Loading summary
Transcript95 lines
- [00:00]
A
What you are doing is not good. Well, it takes some nerve for a father in law to address somebody as renowned as Moses. He sees a problem and it is a problem. It's a very real problem. But he doesn't just see the problem, he proposes a solution.
- [00:28]
B
Integrating families when there is a marriage can sometimes be challenging. It introduces father in laws, mother in laws, brother and sister in laws, new dynamics everywhere. But perhaps it would be even harder if upon your daughter marrying, you now became known by many not by your name, but simply as Moses, Father in law. Welcome to the Thursday edition of Renewing youg Mind. As we conclude your preview of Derek Thomas brand new series, who Are They? Lesser known characters of the Bible. Don't forget to request complete access to all 12 messages the study guide and receive a Renewing your Mind notebook when you donate before midnight tonight@renewingyourmind.org so let's call him by name, Jethro. And yes, he is the father in law of Moses. And he came to Moses with some helpful wisdom. Here's Dr. Thomas to tell his story.
- [01:30]
A
Well, this study will look at Jethro. This is Moses, father in law, and I'm going to pick it up in Exodus 18. The story begins right at the very beginning of chapter 18, but I'm going to start reading from verse 18. So Exodus 18:18.
- [01:52]
And this is Jethro speaking. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice. I will give you advice and God be with you. You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God. And you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves, so it will be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you. You will be able to endure. And all this people also will go to their place in peace. So Moses listened to the voice of his Father in law and did all that he had said.
- [03:14]
Well, it sounds like the beginnings of Presbyterianism, but I'll come to that in a moment.
- [03:21]
Now, Jethro is described as the priest of Midian he has other names, just like Paul and Saul and Peter and Cephas and so on. So he's called Reuel. Earlier on in chapter two of Exodus, he's typically called Moses, father in law.
- [03:48]
It would be fairly annoying, I think, don't you think, that every time you're introduced to somebody, oh, this is Moses, father in law. So my daughter keeps bumping into people. She lives in Scotland and she keeps bumping into people that know me. And people will say, oh, this is Derek Thomas daughter.
- [04:10]
Rather than say, this is Ellen Lockington, this is Derek Thomas daughter. And she finds it very annoying. And it happens fairly frequently. Now.
- [04:23]
Moses has been raised, of course, in Egypt. Stephen tells us in that sermon in Acts 7 that he preached just before he was stoned to death, that he was 40 years old when he fled to Midian.
- [04:41]
After killing the Egyptian. Now, if you look at a map, you've got Egypt, you've got part of the Red Sea on this side and you've got like a triangle section of land and then there's another part of the Red Sea on the right hand side and Midian is to the right of that. All to say, I love maps. And at some point you should consult a map to look at where Midian is. And it's a long, long way from Egypt.
- [05:09]
So when he fled Egypt, he didn't just cross the border, he went as far as you could possibly get.
- [05:17]
Now, roughly speaking, we are 40 years later here in Exodus 18. So Moses is 80.
- [05:30]
He saw the burning bush and led his return to Egypt to lead God's people out of bondage. The Red Sea, the wilderness, the Promised land, all that's 40 years.
- [05:42]
After he had fled from Egypt. And.
- [05:49]
In Exodus 18.
- [05:52]
In Exodus 18, the Exodus has happened and all the 10 plagues, the final destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea. And Moses has returned to Jethro and he's now with his wife Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro.
- [06:16]
Now the first thing I want us to see here is the salvation of Jethro.
- [06:23]
He's a priest of Midian.
- [06:28]
It begins in the Sinai Peninsula, stretches towards what is today Saudi Arabia.
- [06:35]
Jethro is not a believer.
- [06:38]
He represents some kind of tribal deity.
- [06:44]
In verse two of chapter 18. Now, Jethro, Moses, father in law, had taken Zipporah Moses wife after he had sent her home. And some commentators, rabbinic commentators, interpret this as a divorce.
- [07:05]
How, and I think that's incorrect, how Moses came to marry Zipporah? Well, we don't know. We can learn that Moses, from the names of his two sons, tells a story. He had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. Gershom means stranger there. He's in a strange land. And he's not talking about Egypt. He's actually talking about Midian, because he was raised from. His earliest conscious memories would be Egypt. And he would have worn Egyptian clothes and spoken Egyptian and eaten Egyptian food and so on. Very, very, very different culture to Midian, and certainly very different from his Jewish heritage.
