Jethro

Handsome of person, tall and lean, thoughtful in demeanour and a man of few words. That is how the mediaeval Arab commentators of the Koran described Jethro the Midianite, Shoaib as they called him, surnamed Khatib al Anbiya, "preacher of the prophets". The Koran says it was he who gave Moses the power to work miracles before Pharaoh, and speaks with pride of the fact that he was Moses' father‑in‑law; pride, because Jethro was not an Israelite, he was an Arab, and as an Arab was used to play a prominent part in the outworking purposes of God.

The Koran has not much else to say about Jethro, and what there is has little value compared with the much more detailed and life‑like picture given in the Bible. This hitherto unknown desert sheik was destined to play a vital role in the preparation of Moses for his memorable work as the Leader of Israel in their journey to the Promised Land.

The story commences forty years before the Exodus, when Moses, becoming aware of Israel's need of a champion, had killed an Egyptian taskmaster and in consequence was being hunted by Pharaoh's officers. Somehow or other he must flee Egypt and find refuge in some distant land where Pharaoh could not find him. He got across the frontier without being apprehended and found himself on the Sinai side of the Red Sea where forty years later all Israel was to cross with a mighty deliverance. His first impulse was probably to make his way to Canaan, two or three weeks' journey through sparsely inhabited territory, but he would quickly reflect that Canaan was under Egyptian influence and he might easily be detected or betrayed and taken back to Egypt. The alternative was to turn southward and plunge into the mountainous terrain of Central Sinai. Even so he must needs observe caution, for in that direction, only forty miles from Mount Sinai itself, were the copper mines of Serabit el Khadim, where a strong force of Egyptian soldiery superintended the work of the slave miners, and the high road to the mines, always busy with travelling officials and convoys of copper being taken to Egypt. Moses must have made his way cautiously, perhaps travelling mostly by night, until he was clear of the mines and well on the way to the south.

So it came about that, seeking to put as great a distance as possible between himself and Egypt, he rounded the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula, climbed the mountain barrier which rears its peaks five thousand feet in the air and divides Western Sinai from Eastern Sinai, and then, looking down from those heights, saw the place he sought.

They call it Sharm el Sheikh nowadays; since the six‑day war Israel has built a holiday resort there. When Moses looked down upon the land he saw a green plain something like fifteen miles long by ten wide, bounded upon three sides by the mountains on which he was now standing, and upon the fourth by the blue waters of the Gulf of Akaba. A perfect haven he must have thought; cut off from the world, far from Egyptian influence - he had come nearly three hundred miles since leaving Egypt - and an opportunity for his identity to be lost so that Pharaoh would never hear of him again. Thankfully he made his way down the mountain slopes into the grasslands and sat down to rest beside a well.

It was there that the seven daughters of Jethro found him—seven shepherdesses, come to draw water for their father's flocks. Once more Moses found himself involved in a fight. A party of shepherds jostled the girls out of the way in order to get water for themselves; Moses intervened and compelled them to desist. The seven went home to their father full of their story of the Egyptian stranger who had so chivalrously taken their part. And Jethro, true to the traditional hospitality of the Bedouin Arab, insisted that the stranger be found and brought to his tent as an honoured guest.

Jethro was a Midianite, and Midian was a son of Abraham by his third wife Keturah. Nearly six hundred years had elapsed since Abraham's time; the descendants of Midian had grown into a company of tribes inhabiting both sides of the Gulf of Akaba, Sinai on the west side and Arabia on the east. With some of these Midianite tribes Israel was later to come into violent conflict and after the settlement, in the days of Gideon, to win a notable victory over them. It is evident, though, that here in this remote corner of Sinai the little community of which Jethro was the head had become more or less separated from its brother clans and was leading a quiet untroubled existence undisturbed by their fellows in the wider world. The fact that Jethro is described in Jud.1.16 as "the Kenite", which in the Hebrew is "of Kain", shows that he had a forebear named Kain who gave his name to this sub-division of the Midianite people. The names of Midian's five sons are recorded in Genesis 25; there would have been three or more generations between those sons and Jethro and in one if those generations this Kain probably settled in this spot and gave his name to the growing community.

