MidReal Story
Desert Passage: A Journey to Promised Land
Scenario: moses send messengers to the king of edom, emori, and Bashan to request safe passage for the jews in the desert on their journey towards the land of israel
Create my version of this story
We had been wandering through the desert for so long that I had lost track of time.
It had been forty years, I knew that much, but the days and months and years had blended together into a monotonous blur, making it impossible to gauge how much longer we might be trekking through the barren wilderness.
The journey had not been easy.
It had tested our faith and resolve, and there had been many times we had thought we might not make it after all.
But with God’s help and guidance, we had persevered.
And now, finally, we were almost there.
We were back in the wilderness of Tzin and drawing near to the land of Israel, and I knew that it would not be long before we were able to cross over the Jordan River and claim what God had promised us so many years ago.
As we drew closer to the land of Israel, we also found ourselves drawing near to Edom, the land of our kinfolk.
The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, my brother, and I knew that they were our brethren in more ways than one.
I had been hesitant to approach Edom until now; even though we had been wandering through the desert for forty years, it was still hard for me to believe that they would deny us safe passage through their land.
But as we got closer and closer to Israel, I knew that there was no way around it: we would have to traverse their territory in order to reach our final destination.
And so I sent messengers to the king of Edom with the simple request that he allow us to pass through his land.
It seemed like such a small thing to ask, after all this time in the desert.
But it was only now that I felt we were ready to make such a request of our kinfolk.
After all, we had no other choice.
God had commanded us not to fight with Edom, but rather to ask them politely for safe passage through their land—and so that was what we would do.
The message I sent to the king of Edom was carefully crafted; a delicate plea for understanding and compassion.
“I am writing this message to my lord,” I said, “Please let us pass through your territory; we will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells.We will proceed along the king’s highway; we will not turn right or left until we have passed through your territory.”
I reminded him that our shared ancestry made us brothers and begged him to show mercy: “For we are your brothers; we and you are descendants of Esau.”
I explained that as strangers living in Egypt, we had been oppressed and enslaved by Pharaoh and his people until God heard our cries and brought us out of Egypt with great signs and wonders.
I assured him that if he allowed us safe passage through his land, we would be willing to pay for any provisions we required: “Let us pass through your country;we will be on our way; we will pay whatever our food costs.”
It seemed like a perfectly reasonable request, and I had every hope that the king of Edom would grant it; but when the messengers I sent arrived at the palace, they were met with a very different reception.
“We went up along the highway,” they told me, “and the king of Edom came out against us with a large force.”
I nodded, listening intently.
“We told him,” they continued, “that we would walk along the highway, neither turning right nor left, just as we had been instructed.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said that we would not pass through his land,” they replied.
“But why not?”
“He asked who had sent us, and we told him that we had been sent by God, that we were the people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob.”
“And then what happened?”
“He made a face, as if he were very angry, and he said, ‘If these are your brothers, the sons of Esau will come out against you with their swords.’”
“And what did you tell him?”
“We told him that we would be willing to pay for any water or food that we required, but he would still not consent.”
“He was very angry,” they agreed.
“He said that if we tried to force our way through his land, he would come out against us with a great force.”
“And what then?”
“He said that we had better turn back while we still could.”
I sighed heavily.
It seemed that we were not going to be able to travel through the land of Edom after all.
“The king of Edom is very powerful,” the messengers added.
“It is said that he has killed many people in war; his land is filled with mountains and caves and it would be very easy for him to ambush us as we passed through.”
I nodded again, deep in thought.
“Perhaps we should try to come up with another way around,” I finally suggested.
The messengers looked at each other; it was clear that they were uncertain what to do next.
“There is no other way around,” they said.
“If we cannot go through Edom, then we will have no choice but to turn back and go around Moab.”
“The people were very dejected when they heard this news,” the messengers added.
“And I do not blame them,” I replied.
“We have been wandering through the desert for forty years, through snake-infested deserts and lands of giants, and it is no wonder that they are tired of it.
But there is nothing to be done.
We will turn back, as the king of Edom has ordered us to, but we will take care to travel along the edge of their land, so that we do not trespass on their territory.
And when we reach the Moabites, I will remind them that God has already given them the land of Seir as a possession, so that they do not come out against us in battle.
For there are some who say that the Edomites are stronger than the Moabites, so it is best if we try to avoid conflict with either of them, if at all possible.
And so, even though it pained me to do so, I ordered the people to turn back and retrace their steps, until they reached the place where they had last encamped near Kadesh.
It was a long and arduous journey back through the desert, and once again the people grew tired and thirsty.
And once again they began to complain and to blame me for their predicament.
But I did not let their complaints distract me from the task at hand.
I knew that I had to keep moving forward so that the people would have no other choice but to follow me.
And eventually we reached the border of the land of Emori, where we set up camp and rested for a few days.
Then the people came to me and said, “Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”
And I told them to go ahead and do so.
But when they tried to pass through the land of Emori, they were unable to do so because the king of Emori would not allow it.
So they returned to me and asked me to speak to the king and request him to let us pass through his land.
And I agreed to do so, and I called my brother Aaron and told him to come with me.
Aaron was my older brother and he was always very good at mediating disputes and making peace between people who were at odds with each other.
And so I knew that if anyone could persuade the king of Emori to let us pass through his land, it was Aaron.
So Aaron and I went up to the king of Emori and we asked him to let us pass through his land.
We told him that we would not go through any fields or vineyards; we would go by the main road and be on our way.
But the king of Emori refused our request.
He said that the Amorites had already defeated him in battle and taken away some of his cities; therefore he would not allow us to pass through his land as well.
Then Aaron spoke to him again and said that if he allowed us to pass through his land in peace, then we would not go through his fields or vineyards or drink from his wells.
Instead, we would go along the main road and keep on going until we were out of his territory; then there would be no need for him to attack us or for any more bloodshed between us.
And after listening to Aaron’s words, the king of Emori agreed to let us pass through his land in peace.
He even allowed us to go through his capital city, Heshbon, as well as all his other towns and cities.
But he warned us not to drink from his wells or take any water from his vineyards without permission.
And so the people were very pleased when they heard this news, for it meant that they would be able to avoid the territory of Sihon, the king of Emori, as well as the lands of Og, the king of Bashan, and go along the main road into the plains of Moab without any trouble or delays.
So they took great care not to drink from the wells or take any water from the vineyards of Heshbon or any of the other cities, but instead went along the main road until they were out of his territory, and on their way once again.
Then they camped in the plains of Moab, by the river Jordan, on the very edge of the land of Canaan, where they could see the cities and towns on the other side of the river, which was part of the land which God had promised them for an inheritance.
When they reached the border of the land of Canaan, I called my brother Aaron and told him to come with me so that we could speak with Og, the king of Bashan, who ruled over this land.
And when we met him, we spoke with him in much the same way as we had spoken with Sihon, king of Emori.