The Midianites were a nomadic tribe descended from Midian, a son of Abraham and Keturah, and are often portrayed in the Bible as adversaries of the Israelites. They are often associated with idolatry and conflict, notably in accounts such as Gideon’s battle against them in the Book of Judges.
Scripture
1 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.
2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.
4 The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
5 Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.
6 but to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.
Meaning of Midianites in the Bible
The Midianites, descendants of Midian, the son of Abraham and Keturah, play a multifaceted role in the biblical narrative, primarily as adversaries of the Israelites. Their significance extends beyond mere historical antagonism; they embody the broader struggle between faithfulness to God and the temptations of idolatry and moral compromise. The Midianites are notably referenced in the Book of Exodus, where they are described as oppressors of the Israelites in their wilderness journey (Exodus 2:15-22, 18:1-27). Notably, they introduce a system of worship that diverges from Yahwism, often leading the Israelites astray, as seen in Numbers 25, where the Israelites are seduced into idolatry and immorality with Midianite women.
Gideon’s encounter with the Midianites in Judges 6-7 further emphasizes their role as symbols of spiritual and physical struggle. God commissions Gideon to deliver the Israelites from their oppression, showcasing the divine promise of victory against seemingly insurmountable odds. The story highlights themes of faith, obedience, and divine intervention, with Gideon’s initial doubts and eventual triumph serving as a reminder of God’s sovereignty. Ultimately, the conflict with the Midianites signifies the peril of syncretism and the importance of steadfast faithfulness to God, reiterating the biblical caution against the influence of foreign practices and beliefs that can lead to spiritual compromise (Numbers 31:1-12). Through the narrative of the Midianites, the Bible warns of the consequences of straying from God’s covenant while also affirming His power to redeem and deliver His people.
In addition to their adversarial role, the Midianites are often associated with themes of cultural exchange and conflict within the Biblical narrative. They are depicted not only as foes but also as figures that challenge the Israelites to confront their own identity and practices. For instance, references to their involvement in trade activities and their connections with other neighboring nations suggest a complex relationship between the Israelites and Midianites, marked by both rivalry and interaction. This duality serves to illustrate the broader dynamics of ancient Near Eastern societies, where commerce, intermarriage, and shifting alliances could lead to both collaboration and conflict.
Furthermore, the Midianites’ legacy is intricately tied to the overall theme of divine judgment in the scriptures. The narrative surrounding the Midianites culminates in the portrayal of their defeat and destruction, which serves as a testament to God’s ultimate authority. The annihilation of Midianite power is interpreted not merely as a military victory but as an act of divine retribution for their role in leading the Israelites into sin and immorality. This retribution underscores a critical message of the Bible: that fidelity to God’s commandments brings about blessing, while deviation results in dire consequences. The writings reflect a theological assertion that God’s justice prevails, thereby encouraging readers to remain vigilant against the allure of practices that weaken their covenant relationship with Him.
Symbol of Conflict and Opposition
The Midianites often represent the external conflicts faced by the Israelites throughout their journey. Their interactions with the Israelites highlight the struggles between different cultures and beliefs, serving as a reminder of the challenges that arise when faith and values are tested by outside influences. This opposition is not just physical but also spiritual, as the Midianites sometimes led the Israelites away from their covenant with God.
Representation of God’s Sovereignty
The narrative involving the Midianites illustrates God’s sovereignty over nations and peoples. Despite their status as adversaries, the Midianites are ultimately subject to God’s will. Their defeat at the hands of the Israelites serves to demonstrate that God can use even the most unlikely circumstances to fulfill His purposes, reinforcing the idea that divine authority prevails over human conflict.
Lessons on Interpersonal Relationships
The interactions between the Israelites and the Midianites also provide insights into the complexities of relationships between different groups. The Midianites’ role in the biblical narrative serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of assimilation and the importance of maintaining one’s identity and values in the face of external pressures. This theme resonates with contemporary issues of cultural exchange and the balance between integration and preservation of one’s beliefs.
How to Overcome Conflict Through Faith and Grace
Overcoming conflict through faith and grace is a journey that requires both humility and a deep reliance on God’s love. When faced with disagreements or tensions, I’ve found that pausing to pray can transform my perspective, reminding me that we are all imperfect beings in need of grace. Embracing the teachings of Jesus, who called us to love our neighbors as ourselves, helps me to approach conflicts with compassion rather than defensiveness. It’s essential to listen actively and seek understanding, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide my words and actions. By extending grace to others, just as God has extended it to us, I’ve experienced the healing power of forgiveness, which not only mends relationships but also strengthens my faith. Remember, conflict can be an opportunity for growth, and with faith as our foundation, we can navigate these challenges with love and grace, reflecting Christ’s light in a world that desperately needs it.
