“And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit YOU / the fourth generation, 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…YE shall carry up my bones from hence.” (Genesis 15:15, 50:24-26)
And young Moses, filled with vigor and zeal, was up for it.
“When Moses was grown…he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. And…he slew the Egyptian. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses.
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)
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 enslaving Jacob, this priest of Midian is reported to be a righteous priest aligned with his ancestor Abraham, according to his name Reu-el, meaning “Friend of God,” This is an honorary title only bestowed previously on Abraham, then later on close associates of the Son of God.
“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…I have chosen you.” (John 15:14-16)
Significantly, Jethro is also identified as “the Kenite. a cursed nation aligned with hybrid giant 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…the Kenite shall be wasted.” (Numbers 24:19-22)
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.
“Now [at age 80] Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel [physical manifestation of a spirit being] of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
“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)
How interesting that Moses, a cursed Hebrew, found a haven with another cursed Hebrew.
Not really. The essence of evangelism is our personal testimony of salvation from sin – NOT inviting people to church as social networking! Oh, but people want to fit in at work, at school, not stick out as a weirdo and be treated as an outcast.
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.
”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;
- This is not family relations, this is a sign of acknowledging Jethro’s higher spiritual authority over Moses despite Moses being “instead of God“,
- 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)
- superior wisdom in implementing God’s directives accepted by Moses despite being given instructions directly by God
Clearly, Moses’ mentoring under Reuel the Friend of God and Priest of Midian transformed him into the internationally famous leader that he became.
Reuel’s actions 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 between Joseph and Moses.
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.
Kingdom Come 