent equality, in order to involve the ancient Israel in the deepest ruin....109
Numbers 20 informs us that when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, the Edomites for no apparent reason refused to allow the Israelites to pass through their land. Approximately four hundred years later, King David would write about this inherent hatred:
Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee. The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen [helped] the children of Lot.... - Psalm 83:1-8
Fausett's Bible Dictionary states that the reason for this concerted attack upon the Israelites involved the inheritance that the Edomites doubtless believed rightfully belonged to them as descendants of Isaac's first born son Esau:
E.[dom] was also linked with Ammon and Moab in the desperate effort made to root out Israel from his divinely given inheritance ... under Jehoshaphat [king of the house of Judah], as recorded in 2 Chron xx.... Ps. lxxxiii. (3-5, 12)....110
2 Chronicles 20:11 declares that Edom, Ammon and Moab had "come to cast ... [the Israelites] out of thy possession, which ... [Yahweh] hast given ... [them] to inherit."
In 1 Samuel 15:1-3, Yahweh commanded King Saul to utterly destroy the descendants of Esau's grandson Amalek. Saul disobeyed and ironically was later killed by one of the very Amalekites he spared (2 Samuel 1:2-10). Approximately 400 years later, Haman, a descendant of Esau Edom through Amalek, intended to exterminate Mordecai and Esther, Saul's descendants,* along with the portion of the house of Judah that were captive in Persia. Haman's hatred for the Judahites was so intense that he was willing to pay the Persian King Ahasuerus to see it accomplished:
...Haman sought to destroy all the Judahites that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. ... And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them. If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries. - Esther 3:6-9
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*Esther was a cousin of Mordecai who was a descendant of Kish (Esther 2:5-7). According to 1 Samuel 9:1-2, Kish was the father of King Saul. Esther was a Benjamite, and Saul was the only Benjamite to ever reign over Israel. Therefore, Esther would have been of Saul's royal lineage. Flavius Josephus relates that Esther "was herself of the royal family." Flavius Josephus, "The Antiquities of the Jews," Josephus (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1960) Book XI, Chapter VI, Verse 1, p. 237.)
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By Yahweh's providence, Haman did not succeed in his genocidal plot, and he was hanged from the very gallows that he had built for Mordecai. The ensuing conflict killed many Edomites and many others claimed to be Judahites in an effort to preserve their lives:
And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Judahites had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Judahites; for the fear of the Judahites fell upon them. - Esther 8:17
1 Samuel 22 records that Doeg the Edomite slaughtered Ahimelech and other Levitical priests when Saul's servants refused to take part in the bloody deed. The Talmud, Sanhedrin 69b, states that Doeg "...is regarded by the rabbis as the greatest scholar of his time...."111 King David, on the other hand, described Doeg as having character traits similar to those of his progenitor Esau:
Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp rasor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Thou lovest all devouring words.... - Psalm 52:2-4
Jasher 28:20 declares that "Esau was a designing and deceitful man, one who hunted after the hearts of men...."*
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*Although Jasher is not a part of the sacred canon of Scripture, it is mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18 and it is referenced in 2 Timothy 3:8.
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Ezekiel 25:12 states that "Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them." Obadiah 1:10-14 declares that Edom "rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction.... Thou ... entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou ... looked on their affliction ... [and] laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity ... [and] cut off those of his that did escape ... [and] delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress."
The Apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees records the Edomites' desire to destroy the Israelites:
...they thought to destroy the generation of Jacob that was among them, and thereupon they began to slay and destroy the people. Then Judas [Maccabaeus] fought against the children of Esau in Idumea at Arabattine, because they besieged Israel.... - 1 Maccabees 5:2-3
King Herod the Great exhibited the same wicked trait as did his Edomite progenitors. Matthew 2:16 relates that he was so intent on killing the infant Yeshua (Jesus' given Hebrew name) that He murdered all Judahite boys two years of age and under in Bethlehem and the surrounding territory.
