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OK, so we're up to Genesis 36 now, and as is my way, I'll just remind you where we were in Genesis 35, where we were on the back of the events in Shechem, where Jacob and his family, if you remember, had been backsliding. God told them to get themselves to Bethel, which means a house of God, and after getting rid of the strange gods and cleaning up, they went there. Then Jacob was blessed, having gone there. However, he then left again. Rachel died in labour, giving birth to Benjamin. Then Reuben committed adultery with his father's wife, the concubine Bilhah, and for me there was no reason to leave Bethel. OK, and it seemed like things went bad for them when they did, didn't they? Things didn't go too well when they left. Eventually he came to his father Isaac, who then died at 180 years old. It says in verse 27 of Genesis 35, Jacob came unto Isaac, his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arba, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. And the days of Isaac were in a hundred and fourscore years, and Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. And then we're into Genesis 36 now, and verse 1 reads, Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom. I'm going to pray, and then we're going to get going with this message. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for this chapter of the Bible, Lord. And, Lord, I just pray that you just help everyone to just be edified by, edified by, you know, the points that I'm going to expand here. Help me to do that just clearly and accurately, Lord, and boldly and fully in your spirit. Help everyone to have attentive ears, just then pray. Amen. So, back in Genesis 25, if you turn there, go back to Genesis 25. Jacob's older twin brother was named Edom, and if you remember, it means red. So, back in Genesis 25, we're going to look at, he was originally named Esau because he was hairy. So, he came out very hairy, and although he was also red-haired, it said, that's not why he was then named Edom. So, Genesis 25, verse 25 says this, And the first came out red, being the first baby, all over like an hairy garment. So, he was red and hairy, and they called his name Esau. But then, jump forward to when they're now older, in verse 29, and they're now older young men, boys here, it says, And Jacob sawed pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage, for I am faint. Therefore was his name called Edom. So, he was named after this red pottage of lentils. Why? Well, because of the significance of what he did to obtain this red pottage of lentils, look at verse 31. It says, And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die, and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day, and he swear unto him, and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils, and he did eat and drink and rose up and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. So Esau was named after the red pottage that he was willing to sell his birthright for. And just to remind you that the birthright was the inheritance due to the firstborn, as well as the authority in the family as well. There was supposed to be inherited leadership, along with a double portion of the inheritance. So, if the two were inheriting, he was meant to probably have the two-thirds, as opposed to Jacob would have got the third, right? Esau sold all of this, that authority, being the leader of the family, having that double portion. He sold it all for a bowl of lentil soup, which is pretty bizarre, isn't it? And was then named after that soup. So, if ever there is a way to remind you of what a foolish thing you did, it's when you're named after the soup that you did it for, right? And can you imagine if someone here started getting the nickname of like a bowl of soup or something? You'd wonder why, and there'd probably be a good reason for it, wouldn't there? Some of those people do get a nickname, don't they? Because of something stupid they've done. And then you can think maybe if any of you are at school, back to school days, where there'd be someone that's just got a nickname because they just did something particularly dozy or something else. Well, this is what Esau, Esau's now just named. In fact, all of his seed after him were all named after a bowl of soup. Okay, but anyway, let's keep going. Now, like many events in Genesis, okay, this wasn't just about a bowl of soup, this was a picture of the replacement of the physical nation of Israel, or what remained of it, okay? With the spiritual nation of believers replacing them. Verse 29, where it said in Jacob's sod, Potage, and Esau came from the field and he was faint, this pictured the physical nation stopping being productive. They fainted on the job, basically, okay? Verse 30 said, and Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee with that same red potage, for I am faint, therefore was his name called Edom, and for me this pictured their worldliness, wanting the physical carnal things, yeah? Verse 31 said, and Jacob said, sell me this day thy birthright, and Esau said, behold I am at the point to die, and what profit shall this birthright do to me? In this picture them forsaking God, they stopped trusting him. Verse 33, and Jacob said, swear to me this day, and he swear unto him, and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and potage of lentils, and he did eat and drink and rose up and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. They despised what God had given them ultimately, didn't they? They were given the oracles, they were given the word of God, they were close to God, they had all all these many blessings, these people, and ultimately they despise it because they despised God by the end, really, didn't they? They despised God when God in the flesh came to them, they despised him, they hated him on the whole, okay, on the whole. So it was a big deal what Esau did. Not only did it picture the eventual replacement of what was known in the end as Jews, okay, but even just at face value it was a bizarre monumental decision, and for that reason, like I said, he was named after it. And so were his descendants who were known as Edomites. So back and where we were in Genesis 36, it said in verse 2, Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan, Ada the daughter of Elon the Hittite and Aholobomer, the daughter of Anar the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, and Bashamath Ishmael's daughter sister of Nebuchadnezzar. Now this can seem a little confusing if you compare it to chapter 26, and if you'd like, we are going to be going a bit in Genesis, obviously keep your place in in chapter 36, but we'll have a quick look at chapter 26, where it says in verse 34, it says, and Esau was 40 years old when he took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beorai the Hittite, and Bashamath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. However, it seems by what we've just looked at that Ada was also known then as Bashamath, with Judith possibly now renamed Aholobomer, and again from Hittite and Hivite parents. And it said in verse 35 of chapter 26, which were grief of mine unto Isaac and Rebekah. So we saw that him taking these basically, you know, worldly, these