It is evident that Jethro formed a liking for the stranger and invited him to make his home with them, an invitation which Moses accepted. Similarity of religious faith probably had a great deal to do with it, and also the fact, which must have quickly emerged in conversation, that they shared a common ancestor, Abraham. Moses served and worshipped the God of Abraham, and so did Jethro. It is likely the latter had not previously known of the existence of the Israelites, or of their sojourn in Egypt; after the death of Abraham, when Jacob was only fifteen years old, there was almost certainly no contact between his father's family and the sons of Keturah, now forming their own settlements well outside Canaan. But his forebears had evidently remained true to the faith of Abraham so that Moses on his part must have been greatly interested in finding another people, not of the line of Isaac and Jacob, who also served and reverenced God. The two men must have had a great deal to talk about and perhaps Moses, who had known of the Arab descendants of Abraham only by hearsay heretofore, learned many things which were to be of inestimable value in later life.

So Moses became a member of Jethro's household and undertook the duties of shepherd and herdsman, the occupation of probably nearly all the male members of the tribe, and perhaps anticipated spending the rest of his days in this quiet and sunlit valley, almost another world compared with the Egypt he had left. Eventually - perhaps not at once, but eventually - he married Zipporah, one of the daughters of Jethro, and became the father of a son. The roots were beginning to strike deep. As the years multiplied - for he spent forty years in this valley - he must have wondered at times whether God did indeed intend to use him at all, or whether Israel would in fact be delivered from Egypt. It is very probable that at such times the sage counsel of the older man allayed his impatience and quieted his restless spirit. When the day's work was done, the darkness of the night settled over the land, and the lamps flickered low in the tents, long and earnest must have been the conversations between these two, as each related to the other those things relating to the One true God which had come down to them from their respective forefathers. Much of Moses' deep insight into the character of God and the inviolability of his promises was probably instilled into him by Jethro; part of the credit for the successful outcome of the Exodus must assuredly be awarded to this almost unknown desert sheik.

There is one other significant contribution which Jethro may have made, although there is no proof, only deduction. The origin of the Book of Job, and how this Arab book having only Arab actors in its drama, got into the Hebrew Bible, is a mystery to all except those modern scholars who assert that it was a much later compilation by some pious Jew and falsely accredited to an ancient but mythical hero. The internal evidence of the Book discredits that fanciful theory anyway. The background of the book, and its allusions, no less than its plain statements, attest that it relates to events which happened in the territory to the east or south east of Canaan a few generations after Abraham but at least several centuries before the Exodus. Israel in Egypt could not have known the book, for the happenings it records took place whilst they were in Egypt. At least three, perhaps more, of the historical characters in the book were descendants of Abraham, and one of them, BiIdad. did in fact derive his ancestry from Shuah the brother of Jethro's own forebear Midian. The land of Uz, in which the story of Job is set, was in the area peopled at the time indiscriminately by Midianites, Edomites and Amalekites. Is it reasonable to entertain the possibility that a copy of the Book of Job in its original form, already a couple of centuries old, was in the possession of Jethro the Midianite, whose people had originated in that very land, and that when Moses set out for Egypt and the execution of his life's mission one of the treasures he carried with him was this book which afterwards became incorporated in the Old Testament to the enrichment of the Word of God and the inspiration of succeeding generations? There is no proof that it was so, but the hypothesis does at least provide a suggested solution to a problem that otherwise has so far remained an enigma.

But now things were happening in Egypt. Says Exod.2.23. "It came to pass, in process of time, that the king of Egypt died". Thothmes III, one of the greatest military conquerors of all time, after a reign of thirty-four years went the way of all flesh. He it was who sought Moses' life and caused Moses to flee into Midian. But that was nearly forty years ago and the new Pharaoh, Amon‑hotep II, the Pharaoh of the Exodus, had not been born then. The affair of Moses was past history and forgotten; it was safe for him to return to Egypt. But after so long a time in Midian he needed some very special indication from God that he was indeed to go back, and that sign he received in the incident of the burning bush. Traversing the mountains of Horeb somewhere near Mount Sinai, Moses underwent a tremendous spiritual experience in which he heard the voice of God telling him to return to Egypt, "for all the men are dead which sought thy life", and prepare to lead the people of Israel to the Promised Land. Moses demurred at first; he was not at all convinced that he was the man for this great work, but at last he accepted the Divine commission and went home to tell Jethro.

A vivid sidelight on the old man's character is revealed here; one might have expected him to object. Moses was as good as a member of the tribe now; he was married to Jethro's daughter and his sons were Jethro's flesh and blood. The proposed course of action could only lead to hard labour and travail for his son‑in‑law and his daughter and he himself would see them no more. But there is no word of dissent or opposition. Jethro must have realised that this was the Divine leading and like all true servants to God he bowed to the Divine Will. "Go in peace" he said to the younger man, and Moses went.

They met once more, a little over a year later. The Exodus had become a fact, Israel was across the Red Sea and in Sinai, and Moses was leading them to their goal in Canaan. News came to Jethro that the host was approaching Mount Sinai, only forty miles from his village, and he went to meet Moses, taking with him Zipporah and her sons who had evidently been left in safety with him while the dangerous process of negotiation with Pharaoh was proceeding. Now for the first time Jethro saw for himself the kind of task with which his son‑in‑law was faced - it is probable that the old Midianite had never seen so many people all at once in his life before. Exod.18 recounts the meeting. He listened to Moses' recital of all the wonders the Lord had wrought on behalf of Israel and of all his hopes for the future, and he rejoiced with him and acknowledged the mighty power of God. When in verse 11 he says "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods" he is not indicating a sudden conversion to a faith he had not formerly professed; the expression is a Semitic idiom testifying to a renewed confirmation of a faith already held and does not even imply a belief in the reality of other and lesser gods. "This is a proof to me that the Lord is supreme above all things" in the fact of his power manifested against the power of Pharaoh and his hosts.

Now here is a strange thing. Jethro offers sacrifices of burnt offerings to God on behalf of Israel, before Moses and Aaron themselves had organised or embarked on any such innovation themselves. The making of the Covenant at Sinai and the institution of the Aaronic priesthood were yet in the future and the erection of the Tabernacle was not to be accomplished for another twelve months. The sacrificing of burnt offerings at this juncture and the ceremonial meal shared between Jethro, Moses, Aaron and the elders of Israel on behalf of the nation was a solemn act of thanksgiving to, and communion with, God on account of a great boon. In this case it was clearly an act of national thanksgiving for the deliverance from Egypt and a symbol of entry into the family of God. Says Exod.18.12 ". ..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." The meaning of this ritual was that God himself shared a meal with the participants, his portion being represented by the consumed burnt offering. In accordance with the age‑old custom of the Semitic East, those thus having eaten bread together could never be enemies henceforth; they were tied together in the bonds of family relationship. In a very real sense Jethro had anticipated the Covenant so soon to be made at Sinai, and taken the lead in expressing to the Most High on behalf of Israel the gratitude for deliverance, and the pledge of family union, which Israel so far had failed to express for themselves. For, be it noted, despite the marvellous deliverance they had experienced, the delivered ones had so far done nothing but grumble. Just before the Red Sea crossing they cried to Moses "because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? It had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness." Three days later, at Marah, the people murmured against Moses saying "What shall we drink?" A few weeks after that, in the wilderness of Sin, the cry was "would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt. ...when we did eat bread to the full, for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Then at Meribah, the complaint was "Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst." Apart from the song of triumph immediately after the crossing there was no acknowledgement to God, and even that song savours more of exaltation over the fate of the Egyptians than humble gratitude to God for the deliverance. It was left to someone outside the commonwealth of Israel, a desert Arab, of the despised sons of Keturah, to be the first to offer up formal thanksgiving to God for the wonderful thing He had done for his people. In that solemn act Jethro identified himself with the people of the Lord and testified to his conviction that God would indeed fulfil his declared intention of making this nation his own chosen instrument for the progressive fulfilment of his eternal purposes. It was no credit to Israel, but to the eternal honour of Jethro, that he was the one who spontaneously performed this act.