Bible dictionaries document that Herod was of Edomite descent:
The Herodian dynasty made its way into Palestine through Antipater, an Idumean by descent. The Idumeans were of Edomite stock as descendants of Esau. Antipater was installed as procurator of Judea by Julius Caesar, the emperor of Rome, in 47 B.C. He appointed two of his sons to ruling positions. One of these was Herod, known as "Herod the Great," who was appointed governor of Judea.112
Although Herod directed his murderous act principally against Yeshua, this was yet another instance when Edom's "perpetual hatred" was unleashed upon Israelites. Edomite enmity was also exhibited during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD when they entered the besieged city with the Roman Emperor Titus:
Just before the siege under Titus 20,000 Idumeans were admitted into Jerusalem and filled it with bloodshed and rapine.113
...nor did the Idumeans spare anybody; for as they are naturally a barbarous and bloody nation.... And now the outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood; and that day, as it came on, saw eight thousand five hundred dead bodies there. But the rage of the Idumeans was not satiated by these slaughters, but they now betook themselves to the city, and plundered every house, and slew every one they met ... they sought for the high priests ... and as soon as they caught them they slew them.... Now after these were slain, the zealots and the multitude of the Idumeans fell upon the people as upon a flock of profane animals, and cut their throats; and, for the ordinary sort, they were destroyed in what place soever they caught them.114
These are only a few instances where biblical and secular history cite Edom's perpetual hatred toward Israelites. But who did these Edomites become? Just as the Israelites assumed new identities, so did the Edomites. Each of the following Jewish witnesses testifies to the Edomites' new identity:
...in the days of John Hyrcanus (end of the second century B.C.E.) ... the Edomites became a section of the Jewish people.115
They were then incorporated with the Jewish nation....116
...from then on they constituted a part of the Jewish people, Herod being one of their descendants.117
...they were hereafter no other than Jews [in name].118
It is also worth repeating that Yahweh warned that non-Israelites would pose as Israelites:
...I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Judahites, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. - Revelation 2:9
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Judahites, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. - Revelations 3:9
During the time that the Israelites became known as gentiles, the Edomites became known as Judahites, or Jews, as they are called today. With this name, the Edomites have laid claim to both the birthright and blessings lost to their brethren by their progenitor Esau. The Jews today are not descended from Jacob Israel, but from the Edomites and Khazars. They assumed the name "Jew" at the times of Esther, John Hyrcanus and King Bulan.
The following piece of the puzzle should not be passed over lightly. Jerusalem's celebrated Western or Wailing Wall is one of the Jews' most sacred sites. Contrary to widespread belief, this site is not what is left from the wall that surrounded King Solomon's Israelite temple, but from what is left of King Herod's Edomite temple. The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia and The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia testify to this Edomite connection with the Wailing Wall:
Western (or wailing) Wall ... Part of the wall enclosing Herod's Temple still standing in the Old City of Jerusalem. The five lower courses ... date from the time of Herod ... this part of the wall was regarded as sacred in popular legend as far back as the Talmudic Period; since at least the 10th cent., regular services were held before it.119
The Temple of Herod. Herod began the construction of his own Temple in the eighteenth year of his reign (20-19 B.C.E.).... The Herodian Temple was never completed ... the Western, or Wailing Wall, with its gigantic hewn stones, was ... the wall that surrounded the Temple area.120
Today's Jews seem to intuitively understand that Herod's wall, not Solomon's, is their rightful shrine.
The innate morality of today's Jews also testifies that they are not Israelites. When Rebekah was pregnant with Esau and Jacob, Yahweh informed her that two manner of people were within her. A comparison of the Talmud, the religious book of today's Edomite Jews, with the Holy Bible, the religious book of today's Israelite Christians, bears out this disparity in ethics.
MORALS OF THE
TALMUD |
MORALS OF THE BIBLE
|
Approves of Sodomy: "If one committed sodomy with a
child of less than nine years, no guilt is incurred" (Sanhedrin 54b) |
Prohibits Sodomy:"Thou shalt not lie with mankind as
with womankind: it [homsexuality] is an abomination" (Leviticus
18:22) |
Approves of Child Sacrifice to Idols: "He who gives of his
seed to Molech incurs no punishment" (Sanhedrin 64a) |
Prohibits Child Sacrifice to Idols: "Whoever gives
any of his seed to Molech: he shall surely be put to death (Leviticus 20:2) |
Cursing Parents Allowed: "One who curses his parents isn't
punished unless he curses them by Divine name" (Sanhedrin 66a)
|
Cursing Parents Prohibited: "He that curses his father or mother
shall be put to death" (Exodus 21:17) |
Allows Enchanting: "It is permitted to consult by a
charm the spirits of oil and eggs, and make incantations" (Sanhedrin 101a) |
Disallows Enchanting: "None of you shall be an
enchanter or a charmer, or consult with familier spirits (Deut.
