February 2023

The Ethiopian Wife Of Moses

May 22, 2023

As it is commonly known to most students of the holy Scriptures: the man Moses fled from Egypt after he had killed an Egyptian, and then dwelt in the land of Midian (Exodus 2:15). It is also clearly understood that Moses married a woman named Zipporah, who was the daughter of Jethro the priest of Midian. However, further on in the story of Moses, Scripture informs us that Moses married an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:1). Was this Ethiopian woman really Zipporah, the daughter of the priest of Midian, or did Zipporah die sometime during the forty years in the wilderness leaving Moses a widower and thus allowing him to remarry? Though the Bible does not leave us with a great amount of detail concerning the wife or wives of Moses, the Bible does however provide clues elsewhere in the Pentateuch that can help us better understand the origin of Moses’ Ethiopian wife. So now, let us turn and study the Scriptures in the hopes that we may discern the identity of the Ethiopian wife of Moses.

According to the book of Genesis, the Hebrew patriarch Abraham remarried after the death of his wife Sarah. The Bible tells us that the name of the woman who Abraham married was Keturah, but scripture does not identify her racial background or her genealogy. However, further on in Genesis, the Bible does make mention of a people group known as the Midianites, who were the descendants of Midian, who was a son of Abraham and his wife Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2). These descendants of Midian settled in a region near the Red Sea, or the Gulf of Aqaba in the northwestern corner of what we know today as the country of Saudi Arabia. Thus it is understood that when Moses left Egypt, he must have traveled eastwards past the Sinai peninsula until he reached the land of Midian.

Now the fact that both the Hebrews and the Midianites shared a common ancestor, namely Abraham, then the marriage of Moses to Zipporah must not have been such a scandalous ceremony. However, during the wanderings of the children of Israel in the wilderness, we see how both Miriam and Aaron spoke against their brother Moses because he had married an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:1). From this passage a couple important questions may be asked. One, if this unnamed Ethiopian woman was Moses’ first wife, then why did Miriam and Aaron wait to complain about this interracial marriage of their brother Moses several years (possibly even decades) after they left Egypt and not sooner? Also, if Moses had only one wife, then why does the Bible identify her as being a Midianite in one place and then as an Ethiopian or Cushite in another place? It is my theory that Moses was in fact married twice. His first wife was a Midianite, who must have died sometime during the wanderings in the desert and his second wife, being of Ethiopian descent, must have originated from the mixed multitude that went up also with the children of Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 12:38).

This mixed multitude that the Bible speaks of were a people of non-Hebrew or Israelite stock, who also chose to follow Moses out of Egypt. Thus it is highly probable that the various people groups stemming from the neighboring countries surrounding Egypt, as well as several other African nations, were all a part of the mixed multitude that went up also with the children of Israel in the Exodus. So, the Ethiopian wife of Moses must have come from among the mixed multitude of the non-Israelite tribes who willingly chose to leave Egypt, and who also chose to accept and worship the One True God of Israel. Though the mixed multitude were ethnically separated from the Hebrews, this did not mean that the God of Israel didn’t love them just as He did the other Israelites. Evidence of divine favor among the foreign nations who lived alongside the camp of Israel was revealed when God struck Miriam with leprosy after she spoke against Moses for marrying an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:10). So even from ancient times has God proven to not show favoritism among the children of men, and it is also evident that the Lord deals with and judges all of mankind without partiality, and without hypocrisy (James 3:17).

Now that a clear argument has been made regarding the identity of the wives of Moses, I would like to close this study by touching on quite a bizarre story which is found in the book of Exodus concerning Moses and his Midianite wife Zipporah. As Exodus informs us, shortly after God called Moses to go down unto Egypt to free the Hebrew slaves, the Lord sought to kill Moses. For it is written, “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision” (Exodus 4:24-26). This passage is indeed a perplexing account in the life of Moses, but to understand why the Lord wanted to kill the very man He had just called to the prophetic office may be clarified by looking into the covenant of circumcision that God handed down to Abraham and to his seed after him. For as the Lord spoke unto Abraham saying, “…ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you…and the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant” (Genesis 17:11,14). So because Moses had been negligent by not circumcising his son, as was the custom of the children of Abraham, Moses had broken the covenant between God and His people which in turn kindled God’s wrath to the point that He would have killed Moses had not Zipporah taken matters into her own hands. Through the circumcision of Moses’ son was the Lord’s anger appeased so that Moses would not be put to death because of his disobedience to the covenant between God and the seed of Abraham.

It is interesting to note that even though Moses was married to foreign women, these intermarriages must have been blessed in the eyes of the Lord. For if it was not for Zipporah, Moses would have died and if it was sinful for Moses to marry an Ethiopian woman, then God would not have punished Miriam for speaking out against her brother’s marriage to a non-Israelite. Even in the genealogy of Jesus Christ do we find the records of gentile women who were married to Hebrew men. So it is evident from searching the Scriptures that God loves and cares for all people, and not just the Jews. The mixed multitude who came out of Egypt along with the Israelites also stand as a testimony of God’s love and mercy towards all people. So whether we are African or European or Asian, the Lord is not looking at the color of our skin, but at the content of our character.

 

References:

Ancient Faith Study Bible. (Nashville, Tennessee: Holman Bible Publishers, 2019).

Gregory of Nyssa. The Life of Moses. (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006).

