Introduction
We know a great deal about God’s purpose with the Israelite nation, called by God to be His particular people. We read in our Scriptures of His bringing them out of Egypt, and giving them a revelation of His ways through Moses. We have prophecies given to them through prophets; and above all we have the records of the birth out of that Israelite nation of a saviour, God’s own Son. Through this Son salvation was brought to all nations. Yet there were occasions when God had direct dealings with people of other races, BEFORE the coming of Jesus. Jesus himself quotes two such cases of individuals favoured by God (Luke 4:25-27 ). Another case is that of the King-Priest Melchizedek contemporary with Abraham.
While all these cases of God-favoured Gentiles are INDIVIDUAL cases,we would like to show from Scripture that there has been a RACE of people apart from Israel in which a tradition of worship of the true God existed. This race was called in Scripture the ‘Children of the East’ or the ‘Bene Kedeml.
To this race belonged Job, Jethro, Balaam, and certain wise men who lived in Solomon’s day, including Agur the son of Jakeh and King Lemuel. And to this race also belonged those Wise men who came from the east to worship the infant Jesus.
In these studies we propose to look at all the individuals we have mentioned against their eastern background. First, however, we would like to show who were these Children of the East, and to look at lands they lived in.
The Bene Kedern
In the north of the map you can see the’Fertile Crescent’, the great crescent of cultivable land stretching from the south of Palestine right round to the Persian Gulf. Throughout history these rich lands have been the subject of covetous eyes. Different nations have invaded, settled and cultivated the lands, and then have themselves been driven out by stronger nations. The Israelites arrived in the western part of the crescent as invaders, and were later driven out, first by the Babylonians, then by the Romans. Since AD 70 Palestine has been in the hands of different groups of Arabs, then of the Turks, and then of Britain; only recently have Jews again found a foothold there. In a similar way the rich Euphrates valley has changed hands several times.
However, all round the southern limit of the Fertile Crescent there exists a much poorer type of land, which has remained in the hands of virtually the same races since the time of Abraham. This land is marginal steppe land, in which the only type of existence possible is that of the nomad. The inhabitants are forced to travel continuously in search of enough pasture to keep their flocks and herds alive, moving down the slopes in winter, seeking protection from the bitter cold in the heights; moving up again in summer as the lower pastures scorch in the searing heat. No invader has ever thought siezing this unpromising area worthwhile. Behind this band of steppe land lies true desert, high, stony, andtraversibleonly by the experienced nomad.
Beside, keeping flocks and herds, the inhabitants of the steppe engaged in trade, using camels as beasts of burden. The main caravan route of the east (the Kings Highway) ran from South Arabia up through Petra, or Sela (where it was joined by a branch from Egypt), and north to Damascus(whereit was joined by the route from Egypt called the ‘way of the Philistines’). From there the route followed the Euphrates Valley to Babylon and the Persian Gulf. However, there was a shorter route to Babylon from Petra across the desert lands, possible for hardy travellers, which climbed up a steep wadi until the height of the fortified caravan town of Dumah was reached, and then ran more or less steeply through another wadi down to Babylon. (Isa. ch.21 might be read with this in mind.)
Because of the continuous movement of the nomads through the steppe lands, in finding pasture and in trading ventures, the whole area has always existed as a single unit. Those who lived in the lands travelled freely from the Persian Gulf to the edge of the Red Sea, and down the part of the western coast of Arabia known as the Hijaz. Further south, a different type of land existed, more fertile, and therefore agriculturally stable. This land (called by the Romans ‘Arabia Felix’-happy Arabia) was settled by a different race of people, known as the Sabeans, or the South Arabians. History has not treated this area kindly; it has, since the time of Mahomet, become less fertile than the northern lands. However, the discovery of oil is reversing the fortunes of north and south Arabia once again.
We are not, in this study, interested in the South Arabians. It is those called today ‘North Arabians’ in whom we are interested.
Because of the continuous tradition, and lack of change, in this area, it is quite possible that many of those living there today are directly descended from those who dwelt in the area in the time of Abraham. Many of those living today (probably with justice) claim descent from Ishmael.
