Jacob and Esau were brothers. Jacob was nurturing, a man of the flocks and the home and faith of his fathers. Esau was a hunter and a wild man. He had little time for the God of Abraham and Isaac. The two wrestled within their mother Rebecca's womb and then on throughout history. Jacob had stolen Esau's birthright and tricked his brother out of his blessing. When Esau went to his father weeping and asking if there was anything left for him Isaac gave his eldest son a leftover blessing. Isaac pronounced that Esau would eventually become restless. He would cast Jacob's yoke (of peaceful submission) from off his neck. The implication of this prophecy is that Esau will eventually run wild. The blessing of Isaac upon his son Esau is given in Genesis chapter 27:38-40. This is considered to be a prophecy that the wild sons of Esau, the Edomites, will kick off all restraint to emerge into history in a brutish way as history comes to its climax.

The Edomites were always an untamed, predacious, and godless race of people. The prophecy in Esau's blessing suggests that the children of Esau will erupt into history. They will break free of constraint as this age comes to its tumultuous and climactic conclusion. King David also alluded to this casting loose of the bonds of submission to God ordained righteous rule. He tells about this in the song he wote in Psalm 2. The prophet Daniel, in Daniel 11:41 confirms this as well. He indicates that Edom, the children of Esau, will even escape the control of the coming Antichrist.

One important aspect of the Second Coming of Christ is the arrival of Messiah at a place identified in the Old Testament as Bozrah. This is a place in the sphere of Edom, the children of Esau. The name Bozrah means "sheepfold" and this along with its Edomite connection provides the reason for the return of Messiah to Bozrah. Messiah is coming in wrath on His enemies and deliverance of His Elect people. Bible students are beginning to discuss the implications of this Bible prophecy. Isaiah and Micah both prophesy that the coming Messiah is coming to judge the wicked and deliver His covenant people at a place or places identified prophetically as Bozrah.

The prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 63 shows the returning Messiah in graphic prophetic poetry. He is trampling His enemies on the Day of Judgement. The place of this divine wrath is out at at Bozrah which was the pastoral territory of Esau's sheepfolds. Apparently a protectorate of Edom known as Bozrah will be a place of God's judgement at the end of the age. The returning Messiah will punish the wicked there. It will be similar to the sort of divine Messianic judgement Zechariah has prophesied will be carried out against the armies of the nations threatening Jerusalem from the Valley of Armageddon.

But the Bozrah scriptures tell more than just a story of divine wrath on God's enemies. Out at Bozrah there will also be a dramatic breakout. The returning Messiah will deliver His covenant people from incarceration by Esau. Apparently they will be penned up at a place or places identified prophetically as Bozrah. The prophet in Micah 2:12-13 identifies the coming Messiah as "the Breaker". When He returns He acts in mercy and deliverance. The Shepherd of Israel breaks His people out of Esau's sheepfold.

Bozrah is apparently a place of exile. Bible students are not constrained to believe that Bozrah at the end of days has to necessarily be located in the same geographical area of the ruins of ancient city of Bozrah southeast of the Dead Sea. From the apocalyptic nature of the Bozrah passages in Isaiah 63 and Micah 2 it seems clear that the place will appear on some map in the latter days. But just where is a subject for speculation. The Bozrah Isaiah and Micah saw will certainly be controlled by the Edomites of the Endtimes. The same wild hustling children of Esau will be on the scene and giving the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob grief just as they did in former times.

Isaiah sees the returning Messiah dealing with them. He will crush them in a military sort of way as described in Isaiah 63. The prophet Micah picks up the story. He shows Messiah in His deliverance role as He enters the sheepfold as "the Breaker". There in the sheepfold His sheep are pressing in all around Him. He is at the wall of the sheepfold and breaks open a Way. For a short moment the Messiah as the Breaker is the Door of the sheepfold. He breaks His people out of Esau's enclosure in the same manner as a shepherd opens a stone sheepfold. Then He leads his sheep out at the dawning of a new day. This is the magnificent Bozrah deliverance. The picture is very clear in the Hebrew poetry. It is a glorious element of the Second Coming of Christ/Messiah. It is rarely mentioned by today's teachers of Bible prophecy.

External links

The Bozrah Deliverance