Hivites, these Hittites, was a grief of mine to his parents. They're like, what on earth is he doing? You know, I don't think these were kind of cream of the crop type ladies, they weren't obviously, they weren't saved. Then jump forward to to chapter 28, in verse 8, chapter 28 says, and Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father, then went Esau unto Ishmael and took unto the wives which he had Maalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebuchadnezzar, to be his wife. Now, however, Genesis 36.5 called her Bashamath. Why? Well, the name means fragrant, pleasing, or sweet smelling, so it seems that we've got one being called Bashamath, where we were in chapter 26 verse 34, Bashamath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, but then we're seeing that now Ishmael's daughter is being called Bashamath. The name means fragrant, pleasing, or sweet smelling, and I don't think this was the case with the Hittite women, which were a grief of mine to his parents. Now, I've kind of thought again about this. Perhaps this daughter of Ishmael wasn't supposed to be, because I read it before thinking Esau that these wound wound him up. Esau seeing where you are in chapter 28, that the daughter of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father. Then when he saw unto Ishmael, now bear in mind that Ishmael was, well, he was the half-brother of his father, and he went to Ishmael and took unto one of the wives, and for me that's the kind of closer to home than the Hittites and Hivites. So maybe in fact he was trying to please them, seeing that his brother was being sent off to Bananaram to get a kind of one of the family type thing. Maybe, in fact, it was an attempt at that, and at least this daughter was maybe the, you know, the best of a bunch here. I don't know, maybe not. I looked at that, when I first looked at that I just thought it was kind of like he was upset, so he just went even, kind of, now he's got off to Ishmael, but I don't think maybe he meant harm from this, and now she's being called the nice name, right? But anyway, let's keep going. Verse 2, back in 36, it said this, it said, Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan, Ada the daughter of Elan the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Einar the daughter of Zibi and the Hivite, and Bashamath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebuchath, and Adar bare to Esau Eliphaz, and Bashamath bare Ruel, and Aholibamah bare Jeush and Jealam and Korah. These are the sons of Esau which were born unto him in the land of Canaan. So these five sons were born unto him in Canaan, okay, bear that in mind. And Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters, okay, so they were daughters too, wasn't just the sons, and all the persons of his house and his cattle, and all his beasts and all his substance which he got in the land of Canaan, went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob. For their riches were more than they might dwell together, and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle. Now he's talking about Canaan here. In Genesis 17a, okay, so again you might as well turn to Genesis 17 and verse 8, Abram had just been renamed Abraham by God who said this. Genesis 17a, it says, And I will give unto thee, until thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger. And we've just read that he said, and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle. He said, The land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession I'll be their God. So clearly he's calling the whole land of Canaan the land where they are a stranger. We've just seen that term used again, and then in Genesis 28 we see the same. Isaac refers to Canaan in the same way when blessing Jacob. Genesis 28 and verse 3 says, And God Almighty bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee that thou mayst be a multitude of people, and give thee the blessing of Abraham to thee and to thy seed with thee, that thou mayst inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. And then also in the following chapter from where we are in Genesis 37 and verse 1, it says, And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. So clearly we're talking about the land of Canaan, agreed? Verse 7, Where we were said, For they richer the more that they might dwell together, the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle. Now all that to say, that these guys' animals and substance were too much for them both to dwell in the whole land of Canaan. Now it sounds a bit weird because if you've got an idea of how big the land of Canaan was, either they've got a hell of a lot of cattle or maybe there's some other reason for that, and I think it's probably a bit of both, right? I'm going to go by the boundary set out in Genesis 10 19 which says, And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as are Comistigira, unto Gaza, as are Goas, unto Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. Which is basically all that all of that land from west of the bottom of the Dead Sea to the coast up to what would now be basically deep into South Lebanon, which is where Sidon is. So even if that had reduced somewhat from then, it's still a vast land, it's huge, for two men and their whole substance to be too much for it. Now remember that, and just bear this in mind as well, Jacob had gifted Esau with hundreds of livestock in chapter 32. It said in verse 14, 200 she-goats and 20 he-goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 milch, camels and their colts, 40 kine and 10 bulls, 20 she-asses and 10 foals, to which Esau replied in Genesis 33.9, as you do when someone tries to give you about 500 livestock that seem to be prime livestock, he's given them like, you know, the right amount for breeding and everything else, and Esau said in Genesis 33.9, I have enough my brother, keep that thou has unto thyself. I mean these guys have got a lot of stuff, right, and Jacob was giving out this, these animals, and this wasn't a long time ago, already they've got too much. And since then what's happened as well? Isaac's died, and they've surely then inherited all of his animals and possessions too, haven't they? So they've, they're both in Canaan up until this point, they've gone there to, you know, they've gone and they buried Isaac, and then they will have inherited all of that. That's a lot of animals, and with that staff, wealth and everything else as well, right. Now I think it's more likely that where verse 7 said, for their riches were more than they might dwell together, back in Genesis 36 this is, and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle. I don't think it's saying that there wasn't enough pasture. I think it would include, but, but don't get me wrong, these guys have got a lot of stuff here, but I think it would probably include issues with the inhabitants of the land, for them to be able to dwell safely in this vast land with all these different tribes and things like that. Maybe that would have been hard as well, maybe there were safer areas, maybe there wasn't enough of that. Maybe there would have been, like, like, you know, like we saw before, there could have been problems between each other as well, with them, like, in the same air with all this livestock and trying to wander and, and obviously find pasture and everything else. But, because what is it? It's basically, it's an Abraham-Allat situation again, isn't it? So you can't look at this and not think about Abraham-Allat, where it was a very similar situation. Now turn to Genesis 13, where Abram and Lot had left Egypt with a lot of wealth. So they have a lot of wealth, Abram especially, we see leaving Egypt with a lot of wealth, we see that obviously Lot had a lot as well. It said in verse 1 of Genesis 13, that Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold, he was very rich. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel unto the place where his tents had been at the beginning between Bethel and Haai, unto the place of the altar which he had made them at the first, and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. And although it wasn't called Bethel at this point, it's being named Bethel, but we saw it named later by Jacob, Bethel means house of God, and the picture here, like in chapter 35, is the house of God, okay. So the picture for us is New Testament Christians being here at the house of God. A lot also which went with Abram had flocks and herds and tents, and the lamb was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle, and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. So problems like this arise, right, problems between them, you know, the herdmen, the cattle, they might get on, you know, Jacob and Esau seem to put things behind them, but maybe their people won't, maybe there'll be issues, problems, they're trying to find the best pasture and things like that. Verse 8 said, and Abram said unto Lot, let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me, if thou wilt take the left hand and I will go to the right, or if thou depart to the right hand and I'll go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves of one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom, which of course ended up being a terrible decision by Lot, as we looked at before, but basically he left the promised land and chose Sodom. He left Canaan, the promised land, the place where the house of God was, and he went east and went to Sodom. Esau chooses to leave the promised land and basically go east, or maybe a little bit southeast, probably fairly east towards Mount Seir. It's a very similar situation, right? Verse 8 of chapter 36 said, Thus dwelt Esau in Mount Seir, Esau is Edom. So how does that go for Esau and his seed after him then? How do you think it goes for him? Leaving the promised land, leading Canaan, leaving where the house of God was, and going to Seir. Well jump forward to Numbers 20, which is over 500 years later, where the children of Israel are on their way to the promised land, on the back of their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, having, you know, after the exodus from Egypt. And verse 14 of Numbers 20, Numbers 20 and verse 14 says this, And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom. Thus saith thy brother Israel, thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us, how our fathers went down into Egypt, we have dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians vexed us and our fathers, and when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and have brought us forth out of Egypt, and behold we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border. Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king's highway. We will not turn to the right hand, nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders. Sounds pretty reasonable, doesn't it? Pretty reasonable. Notice how he made it clear that it was all of God as well, so he's bringing God into it as well. In verse 16 it says how they cried unto the Lord, how he heard their voice, he sent an angel, he brought us forth out of Egypt. If this lot had continued in the faith of Esau's father Isaac, it should have been a no-brainer, shouldn't it? It'd have been like, look, these are God's people coming out of Egypt, let's let them through, let them pass through. Let's see what the answer is, verse 18. And Edom said unto him, thou shalt not pass by me lest I come out against you with the sword. And the children of Israel said unto him, we will go by the highway, and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it. I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet. So they're trying to be even more amenable, saying look, we'll just go through, we'll literally just walk through, we're not going to stop, we're not going to sojourn, we're just going to go through, we're going to pay for anything if we end up having to drink even any of your water. And he said, thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people and with a strong hand, thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, wherefore Israel turned away from him. Now, so just in case while you were reading through this genealogy you didn't understand, Edom are the baddies. Okay, so they don't end up being good people, okay. Here we just see like, what on earth are they doing, right? They can just let them pass through. And like we said, these are family, okay. This is before everyone's just moving over, traveling over everywhere, intermingling everywhere. Theoretically, you know, there's still a lot of like strong genetics there from who their fathers were, and they just said no, okay. So what happened to the Edomites after this? Well, was this, you know, they made that decision, well what a silly decision, however they lived happily ever after, of course not. Turn to 2 Samuel 8, which is now 400 years later from here. And we read in 2 Samuel 8 that Saul is battling enemies on every side, including, sorry, your turn to 2 Samuel 8. I'm going to read from 1 Samuel 14, where Saul is battling enemies on every side, including Edom. It says in 1 Samuel 14, 47, but you turn to 2 Samuel 8. So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Mime, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah. This is when Saul's kind of taken power, and he's become the king. And against the Philistines, and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them. So first things first, we see when Saul becomes a king, the Edomites are getting vexed, okay. Saul's smashing everyone around him. Then 40 years later in 2 Samuel 8, so now we're another 40 years on, King David has been on this rampage in 2 Samuel 8, and he finishes with the Edomites. And it says in verse 13 of 2 Samuel 8, And David got him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being 18,000 men. And he put garrisons in Edom throughout all Edom puddy garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's servants. And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. So the Edomites eventually became servants to King David's Israel, okay. So we're now at the point where they're just servants of Israel. Turn to 2 Chronicles 25. Now after this, Solomon makes a navy there, okay, because they're clearly just controlled. They're sort of, you know, what you would say they're, I can't remember the word for it, but basically they're occupied. They're an occupied land. Solomon makes a navy there on their coast. There was a spell of