Bible References to the Midianites:
Genesis 37:25-28: 25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh. And his brothers listened to him.
28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.
Exodus 2:15-22: 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
17 Now the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock.
18 When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?”
19 They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
20 He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”
21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah.
22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”
Numbers 22:1-7: 1 Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.
2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
3 So Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel.
4 And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this horde will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,
5 And he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me.
6 Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message.
Numbers 25:1-18: 1 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab.
2 They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.
4 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”
5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”
6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting.
7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand
8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. So the plague on the people of Israel was stopped.
9 And those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.
11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.
12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace,
13 He shall have it, and his offspring after him.
14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites.
15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a Midianite family.
16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
17 “Harass the Midianites and strike them down,
18 for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”
Numbers 31:1-12: 1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.
3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian.
4 And you shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.”
5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
7 They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every male.
8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
9 And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods.
10 And they burned all their cities where they lived, and all their encampments with fire.
11 They captured all the spoil and plunder, both of man and of beast.
12 Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
Judges 6:1-10: 1 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.
2 and the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.
3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.
4 They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey.
5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in.
6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.
7 When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites,
8 that the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage.
9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.
10 And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”
Judges 6:11-24: 11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14 And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”
15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
16 And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
17 And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.
18 Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”
19 So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them.
20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so.
21 Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”
24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace.
Judges 6:25-32: 25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it.
26 And build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.”
27 So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.
28 When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.
29 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.”
30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.”
31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.”
32 Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.
Judges 6:33-40: 33 Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34 But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.
35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. Then he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.
36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said,
37 behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.”
38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.
39 Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.”
40 So God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.
Judges 7:1-8: 1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
2 The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.
4 And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.”
5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.”
6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.
7 And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”
8 So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
Judges 7:9-25: 9 That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.
10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant.
11 and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp.
12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.
13 And when Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.”
14 And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.”
15 As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.”
16 And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars.
17 And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do.
18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”
19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch.
20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
21 And every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled.
22 When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.
23 And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.
24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.”
25 And they captured two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.
Judges 8:1-3: 1 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely.
2 And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?
3 God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger against him subsided when he said that.
Judges 8:4-21: 4 And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing.
5 And he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6 And the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”
7 And Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.”
8 And he went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.
9 And he said to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.”
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword.
11 And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure.
12 And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.
13 Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.
14 And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.
15 And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’”
16 And he took the elders of the city and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth.
17 And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.”
19 And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.”
20 And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
Judges 8:22-28: 22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”
23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”
24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.
25 And they said, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil.
26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels.
27 And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.
28 So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
Judges 8:29-35: 29 Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.
30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives.
31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him sons.
32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.
34 And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side,
35 and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.
1 Kings 11:14-18: 14 And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom.
15 For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, that he struck down every male in Edom.
16 (For Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom.)
17 that Hadad fled to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was still a little child.
18 And they set out from Midian and came to Paran and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of food and gave him land.
Isaiah 9:1-4: 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
Isaiah 10:24-27: 24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did.
25 For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction.
26 And the Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt.
27 And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”
Habakkuk 3:7-15: 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
Was your anger against the rivers,
or your indignation against the sea
when you rode on your horses,
on your chariot of salvation?
9 You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many arrows. Selah.
10 The mountains saw you and writhed;
the raging waters swept on;
the deep gave forth its voice;
it lifted its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their place at the light of your arrows as they sped, at the flash of your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the earth in fury; you threshed the nations in anger.
13 You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
laying him bare from thigh to neck.
14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses, the surging of mighty waters.
Rev. François Dupont is a dedicated church minister with a wealth of experience in serving spiritual communities. With a calm and serene demeanor, he has been devoted to sharing the message of love, compassion, and tolerance for over two decades. Through his thoughtful sermons, compassionate counseling, and unwavering support, Rev. Dupont has touched the lives of countless individuals, allowing them to find solace and strength during difficult times. His serene presence and deep understanding of the human condition make him a trusted guide for those seeking spiritual nourishment and guidance.