18:10-11) |
Beastiality Condoned: "Woman having intercourse with a beast can
marry a priest, the act is a mere wound" (Yebamoth 59b) |
Beastiality Condemned: "You shall not lie with any
beast, nor shall any woman stand before a beast to lie with it" (Lev.
18:23) |
Harlotry Lawful: " A harlot's hire is permitted, for what the
woman has received is a gift" (Abodoh Zarah 62b-63a) |
Harlotry Unlawful: "She that plays the whore in her father's
house shall be put to death" (Deut. 22:21) |
Blasphemy Allowed: "One can revile the Divine Name if mentally
appying it to some other object" (Sanhedrin 65a-b) |
Blasphemy Punishable: "He that blasphemes the LORD [YHWH] shall
surely be put to death" (Numbers 30:2) |
Not Required to Keep Vows: One may declare: "Every vow which I
make in the future shall be null" (Nedarin 23a-23-b) |
Required to Keep Vows: "If a man vows, he shall not break his
word, he shall do according to all that he spoke" (Numbers 30:32) |
Murder Condoned: "If ten men smote a man with ten staves and he
dies, they are exempt from punishment" (Sanhedrin 78a) |
Murder Prohibited: "He that smites a man with a stave so that
he dies, he is a murderer and shall be put to death" (Numbers
35:18)121 |
Although many Christians believe contemporary Judaism derives its beliefs from the Old Testament, many Jews admit otherwise. Consider carefully the following Jewish testimonies regarding the source of their morals and values:
Arsene Darmesteter, 1897
The Talmud ... represents the uninterrupted work of Judaism ... it is the faithful mirror of the manners, the institutions, the knowledge of the Jews, in a word of the whole of their civilization.... Nothing, indeed, can equal the importance of the Talmud....122
Judaism finds its expression in the Talmud.... The study of Judaism is that of the Talmud, as the study of the Talmud is that of Judaism.... They are two inseparable things, or better, they are one and the same....123
Rabbi Morris Kertzer, 1952
The Talmud consists of 63 books of legal, ethical and historical writings of the ancient rabbis.... It is a compendium of law and lore. It is the legal code which forms the basis of Jewish religious law and it is the textbook used in the training of rabbis.124
Dr. Benjamin Freedman, 1954
The Talmud today virtually exercises totalitarian dictatorship over the lives of so-called or self-styled "Jews" whether they are aware of that fact or not....125
Just as the Talmud is the "textbook by which rabbis are trained," so is the Talmud also the textbook by which the rank and file of the so-called, or self-styled, Jews are trained to think from their earliest age.126
Herman Wouk, 1959
The Talmud ... is to this day the circulating heart's blood of the Jewish religion. Whatever laws, customs, or ceremonies we observe - whether we are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or merely spasmodic sentimentalists - we follow The Talmud. It is our common law.127
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, 1976
...the Talmud is the central pillar [of Judaism], soaring up from the foundations and supporting the entire spiritual and intellectual edifice. In many ways the Talmud is the most important book in Jewish culture, the backbone of creativity and the national life. No other work has had a comparable influence on the theory and practice of Jewish life, shaping spiritual content and serving as a guide to conduct.128
In his book A Rabbi Talks with Jesus, Rabbi Jacob Neusner admitted to the dissimilarity of the Jew's morality derived from the Talmud and that of Christians who follow the teachings of Yeshua the Christ:
[Yeshua's] way so radically differs from my way, it is clear we are hearing different voices from Sinai....129
This is because the Jews' religion does not originate from Sinai, but from Babylon:
The beginnings of Talmudic literature date back to the time of the Babylonian Exile in the sixth pre-Christian century, before the Roman Republic had yet come into existence.130
Its birthplace, Babylonia, was an autonomous Jewish centre for a longer period than any other land; namely, from soon after 586 before the Christian era to the year 1040 after the Christian era - 1626 years; from the days of Cyrus [king of Babylon] down to the age of the Mongol conquerors!131
Jewish author Maurice Samuel, in his book You Gentiles, provided yet further witness to the differences between today's Edomite-Khazar Jews and today's Celto-Saxon Israelites:
I have said, "There are two life-forces in the world I know: Jewish and gentile, ours and yours." ...What their origin was I cannot say. ...I can only affirm - to the Jews, in the main, belongs the Jewish life-force, a consistent and coherent force, a direction in human thought and reaction. To you others belongs the gentile life-force, a mode of life and thought distinct from ours.... We have lived for many centuries in close contiguity, if not intimacy.... Yet the cleavage is there, abysmal and undeniable. In the main, we are forever distinct. Ours is one life, yours is another.... I do not believe that this primal difference between gentile and Jew is reconcilable.... There will be irritation between us as long as we are in intimate contact. For nature and constitution and vision divide us from all of you forever.... With the best will on both sides, successful adaptation to each other will always be insecure and transient.... But, as has come to pass so often, the difference which is deeper than will, deeper than consciousness, will assert itself.132
