THEOSISCyrill of Alexandria
Do you not agree that the Midianite is an outsider and a pagan? He did not originate from the lineage of Abraham. Nevertheless, he served as a priest in the worship of what was believed to be God, which was widely practiced in that era. While men, including figures like Melchizedek, claimed to honor the Most High God, they also acknowledged a host of other deities, encompassing magnificent entities such as the earth, the heavens, the sun, and the moon, as well as the prominent stars. This blend of corruption and deceit was the initial fallacy that has persisted to this day.
Read more (181 words)
Many who reside in Phoenicia and Palestine, identifying themselves as God-fearing, misleadingly pursue a mixed form of worship, avoiding a complete embrace of either Jewish or Hellenistic traditions, as if caught in a struggle between two paths. The Israelites, who once embraced such duality of belief, were admonished by the prophet Elijah, who asked, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions?’ (3 Kings 18:21)—now calling on Baal, now calling on God? It appears that Jethro engaged in a similar kind of reverence for God. Upon hearing of God’s mighty acts for the deliverance of the Israelites, he was deeply moved by the remarkable accounts and, together with his entire household, approached the holy Moses, who welcomed him warmly, invited him into his tent (Ex. 18:7), and described to him the extraordinary works of divine power and miracles beyond comprehension. In fact, many wandering Gentiles are summoned to a transformation in their understanding of God, initially through the spreading of stories about His deeds, and later by turning to the divine law, which entails the teachings found in the Holy Scriptures.