(June 5, 2023) Editor’s Note: This week’s column comes from one of our international contributors from Australia, Craig White. The study of ancient Edom has been of special interest to Craig. WN&PR is pleased to present a small portion of his extensive research.
One of the greatest mysteries in the Bible Prophecy is the condemnation proclaimed upon an entire race of people in the short book of Obadiah.
Indeed, the prophecy of Obadiah promises the absolute and utter destruction of the national entity, comprised of the descendants of Esau, which the Bible also identifies as “Edom,” during the “Day of the Lord,” at the time of the return of Jesus Christ!
The prophecy of Isaiah 63 is especially graphic in the descriptive nature of one of the first objects of God’s wrath, executed upon the end-time descendants of Edom:
“Who is this who comes from Edom, With dyed garments from Bozrah, This One who is glorious in His apparel, Traveling in the greatness of His strength?—
“I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”
2 Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone, And from the peoples no one was with Me.
For I have trodden them in My anger, And trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I have stained all My robes. 4 For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has come. 5 I looked, but there was no one to help, And I wondered That there was no one to uphold; Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; And My own fury, it sustained Me. 6 I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, Made them drunk in My fury, And brought down their strength to the earth.”
This prophecy, along with several others, describe the execution of justice upon the enemies of Jacob, the descendants of the recipient of the greatest national blessings enumerated in Bible Prophecy! The descendants of the patriarch Jacob are identified in Bible prophecy as Israel, Joseph, Ephraim, Manasseh, as well as the rest of Jacob’s offspring, in Genesis 49.
Who Was – Who Is Edom?
The story of Edom originates in Genesis 25 with the birth of Edom (Esau), son of Isaac. Edom inherited a great number of descendants and blessings (Genesis 36), but due to his rejection of the birthright (Genesis 25:23-24), his birthright was passed over to Jacob – this has led to ongoing antagonism between the two lines.
Edom married two Ishmaelites: Mahalath, a daughter of Ishmael (Genesis 28:9) and Bashemath (Genesis 36:17). Ishmael was himself half Egyptian and having married an Egyptian. His offspring were three-quarters Egyptian. Edom also married Canaanite wives: three Hittites and one Hivite (Genesis 26:34; 36:2,12,14 – unless the Bashemath of Gen 26:34 is the same as Adah of Genesis 36:2,12). This meant that Edom’s offspring were part White, Canaanite and Ishmaelite.
The Bible clearly shows that some of the Edomites inhabited the region of Petra and Mount Seir (Genesis 32:3) and contains the first recorded history of Petra (John Whiting, “Petra, Ancient Caravan Stronghold,” National Geographic, Vol. 67, No. 2, February 1935, p. 129). The Egyptian Execration Texts (c1800BC) mention the Edomites as chiefs of clans and itinerant pastoralists, but overall, what is recorded of them may be found in very few texts.
Where did they go to? What became of a whole nation of people? Did they simply ‘disappear’ from view permanently, or may they be found as a nation or nations today?
The Descendants of Teman
Each specific son of Edom is rather difficult to trace, but Teman a grandson via Eliphaz (whose mother was Adah, the Hittite) became pre-eminent among his brethren, and became the patriarch of the leading tribe of Edom.
Many of the Edomites dwelt in northern Persia at this time. This is the culture which historians refer to as Sialk I and Sialk II which is connected to Turkestan according to studies in pottery (Vere Childe, New Light on the Most Ancient East, p. 193).
The Edomites named the rocky Persian and Turkestan plateaus the ‘land of Temani’.
Many Turkic tribes, known as the Oghuz, poured out of Central Asia and Turkestan and into Asia Minor in the 11th century (prior to them were the Hunnish hordes led by Attila in the 5th century, the Avars in the 6th, 7th and 8th centuries; the Bulgars in the 7th century, the Magyars in the 9th century The Golden Hordes or Mongols did not invade until the 13th century). Their tribal ancestors, known as the Ertoghrul (Stanley Lane-Poole, Turkey, p. 6), carved out the Seljuk and Ottoman empires. Many of their tribe remain in Turkestan or Turkmenia to this day (Olaf Caroe, Soviet Empire, p. 37).
One of the tribes of Central Asia was the Oguz Turks which migrated via Persia and settled in Turkey – note their name Oguz.
Edom – Modern Day Turkey?
Because of the origin and wide dispersion of the Turkish tribes from early history, it is this author’s conclusion that the people of modern-day Turkey, as well as millions of other people in various regions, of Turkish descent make up the descendants of Esau.
Many of the peoples of Central Asia are Turkish by language and Islamic by religion. Still many others, though in the minority, dwell within Xinjiang province in China (the Uygur) northern Afghanistan, parts of north-west Iran and are basically pastoralists, Russia, Mongolia and even Armenia. Many Azerbaijanis are racial Turks. Some show a mixture with Caucasoids or Mongoloids.
