And now O ye Priests, this Commandment [is] for you. If ye will not hear and if ye will not lay [it] to heart, to give Glory unto My Name, Saith the L-RD of Hosts, I Will even send a Curse upon you, and I Will Curse your blessings, yea, I have Cursed them already, because you do not lay [it] to heart.
BEHOLD I WILL CORRUPT YOUR SEED,
and spread dung upon your faces, [even] the dung of your solemn feasts and [one] shall take you away with it.
AND YE SHALL KNOW THAT I HAVE SENT THIS COMMANDMENT UNTO YOU, THAT MY COVENANT MIGHT BE WITH LEVI, SAITH THE L-RD OF HOSTS.
My Covenant was with him of Life and Peace, and I Gave them to him [for] the fear wherewith he feared Me and was afraid before My Name. For the Priests lips should keep Knowledge, and they should seek the Law at his mouth: for he [is] the messenger of the L-RD of Hosts.
But YE are departed out of The Way; YOU have caused many to stumble at the Law;
YE HAVE CORRUPTED THE COVENANT OF LEVI, SAITH THE L-RD OF HOSTS.
Malachi 2:1-8
EDOM BECOMES "JEWISH"
In about 125 B.C. John Hyrcanus I, king of the Jews, conquered Edom. All the Edomites underwent forced Judaizing. They were compelled by force to undergo ritual circumcision and to keep the Torah. Josephus said,
"...they became Jews."! [1]
HEROD THE GREAT - EDOMITE "KING OF THE JEWS"
Herods' father: Antipater: Procurator of Judaea. An Edomite Jew
Herods' mother: Kupros: Of Arab descent.
The king of the Judaea at the time of Herod was Hyrcanus II. He was of the Jewish Hasmonean dynasty. The family had been kings and Priests from about the 2nd Century B.C.
Herods' father, Antipater, as friend of Hyrcanus II and Procurator of Judaea was able to procure good positions for his sons. Phasael and Herod.
Phasael was made Prefect of Jerusalem.
Herod was made Military Prefect of Galilee.
Herod began to socialize with royalty. Mariamne, grandaughter of Hyrcanus II, noticed Herod. Herod soon divorced his wife Doris and became engaged to Mariamne.
In about 40 B.C. the Parthians invaded and took Jerusalem. They set up another Hasmonean, Antigonus, as king. Herod escaped with his family. Hyrcanus II and Phasael were captured.
After safeguarding his family, Herod made a journey to Rome and appealed to the Roman Senate saying he would return and bring Judaea once again under Roman rule provided they confer upon him the royal title:
"king of the Jews"
Seeing an advantage here, the Senate appointed Herod "king of the Jews", and he quickly returned to Galilee where he began taking control of his new kingdom.
Within three years he had captured Antigonus, and together with Mariamne, began ruling Judaea. Later, (30 B.C.) Herod would liquidate the Jewish Hasmonean dynasty by executing John Hyrcanus II, placing his sons and other Edomite-Jews in control, and establishing what could be called an Edomite-Jewish dynasty.
Herod appointed his sons and brought many who agreed with his policies to power and position in Judaea. Vast numbers of these loyalists were also fellow Edomite-Jews. Of Esau. Amalek. The party of the Herodians would no doubt have contained many Edomite-Jews.[2]
Edomite-Jews would have been proseletyzed into specific Tribes. The Levites were based in Jerusalem and no doubt many of these "Levites" would be in fact Edomite Jews who had been proseletyzed into the Tribe of Levi. Some Pharisees would have also been Edomite Jews.
FIRST CENTURY A.D.
When certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered Yeshua, they said:
We be Abrahams' seed, and were never in bondage to any man... John 8:33
Several expositors quickly dismiss this claim by countering: "the children of Israel were in bondage for 400 years in Egypt, and Assyria and Babylon as well! These Pharisees were liars!"
But wait...did Yeshua Say they were lying? Could we have overlooked something? What did He say? Here is what He said:
I know you are Abrahams' seed, but you seek to kill Me. vs. 34
Yeshua did not call them liars. But how could they have been Jews and "Abrahams' seed" and yet not been in bondage? Simply, if these were Edomite Jews, they were not in bondage with the Jews, either in Egypt, Assyria OR in Babylon! Yet they were of Abrahams' seed!
What did Yeshua say then? Here is what He said next:
if ye were Abrahams' children, ye would do the works of Abraham. v. 39
Yeshua Knew who they were. If they would have been of Jacob and not Esau, they would have been doing the works of Abraham and not seeking to kill Him.
"MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE AND THEY FOLLOW ME"
Yeshua said:
But ye Believe not because ye are not of My sheep as I said unto you. John 10:26
Were there any True sheep of Israel sought by Yeshua? Yeshua clearly said He came for "the lost sheep of the House of Israel".[3]
Still Yeshua says these were not of His sheep? Does not the Word of G-d say that True Israel are G-ds' "sheep"?
But He Made His Own people to Go Forth like sheep, and Guided them in the wilderness like a flock. Psalm 78:52
So we Thy people and the sheep of Thy Pasture will give thanks forever. Psalm 79:13
For He is our G-d, and we are the people of His Pasture and the sheep of His Hand. Psalm 95:7
Know ye that the L-RD He is G-d: it is He that Hath Made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His Pasture. Psalm 100:3
See also Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34.
70 A.D.
The fall of Jerusalem occurred in 70 A.D. Believers in Yeshua had been warned to leave by the His Prophecies.
The Edomite-Jews had their own army. The Zealots who held Jerusalem invited the army of the Edomite Jews into Jerusalem to help them defend it and fight the Romans during the seige. This did not help. Jerusalem still fell.
PEOPLE OF G-D MINISTRIES
© Copyright 2001 - 2003 People of G-d Ministries, Inc. No reproduction or redistribution without the Prior Written Consent and Approval of People of G-d.
[1
Go HERE for more on "Edomite-Jews".
[2
[3
We see in Scripture that Paul said he was a "Hebrew of the Hebrews" (Philippians 3:5) and also a "Jew" (Acts 22:3). Some have said Paul "could not be called a Hebrew because those were before Benjamin". Acts 22:3 says otherwise. No one in the New Testament contested his statements on this matter at any time.
The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge University Press.
Halley's Bible Handbook.
Hunt, Dave and McMahan, T.A. The Seduction of Christianity. Eugene, OR. Harvest House Publishers. 1985.
Josephus, Flavius. Complete Works.
Rusk, Roger. the other end of the world. Le Book Company. Plano, Texas. 1988. 268 pps.