Day 1
Midian – The Land and the People

The Spirit of God through Isaiah wrote, “A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD” Isaiah 60:6b

The Midianites were well known to the Israelites. They shared the same father, Abraham, and their histories intersected at several points. Midian was the son of Abraham by Keturah, Abraham’s wife after Sarah died. Midian had five sons who were the progenitors of the Midianites (Genesis 25: 1,2,4; 1 Chronicles 1: 32-33). While Abraham was still alive, he sent the sons of his concubines, including Midian and his family, “away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country” (Genesis 25:6). This was approximately the year 2000 BC.

Who are the people now living in what was once known as Midian?

The Bani Atiyah tribe currently lives in northwest Saudi Arabia, which is considered to be the ancient heartland of Midian. They comprise the largest part of the population in this area. They were once predominantly nomadic Bedouins raising camels and sheep, but now most are settled in towns and villages.

The largest town and provincial capital is the town of Tabuk. In 1950, Tabuk had a population of 12,000. By 2022, this number had grown to 667,000, reflecting the general trend in Arabia of people leaving their Bedouin lifestyles and settling in towns and villages. Tabuk is an active commercial center and has been serving pilgrims on their way to Mecca for hundreds of years. Due to its somewhat more moderate climate it is the site of several dairy and poultry farms.

Tabuk is located to the east of the Midian Mountains. These mountains drop off steeply to the Gulf of Aqaba on the west side. The eastern slopes are not as steep, with oases around springs and wells where the nomadic peoples of the past watered their flocks, as some of the Bani Atiyah still do to this day.

In stark contrast to the ancient way of life still practiced today by the sheep and goat herders in the Midian Mountains, the massive Neom development project has the potential to totally transform this region. The ambitions of the Neom megaproject include Trojena, a ski resort; Oxagan, a floating industrial global trade hub, and The Line, a linear city 170 kilometers long. The impact on the way of life of the people living here will be enormous.

Prayer Points

• Lord, prepare my heart to pray in accordance with Your Spirit as I pray for Midian.
• Lord, please work in the lives of the people of the Bani Atiyah tribe and the other people living in Midian, preparing their hearts to receive Your Spirit – the Spirit of Truth.
• Lord, please push back and defeat the forces of spiritual darkness that will keep the Bani Atiyah people and others in this area from coming to salvation through understanding the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ
• Lord, use the accelerating changes in culture and society due to the Neom megaproject to make the people here more open to receive the Gospel.
• Be glorified Lord, by bringing worshipers to Yourself from these people currently living in Midian.

Day 2
Midian – God’s Revelation in the Land

1,300 years elapsed after Abraham sent Midian “away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country” (Genesis 25:6) until the Book of Isaiah was written. During this time the Midianites are found in sacred scripture at various times and in different places. Approximately 100 years after Abraham sent Midian and his other sons away from Isaac, Midianite traders sold Isaac’s grandson Joseph into slavery in Egypt after lifting him out of the pit where his brothers had thrown him (Genesis 37:28).

Joseph rose to the second highest position in Egypt and moved his father and brothers to Egypt, to the land of Goshen. 400 years later all the Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt. At this time, Moses fled from Pharaoh and left Egypt. He went to the land of Midian where he met Jethro, the priest of Midian, and married his daughter Zipporah (Exodus 2:15-21). The fact that Jethro was “the priest of Midian,” suggests that the Midianites retained knowledge of the God of Abraham.

During his 40-year sojourn tending sheep in Midian, Moses was being prepared by God to meet Him. Here, Moses could have learned more about the God of Abraham from Jethro. The life of Moses as a shepherd in Midian certainly humbled him: “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).

After God had finally prepared Moses to meet Him, God revealed Himself in a bush found throughout Midian. Only this particular bush “was burning, yet was not consumed” (Exodus 3:2). It was here that God revealed to Moses His divine nature, “I AM WHO I AM”, revealed His divine name of Yahweh (the LORD) and began to work through Moses to rescue His people and lead them out of Egypt (Exodus 3:1-23).

Prayer Points

• God, You revealed Your name in Midian. Lord, will You reveal Your name to all the peoples currently living in Midian.
• Lord, prepare their hearts to meet the True and Living God, the God of Abraham.
• Meet them through commonplace things as well as divine dreams, visions, signs, burning bushes, miracles, and wonders.
• Send laborers into this harvest field to be Your witnesses. Give Your witnesses the words to speak as You gave Moses and Aaron words to speak (Exodus 4:15). Confirm Your Word with signs and wonders as You did for Moses (Exodus 4:17).
• Reveal Yourself to them as “I AM WHO I AM”, Yahweh and Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
• Humble them, as You humbled Moses.
• Raise up leaders like Moses from these humbled ones – leaders, pastors and shepherds who will lead and care for God’s flock in the Arabian Peninsula.

Prayer Points

• Lord, will You make Your covenant of peace through Jesus Christ with the Bani Atiyah and the other people now living in Midian.
• Lord, may those now living in Midian know and follow the Ten Commandments.
• May they honor the Lord God who gave the Ten Commandments.
• Will You convict them through the Holy Spirit “concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8) so that they might not be consumed by God’s wrath.
• Lord, will You declare Your names to them, including “our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).
• Lord, You dwelt with Your people in Midian. Will those currently living in Midian dwell with You.
• Will You send witnesses to them, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20).
• Lord, as Moses interceded for the Hebrews, we will do so for the people living in Midian, asking for them to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.