Bible Talks

Exodus 18:1-271When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt; 2Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back, 3And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land: 4And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh: 5And Jethro, Moses' father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God: 6And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her. 7And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent. 8And Moses told his father in law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them. 9And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. 12And Jethro, Moses' father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father in law before God. 13And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. 14And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? 15And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God: 16When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. 17And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. 18Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. 19Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: 20And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. 21Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: 22And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. 23If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. 24So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. 25And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. 27And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land. (Exodus 18:1‑27)
THE seventeenth chapter closed with the promise of the cutting off of Amalek, and now the eighteenth chapter opens with a visit :from Jethro, Moses' father-in-law. He had heard about, God's ways with Israel, and of how God had delivered them out of Egypt, so he came to see them, bringing Moses' wife along with him. Now Jethro was a Gentile as well as Zipporah, Moses' wife, and this gives us a beautiful picture of Israel's blessing in a coming day. Zipporah bad been sent away during the time of judgment upon Egypt and of Israel's deliverance out of it, and so we know that Christ will take His Gentile bride —the Church—to heaven before the awful tribulation comes upon the world. Then, after the tribulation, Christ will come back with His bride to set up the kingdom. The Gentile nations which believe will, like Jethro, come up to see the glory of the Lord at Jerusalem and will rejoice before Him. They will then offer their sacrifices and keep the feast as Jethro did, while they hear about all the wondrous ways of God with His people Israel. (Zech. 14:1616And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:16).)
Jethro also saw Moses sitting to judge the people, and so there will be a display before all of righteous judgment on the earth in that day. (Isaiah 11: 1-9; 32: 1.) Sometimes the wrongdoer is let go, and the innocent have to suffer now, but when the Lord Jesus reigns He will not make any mistakes—His government will be perfect. We, as Christians, should remember that we cannot expect to see justice in this unrighteous world. They have rejected the only "Just One"—in fact they murdered Him—and now we can expect to suffer if we walk in His ways. It is part of our heritage while our Lord is rejected, for "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake." Phil. 1: 29. However, we know that when He reigns in righteousness, as He will before very long, then we shall reign with Him.
Jethro made some suggestions to Moses as to the government of the people and Moses immediately took his advice without inquiring of the Lord. It did seem like a good idea to appoint others to help him, but he should have asked the Lord about it. Sometimes we may become weary in well doing and may try to make things easier for ourselves, but let us be assured that if God has given us a work to do for Him, His grace will sustain us in it. Why should Moses accept the advice of his father-in-law, who was apparently a "natural man" in every way? It is always dangerous to take either help or advice from the unsaved in the Lord's service. Notice here how Jethro saw all the wonders that the Lord had wrought and then turned and went back to his own land. He did not choose to accompany the people of God through the hardships of the wilderness., but seemed to think only of the easiest path, both for himself and for Moses. Moses, on the other hand, "chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God." Hebrews 11:2525Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; (Hebrews 11:25). May we as young Christians, be content to suffer with Him now; for we shall reign with Him later (2 Timothy 2:1212If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: (2 Timothy 2:12)).
Messages of God’s Love 8/7/1949