2:1
Moses continues to recount the travels that the Israelites went on, going back to the Red Sea. Is there any significance in their going back to the Red Sea, the scene of one of God’s great interventions on their behalf? The text doesn’t seem to assign any significance to it, but maybe God was reminding them of what He had done for them. Or maybe it was just part of the long journey that would ensure that all the men over twenty years of age would die out.
2:2-6
God then tells them that they have wandered around for long enough, and it is now time to head north. This will take them through various lands. First they will pass through Edom, the land of Esau. Esau was the brother of Jacob. God refers to them as their “relatives”, so a relationship still existed in God’s eyes. The Edomites would be afraid of the Israelites, but the Israelites had to be careful. God had given Edom a certain amount of land, and Israel was not to go to war with them. Instead Israel was to pay for any provisions they received or took from Edom. A theme of the early chapters is that it is God’s decision that determines who gets what land. Alongside of this is Israel’s responsibility to act and live in accordance with God’s sovereign decision.
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