fourth son of Abraham

Monday January 27^th, Isaiah 9: 4 Like the time you defeated Midian, you have taken away their heavy load and the heavy pole from their backs and the rod the enemy used to punish them. Midian was the fourth son of Abraham by Keturah, the woman her married following Sarah’s death.  Midian, or the tribe of Midian settled in an area east of the Jordan River.  This is the tribe to whom Moses fled and later took a wife.  Later they became a scourge to the Israelites, raiding their lands and making life miserable, so much for the blood thicker than water idea.  Some thought the Midianites were sent to be punishment from God for the Israelites misdeeds. When Gideon defeated them it was seen as a lifting of punishment and an offer of forgiveness by God.  It is a reminder that God does not abandon us, and that God is with and works through those we would like to call enemies.  Even when God seems most far away, we are not alone.  God is always out ahead of you leading the way to live as a child of God.  And God is in the midst of those we wish to call enemies planting seeds and waiting for us to see them as brothers and sisters through Christ.  Our job it to trust in God even in the darkest of times and know that God is with us and is with them.