being allied with, and then sadly later trying to invade Jehoshaphat's Judah when they team up with the Moabites and Ammonites as well. But there was a time when they were actually allied with Jehoshaphat briefly. And there's some other stuff we see going on with them. They're just a couple of highlights, sort of, of those generations after. But then later in 2 Chronicles 25, King Amaziah went to war with them and killed 10,000 in battle, and a further 10,000 captives by throwing them off, basically off a rock, off a ledge. Okay, so it doesn't go well for these guys. It says in verse 11, And Amaziah strengthened himself and led forth his people, and went to the valley of Saul, and smotered the children of Seir ten thousand. And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, and they're all broken in pieces. So the Edomites, it just goes from bad to worse with them. It did, it didn't go well. Later they allied with the Babylonians against God's people, which then results in loads of damning prophecies against them. So the Edomites just getting prophesied against by so many of the prophets. Turn to Ezekiel 35 for one of many prophecies against Edomites. Ezekiel 35 is a chapter just dedicated to them, like for example the one chapter of Obadiah is just dedicated to Edom. So look, as we see, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated, and it's not talking about the individuals, it's talking about the nation as a whole, and what what became of that nation. And Ezekiel 35 is talking about the nation, it says this in verse one, Ezekiel 35 one, Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, okay, that's the Edomites, and prophesy against it, and say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God, behold I mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. I will lay thy city's waste, and thou shall be desolate, thou shalt know that I am the Lord, because thou has had a, sorry, because thou has had a perpetual hatred, and has shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end. Therefore as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee. Sith thou has not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee. Any Star Wars fans, this has got nothing to do with the Sith, okay, this is just a word that means Sith, okay. Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut him, cut off from it, him that passeth out, and him that returneth, and I will fill his mountains with his slain men. In thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword. I'll make thee perpetual desolations, and thy city shall not return, and you shall know that I am the Lord, because thou said these two nations, these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it, whereas the Lord was there. Therefore as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy, which thou has used, out of thy hatred against him, and I will make myself known among them when I have judged thee. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou has spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying they are lay desolate, they're given us to consume. Thus with your mouth you have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me, I have heard them. Thus saith the Lord God, when the whole earth rejoiceth, 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 I, Demir, even all of it, and they shall know that I am the Lord. And by the way, in case you're wondering, why do you read all of that there, right? Look, that not only was that because of what they did when the Babylonians sort of were were were encamped outside Judah, they just basically teamed up with them. They, you know, not only did they do that to what was basically their brother, as he said, Israel, but that just applies to all those that just tried to destroy God's people. These people, they knew it was God's people, okay? They knew from early on, they were well aware, and they tried to destroy God's people. And this applies, the way, look, God, that's how God sees it. The people that attack during our hard times, God sees that, right? When we're having hard times, you're getting attacked for different angles, that's how God looks at it, right? He's, I'm going to destroy you for that, for vexing my children, right? Those that yoke up with our enemies, that's what God thinks of those people. He's, I'm going to destroy, I'm going to lay your land desolate. It will come to these people, those that hate God's people, basically. The haters of God's people will get it from God, and we see that clearly here, we see that with Edom, that God doesn't forget. You don't have to turn to Romans 12 19, says, dilly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. And God will repay in the end, and sometimes it can take a long time. They end up getting repaid really in 70 AD, I think it's when they ultimately get wiped out, but he does repay. We can leave it to God to deal with, and that's exactly what happened to the Edomites. God dealt with them in the end. They were made desolate. The land is desolate, okay? It's desolate now. That Mount Seir, I don't think even now there's hardly anyone there. There's no nation there. There was like, there was a nation of Edomites from Mount Seir, they eventually later on, they're called Idemians. They had a language, it's gone, wiped out. Historians who look back to, you know, because as we see, like, the genealogies aren't just there for no reason. No, because they give us a clear just genealogy of what was this nation of Edom, which is just wiped out. Some even look at this and say it's just such damning evidence of the accuracy of the prophecies of the word of God that there is no more Edom anymore. But historians know that there was an Edom and it got wiped out, destroyed, like God said he would do in many, many places, right? You don't have to turn to Obadiah 1 18 says, in the house of Jacob shall be a fire and the house of Joseph for flame and the house of Esau for stubble and they shall kindle in them and devour them and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau for the Lord have spoken it. Which seemed to be fulfilled, like I said, in AD 70 with the end of what was known as the Idemian nation. That was, they were done then. So what went wrong for Esau's line? So what was it that got them to this point? Was it about, you know, selling his birthright for a bowl? It wasn't about that. I'll tell you what happened. They left the Promised Land, they left God's house and they went their own way, basically. They left the Promised Land, they left the things of God, they went their own way, Esau did with his people etc. and eventually they ended up being on the complete opposite side of God. His offspring after him ended up being on the other side. They ended up being people that were trying to attack the people of God, that were trying to, when they were low, when they were being encircled, were trying to join in, were trying to attack them. And it's a warning to all out there, isn't it, really? It's a warning to those that want to pull away from things of God, whether they're saved or not, really. So if you're saved and you just pull away and you're, I'm just done with it, what's going to happen to your offspring and their offspring and their