Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #21 in Genesis 36, and we will read Genesis 36:40-43:

And these are the names of the dukes that came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names; duke Timnah, duke Alvah, duke Jetheth, Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon, Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar, Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau the father of the Edomites.

Now we have come to the end of the chapter, and there is a return to listing the dukes.  We had read this earlier, going back to Genesis 36:15 where it says, “These were dukes of the sons of Esau,” and then it listed all the various dukes.  Once again we are reading a list of the men that were said to be dukes. 

Just to remind you, the word translated as “duke” is #441 in Strong’s Concordance, and it is used 43 times in this chapter.  It is also used 13 times in 1Chronicles 1.  Strong’s #441 is translated some other ways.  Let us go to Proverbs 2:17:

Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

The word “duke” is translated as “guide” here.  And it is also translated as “captains” in Jeremiah 13:21:

What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?

Again, we have the translations as “guide,” and “captains,” but it is also translated as “governor” in Zechariah 9:7:

And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

So given the fact that this word is translated as “captains” or “governor,” we can see that it has to do with rulers, or a chief, or prince, or someone of the ruling class. 

So the Lord tells us of 11 men that are mentioned as dukes in Genesis 36:40-43.  The same list is given in 1Chronicles 1.  By the way, we have actually studied much of 1Chronicles 1 as we go through Genesis 36 because they are very similar chapters.  We read in 1Chronicles 1:51-54:

Hadad died also. And the dukes of Edom were; duke Timnah, duke Aliah, duke Jetheth, Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon, Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar, Duke Magdiel, duke Iram. These are the dukes of Edom.

The only difference that I noticed in this list of dukes versus the list in Genesis 36 is duke Aliah.  In Genesis 36:40, he is referred to as duke Alvah.  They are the same duke, and we know this because it is the same Hebrew word, Strong’s #5933.  It is spelled differently in the English, but it is the identical Hebrew word.  Strong’s #5933 comes from Strong’s #5932, which is translated as “iniquity” in Hosea 10:9, referring to the children of iniquity, so the name “Aliah” or “Alvah” would identify with “iniquity,” which is not surprising.  They are descendants of Esau, and Esau is a representative of the ungodly that were not chosen to salvation.  They are not of the line of God’s elect people.  Therefore, they represent those that are left in their sins, and that do commit iniquity.

Let us go back to Genesis 36, and let us read Genesis 36:43:

Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau the father of the Edomites.

The word “habitations” is found 44 times.  It is Strong’s #4186, and it the same word that is translated as “dwelling“ in Genesis 27, which is a very pertinent account concerning Esau.  It is the chapter and passage where his father Isaac was giving him his blessing, the remaining blessing.  The blessing of the firstborn went to Jacob, and then Esau cried out in Genesis 27:34-40:

And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

The word we are looking at is the same word translated as “dwelling” in verse 39.  Esau was beseeching his father for some blessing: “Is there one blessing for me?”  And his father said, “Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.”  Esau’s blessing was an earthly blessing; his inheritance became Edom, so the land of Edom really points to the world, as we know that mankind originally had the blessing of this earth.  He was given rule and dominion over the earth itself, but he lost that blessing in Adam.  And keep in mind that Esau is “Edom,” or “Adam,” as they are, for all intents and purposes, the same word.  Adam lost the blessing of eternal life, but he continued to till the ground, and to work in the earth.  He was allowed to continue to live on the earth, but his eternal blessing became temporal.  And that is the situation with Esau, who is Edom.  He did not receive the blessing of the firstborn, which went to Jacob, as God said, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”  And the love of God can be seen in the everlasting blessing that was given to Jacob, and to all those that identify with Jacob, the elect of God. 

And the hatred of God can be seen in the earthly nature of the blessing given to the descendants of Adam, or to mankind, or “Edom,” who are given a temporal blessing.  That is, they can enjoy the earth.  They can experience pleasures and fruitful seasons, as the rain falls  upon the just and the unjust alike.  They have the blessing of the “fatness of the earth.”  That is their “dwelling.”  That is where they will live, but it is only for a short period of time, and then the day comes when they will die physically, or the time comes when God will take the earth away from them altogether.  And that is the time in which we live, as we have reached the very Day of Judgment itself, and very shortly God will take away this world from all those that identify with Edom and Esau, all those that are hated for their sins.  God will remove their inheritance forever.

And who will inherit the earth?  The meek, the elect children of God, will receive that eternal habitation, the Promised Land of the new earth.  The language of the Bible really pictures it as though this earth will be “transformed,” or “redeemed,” and it will be changed into that new earth, and we will inherit that earth.  We have that glorious and incredible blessing bestowed upon us because of nothing we have done.  What set Jacob apart from Esau?  It was simply the choice, or the selection, of God, and it was not because Jacob was “good.”  Before either had done good or evil, God made that choice.  It had nothing to do with the things they would eventually do in their lives, and it had nothing to do with any righteousness or goodness they would have, or even with what sins they might do.  But it had everything to do with God’s good pleasure.  Out of His good pleasure, He chose and determined to love the one, and not the other. 

And that is why this chapter just seems to be rather limited regarding the spiritual things it can reveal to us.  Maybe there is more here, and maybe it is due to my limitation, and I definitely have limitations.  But it could also be that as we are looking at the line of the ungodly, the heritage of Edom is really pointing to the heritage of unsaved mankind.  And mankind’s blessings are very short-lived.  His triumphing is soon at an end, and then he will be gone forever.

I think we are going to close the study of Genesis 36 here.  Lord willing, when we get together in our next Bible study, we will begin looking at Genesis 37.  In Genesis 37, God is going to discuss the generations of Jacob, after telling us about the generations of Esau, or those that are not saved.  But now the attention will turn to the generations of Jacob, the generations of those that God does save.   It should be very interesting.