Yahweh informed Rebekah that "two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels." These two "life-forces" that Samuel wondered about are easily understood from a biblical perspective, especially when the two parties are identified correctly. Samuel continued his insightful observations concerning the differences between these two peoples, their laws and their morality:
...your system of morality is no less a need to you than ours to us. And the incompatibility of the two systems is not passive. You might say: "Well, let us exist side by side and tolerate each other. We will not attack your morality, nor you ours." But the misfortune is that the two are not merely different. They are opposed in mortal, though tacit, enmity. No man can accept both, or, accepting either, do otherwise than despise the other. ...the preferences and aversions which I here express will at least serve to make clear the irreconcilable difference between Jewish and gentile morality....133
The Jewish radical ... will discover that nothing can bridge the gulf between you and us.... We, Jews, we, the destroyers, will remain the destroyers forever. Nothing that you will do will meet our needs and demands. We will forever destroy because we need a world of our own....134
Keeping in mind Yahweh's prophecy to Rebekah and the prophecies of Ezekiel and Amos regarding the Edomite's everlasting hatred of Israelites, it is evident that some of today's Edomites are still intent on fulfilling these prophecies.
It is commonly believed that the Jews or Israelis are allies of America and other Christian nations. There is no better way for someone to defeat an enemy without detection than to convince him that he is an ally. A pat on the back can easily become a stab in the back. Micah 3:5 warns of those who cry, "Peace!" and secretly plan for war. Benjamin Freedman, a Jew, tried to alert Christians to their avowed enemies:
The history of the world for the past several centuries and current events at home and abroad, confirm the existence of a conspiracy to destroy Christian civilization. The world-wide plot of these diabolical conspirators has been implemented while most Christians have been asleep. The Christian clergy seem to be more ignorant and indifferent to this plot than other Christians. They seem to bury their heads in the sands of indifference and ignorance like the legendary ostrich. This ignorance and indifference has dealt a severe blow to the Christian faith.... The confusion ... is unwarranted and unjustified. It need not exist. It would not exist if the Christian clergy did not aid and abet the deceptions responsible for it. The Christian clergy may be shocked to learn that they have been aiding and abetting the dedicated enemies of the Christian faith. Many of the Christian clergy are actually their allies but may not know it.135
In 500 BC while expounding upon the tactics of warfare, Chinese philosopher and general Sun Tzu declared the importance of not only knowing yourself, but also correctly identifying your adversary:
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.136
Over a century before Sun Tzu was born, Yahweh made a similar declaration:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.... - Hosea 4:6
Tragically, many Christians do not know either who they are or who their enemies are. Even worse, they do often not even understand that they have enemies. Because many Christians have misidentified themselves and failed to recognize the existence of an enemy dedicated to destroying the Christian faith, they have become bedfellows with those who would destroy them and their religion. Many Jews testify to this plot against Christianity:
Rabbi Reichhorn, 1869
Every hundred years, We, the sages of Israel [Talmudic Judaism] ... meet in Sanhedrin in order to examine our progress towards the domination of the world ... and our conquests over the enemy - Christianity.137
Learned Elders of Zion, 1897
...only years divide us from the moment of the complete wrecking of that Christian religion....138
Bernard Lazare, 1903
...they are the enemies of God and Jesus Christ ... in their daily prayers they curse the Savior under the name of the Nazarene; they build new synagogues as if to insult the Christian religion.... In brief, "there is no wickedness in the world which the Jews are not guilty of, so that they seem to aim at nothing but the Christians' ruin."139
The Jews did not stop there.... Their activity was such as to give rise to ... the existence of a secret society sworn to the destruction of Christianity.140
...attacking all dogmas and forms of Christianity with a bitterness entirely Judaic....141
The Jew ... is not content merely to destroy Christianity, but he preaches the gospel of Judaism.... He is engaged in his historic mission, the annihilation of the religion of Christ.142
Benjamin Disraeli, 1905
...[the Jews] touch the hand of all the scum and low castes of Europe! And all this because they wish to destroy that ungrateful Christendom....143
Israel Shahak, 1994
Judaism is imbued with a very deep hatred towards Christianity.... The very name "Jesus" was for Jews a symbol of all that is abominable, and this popular tradition still persists.144
This plot against Christianity revealed itself again in 2004 when many Jewish organizations attacked Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ.