offspring? Eventually they just, you know, you probably have a load of reprobate God haters out there just trying to attack the things of God. But in the same way, those that are unsaved as well, when they just pull away and don't want, they know the truth, they know that someone's coming, for example, with the word of truth. They know that there's a church being planted in the south end and they just pull away. They don't want anything to do with it and everything else. Where are they going to eventually be? On the wrong side. On the wrong side like we see here. The other son of Isaac, don't forget this is the other twin son of Isaac, the mighty Isaac, you know, one of the fathers of the faith, ended up with his seed becoming hated enemies of God's people and being destroyed, obliterated by God. But what's interesting is that he had already been living in Seir. So in Genesis 32-3, when Jacob was approaching from Padaneram, Esau was already there. It said in Genesis 32-3, and Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, unto the land of Seir, the country of Eden. And then after that reunion, in the next chapter, in verse 16, Genesis 33-16, it says, so Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. However, here in chapter 36 and verse 6, it said, and Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all the persons of his house and his cattle and all his beasts and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan, and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob. For their riches were more than that they might dwell together, and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle. Thus dwelt Esau in Mount Seir, Esau his edom. So for me, he came back to Canaan, where God wanted his people, he buried his father, inherited maybe, I'm guessing he inherited a third of his father's estate, being that he'd sold the birthright for that bowl of, bowl of lentils, but he went back out to the world, and for me there's a spiritual lesson here. So I, look, I think there's a spiritual lesson here. When you've already gone away from God, okay, when you've already backslidden in the Christian life, that slide is much easier to go down again, isn't it? So he'd already been in Seir. He goes back to Canaan, to the promised land, to the place where they were meant to be, near, nearby at least to where the house of God was, and then eventually he goes back to Seir, when it was time for them, because he's not there for, I don't think he's there for like five minutes on quick burial. I mean they're sorting out, can you imagine, they're sorting out all these cattle, sorting out the possessions, I mean, sorting out an inheritance nowadays is hard enough. You can imagine back then with all this livestock and stuff like that, that must have been a, taken a while, right? So they sort, like, he's there for a while, he's there, he's, he's where he should be. He's where he should be, and he ends up going back to Mount Seir, where he's already been, right? And, for me, it's kind of like this. When you've already been down the slide, it's that much easier to go down it again. That's how I see it. When you've already backslidden in whatever way you have, it's that much easier to go down that slide again, isn't it? And we have to respect that in life, and we have to understand that if you backslide, you're much more likely to, to get on that slide again. I'm going to give you an analogy here that I was thinking about with this, right? Think of it like those waterslide parks, okay? The waterslide park's in my mind right now, okay? Anyone know what I mean? Like, those, you get them, like, in these, like, holiday resorts and things like this, yeah? The classic waterslide park, yeah? Looks great, dodgy as anything. I don't know, they, they have them sometimes in England, I just don't think they're that popular, because people don't really want to get on waterslides when it's raining, okay? But, okay, so, think of it like a waterslide park, and think of, you know, in every waterslide park, you've got, like, the nearest shear drop slide, you know, this sort of thing, I mean, yeah? When, when you tiptoe over it, you look down, like, what on earth, yeah? Because you barely make contact with the slide on the way down, yeah? Because it literally just goes, and then, like, at the end, you kind of go out on the water, right? And the first time you get on, you go down one of those things, it's quite hard, isn't it? If anyone remembers getting on these sorts of things when you're young, the first time you're kind of looking over the edge, you're like, and some people don't go on it. I remember going to one with my sister once many years ago, and she, she just, she bottled it, she couldn't do it, you know? I can't get on this, because you're looking over it, it just looks like you're just going to drop, yeah? And, and sometimes it's handy that you've got some Larry Spanish lifeguard or something, he's like, get down! I remember my brother once, just, I don't know why this is coming along, I remember being on one of these once, my brother actually got a smack bottom from one of the lifeguards for, like, trying to throw me down it or something, and he actually, and they were the good old days, even the lifeguard would give a kid a wallet, you know? Anyway, point being that, that the first time is hard, isn't it? So you're looking at that slide, you're thinking, I don't know about this, and for good reason too, because it's not just that it's a sheer drop, and it doesn't look that safe, and you kind of haven't seen any certificates and test funds and things like that, but also because you get a lot of water up your nose with those sorts of things, don't you? When you get down the bottom and you skid across the water, you know, and you're kind of like, you're inhaling water and stuff like that, you usually get a load of marks down your back, because those slides aren't very well made, and you kind of come out, and you kind of got welts across your back and stuff, you end up, your swimming costume's not in a very nice position afterwards, you know, when you get down the bottom it's a bit obscene as well, you hit the cold plunge pool at the bottom, and you're like, what on earth, you know? And for good reason, you're like, looking at, thinking, I don't know if I even want to go off this thing, right? Your stomach ends up briefly in your mouth, yeah? It does, doesn't it? Like, when you go down them, you know, suddenly your stomach's up here, like, doesn't see the catch-up with the rest of it, and those things are pretty rough, okay? But what happens once you get out of that cold plunge at the end? Usually you climb back up those hundreds of steps and get on it again, don't you? You get, you've done this horrific thing which, usually you come out a bit injured or something as well, you swim out, you know, with kind of still spluttering and coughing and wondering if you still got any skin left on your back, and then you usually climb back up those steps, don't you? And you climb back up to the top, hundreds of steps usually as well, and you see, you see that in our church lives, there are just serial slide enthusiasts, there are people that will climb and climb and climb and climb in the spiritual life, they get