The Origins of the Bene Kedem
From Scripture we learn the true origins of the North Arabians. In very early times certain parts of the area were inhabited by’Horites%a Hamitic people, descendents of Zidon (Gen.36:20). (We are not using the word ‘Hamitic’ to mean ‘negroie, but to describe such Middle Eastern people as the Egyptians, Canaanites, Hittites, Sumerians,etc., who descended from Ham. These appear to have been dark skinned and black haired, but not negroid).
Esau and his men moved into certain lands occupied by these Horites, and intermingled with them. (Gen.36:2.) Thus a part of the people of North Arabia (the Edomites), were descended from this union.
Before the time of Esau, however, Abraham’s son Ishmael had also moved into this area, an area well suited to this ‘wild ass of a man’ (Gen.21:21.). Of him it was prophesied.
“His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.” (Gen.16:12.)
A good deal of the nature and character of the North Arabians seems to have been inherited from Ishmael.
Of Ishmael it was said that he and his people “dwelt from Havilah unto Shur.” (Gen.25:18.) You can see from the map that these two are on the extremes of the North Arabian steppe lands. The statement does not mean that Ishmael and his sons occupied the whole area; but that, being nomads, they travelled continuously therein, from the edge of Mesopotamia to the border of Egypt.
Later the sons of Abraham by Keturah moved into the same area (Gen.25:6.); and at some date the children of Lot, Ammon and Moab also occupied part of the area. Thus the major part of the peoples of this North Arabian area were descended from Abraham, though possibly other Semitic people already indigenous there may have played a part in the original make up of the North Arabian peoples. However, it is a fact that North Arabians have a long tradition of respect for Abraham, and most of them claim descent from Ishmael. These traditions existed in North Arabia,passed down from father to son, quite apart from the influence of Judaism and Jewish or Christian Scriptures.
Alongside this tradition of descent from Abraham it would not be surprising to find a tradition of worship of one true God also existing; and we propose in the next study to consider the first faithful North Arabian mentioned in Scripture, “At servant Job.”
In the north of North Arabia, the border cannot be clearly defined. In history, the steppe land Arabians merged without obvious racial division into the Arameans of Syria. Some of these people were also related to Abraham through Laban; but settled as they were in the Fertile Crescent itself, they became subject to the attentions of great empire-builders, and indeed at one time had a great empire of their own. Yet though in the main the Arameans were a settled agricultural people, their capital, Damascus, was also the great trading centre for the nomads of the Arabian lands. Since both races spoke much the same language, (a language allied to Hebrew in its most ancient form, before the latter became corrupted by Egyptian and Canaanite languages) there was continual intercourse between the Arameans and the North Arabians.
The Character of the Bene Kedem
If we are to understand those characters of this race who are mentioned in the pages of our Scriptures, we need to give a little thought to their distinctive character and culture. Indeed, a consideration of these will help us to understand some of the earliest Hebrew characters, such as Abraham and other patriarchs, whose way of life was close to that of the Bene Kedem.
The nomadic way of life of these races made them completely dependent on nature, that is, on God’s provision, in a way even more dependent than that of the agriculturalist. Their living was more precarious, and so the blessings of the earth were more readily appreciated. Living out in the open gave them a sense of living under the direct influence of the heavens and of the earth around them.
The peoples of North Arabia reacted to these influences in two ways. They became either deeply conscious of the presence and provision of the One Living God, or they saw no farther than their immediate surroundings, worshipping heavenly bodies, demons of the rocks, and evil spirits, in a deeply superstitious way. Their religion therefore tended to the extremes of deep and simple piety; and rank, soul binding superstition. Philosophy, atheism, and other ways of thought so dear to the Greek-taught mind had no place in their thinking. Abstract thought was foreign to their way of life, and it is as well to remember this when looking at the Old Testament Scriptures, which we so often tackle with Greek-thinking minds, and come to wrong conclusions.