Placenames which may assist in identifying Edom, Amalek, and Teman are:
- Amalik, a city in central Asia
- Tarim River once called the Yumalak-Darya
- Town of Edomka in Siberia
- Toman Agha in Afghanistan
- Odomantes tribe in Greece and the Odomantis region of Armenia identified by Strabo (c63BC-24AD) in Geography, Book 11, Chapter 14, Section 6) whom Herodotus calls the Siro-Painones which may derive from Seir according to Herodotus (c484– 425BC) in Histories, Book 5, Chapter 15. While Ptolemy refers to the province of Odomantica and town of Idomene in Macedonia and Idymus in Lydia (Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, Book 3, Chapter 12).
Mysterious Gog and the Turkic Tribes
The greatest Turkic empire was established by Tamerlane (Timur i Leng or Timur the Lame which is Aksak Temur in Turkish), who was renowned and feared having conquered foreign lands and peoples from India to the Mediterranean and having built a fantastic capital at Samarkand in Uzbekistan. He was proclaimed the sovereign of Bakhara in 1370AD and after many conflicts with other rivals, mounted the throne in the capital. He defeated the Golden Horde in 1395AD and formed his own oppressive empire. Cruelty and ruthlessness followed his armies wherever they invaded: whole populations were slaughtered, towns razed to the ground and slaves and treasure were brought from afar to build up his capital (Samarkand) and native town (Shahr-i-Sabz).
Gog is indeed a mystery. Ezekiel places him on an equal footing with Magog, yet he is not mentioned as being a descendant of Japheth in the Table of Nations nor anywhere else in Scripture. However, in history there is a king Gyges of Lydia, called Gugu by the Assyrians (James Douglas (ed), New Bible Dictionary, p. 480; Archibald Sayce, Races of the Old Testament, p. 73).
Certain scriptures refer to an Og (Deut 3:1-13; Num 21:33) and Agag (Num 24:7; 1Sam 15:8-9; Esther 3:1; 8:3; 9:24); these are not Japhethites but Amalekites. descendants of Edom. The Samaritan Pentateuch for Agag reads as Agog and the Septuagint reads it as Gog (Ethelbert Bullinger, Companion Bible, p. 1161).
It should be noted that the Assyrian texts refer to the King of Lydia (in western Turkey) as Gugu and there was also a mention of Gugians around Mitanni (Edwin Yamuachi, Foes from the Northern Frontier, p. 23). All this indicates that many of the Edomites were migrating slowly toward Central Asia even at this time, though many remained in the Middle East.
Edom in Prophecy
Dozens of prophecies concerning Edom fill the pages of God’s Word. Everywhere you read Edom, Esau, Seir, Idumea or Bozrah in the prophets (especially Obadiah), it is very likely referring to these people in Central Asia and particularly to Turkey, a nation of some 85 million.
Why will Edom escape the wrath of Europe, at least initially? The following Scripture indicates that they will be closely allied with Europe in the End Time (for a while at least):
“In the day that you stood on the other side—
In the day that strangers carried captive his forces,
When foreigners entered his gates
And cast lots for Jerusalem—
Even you were as one of them.” (Obadiah 11)
This identifies them as an end-time enemy of the House of Israel, probably allied with a coming fascistic United States of Europe. See Jeremiah 49:19 and 50:44 which seems to link both Babylon (Europe) and Edom with a similar fate.
After all, historically the Edomites have been enemies to Israel. See Genesis 27:41; Exodus 17:8, 14-16; Numbers 20:14-21; 24:15-19; Deuteronomy 25:17; ISamuel 14:47; 15:1-3, 9, 23; 2 Samuel 8:13-14; 1 Kings 11:14-22; 2 Kings 8:220-22; 2 Chronicles 20:1-25; Psalm 137:7).
When the coming United States of Europe invades the Middle East,
“He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.” (Daniel 11:41)
From these inspired scriptures we can see that the descendants of Edom (Turkey?) will be allied to Europe against the House of Israel and Judah!
“Therefore thus saith the Lord God: ‘I will stretch out Mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword’.” (Ezekiel 25:13. See also 35:1-15 and Jeremiah 49:7-22)
Who will God use to execute such destruction? Earlier in the chapter He mentions men of the east – probably Russia and the 200 million army from the Orient (Revelation 9:16-18)! And of Amalek (Gog), God thunders:
“20 Then he looked on Amalek, and he took up his oracle and said: “Amalek was first among the nations But shall be last until he perishes.”.” (Numbers 24:20)
For further study on Edom in prophecy, please refer to Isaiah 11:14; 34:6; 63:1, 6; Jeremiah 9:26; 25:21; 49:7-10, 17-24; Lamentations 4:21-22; Ezekiel 25:12-14; 35:1-15; 36:5; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:6-12; 2:1; 9:12; Obadiah (entire book); Micah 1:12; and Malachi 1:2-4.
In addition, the prophecies of Obadiah and Isaiah 63 show that much of the retribution exacted upon Edom will come from the returning Jesus Christ, along with His Heavenly army, composed of His resurrected saints, and righteous angels (Obadiah 21, Revelation 19:11-15)
The exact nature of the crimes and horror executed upon Jacob’s modern descendants by Esau during the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21, Jeremiah 30:7) is not fully disclosed in Bible prophecy. But the many prophecies of Edom indicated strongly that their vengeance upon the House of Israel will be treacherous during the time of the end!
For a more detailed discussion and proof for the modern locations of the descendants of Edom, you can download and read the article Where are the Edomites today?