Edom and the Chaldeans

This is the beginning of a look at the history of Edom. The descendents of the brother of Jacob, Esau. God had promised to bless the descendents of Abraham, and Esau would be included. What we will see is that through rebellion and strife they fought with their brother and received only judgment. Esau never had the blessing and he sold the birthright. What did God say about Edom and what opportunities did they have?

This post is solely about one episode in the story of these peoples, the destruction of Jerusalem, and how the scripture shows us that Edom allied with Babylon to destroy it. Key; it seems that it was Edom who urged destruction of the temple, and may have been the party to get it done.

First the records of the destruction:

2Ki 25:8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: 9 And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire. 10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. 11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away. 12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

2Chr 36:19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

(they being the king of the Chaldees)

Jer 39:8 And the Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained. 10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

Jer 52:12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, 13 And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire: 14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.

So we see that here in summary that the Babylonians (Chaldeans) had destroyed Jerusalem. Yet it is also noted that Edom played a role in this destruction. See the following scriptures:

Lament for Jerusalem

Ps 137:5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand forget her cunning.

6 If I do not remember thee,

let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem;

who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed;

happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee

as thou hast served us.

9 Happy shall he be, that taketh

and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

Obadiah

1:1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom;...

9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed,

to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee,

and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side,

in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces,

and foreigners entered into his gates,

and cast lots upon Jerusalem,

even thou wast as one of them.

In the day that Jerusalem was destroyed, Edom was a participant in the destruction. Edom was a part of what it appears was a coalition against Judah. They joined with the enemies of their brother and it explains much about how they are treated in the last days.

Lastly see this in the OT apocrypha:

1 Esdras 4:45 You also have vowed to build up the temple, which the Edomites burned when Judea was made desolate by the Chaldees

This statement shows that the Edomites were the ones that burned the temple, they called, in Obadiah, raze it, raze it, and they brought fullness of destruction upon Jerusalem.

Appendix:

Oddity, was temple destroyed after the city? Was it the Edomites who said raze it because it continued a place that men would go to worship and that finally Neduchadrezzer let it be destroyed at the urging of the Edomites?

Jer 41Worshippers coming after the destruction, why is temple already destroyed?

key question, how were they coming to worship in the house of the Lord if it was destroyed?

Jer 41:5 That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD.