Kingdom Come

“All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six; And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten  (70).” (Genesis 46:5-7, 26-27)

The numerical data given for Jacob’s offspring is not extraneous. As in scientific research, or a mortgage application, numerical data “reveals hidden mysteries” about important activities, like COVID resurgence for a hospital administrator, or erratic employment on a loan application. This subtle but highly significant background information is useful as we track who inherited the position of the Hebrew Melchizedek from Joseph.

Using 30 years as the age of starting a family, therefore an approximate “generation“, we can calculate a good estimate of 60 years for these two generations born in Egypt after the 2nd generation entered Egypt. I’ve rearranged the text slightly without changing the wording to create a database out of the narrative.

• 1st generation from Jacob arrives in Egypt: Jacob’s sons includes Joseph 
• 2nd generation includes Ephraim and Manasseh [born before Joseph was 37 yrs old]
• Ephraim’s children and Machir the son of Manasseh [using the typical time frame of 30 years between generations, when Joseph was about 67 yrs old 
• 4th generation from Jacob: the children of Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s children [born when Joseph was about 97 years old]. (Genesis 50:22-23)

Another text lists the genealogies of the other sons of Israel, one of them being Levi.

1. Generation 1: “the years of the life of [Jacob’s son] Levi were an 137. 
2. Generation 2: Grandsons Gershon, Merari and Kohath [entered Egypt]: and the years of the life of Kohath were 133. 
3. Generation 3: Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel and Amram: and the years of the life of Amram were 137. And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him
4. 4th generation from Jacob; Aaron and Moses:  (Exodus 6)

Using these figures, Moses would have been born during Joseph’s lifetime and would have heard all about it when Joseph, like his father before him, gave his dying declaration:

“And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring YOU out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

There is a good reason why Jacob’s body was taken shortly after his death for burial in the promised land but Joseph’s burial could wait until the entire group left for good. Joseph knew that he was relaying the promise of occupying the promised land to the very generation to whom this promise applied.

“Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them…But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again.” (Genesis 15:13-16)

“Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not [rejected association with] Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold,

• the people of – not only the genetic descendants but those who joined 
• the children – religiously under the authority of a Priest-King Father figure
• of Israel -“Fighter God” – identifying the leader with the name/attribute of his God, like “God of Thunder”, who joined forces, i.e. attributes ergo name with Jacob when he proved he was worthy of it. Just like the Pharaoh was the personification of Egypt’s main god.
• are more and mightier than we. – In other words, what we would call converts to the Fighter God were leaving Egypt’s state religion in which the Pharaoh was the god. Get it?

Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply. and…when there falleth out any war, they join also [not just to the anti-Egyptian religion of Israel but] unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land…

And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives…When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live…And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.” (Exodus 1)

That should do it! Life with Pharaoh or death to the rebel followers of Fighter God.

What Pharaoh didn’t know was just how much fight some of these Hebes had in them.

Plot twist coming up. Keep in mind that that the Levites are cursed to experience a permanently unsettled lifestyle. (Foreshadowing dark music…with a thrill in the background.)

“And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.

And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river [Moses’ mom probably put him in the river during the optimal time to catch the eye of a powerful maternal ally – during a religious ritual such as those in India]…she saw the ark among the flags…when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said,

• This is one of the Hebrews’ children.
• Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women…And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Go….and he became her son. And she called his name Moses…Because I drew him out of the water.
• when Moses was grown…he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. And…he slew the Egyptian…
• And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? 
• Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. (Exodus 2:1-15)

If Moses had kept his adoptive Egyptian identity Pharoah wouldn’t have bothered about a member of the royalty killing a commoner.

So first Moses is an outcast within his Hebrew people, then an outcast in his adoptive Egyptian people.

But Moses is a true Levite. A Fighter.

“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God…Esteeming the reproach of The Promised Redeemer / Messiah / Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward…By faith he forsook Egypt.” (Hebrews 11:23-27)

The reward that Moses had respect to was the Promised Land. Their time had come.

“Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them…But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again.” (Genesis 15:13-16)

The fourth generation of immigrants are not easy to uproot. I married an immigrant, and I can assure you that our children – 2nd generation – have a 100% American mentality with just a light dusting of foreign identity for decoration, even though they grew up in a mixed culture through relatives, friends, foods, languages, visits to their father’s country of origin, and were even registered as nationals by their father in his foreign country.

Even the 2nd generation child who also married an immigrant from the same country of origin whose children are now also only 2nd generation, and who have also maintained even more international contact through internet access and overseas visits have no desire to face the heavy flow of traffic out of that tumultuous country to fight their way in.

The adults of the 4th generation will be living in the 24th century. Leave what has become home for generations to return to what has become a foreign land? Hardly.

