Biblical Nations - Midianites

Midianites

Key Scripture: Genesis 25:1-6

Figures: Jethro, Cozbi, Oreb, Zeeb, Zebah, Zalmunna

Several weeks ago we studied a group known as the Kenites, who lived in the land of Midian and adopted Moses as one of their own after he left Egypt the first time.  This week we will expand on that story to understand more about the larger nation of the Midianites, as well as something more about their region.  As the land itself was rough and unforgiving, which as best we can tell was situated in what is now the northwest portion of modern Saudi Arabia, the inhabitants were nomadic in order to keep their herds constantly moving in search of water and good grazing.  This understanding, combined with the fact that the Bible and other historical texts provide little detail on the region, means the exact extents of Midian are nearly impossible to define.  But for our purposes we'll work with what we know and consider the assumptions of experts who have studied the Midianites more fully.

Settling in the region east of the Gulf of Aqaba, the Midianites were as closely related to the Israelites as their better-known cousins, the Ishmaelites.  After the death of Sarah, Abraham took a wife named Keturah and had six additional sons, one of whom was named Midian.  These were each given gifts and sent east, apparently not even returning to the land of their father after his death since only Isaac and Ishmael are mentioned burying him, and they seem to have been the fathers of various Arabian tribes.  In addition to raising livestock the Midianites appear to have engaged in trade caravans, as there were major spice trade routes nearby and they were specifically mentioned in connection with Jacob's brothers selling him into slavery to the Ishmaelites.  After Moses murdered an Egyptian and fled the wrath of Pharaoh early in his life, he journeyed far to the east beyond Egyptian control.  The Midianites seem to have maintained the worship of Abraham's God since Jethro (also called Reuel), who became Moses' father-in-law, was a priest who was allowed to offer sacrifices.  Whether or not they also worshipped the deities of nearby groups, such as the Edomites and their gods, is a matter of speculation.

While the Kenites were friendly to Moses and the Israelites, the rest of the Midianites were not.  Their elders joined with King Balak of Moab to hire a seer named Balaam to curse those following Moses, although God prevented the crooked (but not false) prophet from speaking anything against His chosen people.  Balaam did council the Midianites to send their women among the Hebrew men to incite them to commit perversion and idolatry, leading to the death of thousands of individuals within the Israelite camp, including a man named Zimri and a Midianite woman named Cozbi who had dared enter the camp in view of the mourning leaders and were speared to the ground together by Phineas, the son of the high priest Eleazar.  Balaam himself, although probably not a Midianite, was killed shortly thereafter during a raid against five kings of Midian along with all the males that were found.

It wasn't until the time of the judges, however, that the inhabitants of Midian were finally pushed out of Israel for good.  After the time of Deborah, the Israelites had once again fallen into a cycle of rebellion against the Lord, and He allowed Midianites to rule over them for seven years.  Sweeping through the Promised Land on camels in large numbers, their theft and destruction of every form of food was compared to the waste inflicted by swarms of locusts.  God raised up a judge named Gideon to defeat the Midianites in the valley beneath Mount Gilboa with a fighting force of just 300 men, although several tribes were called upon to chase the invaders during their retreat.  Although two of the princes of Midian named Oreb and Zeeb had been captured and executed by members of the tribe of Ephraim, residents of the towns of Succoth and Penuel remained fearful enough of the surviving kings that they refused to assist Gideon's exhausted force of pursuers.  Once he defeated the remaining Midianite force and captured Zebah and Zalmunna at a place called Karkor, Gideon paraded them back through the once-defiant cities and punished their inhabitants before personally executing the Midianite kings.  As far as we know, Midian never again caused trouble for Israel.

The descendants of Midian have likely survived today among the inhabitants of Saudi Arabia.  The prophet Isaiah, when foretelling the future glory of Israel in chapter 60 of the book bearing his name, predicted the coming of camels from Midian that would bring gold and frankincense while bearing good news and praising God.  It is likely that this prophecy was fulfilled centuries later when magi from the east (where Abraham sent Midian) came to praise the baby Jesus with the very gifts Isaiah mentioned.  And so it is possible that the people of Midian came full circle to imitate Jethro by presenting offerings to the one true God, an event we remember every year at Christmas.