The astuteness of Jethro's perception is shown by the next great service he rendered Moses. On the morrow after the ceremonial feast he stood by whilst Moses held his usual daily audience of the people, dealing with all comers, adjudicating in all disputes, great or small, from morning to evening. Jethro expostulated with him on the impossibility of one man carrying such a load of detailed administration indefinitely. "Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone" (ch.18.18). He urged on Moses the imperative necessity of delegated authority and decentralised administration, the appointing of local overseers over thousands, and hundreds, and so on, to handle normal matters so that Moses was only called upon to deal with really important cases. The calibre of the man is well attested by the qualifications he counselled Moses to look for in the candidates he would thus appoint "able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness. " It is good to know that Moses took his father‑in‑law's advice and organised the national administration on such sound lines that the principles he laid down continued more or less unchanged for six or seven centuries thereafter.

This is the last we see of Jethro. "Moses let his father‑in‑law depart, and he went his way into his own land". He never saw him again. He was an old man, probably nearing a hundred and twenty which was a normal life span in those days. A year later, when the host was about to leave Sinai for the long trek to the Promised Land, Moses invited Hobab, the son of Jethro, to throw in his lot with Israel and come with them, and although in the narrative in Numbers 10 Hobab declined the invitation, it is evident that he did eventually accept, for his descendants lived in Israel until the Babylonian captivity. Probably Jethro felt himself too old to undertake such a venture and retired to live out his remaining days in his own quiet valley in the south; Hobab, younger and perhaps equally persuaded of the Divine calling of Israel, went with Moses accompanied by a few of the younger members of the tribe, and these became the progenitors of the Kenites who lived in Israel in later centuries. They remained tent‑dwellers, nomads, never assimilating to the settled pastoral and city life of the Israelites, but always sternly rigid in their allegiance to the principles they inherited from their illustrious forefather. So late as the days of Jeremiah, when the Babylonians brought the kingdom of Judah to its downfall and the independent nationhood of Israel came to an end, the Kenites were among them and still dwelling in tents, abstaining from wine, and in all respects following the traditions of their noble predecessor. So great was their faithfulness in these respects that the Lord cited them as an example to Israel (Jer.35.6‑19) and promised that there would always be a man of their house to stand before him for ever. Known at that time as the House of Rechab, a Kenite who lived about B.C.900, they have given their name to a modern Friendly Society based on the principle of temperance, the Rechabites, and in this at least there is an echo of the sterling rectitude of the remote ancestor of Rechab whose name is forever linked with that of Moses.

What of the future for Jethro? Has God anything in store for this son of Abraham who rendered such faithful service in those long-past days of Moses' exile and the succeeding Exodus? If it is the case that the patriarchs of Biblical history who "received a good report through faith" (Heb.11.39) are to be leaders and administrators upon earth in the days of Christ's kingdom, when righteousness will prevail and evil be restrained with firm hand, here also is one who was faithful to God and zealous in his service, who played a vital part in the Divine purpose in his day, a man who for uprightness, mature judgment and loyalty to God ranks with those who are indicated in Scripture as destined for such high office. May it not be expected that God, who is no respecter of persons, with whom there is no intrinsic difference between Jew and Greek, Israelite and Arab, has already entered upon the roll of those who in the Millennial day shall emerge from the grave to be "princes in all the earth," the name of an upright, courteous and wise old Bedouin, Jethro the Midianite?

AOH