to the top and they jump back on the slide back down, they, they, and they can't help it, they just keep jumping on the slide, and it's like, you've done all this work, you've climbed up these dodgy concrete steps, baking in the sun, getting up to the top, and then you just slide back down again, and you keep sliding down, and you know what happens in the end? The sunburn kicks in, the stairs get harder to climb again, yeah, the sheer drop just doesn't do it anymore, that stops being that exciting, now you catapult yourself off the top, now it's like, I'm going to use the bar and get a bit of extra momentum, I'm going to start doing different positions going down and stuff like that, the slide gets quicker, the splash gets bigger at the end, until next thing you know, it's too much and you're feeling sick and you're under a parasol, you know, just saying, don't worry, I'll just keep an eye on the young kids and the little toddler bit, you know, you're done, it's too late, you can't, you're not going up, you're not going up those stairs anymore, and that's where you don't want to be in the Christian life, you don't want to be under the parasol by the kiddie pool saying, don't worry, I'll look after the kids because I've kind of done it, I've done too much of the sheer drop, and you don't want to get to that point. How do we not get to that point? Well, when you've already been in Sier, you're more likely to go back to Sier, you've got to respect that, don't you? So you've got to understand that if you've backslidden in whatever way you've backslidden before, that's going to be that much more tempting for you, and it doesn't, and if you think, well, I've backslidden, I've made it back, I've backslidden, I've made it back, yeah, I slipped on that, yeah, I did that for a little while, yeah, I did that, I'm still here, eventually you won't carry on climbing back up those steps, eventually you'll be sunburned under the parasol and you won't get back up again, and you don't want to be there, you've got to understand that if you've been there, it's going to be more of a temptation. I've heard it preached before that when that door's opened, it's always a little bit ajar, and it really is. Whatever it is that you've been drawn by, however you've backslidden, there's always going to be some temptation there at some point in the future, don't, you've got to take heed, right? Because people don't, and they think, yeah, I've dealt with that, I've given up that sin, I won't be back there, and then something changes, it's at a low point or something else, and it starts to become more tempting, right? Oh yeah, I'm all right, I can be around the old buddies at the pub, it doesn't matter, I can be whatever it is, right? It doesn't bother me, I'm strong, you know, I gave that up years ago, right? And then someone dies in your family, or then something, some hard time happens, and then suddenly it starts to feel that little bit more tempting, doesn't it? Like I said, when you've already been in Sier, you're more likely to go back to Sier, when you've already been boozing, you're more likely to go back to boozing, that's just the truth of it. Whether you were crawling in your own vomit alcoholic, or you were what the world calls a social drinker, and it's just a really, let's be honest, another form of alcoholic, if you've been there, you're more likely to go there. He's sort of already been in Sier, and where was, where did he hop to? Straight back to Sier. When you've already been a stoner, you're more likely to be a stoner again. When you've already been someone that just sits at home smoking weed and laughing about it earlier, you know, these people are just like, yeah man, it's, oh no, I'm not addicted, I just like to relax by smoking weed every night after work, and I sometimes finish early so I can relax a bit earlier, because I'm just so stressed out, man, if I'm not smoking. Funny, it's maybe a little correlation there, right? It's only in the evenings and Saturdays and Sundays when I take weeks off work, but I haven't got a problem. These people are like, if it was drinking, everyone would go, you're a raging alcoholic. It's the same thing. They're addicts. If you've already been, if you've already been a fornicator, you're more likely to go back to fornication. That's just the reality of it. If you've already been there, the door's already open, you've already jumped on that slide, it's no longer, you don't look over the edge anymore and go, it starts to become just easier and easier, doesn't it? And we have to respect that, right? Whatever it is that maybe you've been there, and whether or not it's from backsliding, or it's just from maybe if you've come to faith later in life, or whether you come to faith or not, because look, everyone's got sin, right? So whether you're born in, you're born and bred in the faith, you're still going to have things that you're, that you have some sort of temptations towards, and things where you slipped, where you've been in, and you've got to respect that, right? We have to respect that in life. And the answer is respect it. Understand that you're always going to have a weakness for that particular slide, basically. Just avoid, avoid the slide park, you know? Overrate it. Like, go somewhere else. Go, like, I don't know, go to the zoo. Just hang around by your pool or something, you know? You don't have to go to the slide park, okay? If you've got a weakness for the slide, don't go to the slide. Stay close to God, okay? And here, you know, when we're looking at it with Esau here, even if it results in a financial hit, even if it, even if it means you've got to change your job or something for us now, you know? It's like, stay close to God, because as soon as you start pulling away and sliding away in one way or another, you've got to do what you have to do. So if work's a problem, it's like, look, you know, my job, they're all boozing there. I used to be a boozer. The workmates are constantly, you know, it's an issue, it's an issue. Like, maybe you've got to change that job. Look, maybe you don't, you know? I'm not saying anyone, right, if you've ever drunk before and you're in a job where some people drink, doesn't mean you have to change your job, but you have to, you have to make big decisions sometimes. You have to respect the fact that there are things that you're going to be weak to and you don't want to just get too cocky with it. Don't think that you're immune to failing because we can all slip, we can all slide, can't we? And when we look at the genealogy, okay, here, there is also something else that sticks out. So it's not just that he had already been in Seir. Have a look from verse 9, back in Genesis 36. It says, and these are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir. These are names of Esau's sons. Eliphaz, the son of Ada, the wife of Esau. Ruel, the son of Bashamath, the wife of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gaitam and Kinaz. And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau's son. And she bear to Eliphaz Amalek, these were the sons of Ada, Esau's wife. Now keep Timna in mind for a minute. Now, by the way, this Amalek has nothing to do with the Amalekites who already existed in Genesis 14, okay, when Kidolahoma was busy invading people. You don't have to turn up at Genesis 14. 