Now we shall consider the portrait of the kingdom in Exodus 18. As we have indicated, the kingdom comes in after God’s enemy, Amalek, which typifies the flesh, has been defeated (17:13-16). The New Testament reveals that the kingdom comes when God’s chosen people have defeated His enemy. Before the kingdom is presented in Exodus 18, God’s enemy within us, typified by Amalek, is defeated in chapter seventeen.
The Bible also indicates that when the kingdom comes as a result of the defeat of God’s enemy, the Gentiles who are seeking God will come to worship Him. These Gentiles are represented by Jethro (18:1, 5, 10-12). Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, was a priest of Midian. According to Judges 6:3, the Midianites were close to the Amalekites. The Midianites and the Amalekites were somewhat mixed together. After the Amalekites were defeated, certain of the Midianites came to God’s people in a very godly way. Jethro was a priest not of idols, but of the true God. He praised God, worshipped God, and offered sacrifices to God. Therefore, Jethro represents the Gentiles who turn to God and become seekers of God in the kingdom.
When the kingdom comes, the church participates in the kingdom. In fact, the church will be the ruling authority in the kingdom. In chapter eighteen the church is represented by Zipporah, the wife of Moses secured by him during his rejection by Israel (2:13-22). A number of Bible students realize that Zipporah typifies the Gentile church gained by Christ during the time of His rejection by the children of Israel. Even today Christ is still rejected by the Jews. During this period of rejection, Christ gains the Gentile church, taken out from the Gentile world, just as Moses gained a Gentile wife.
Thus far in chapter eighteen we have three main points: the defeat of the enemy, the coming of the Gentiles to worship God, and the church represented by Zipporah. Putting these points together, we have a picture of the kingdom. Some may disagree with the claim that the kingdom is portrayed in chapter eighteen. However, we are not going too far when we make this claim. If Paul had not told us that the Passover was a portrait of Christ, who would have had the boldness to say this? The apostle Paul took the lead to allegorize the book of Exodus when he told us that Christ is our Passover. Furthermore, the manna and the smitten rock are also types of Christ, and the water from the rock is a type of the Spirit. We have also pointed out that in chapter seventeen Amalek signifies the flesh, Moses signifies the ascended Christ interceding for us, and Joshua typifies the indwelling Spirit fighting for us. With all this as the background, it is proper to say that Jethro and Zipporah in chapter eighteen also have a typical significance. Are Jethro and Zipporah merely historical figures? Certainly not. To say this is to fail to realize that Exodus is a book of pictures. As Pharaoh represents Satan and Egypt represents the world, so Jethro signifies the Gentiles, and Zipporah, the Gentile church. According to the principle that all the items in Exodus are figures, the matters in chapter eighteen should not be considered as exceptions. We know that chapter eighteen portrays the kingdom because here we see that after God’s people had defeated His enemy, the godly Gentiles turned to God’s people to praise God, worship Him, and offer sacrifice to Him. We also see that the Gentile church is prevailing. When these three things all happen together, there is the kingdom of God.
We may apply the picture of Exodus 18 to our situation as Christians today. We know from our experience that when our flesh is defeated, the unbelievers will turn to us. It is good that all the churches are actively preaching the gospel. However, if we live in the flesh and fail to defeat Amalek, we may labor a great deal in preaching the gospel, but not many unbelievers will turn. But if we first defeat and subdue our flesh and then go forth to contact people and preach the gospel to them, Jethro will come to us. This means that the unbelievers will turn this way. When we preach the gospel by the living Spirit through the operating cross, killing the flesh, people will turn to us wherever we go. Furthermore, the church, signified by Zipporah, will become prevailing. Thus, the proper gospel preaching must be the kingdom. In the words of Matthew 24:14, the gospel of the kingdom must be preached to the whole inhabited earth.
The gospel must be the kingdom. If we live in the flesh, others will not turn to God through us, no matter how hard we work in preaching the gospel. We must be those who defeat Amalek. Then Jethro, representing the Gentiles, will turn to God through us, and the church will become prevailing.