Priest of Midian

lone-traveler · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:22 pm Post subject: Priest of Midian

anyone care to do a study with me on Jethro the Priest of Midian and the midianites?

I am of the opinion that he appeared to Moses as the angel in the bush (thorns) to draw out Israel and to destroy them.

2Cr 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

A lot of my reasoning is based on the law.

Lev 19:26 Ye shall not eat [any thing] with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

when Moses was sent into Egypt to Pharoah he was given a rod to use against Pharoah, and the things that he demonstrated were no less magical or enchanted than what those of Egypt had done.

Exd 7:11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.

If you follow the steps of Midian and the midianites you will see that they were enchanters/wizards also..

Num 22:5 He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which [is] by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me:
Num 22:6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they [are] too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, [that] we may smite them, and [that] I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest [is] blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.
Num 22:7 ¶ And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

When Moses is told to take spoil from the Egyptians..why would God tell them to take with them

Exd 3:22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put [them] upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

looking at the "root" of the midianites..

Gen 37:28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty [pieces] of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Gen 37:36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, [and] captain of the guard.

Num 25:1 ¶ And Israel abode in *Poop*, and the people began to commit whredom with the daughters of Moab.
Num 25:2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
Num 25:3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.
Num 25:4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.
Num 25:5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.
Num 25:6 ¶ And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who [were] weeping [before] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 25:7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw [it], he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;
Num 25:8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
Num 25:9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.
Num 25:10 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 25:11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.
Num 25:12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:
Num 25:13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, [even] the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
Num 25:14 ¶ Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, [even] that was slain with the Midianitish woman, [was] Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites.
Num 25:15 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain [was] Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he [was] head over a people, [and] of a chief house in Midian.
Num 25:16 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 25:17 Vex the Midianites, and smite them:
Num 25:18 For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake.

Zur = "rock"

Now if I'm not mistaken..Moses married a midianite woman..Zipporah..and she bare Moses two sons.

Num 12:1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. Confused or disgusted

1) a Cushite woman, Moses' wife so-called by Miriam and Aaron

Jer 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? [then] may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Jer 39:16 Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be [accomplished] in that day before thee.

Num 10:29 And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the LORD hath spoken good concerning Israel.

Num 31:3 And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian.

so anywhooo...

anyone feel like diggin in here with me.. Very Happy

hugs
lone
_________________
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

james · Grizzly Bear Joined: 18 Sep 2007 Posts: 733

LT wrote,

anyone care to do a study with me on Jethro the Priest of Midian and the midianites?

I am of the opinion that he appeared to Moses as the angel in the bush (thorns) to draw out Israel and to destroy them.

Scripture tells us in Ex 3:1-4 that it was an angel of the Lord that appeared to him in a flame of fire and also it was God that spoke to Moses from the midst of the bush. I so not see how this could be taken any other way. The Bible plainly says who it was in the bush. Also in Ex 3:8 God says He is delivering Israel out of the hand of the Egytians to bring them to a good land, not to draw them out to destroy them.

lone-traveler · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:56 am Post subject:

Hmm..

Luk 6:44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

I know what your saying James..
and I know that the Lord made a great deliverance for Israel that day. But the knife cuts both ways and there are many times that there are those who are set apart for what looks like deliverance but is actually slaughter.
I will try to show you what I mean.
Do you remember this?

remembering that what goes around comes around..and you get what you give..
Gen 34:1 ¶ And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
Gen 34:2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
Gen 34:3 And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.

(a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife...I believe that in Shechem's heart he was married to Dinah. When it says defiled her we do not know if Dinah cried out against it, or if it was because he was a Hivite that the sons of Jacob abhored him.)

Gen 34:4 And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.

(He was looking to make it legal binding..and honest.)

Gen 34:5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.
Gen 34:6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.

(did the son's wait to hear what Jacob had decided?)

Gen 34:7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard [it]: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done.

Gen 34:8 ¶ And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.
Gen 34:9 And make ye marriages with us, [and] give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.
Gen 34:10 And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.

(And isn't this the same thing Moses said to Midian?)

Gen 34:11 And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
Gen 34:12 Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.