7 says, and they returned and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites. That was back in Genesis 14. And also the Amalites that dwelt in Haziz on Tamar. Okay, so that's not, this is just a guy, the guy's called Amalek, okay. Keep going, but keep Timna in mind for a second. And these are the sons of Ruel, Nahath and Zerah and Shammah and Mitsah. These were the sons of Bashamath, Esau's wife. These were the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Einah, the daughter of Zibi and Esau's wife. And she bear to Esau, Jeush and Jealem and Korah. These were dukes of the sons of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau, Duke Timon, Duke Omar, Duke Zepho, Duke Kinaz, Duke Korah, Duke Gaitim and Duke Amalek. These are dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These were the sons of Ada. Duke meaning a leader, a chief. So it seems like these guys are branching out as tribes at this point as well, okay. So there's lots of them it seems at the same time being dukes. So they're kind of, they've got like this sort of tribal sort of leadership. And these are the sons of Rul, Esau's son, Duke Nahath, Duke Zira, Duke Shammah, Duke Mitsah. These are dukes that came of Rul in the land of Edom. These are sons of Bashamath, Esau's wife, verse 18. And these are sons of Aholibamah, Esau's wife, Duke Jeush, Duke Jealem, Duke Korah. These were the dukes that came of Aholibamah, the daughter of Einah, Esau's wife. These are sons of Esau who is Edom and these are their dukes. These are the sons of Seir, the Horite, who inhabited the land. Lotan and Shobel and Zibeon and Einah and Deishon and Esau and Deishon. These are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom. And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam and Lotan's sister was Timnah. That's that Timnah. So verse 12 where it says, And Timnah was concubined to a life as Esau's son, and she bared to a life as Amalek. These are the sons of Adar, Esau's wife. Basically, Esau's eldest son, Eliphaz, took the daughter of the chief of the Horites, Seir, who's called Seir, his daughter, as a concubine, you know, and as we've seen before, it's used, we see it interchangeably sometimes with wife, it's a lesser wife. They basically had a child together. So it wasn't just that the Edomites left Canaan where the house of God was and Esau left with his people and with his sons and that he'd got at that point. And obviously he was already, he'd already intermarried with these people anyway, but they started intermarrying with the Horites, his sons did as well. They intermingled with the world, they yoked up with the people of the land. Okay, that's the point here. It wasn't that well he got his wives and then he moved on, no. They went back to Seir and then his sons started to intermingle and marry with these Horites. And what happens when we yoke up with the world, when we intermarry with the unsaved, when we buddy up with the unsaved? Well, 2 Chronicles, you don't have to turn to 2514, says, now it came to pass after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them and burred incense under them. That was after slaughtering them. But these guys, they'd already gone over into full idolatry, right? That's what happens when you buddy up, when you marry into, when you start hanging around best mates and everything else with people of the world, with the unsaved, with the worldly lot, you start worshipping the gods of the world. That's just, it goes, we just see it time and time in Scripture, don't we? And nowadays that'll be, for example, money. And there'll be people, when you're just hanging around with people that just worship money in one way or another, they're just all worshipping money, it just seems, just, nowadays, covetousness, it's like, it's not even seen as an issue at all now. In fact, it's seen as a virtue out in the world, isn't it? Oh, he's such a wheeler, he's such an entrepreneur. I had someone say this down at the barbers the other day, she'd go, well, he's such an entrepreneur, he does this, does this, does this and that. And in your mind you're just thinking, oh, so he's really covetous. He's just covetous. He just spends his whole time, his whole life, just trying to make more and more money. You know, just covetous people. Nowadays, people see that as some sort of virtue. And that's, I think, changed over several decades as well. I think people used to have to, used to at least try to pretend that wasn't the case. Now, I'm not saying, you know, that there's nothing new under the sun, there's always been covetous people, but I think that it's so much more socially acceptable now, isn't it, to just be all about the money. You start hanging around with people like that, that's going to rub off on you. The god of fame, the idol of fame, right? And again, you see, look, you see the world and they're kind of over here with it, where it's just absolutely ridiculous. It's just all about likes and popularity and how many people, you know, are friends with them and agree with their latest posts, everything else. But then what will happen is that will rub off onto people of God and God's people who are obsessing over, oh, who liked my latest post on Instagram or whatever else? And, you know, and is everyone, you know, am I popular? Am I popular with the world? Do they like whatever I've put out, which is usually a load of inane nonsense? And, you know, it's the same thing, isn't it? And people start to worship because it's the world rubbed off. And there will continue to be just people of God, God's people, who just start to worship that need, that fame, need, that constant, you know, validity from the world on social media, for example. Appearance, like that's an idol, isn't it? To appear to look like whatever the latest weird fashionable good looks is. And people just get so, I mean, people spend literally thousands and thousands of pounds on that idol of this whatever perfect so-called appearance at this point in time. And whether it's a ridiculous botox and all of that stuff, or, you know, whatever it is, or the men who just spend years of their lives just sculpting themselves to look a certain way. It's ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. What happens when the fashion changes and the pecs aren't in anymore? Then what do they do? Stuffed, because that muscle memory, you've got problems. And all that, you know, and it's just all, it's like fashion, isn't it? Maybe like arms will be off and legs will be in next. Oh man, I've got to actually squat, that's painful. It was easy to go like this in the mirror, you know, but like whatever it is, you know, and people, like it's an idol really, isn't it? It's like this body image idol or this look for a lot of these women, you know, go to bizarre lengths, don't they? But again, what does it come for? What does it come for for God's people get pulled into that by being too involved in with the people of the world. Now this started, by the way, with Esau when he took his first wives, okay. So verse 2 said, Esau took his wives of the daughter of Canaan, Ada the daughter of Elon, the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Enah, the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite, which