Kirsch, J. Moses, A Life. (New York, NY: The Ballantine Publishing Group, 1998).

Zondervan. The Holy Bible, King James Version. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009).

The Prophet Enoch in the Book of Jubilees

May 22, 2023

The prophet Enoch is first mentioned in the fifth chapter of the book of Genesis, where it is written that Enoch is the son of Jared and the father of Methuselah, making Enoch the seventh from Adam and therefore part of the righteous bloodline of the ten great Antediluvian Patriarchs. Yet excluding his righteous and lofty lineage, the most profound element of Enoch’s life is how he was taken from the earth that he should not see death (Hebrews 11:5). For the Bible informs us that Enoch walked with God, and then was not, for God took him (Genesis 5:24). Though the Bible tells us that Enoch was “taken”, nowhere in all of the 66 books which make up the accepted Biblical Canon explain where exactly Enoch went, neither is much else written about him in both the Old and New Testaments. However, in the Ethiopic Canon do we find many more details concerning Enoch’s life. For in the Ethiopian Bible two whole books (appropriately titled I and II Enoch) are devoted to the events which Enoch experienced after he was translated. And apart from the books of Enoch, another apocryphal source included in the Ethiopian scriptures, provides even more key insight as to Enoch’s current whereabouts and of the special role he plays in God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. And this Apocryphal work which provides an expansion on the life of the prophet Enoch is none other than the Book of Jubilees.

The Book of Jubilees, also known as the Little Genesis, is an ancient religious work of Jewish origin. Comprised of fifty chapters, Jubilees is held canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as by the Jews of Ethiopia, but it is not considered canonical among the Jewish communities living outside of Ethiopia. Apart from the Ethiopian Church, the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and the various Protestant Churches, all consider Jubilees to be part of the Pseudepigrapha: a work which is believed to falsely attribute authorship to a religious document. The Book of Jubilees is postured as a revelation given to Moses concerning the history of the division of the days of the law. The chronology presented in Jubilees is based on multiples of seven years, with each period of time lasting of 49 years to be considered a jubilee. The Bible also speaks of these cycles, calling the seven year periods Sabbatical years, and the fiftieth year a jubilee. For according to the book of Leviticus on the year of the jubilee slaves would be freed, financial debts would be forgiven, and the Lord’s mercy would be poured out in great abundance (Leviticus 25:8-13).

Now when it comes to the prophet Enoch in the Book of Jubilees, we see how Enoch is described as the first among men who learned writing. Being filled with knowledge and wisdom, Enoch wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months, in order for mankind to understand the order of the seasons of the years. Enoch also wrote a testimony to the sons of men among the generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the jubilees, and made known to them the days of the years, and set in order the months and recounted the Sabbaths of the years. Jubilees also tells us how Enoch had a vision in which he saw what would happen to the children of men throughout their generations until the day of judgment. Enoch saw and understood everything, and wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for all the children of men and for their generations (Jubilees 4:17-19). Could this book which Enoch wrote concerning the future of mankind and the day of judgment really be the Book of Enoch? For we find in both Jubilees and I Enoch apocalyptic elements which are directly tied to one another. Conversely speaking, it is also highly probable that an ancient scribe concocted these stories, which may be why most Christian denominations do not accept the Book of Jubilees nor the Book of Enoch to be inspired and are thus labeled as Apocryphal.

As fascinating and revealing as these accounts of Enoch are, as found in the Book of Jubilees, yet another amazing detail of Enoch’s life is also presented within it’s Pseudepigraphal pages. And this astounding story is that of Enoch being translated to the Garden of Eden. For as it is written in Jubilees: “And he [Enoch] was taken from amongst the children of men, and we conducted him into the Garden of Eden in majesty and honour, and behold there he writes down the condemnation and judgment of the world, and all the wickedness of the children of men (Jubilees 4:23). Thus the mystery of where Enoch was taken after he walked with God is revealed, or at least it provides a possibility of where Enoch was taken, due to the questionable authority of the Book of Jubilees as an inspired work.

In conclusion, though it is a doctrinal debate which questions the validity of the Book of Jubilees and also that of the Book of Enoch, these Apocryphal books do at least challenge the Bible student to think and may even help the Orthodox believer to better understand the mysteries held in the accepted canon of the Holy Scriptures. So, in the final analysis it is best to take the teachings of these extra-Biblical books with a pinch of salt as they say, and not to accept them as the infallible Word of God. For reading such books could be dangerous, as the teachings or beliefs expressed in them could lead one astray. It could be read after the appreciation of ancient literature, but it could also prove detrimental if someone (Christian or atheist alike) accepted these doubtful books as the absolute truth. The truth indeed sets us free, but if we believe in a lie then we could end up as prisoners. That being said, may we all lean on the accepted canon as our foundation, and may the Spirit of Truth guide us into all truth. Amen.

 

References:

Burns, R.I. The Book of Enoch: Messianic Prophecy Edition. (San Francisco, CA: SagesWorks Press, 2017).

Brown, R.K. The Book of Enoch. (Nashville, Tennessee: James C. Winston Publishing Company, Inc., 1997).

Holy Bible: Ethiopic Version. (Saderingrad Productions, 2007).

Kush, I.K. Enoch the Ethiopian. (Buffalo, NY: Eworld Inc., 2000).

Zondervan. The Holy Bible, King James Version. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009).