Hidden Meanings
Genesis 37:12-36

Most people are familiar with the story of Joseph, who was favored by his father but despised by his brothers, sold into slavery by those who should have protected him, and yet used by God to rescue his family and beyond from a famine that surely would have caused death.  Many will readily see the foreshadowing of the Messiah, the promised one of God, who also would have His Father's favor but His people's detestation, would be given over to death, only to rise again as Savior not only for Israel, but for the entire world.  This is arguably the most important lesson to learn, and if we were to forget it, we run the risk of missing the oft-mentioned scarlet thread running throughout scriptures, which Jesus Himself mentions in John 5:39 as He tells the Jews that the words they study are the very words that testify about Him.

But we love to dig even deeper, to find new parallels and new insight, maybe some hidden gem not seen by others.  We find ourselves loving knowledge, eager to have a fresh perspective that tells others, "God has revealed such and such to me!"  And so rather than following the thread to where it goes, we put our pins on the board and begin to find ways to pull and stretch and twist the thread to make it intersect with the pins.  This can be illustrated in this passage by, of all things, the Midianites.

Coming into this, we see that there was a band of Midianites that purchased Joseph from his brothers, only to sell him to the captain of the guard in Egypt.  It was this act that set the stage for Joseph's rise to power and eventually the migration of the people of Israel, God's people, to a land that would enslave them for 400 years.  If we then flip over to Exodus, we see Moses leaving Egypt and taking refuge among the Midianites.  Is there a connection?  Is there a type of foreshadowing going on that the very culture that led to Israel's captivity would shelter the one who would play a key role in ending that captivity?  It must not be a coincidence.  There must be something about Midian!  They must represent something, the world, sin, Gentiles, law, Rome, Samaria, shelter, something!  Dig!

Or, is it possible that perhaps, just perhaps, people are people.  Sure, some from that culture sold a man as one would sell a car.  But others took a man in as a son.  Four hundred years had passed, but there were just as likely to be those in that culture in Moses' day that would not have turned down a hefty profit or reward for binding him up and taking him back to Egypt, even as there were surely those in Joseph's day that would have set him free and returned him to his father.  In our eagerness to assign an interpretation to a group, we lose sight of the individuals.  More importantly, we begin to lose sight of Jesus as we chase trivialities.

Do we still do this today?  Sure we do.  We love to try to find common characteristics and attach meaning to entire swaths of the populace.  Political parties, race, gender, nationalities, denominations, all are looked at in broad, sweeping strokes as intelligent or ignorant, wise or wicked, Godly or heathen.  While laws and culture may be in accordance or rebellion with God, each individual has his own relationship with the Lord of the universe who created every single one in His image and desires their salvation and sanctification. 

So, do the Midianites represent anything?  Are they symbolic of something?  Yes, they are.  They represent people.  There are good people and bad people.  Nice people and rude people.  Kind and unkind.  And ultimately all in need of what the story was pointing to in the first place: Jesus.

Father, we so easily get lost, and sometimes we get to wandering about just because we want to know more.  We know you have instilled in us a desire to learn and grow, to see the hidden things, because we inherently know that they are hidden.  We tend to accept generalization when we should see the details, and hunt for details when the answer has been given already.  Thank you for letting us enjoy the search, but don't let us ever wander from your sight.  And don't let us lose track of what is most important, our relationship with you through your Son, Jesus.  In His name we ask these things, amen.