In any case, why would any leave a comfortable situation in a 1st world country for a bad one in a war zone?

Refugees. Like the ones who streamed out of Europe into Palestine after being slaughtered by Hitler.

When Moses flees the country he sensibly heads to a safe haven within one of Abraham’s many Hebrew nations.

“Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian…Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them [one against many], and watered their flock…And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.” (Exodus 2:16-21)

De ja vu of Jacob watering Laban’s flock! Bear in mind that what is also repeated is that when Moses joined Reuel’s household, Reuel had complete authority over him, just as Laban had over Jacob.

Unlike the pagan Laban who had a self-serving agenda of enlarging his household and increasing his wealth through enslaving Jacob, this priest of Midian is reported to be a righteous priest in line with his  ancestor Abraham. His name Reu-el means “friend of God,” This is an honorary title only bestowed previously on Abraham, then later on close associates of the Son of God.

“Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings?…I the LORD, the first, and with the last…Abraham my friend…I have chosen thee…I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isa 41:2-10)

“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you…for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you…I have chsen you.” (John 15:14-16)

Significantly, Jethro is also identified as “the Kenite.”

The significance of his confusion of names and identities is that the Kenites were a cursed nation aligned with monstrously wicked nations.

“the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: [taking it from] The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” (Genesis 15:18-21)

“Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city…the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.” (Numbers 24:19-22)

How interesting that Moses, a cursed Hebrew Levite, found a haven with another cursed Hebrew. 

Obviously, Jethro, like the Amorite brothers Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner who were confederate with Abram, repudiated his nation / religion of origin to join the Hebrews under the rule of their Most High God and consequently shared their blessings.

The persistent reference to the Kenites throughout scripture is a reminder of the option for any individual from any nation to join God’s kingdom.

“And Moses said unto [his brother-in-law] Hobab the son of Raguel/ Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father in law…come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the LORD hath spoken good concerning Israel…the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up…with the children of Judah…and they went and dwelt among the people.” (Numbers 10:29-32)

“the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.” (I Chronicles 2:55)

“Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying…Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you…Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.” (Jeremiah 35)

What should really pique our interest in Moses’ father-in-law is how much authority he continued to have over Moses after Moses left his household and began leading 9 million people camped out at Mount Sinai. 

Jethro’s close relationship with God can be deduced by his

• authority over Moses despite Moses being “instead of God“,
• superior wisdom accepted by Moses

”When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt;

• Then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, And  her two sons…
• Gershom…And Eliezer…And came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God:
  • Jethro rejected Moses’ filing for divorce and mediated restoration of his marriage as well as his high social standing, like Joseph in Egypt, through marriage to a priest’s daughter.
    
• And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him;
  • Remember, this is a sign of acknowledging Jethro’s higher authority, despite Moses being “instead of God“ to Pharaoh and his people.
• And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
  • This is a classic Melchizedekian blessing
  • And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.“ (Hebrews 7:7)
• And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God.
  • Despite being a visitor, Jethro hosts the ceremony, which indicates that he, like Shem to Abraham, is the higher level priest interceding between God and man.
• And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God…The thing that thou doest is not good…I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee…provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers. So Moses hearkened to…his father in law, and did all that he had said.” (Exodus 18)

Clearly, Moses’ mentoring under Reuel the Friend of God and Priest of Midian transformed him into the internationally famous leader that he became.

Wait! Does this mean that Reuel was Melchizedek? His actions and Moses’ reactions described above provide compelling evidence that, as a descendant of Abraham, he is not only the priest of Midian but the high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

But he was from the cursed Kenite nation!

Exactly. and that proves the point.

“___ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that _______:” (Galatians 3:13)

Once we accept that that Reuel was an Hebrew priest in the order of Melchizedek, we can understand his role in transforming Moses from a cursed outsider, then an impetuous Egyptian prince into the world’s greatest religious leader who “was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3)

This was a key characteristic by which Jesus Christ could demonstrate that he was That Prophet promised to succeed Moses.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Can we understand that God will do the same powerful rescues for us in this era under Jesus Christ as he did for his people in Egypt under Moses? We get all depressed and victimized and dysfunctional from our circumstances, but God proves his power through our traumas, failures and inadequacies. Moreover, his leadership consists of broken people like Moses. He works through peer counseling. Our testimony is what we have to offer to people who are just like us.

As a health provider working with desperate people suffering the consequences of their actions, the transformation of a curse into a blessing gives me tremendous comfort and faith. Every individual can experience, not just the ultimate eternal salvation from sin and death, but customized salvation from the consequences of one’s personal sin and inherited family sin in this life.

But if we are going to follow in the footsteps of the biblical redeemers, we have to accept that we, too, will suffer curses from society and even our own family.