Jewish attacks upon Christians and Christianity come in various forms - religion, politics, the legal system, the arts, Hollywood, the media and war - to name a few. In his book The International Jew, Henry Ford, Sr., founder of the Ford Motor Company and owner of The Dearborn Independent newspaper, boldly declared the truth:
There is a religious prejudice in this country, there is, indeed, a religious persecution, there is a forcible shoving aside of the religious liberties of a majority of the people, and this prejudice and persecution and use of force is Jewish and nothing but Jewish.145
Bible students should find the foregoing facts concerning the Edomites disquieting. Because Esau lost the birthright and the blessing to Jacob, it seems innate for Esau's descendants to do whatever it takes, including masquerading as Israel, to steal these blessings back from Yahweh's intended heirs.
In Genesis 28:40 Isaac told his son Esau that "when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his [Jacob Israel's] yoke from off thy neck." With this prophecy in mind, consider very carefully the implication of the following passages. Ezekiel 35:10-12 records how the Edomites had proclaimed that "these two nations and these two countries [the two houses of Israel and their respective lands] shall be mine, and we will possess it" and that "the mountains of Israel ... are laid desolate" and "given us to consume."
Ezekiel 36:2, 5 foretell that Idumea, or Edom, would claim "the ancient high places are ours in possession" and that they had "appointed my [Yahweh's] land [of Judea, modern-day Palestine] into their possession."
Malachi 1:4 states that Edom would "return and rebuild the desolate places." In Isaiah 49:14-19, the desolate places are identified with Zion or Jerusalem and its surrounding region.
A case could be made that King Herod helped to fulfill these prophecies, even though they were principally fulfilled as a consequence of the Edomites assisting Emperor Titus in sacking Jerusalem in 70 AD. There also appears to have been a secondary fulfillment, as there often is with prophecy, when Jews immigrated to the land of Israel in 1948. Remember Yahweh is sovereign and all things happen according to His divine plan.
In other words, the relocation of the Jews to the land of Israel in 1948 has nothing to do with prophecies concerning Israelites. The Jewish settlement of the Holy Land better fulfills Ezekiel's and Malachi's prophecies that the Edomites would one day take over Jerusalem and its surrounding area and rebuild the desolate places.
Because the eschatology of many Christians, churches and ministries is based upon the belief that the Jews' migration to the Holy Land is fulfillment of prophecy about Israelites, it will be difficult for many people to abandon these ideas. On the other hand, this is an opportunity to prove that truth is more sacred than man-made doctrines.
Since 1948 American taxpayers and Christian ministries have sent billions of dollars to assist the Zionist State of Israel. But instead of being blessed for blessing these Jews, as many modern-day preachers claim, America has been cursed. Consider the record. Since 1948 and the formation of the State of Israel, America has declined socially, politically, economically, educationally, spiritually and morally. This alone should be proof enough that there has been a case of mistaken identity.
Although the Edomites appear to be fulfilling Isaac's blessing that they would break Jacob's yoke from their neck and regain dominion (Genesis 27:40), later prophecies assure us that the Edomites will not always have the upper hand:
Thus saith the Lord Yahweh; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; therefore thus saith the Lord Yahweh; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord Yahweh. - Ezekiel 25:12-14
Thus saith the Lord Yahweh; ... I will make thee desolate. As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am Yahweh. - Ezekiel 35:14-15
...Thus saith the Lord Yahweh concerning Edom.... The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith Yahweh.... How are the things of Esau searched out! How are his hidden things sought up! ...For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou ... entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. ...as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.... - Obadiah 1:1-15
Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith Yahweh of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, the people against whom Yahweh hath indignation for ever. And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, Yahweh will be magnified from the border of Israel. - Malachi 1:4-5
Chapter 9 Table of Contents Chapter 11
Source Notes
106. James Strong, "Dictionary of the Hebrew Bible," The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990) p. 110.
107. Heinrich Ewald, The History of Israel (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1874) Volume V, p. 80.
108. Ewald, Volume V, p. 350.
109. Ewald, Volume V, pp. 396-397.
110. "Edom, Idumea," Fausset's Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1963) p. 185.
111. "Doeg," The Jewish Encyclopedia (New York, NY: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1905) Volume IV, p. 630.