Gen 34:13 ¶ And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:
Gen 34:14 And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that [were] a reproach unto us:
Gen 34:15 But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we [be], that every male of you be circumcised;
Gen 34:16 Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

(Now consider Zipporah and what she said to Moses when she had to circumcise her son.)

Gen 34:17 But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.
Gen 34:18 ¶ And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son.
Gen 34:19 And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he [was] more honourable than all the house of his father.

(And so Moses' sons which were the grandchildren of Midian became circumcised.)

Gen 34:20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,
Gen 34:21 These men [are] peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, [it is] large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.
Gen 34:22 Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they [are] circumcised.
Gen 34:23 [Shall] not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs [be] ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.

Now there is a slight change of heart going on here..
You notice that Shechem did it out of Love for Dinah, but now the others out of gain. There is two energies at work here. one is in honesty and truth and the other in deception and lies..
you have to see both at the same time..it's hard..but it's there.

Gen 34:24 And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.

Gen 34:25 ¶ And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
Gen 34:26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out.
Gen 34:27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.
Gen 34:28 They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which [was] in the city, and that which [was] in the field,
Gen 34:29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that [was] in the house.

(Now consider everything Moses was told to take out of Egypt with them and to spoil Egypt.
But I believe Midian encouraged Moses and acted as his friend so he could sieze upon the spoil which had once been there own. I say their own because the hivites midianites canaanites were all together as brothers.)

Gen 34:30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I [being] few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

This gets really deep and involved. It's not just looking at the surface but uncovering the intents of the hearts.
Jethro went with Moses and he gave council on many things. When Moses went up to Mt Sinai and Aaron was left with the people..where was Jethro?

From Wikipedia
See Ketura about the kibbutz of that name.
In the Book of Genesis, Keturah or Ketura (Hebrew: קְטוּרָה, Standard Qətura Tiberian Qəṭûrāh ; "Incense") is the woman whom Abraham marries after the death of Sarah. She bears him six sons, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

She is styled "Abraham's concubine" (1 Chr. 1:32). Abraham married her probably after Sarah's death (Gen. 25:1-6). He also sent the sons he had by Keturah to live in the east far from his son Isaac. Rabbinic lore (midrash) holds that Keturah is identical with Hagar, and that Abraham sought her out after Sarah's death.

Gen 11:31 ¶ And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

Gen 16:3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

So Midian is also of the Egyptian lineage which dwelt in the land of Canaan..

Jdg 7:1 Then Jerubbaal, who [is] Gideon, and all the people that [were] with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

Gen 12:6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite [was] then in the land.

Gen 34:30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I [being] few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

and so it is..eye for eye and tooth for tooth..and with what measure ye mete it will be measured unto you.

But nevertheless..
even though the children of Israel walked on dry land between the seas of their enemies..persued from behind and ambushed from ahead...the Lord saved them through it..if even a small remnant should remain.

For the bible says:

1Ki 19:18 Yet I have left [me] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

Rom 11:4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to [the image of] Baal.

Exd 18:7 And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of [their] welfare; and they came into the tent.

Do you know that if we harbour sin..or make a "sanctuary" for it, that it will in itself eat us up alive?
So if the sin remained as a "thorn" then it needed to be removed. Like the hedge that surrounded Job. It needed to be taken out of the way so Job could bear his sin and see it and feel it and recognize it..and repent from it, and so have it removed.

Israel's hands had sin on them..and God says:

Num 14:18 The LORD [is] longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation].

You may not see the blessings in this as I do. But sometimes we have to be brought through much tribulations to be purged from sin.
Otherwise it is left to fester and to spread and becomes a plague upon the whole world.

God is just..and righteous..and he makes a way in the wilderness, for any who will hear his voice and listen to his words, he will bring them through.

Luk 8:18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

it is in the hearing that gives sight to the eyes. The eyes can cause us to become deaf. So listen with your heart and not your eyes and you will see.. Wink

eye for eye and tooth for tooth...but the rod is not to be in our own hands but the Lord's.

Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Mat 5:43 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

it doesn't matter what side your on..whether you are Hebrew or Egyptian, Jew or Greek, Male or Female..
God's justice is for all. And no one gets away with anything.. Wink

anywhoo..I'm still working on this. I'm finding it rather fascinating how God executes his judgments upon all men.

hugs
lone
_________________
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.