An example of the difference between the Hebrew and the Greek approach to the Old Testament may be taken from the gospels. The Sadducees, a Jewish sect who had become influenced by certain types of Greek philosophy, had re-read their Old Testament Scriptures with Greek ‘logic’ and come to the conclusion that resurrection was not taught there. The Lord Jesus refuted their conclusions from Scripture itself – but what Scripture did he appeal to? When faced with modern scholars who repeat the Sadducees false findings and deny that resurrection was understood by the patriarchs, what Old Testament do we bring to bear? Do we ever use Jesus’ proof? For Jesus, with true insight into the Hebrew mind, thinking as a Hebrew himself, went to the statement of God to Moses.
“I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (Matt.22:32.)
True Son of Abraham and Son of David, Jesus understood that all that mattered was that God was the Living God, I AM. Since He was the power behind all else, this was all that mattered. If you believed in a Living God, resurrection and all else followed as a matter of course.
This is how Abraham understood resurrection,in this personal, un-abstract way. For having been asked by God to kill Isaac, he said to his servants in firm faith of the power of God, “I ana the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” (Gen.22:5.) The writer to the Hebrews underlines this strong faith by describing Abraham’s faith – “Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.” (Heb.11:19.)
Abraham did not need a logical written assurance, dotting all the ‘i’s and crossing all the ‘es, to teach him that God was prepared to bring the dead up from the grave. All he needed to know was the extent and nature of the power of God; and God had already given him proof of this by miracle and sign. Therefore Abraham was ready to commit his life and that of his son into God’s hand in faith.
This example underlines the difference between the thinking of the ancient Semitic mind and that of Greek philosophy. The patriarchs learnt by demonstration, by example, by personal approach to God; while we today prefer to learn by reason, logic, and comprehension of abstractions. Designed for a different kind of people, the New Testament deals with such abstracts as faith, love, redemption; but the Old Testament teaches by showing us faithful men, the acts of a loving God, and the story of how He redeemed people in the past, as the example of what He will do in the future.
We are not, therefore, to approach the Old Testament expecting to find abstract arguments in the Greek philosophical manner. Many look at the book of Job and believe it to be a treatise on the problem of suffering. It is not so. It is the record of one man’s trial and suffering. We shall return to this question when considering Job next time, God willing.
When we look at the characters and writings of those Scriptural men who belonged to the Bene Kedem, then, we need always to think of them as Semites, who had the same outlook and way of thinking as Abraham and other patriarchs. One other aspect needs to be considered. This is the culture of the Arab peoples.
Culture
To begin with, they were not savages. They had laws and rules, maybe unwritten tribal laws and rules, but reasonable, civilised laws. They were familiar with writing – one of the most ancient scripts is the South Arabian script, dating certainly before the time of Moses, and probably before that of Abraham. However, writing was used almost entirely as a commercial and legal instrument, and was somewhat despised as a vehicle for any important cultural or religious thought.
For this, speech was believed to be the only worthy vehicle. All important sayings, histories, or religious utterances were remembered in the extraordinary Arab memory, and recited – usually in the equally extraordinary Arab poetry. Long poems were passed from mouth to mouth, and indeed on solemn or important occasions utterances were made in extempore poetry. Indeed, there were tribes in which ALL speech took poetic form, and one modern writer records that even today in an inaccessible part of Arabia there is a tribe in which the members address each other in rhymed couplets.
“In these hath God put wisdom, the brain of the Frank, the hands of the Chinese, and the tongue of the Arab.”
So runs a Mediaeval Arab saying. Moses celebrated the crossing of the Red Sea with ecstatic extempore poetry – Job mourned his losses in elegaic verse – Isaiah repeated God’s message to Israel in epic stanzas – yet we do not need to think of any of these things as extraordinary methods of expression just because we ourselves would never do such an unprosaic thing.
Let us, then, think of the Bene Kedem as a hard, austere race of nomads, mainly descended from Abraham, whose one great gift was the golden tongue of poetic utterance. This race lived in the North Arabian steppe lands, gaining a precarious living from cattle herding and caravan trade. In the past, some worshipped One True God, others were rabid, deeply superstitious idolaters. Sometimes they pillaged the fertile lands bordering their own hard lands; but no punitive raids were ever able to exterminate them, or to drive them elsewhere, and so even today their lands are still inhabited by some of their descendents. Today some of these hold to the monotheistic religion of Islam; but many still cling to the ancient idolatry of their fathers, even in this modern age.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One