Numbers 21:4a They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom.
(Though the descendants of Jacob and Esau were related
through these two ancestral brothers,
the people of Edom from the line of Esau, because of the past broken relationship, chose to deny their common heritage and close affiliation and refused to allow Jacob's descendants to pass through their land. So the people had to extend their journey around Edom instead of traveling the more expedient way through the land.
Now, in fact, to avoid trespassing through the Edomites' land, the Israelites had to travel in the opposite direction of Canaan, the promised land to which they desired to go. Now, instead of traveling north in the direction of their ultimate destinations, they had to travel south, not only the opposite direction, but a much more difficult and rugged terrain for them to travel. How like we are today. Though we are brothers of people who profess Jesus as Lord, we divide ourselves, fencing ourselves off from them, holding on to past grudges, causing division among us,
and even making our journey more difficult. Today, the Lord asks us to model His love and forgiveness.)
