7.27.2022

Moses' Ethiopian Wife

 I just listened to a sermon on Hebrews 3, Moses faithful in God’s house as a servant, and it referred to his Ethiopian wife, which I’d forgotten about.  Here’s the fruit of a bit of study I did.

 

In Numbers 12:1, Aaron and Miriam criticize Moses for his Cushite wife.  Cush was the normal bible name for Ethiopia, then.  Opinion is mixed on this:

 

1 - how could Moses have had a second, foreign wife, if he was faithful?  They must have been talking about Zipporah – maybe Cush was a geographical name for where Jethro lived.

 

2 - there’s no way you can make this wife be Zipporah.  Moses had an Ethiopian wife, and God was fine with it.

 

I go with #2.  Besides there being nothing wrong with an inter-racial marriage, God had singled out Moses for leadership.  Aaron and Miriam were jealous, and just using this as an excuse in a popularity campaign against him.  God rebukes them for it.

 

This is a tactic we see all the time on our political landscape today, and God says we should avoid it.

 

Don’t highlight a questionable-but-okay practice, to throw shade on those you want to take down a peg or two.

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