Jethro and Moses … and Christ

Bodelian Library, Oxford, MS Bodley 2708, Folio 39V
A good man? Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, is a devoted family man, well respected for his advice on governing and his benevolent leadership of the tribes of Midian. This early 13th-century illustration from the Bible moralisée depicts Jethro (seated under the arch on the right) rewarding Moses (left) for rescuing his daughters (six of whom are pictured in the center) and their flocks from rival shepherds.




Jethro, to most people, was the not-so-bright son of Jed and Granny on “The Beverly Hillbillies.” How many realize that Jethro was the name of Moses’ father-in-law? Jethro was “priest and prince of Midian,” the area where Moses encountered the Burning Bush.

Jethro comes to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, before the giving of the Ten Commandments, because he is bringing his daughter–Moses’ wife–back to him. Although the text does not tell us this earlier, she evidently took their children and went to her father for safekeeping during Moses’ confrontation with Pharoah; when Moses tells Jethro everything the Lord did for the people, including the plagues, this is all news to Jethro. If his daughter had seen any of this, she would have told him; evidently, she left Moses in Egypt before the plagues began. In thanksgiving for the deliverance of the people, Jethro offers a large sacrifice and invites all the clan leaders to the feast that follows.

The text tells us that Jethro is priest-and-prince. We already knew that he was wealthy because of the description of his large flocks when Moses first meets him. Whether Jethro was a wealthy herdsman who was therefore acknowledged as “prince” or was the prince and therefore was wealthy, we don’t know. But the linkage of royalty and priesthood only occurs one other time in the Old Testament: the priest-king Melchizedek who blesses Abraham and is seen as a “type” of Christ by the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Medieval rabbis were eager to avoid the embarrassment of Moses having a pagan priest-prince as a father-in-law and so they began to suggest that Jethro was circumcised after he heard the recitation of God’s mighty acts of deliverance–after he heard what became the Passover haggadah, in effect. This made Jethro, like Melchizedek, a legitimate priest before Aaron and his sons were made a legitimate priesthood. This makes Jethro, like Melchizedek, a foreshadowing of Christ–the Son of David who is both priest and king on the Cross. Jethro, however, was not the focus of the typology in the Epistle to the Hebrews because he did not evidently live forever, like Melchizedek did; Jethro was an imperfect type of Christ, the ultimate king-priest who is eternal.

Nevertheless, this makes for fascinating speculation about Moses–raised as a prince of Egypt– and his immediate family as Middle Eastern royalty and their connection to priesthood in both Moses’ father-in-law (Jethro) and his brother (Aaron).

…And the Rock was Christ

A wall painting in the mid-3rd century Dura Europos synagogue (Syria) depicts Moses striking the rock which then provides water for the 12 tribes of Israel in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt. The rock followed the Israelites throughout the 40 years they spent in the wilderness, providing the water they needed until they entered the Promised Land.


All our ancestors were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of the spiritual rock, which was following them, and the rock was Christ. (1 Cor. 10:1-4)

The story of Moses striking the rock and producing water for the thirsty Israelites in the wilderness is told twice in the Old Testament–perhaps the same event is reported twice? Or some suggest that the first (temporary) provision of water was supplemented by a second (more permanent) provision of water.

The first version of the story is in Exodus 17. The people complain to Moses that there is no food in the wilderness; God then provides manna and quail to the people on a daily basis. The people then complain that there is no water to drink and accuse Moses of leading them out into the wilderness to die of thirst. God instructs Moses to strike a rock with the staff he used in his combat with Pharoah in Egypt and water gushes out of the rock.

The second version of the story is in Numbers 20. In this version, the people have refused to enter the Promised Land because they do not believe that God will give them the military victory over the current inhabitants, so God promises that none of the Israelites then alive will ever enter the Promised Land; only their children will enter. After the people turn back into the wilderness, Moses’ sister Miriam dies and the people complain again that there is no food or water. (Some early commentators suggest that their hunger and thirst are directly a result of their mourning for Miriam.) So Moses strikes a rock and water gushes out; this is, presumably, the rock that then follows the Israelites throughout the rest of their wanderings in the wilderness.

St. Paul understands the rock that followed the Israelites –which provided enough water every day for several thousand people and animals — to be Christ himself. The food and water and the rock in the wilderness are “types” of Christ; they foreshadow and are dress rehearsals for the gifts that Christ will give in the New Testament and in the Church. Just as the Lord made the world out of the water in Genesis 1 and refashioned the world during the Flood, he now gives enough water in the wilderness to sustain the people, even though they “grumble” and “murmur” against him.

Early Christian preachers warned their congregations not to grumble or murmur against the Lord who feeds them at the altar with the Body and Blood of Christ. Grumbling and murmuring are persistent human foibles–we keep complaining about people who don’t think as highly of us as they should, about situations in which we are treated unfairly, about leaders and bosses who don’t appreciate what we have to offer. How best to combat these temptations to grumble and mutter and complain? Instead of grumbling, these early preachers suggest that we give thanks for the opportunities that we have been given. Focus on how the glass is half-full rather than how it is half-empty.

Our families and friends get tired of hearing us complain about something all the time. Grumbling leads only to more grumbling, these preachers say; giving thanks results in more thanksgiving!

But grumbling so much easier, most of the time! In order to give thanks, we have to look at ourselves and figure out what we can do to improve the situation. That takes energy. That takes work. And then we have to actually do whatever it is that might improve our situation. So much easier to just grumble and expect someone else–like Moses?–to fix whatever is wrong. But that doesn’t get us any closer to where we want to be, does it?