Kingdom Come

“And [YHVH] said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years…But in the fourth generation [counting from the one entering Egypt] they shall come hither again.” (Genesis 15:12-16)

“And Joseph [1st generation of immigrants] said unto his brethren [including his son Ephraim’s children to the 3rd generation, i.e. his 4th generation, predicted to return], 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.” (Genesis 15:15, 50:24-26)

And young Moses [4th generation], son of Amram [3rd generation], grandson of Kohath [2nd generation], great-grandson of Levi [1st generation of immigrants], 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. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian.”

Catch that – the “face” of Pharoah is anyone “representing” him as his “agent”, such as a bounty hunter. Midian had to be fortified against Pharoah’s military, not some dusty backwater Appalachian-like cluster of villages.

“Now the priest of Midian…”

Once again, we are presented with evidence that Midian was a significant nation, since at that time the priest was also the king.

We can compare this priest-king – who was capable of blocking Pharoah from taking the refugee to whom he had given asylum – to the priest of the entire tribe Dan when “six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image…And they said unto him…”go with us, and be to us a father and a priest…unto a tribe…and he…went in the midst of the people.” (Judges 18:16-20)

“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 when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?…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  pagan Laban who had a self-serving agenda of enslaving Jacob, this priest of Midian was righteous, identified with his ancestor Abraham, according to his title Reu-el, meaning “Friend of God,” bestowed previously by God only on Abraham,

“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)

Calculating the generations from

1. Abraham who died at age 175 years ~ 470 years after the flood,
2. after having 6 sons including Midian by his concubine Keturah, which can be estimated to have taken about 20 years accounting for the ancient practice of delaying weaning children until about age 3, which acts as a natural birth control, so begun at a minimum when Abraham was age 155, ~450 years after the flood, approximately the same time as Jacob whose lifespan was 150 years
3. and sons were born to Midian approximately the same generation as Jacob’s 12 sons with lifespans of ~ 110 years, reaching adulthood and expanding their nation at the same time and in the same manner as the children of Israel in Egypt through surrounding peoples converting to the YHVH of Midian.
4. and realistically becoming a nation of YVHV worshippers led by Reuel, priest-king of Midian in the Hebrew Commonwealth of Nations. Reuel was not a Melchizedek in the order leading to YHVH’s Only Begotten Son, but one of the other begotten sons / heirs to the kingdom of heaven.

This interpretation is confirmed by Reuel’s title of “Jethro’, meaning “His Excellency”, well known as a display of awe and honor expected from a monarch’s subjects.

The same man, specified as such twice with the clarification “the father-in-law of Moses, is also referred to as “Hobab” which means “Cherished”. Apparently his compassion for the lone, terrified, starving, exhausted refugee prince of Egypt was  standard practice by which people flocked into his kingdom.

Most significantly, he is also called the Kenite, i.e. a member of a cursed nation.

“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, like the Amorite brothers Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner who were confederate with Abram, Reuel repudiated his nation / religion of origin to join the Hebrews under the rule of their Most High God, and led others to do the same.

And isn’t that exactly what all sons and friends of God are supposed to do?

“Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon….And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet… to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite…[backtrack a few verses]…Now / however Heber the Kenite [himself], which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh…And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. And he said unto her…Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.” (Judges 4:11-21)

“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 restored Moses’ high social standing, like Joseph in Egypt, through marriage to a priest’s daughter.
    
  • as well as restored Moses’ son’s inheritance in the nation of Israel
• 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 serving in the time between Joseph and Moses. He is not an Israelite, but a ruler in the Hebrew Commonwealth of Nations, who must have married an Ethiopian / Cushite woman since his daughter was identified as that nationality as well.

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.