Return of the Cousins

Within the story of Numbers we see the sins of the community in Genesis coming back to haunt Israel as they have to face their reprobate cousins while attempting to enter the land. Those peoples that were created through sinful acts or were simply not chosen by God end up being the same people who cause Israel grief. Below is a comparison of the Genesis and Numbers accounts:

Gen. 25, 27- Esau (Edom) becomes the reprobate brother under Jacob (Israel)
Num. 20:14-21- The king of Edom refuses to let Israel pass through their land

Gen. 19:30-38- Lot's daughters seduce him and bear Moab and Ammon
Num. 22-25:5- The Moabite king hires Balaam to curse Israel and the men of Israel are seduced by Moabite women

Gen. 9:20-27- Noah curses Canaan (Ham's son) for Ham's sin
Num. 21, 31- Israel defeats Canaanite nations while entering the promised land.

These stories thus serve both to justify to current actions of Israel (taking the land from reprobates), but also serve to condemn certain actions and behaviors. In this sense these stories can function similarly to some of our modern superhero stories. In the conflict between heroes and villains, the villains oftentimes are either relatives or friends of the hero. The difference, however, can be traced back to an event in the villain's past. Either a poor decision of the hero drove the villain to become evil or the evil was a result of a poor reaction to a tragedy in the villains life. In either case, the conflict becomes a stage not just for action, but also for a lesson in how to avoid behaviors that bring evil. Here is a You Tube video from The Incredibles that illustrates this point:

Mr. Incredible and Syndrome

Here, the villain was a fan of Mr. Incredible. However, Mr. Incredible's selfishness/pride, coupled with the poor decisions by Syndrome lead to repercussions for Mr. Incredible later in life as this young fan turns into a horrible villain. Thus, similar to Israel, those that are not chosen or who act sinfully within the community end up being a thorn in the side of their relatives later in the story.