is what likely started the connection between Esau and Seir, Aholibamah being a daughter of Enah and a granddaughter of Zibeon, okay. So they're both called Hivites and Horeites, by the way, where they dwell in or near Mount Hore, basically, okay. So they're called Horeites and, but I think they are Hivites as well. It says in verse 23, the children of Shobel were these, Alvin and Manahath and Ebal, Shephir and Onam, and these are children of Zibeon, both Adriah and Enah. This was that Einah that found the mules in the wilderness as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father. So let's make it clear who this particular Einah is, because I think there was another one as well. This is the Einah that fathered Esau's wife Aholibamah, this is who we're talking about here. And the children of Einah were these, Dishon and Aholibamah the daughter of Enah. These are children of Dishon, Hemdan and Eshban and Ithran and Sheeran. The children of Esau are these, Bilhan and Zevon and Achan. The children of Dishon are these, Uz and Ahran. These are the dukes that came of the Horites, Duke Loten, Duke Shobel, Duke Zibeon, Duke Anah, Duke Dishon, Duke Esau, Duke Dishon. These are dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes the land of Seir. So they also have some sort of leadership positions too, these people that they're yoking up with, okay. So they're just all intermingled now. So it's just, it's full yoking up and it just started, it started with a wife. Started with Esau taking a wife and now they're just fully just intermingled. Some of these guys are leading these Horites who are Hivites and they're all just some big mixture group now. Like we said, what's the result? Eventually they're on the completely wrong side of God and God's people and eventually they get wiped out for good, right. So Esau's son marries one of these. Like I said, it's then joint leadership. Verse 31 says, and these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before they reigned any king over the children of Israel. And Beelah the son of Beor reigned in Edom and name of his city was Dinhabah. And Beelah died and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead. And Bozrah being in Edom, okay, these are places in Edom and some of them have like, there are places in other, you know, of the same name in other areas but I think all of these places are in Edom. Jobab died and Husham of the land of Timani reigned in his stead. So this is slightly different though because now they've got someone from Timon which is south of Edom. He's now involved. So again, we're just seeing this mingling, other people from other areas getting involved as well. And Husham died and Hadad the son of Bedad who smote Midian in the field of Moab reigned in his stead and the name of his city was Avith. And if you're wondering about the Midianites, remember that they descended from Abraham through his wife Keturah. At some point it seems they were defeated by the Edomites here. It says, and Hadad died and Samlah of Masriqah reigned in his stead, and Masriqah being in Edom as well, and Samlah died and Saul of Rehoboath by the river reigned in his stead. This is a different place to the south of Canaan, Rehoboath, this being close to a river, probably Jordan being close to that, close to that region there where Mount Seir is. And Saul died and Baal-Hanan the son of Akbar reigned in his stead and Baal-Hanan the son of Akbar died and Hadar reigned in his stead and the name of his city was Por, and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matrid, the daughter of Mezahab. Now Hadar, by the way, is the last named king of Edom that we're told of, which I believe was then followed by Jukes again. And if you're sitting here and you're just going, well what's the point in all this? Because basically you're not going to see these names mentioned again apart from in the in the genealogy of the First Chronicles, which just matches this. And you're wondering, well what's the point? Don't forget as well that the Bible's been written for people of all time as well, okay, and there are people that were reading this stuff, you know, only really several hundred years after, and even this is going forward in the genealogies as well. And this stuff would be interesting to people who, who even up until really, like I said, they were wiped out in 70 AD. So you could be looking back a couple of thousand years ago at this and, you know, be looking at the origins of people that eventually get wiped out, right? And it's interesting stuff. Now for us, yeah, we don't know these people now, and they're not really, they don't really, they don't feature in the Bible again. But as well, for me, this is, as always, it's the word of God, this is like 100% accurate genealogy here. And for many people they, this would, this would have resonated a lot more, right? And so it's, there's no more kings, and then we're back, back to dukes again. And these are named the dukes that came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names, Duke Timna, Duke Alva, Duke Jeth, Jethath, Duke Haholobahma, Duke Elah, Duke Pynon, Duke Cenas, Duke Timon, Duke Mibzah, Duke Magdiel, Duke Eram. These be the dukes of Edom. According to their habitation in the land of their possession, he is Esau, the father of the Edomites. Duke's a hazard there, right? And these guys, they end up, you know, as we said, they end up just being a bunch, just completely wrong-sided, a wicked bunch of enemies of God's people. And where did it all go wrong? Well, yoking up with the people of the land. And for Esau, for me, he should have been in Canaan, instead he ends up going back to where he already was. I think there's some warnings there, there's some lessons there. We see this full genealogy after that, of all this intermingling and mixing and everything else, with all these unsaved people, these men and women of the land, and eventually they're just full-on idolaters who are on the wrong side of God. And there's a warning for Esau on that. We're going to finish up in a word of prayer. Thank you for your word, thank you for, well, the warnings you give us in Scripture, Lord, and thank you that, you know, you give us a choice, Lord. We're not robots, we're not just because we're saved, it doesn't mean we're just going to automatically just live for you in church and soul-winning and Bible reading and everything for the rest of our lives, Lord, that we have choices to make, we have free will in life, and we can either stay close to you or we can go into the world and just help all of us here to make that right choice, to be strong, Lord, to be protected by you, to help us to just overcome all the temptation, all the, you know, the ways that, you know, not only the flesh but also the devil trying to lure us away. Help us be a strong church here, Lord, help everyone here to be strong this week, Lord, to just avoid those slides, Lord, those backslides, and help us to just stay strong, stay in the things of God. Help us to get home safe and sound this evening, to all return on Sunday, and for everyone else to just get well and get healthy and to be back in church as well, please thank you for all this. Amen.