And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.
The decision recorded here is to advance by the way through the wilderness of Edom, a hard and lengthy route full of obstacles and apparent impossibilities that tests and strains faith and patience. The chapter containing this decision stands as an example of tests of faith. Its lesson is that success and victory do not come from human strength or what people can do by themselves, but from trusting what God can do for and through them, for the glory of His name. God has resources for every emergency and can work in unexpected and least-expected ways rather than by human power, and the meaning does not turn on any further detail about the Edom route itself.
In the same way, every teacher of truth will be tested in a similar manner and must still go forward with the grace of Christ without questioning the way. No one should limit God, whose power is ancient and whose methods cannot be fully traced, by prescribing how He must work. To do so is small faith and living by what is seen, and it leads to disappointment.
The decision recorded here is to advance by the way through the wilderness of Edom, a hard and lengthy route full of obstacles and apparent impossibilities that tests and strains faith and patience. The chapter containing this decision stands as an example of tests of faith. Its lesson is that success and victory do not come from human strength or what people can do by themselves, but from trusting what God can do for and through them, for the glory of His name. God has resources for every emergency and can work in unexpected and least-expected ways rather than by human power, and the meaning does not turn on any further detail about the Edom route itself.
In the same way, every teacher of truth will be tested in a similar manner and must still go forward with the grace of Christ without questioning the way. No one should limit God, whose power is ancient and whose methods cannot be fully traced, by prescribing how He must work. To do so is small faith and living by what is seen, and it leads to disappointment.