112. "Herod," Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995) p. 559.
113. "Edom, Idumea," Fausset's Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1963) p. 185.
114. Flavius Josephus, "The Wars of the Jews," Josephus (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1960) Book IV, Chapter V, Verse 1-3, p. 534.
115. "Edom," Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem, Israel: Encyclopaedia Judaica Company, 1971) Volume 6, p. 378.
116. "Edom, Idumea," The Jewish Encyclopedia (New York & London: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1904) Volume V, p. 41.
117. "Edom (Idumea)," The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1977) p. 589.
118. Flavius Josephus, "The Antiquities of the Jews" Josephus (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1960) Book XIII, Chapter IX, Verse 1, p. 279.
119. Cecil Roth, "Western (or wailing) Wall," The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966) pp. 1908-1909.
120. "Temple ... 3. The Temple of Herod," The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia (New York, NY: The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc., 1943) Volume 10, p. 195.
121. Charles Weisman, Who is Esau-Edom? (Burnsville, MN: Weisman Publications, 1991) p. 50.
122. Arsene Darmesteter, The Talmud, translated from French by Henrietta Szold (Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1897) p. 7.
123. Darmesteter, pp. 60-61.
124. Rabbi Morris Norman Kertzer, "What is a Jew?," quoted in Look Magazine, 17 June 1952, p. 123.
125. Benjamin H. Freedman, letter to Dr. David Goldstein, L.L.D., October 10, 1954, Facts Are Facts (New York, NY: Benjamin H. Freedman, 1955) p. 26.
126. Freedman, p. 43.
127. Herman Wouk, This Is My God: The Jewish Way of Life (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1959) p. 200.
128. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, The Essential Talmud (New York, NY: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1976) p. 3.
129. Rabbi Jacob Neusner, quoted by Matthew Scully in "Face the Nation," National Review, 9 August 1993, p. 62.
130. Chief Rabbi Joseph Herman Hertz, foreword to the first edition, The Babylonian Talmud (London, England: The Soncino Press, 1935) p. xiii.
131. Hertz, p. xxi.
132. Maurice Samuel, You Gentiles (New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1924) pp. 95-96.
133. Samuel, p. 96.
134. Samuel, pp. 154-155.
135. Freedman, pp. 7-9.
136. Sun Tzu, The Art of War, edited by James Clavell (New York, NY: Delacorte Press, 1983) p. 18.
137. Rabbi Reichhorn, "Funeral Oration for Grand Rabbi Simeon-ben-Ihuda" (1869), published in La Vielle France, 10 March 1921 and Libre Parole, 27 November 1933, quoted in The Liberty Bell, 29 March 1983, p. 29.
138. Protocol 17, Article 2, Sentences 1-3, Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, translated from Russian by Victor Emile Marsden, 1905, and subsequent editions, reprinted (Boring, OR: CPA Books) p. 50. According to Marsden, the Protocols give the substance of addresses delivered at the First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland in 1897 under its president and the father of modern Jewish Zionism, the late Theodor Herzl (Binyamin Ye'ev). The Protocols reveal the plan of action for Talmudic Zionism's quest for world domination. Sergyei Nilus included the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion as an appendix to his book Velikoe v Malom - The Great in the Little, or The Coming of Anti-Christ and the Rule of Satan on Earth, which was translated from Russian by Marsden and published in Tsarskoe Selo (Pushkin), Russia by Tip. Tsarskoeselskago Komiteta as The Jewish Peril: The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, and republished many times under various titles. An original copy of Nilus' book containing the Protocols is in the British Museum bearing the reception date of August 10, 1906.
139. Bernard Lazare, Antisemitism: Its History and Causes (New York, NY: The International Library Publishing Company, 1903) Volume II, pp. 164-165.
140. Lazare, p. 302.
141. Lazare, p. 306.
142. Lazare, pp. 319-320.
143. Benjamin Disraeli, Lord George Bentinck: A Political Biography (London, England: Archibald Constable and Company Limited, 1905) p. 324. Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) was the first and only Jew to be Prime Minister of England (1868, 1874-1880).
144. Israel Shahak, Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years (Brooklyn, NY: Baruch Spinoza Press, 1994) pp. 97-98.
145. Henry Ford Sr., The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem (Dearborn, MI: The Dearborn Publishing Company, 1922) p. 43, reprinted from a series of articles appearing originally in the The Dearborn Independent, 22 May 1920 through 2 October 1920.
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