- [07:56]
So his first son he calls a stranger there.
- [08:01]
And the second son is called Eliezer. God is my helper. God is my helper. And that basically sums up Moses life for 80 years. I'm living in a strange land, but God has helped me. God has provided. God has protected me. What had God done?
- [08:23]
How would that story go?
- [08:28]
They were slaves.
- [08:31]
In a foreign land. God delivered them by the aid of a savior, a leader.
- [08:41]
Into the wilderness and then into the promised land.
- [08:47]
Well, isn't that your testimony?
- [08:50]
We're in a different context. But we were strangers in a foreign land. God sent a savior, a deliverer, brought us through the wilderness and into the promised land, so that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. This is redemption in the time of Moses. This is the story of redemption in the time of Moses. You remember that in the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appear on the mountain with Jesus. And you remember, perhaps in Luke's Gospel we read that they talked to him about his Exodus. That's the Greek word, Exodus, that. And it's a reference, of course, to the cross, that the cross would be the means of delivering God's people out of bondage and darkness.
- [09:52]
Moses no doubt remembered.
- [09:55]
How he himself had delivered the people through the Red Sea, the parting of the Red Sea, and into the wilderness, and eventually to see by prophetic sight.
- [10:09]
The deliverance of God's people into the Promised land. Though Moses himself, of course, would not be there.
- [10:18]
Now, in 18:7, chapter 18 and verse 7, Moses went out to meet his father in law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent, and Moses told his father in law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. So the Exodus has happened. He's telling Jethro the story. How long was it? How long did the 10 plagues last? Commentators sort of differ. Are we talking a couple of weeks, or are we talking a Couple of months, probably the latter.
- [11:01]
There would have been.
- [11:04]
A million, maybe 2 million people, including wives and children, the provision of manna in the wilderness. And now, eventually, Moses manages to make it all the way across to Midian. He would have talked to his father in law about the burning bush and the significance of it and God giving to Moses his name, I am that I am. And later shortened in Exodus 6 to I am Yahweh, I am that I am. And what had Moses done?
- [11:46]
Seeing all of the acts of sovereign grace, powerful, effective hand of God. And that's our story. And you can sense here how Moses is used in the New Testament as a type of Christ. He anticipates Christ in the way that he delivers his people.
- [12:16]
By this time, in chapter 18 and verses 10 and 11, Jethro said, blessed be the Lord who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people. And this is a testimony that somehow or other, Jethro has become a believer. He was a priest of Midian, he was a representative of tribal deities, but now he is a worshiper of God. He's a worshiper of Yahweh, he's a worshiper of Moses, God. He has seen God deliver. He's seen one of the mighty acts of God, he's heard about it, the testimony about it, and he's become a true believer. And in verse nine, we read and Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. He has joy and he rejoices, and so on. So the salvation of Jethro, this priest of Midian. Now, secondly, I want us to see the contribution that Jethro makes. The contribution that Jethro makes. And that's from verse 13 to the end of the chapter.
- [13:50]
Now.
- [13:52]
Ruling over 2 million people.
- [13:57]
I've just retired from a church where there are 3,000 members. That's a lot of people.
- [14:05]
And.
- [14:07]
There were a lot of issues.
- [14:11]
Fortunately, I had.
- [14:15]
A fellow minister who was a counselor. My view of counseling is stop it and don't come back.
- [14:23]
I cannot imagine speaking to somebody about the same thing for 18 or 20 sessions.
- [14:30]
That goes beyond my abilities.
- [14:33]
But imagine the problems, the difficulties.
- [14:39]
With 2 million people.
- [14:42]
Say a million.
- [14:45]
And a quarter adults. Let's put a number up there that's a lot of work. And at this point, Moses is doing all the work. You can imagine the squabbles.
- [15:02]
They have nothing.
- [15:05]
All they have is what they could bring with them. And that was very little.
- [15:11]
Dispute over property, over goods.
- [15:17]
Marriage difficulties, accusations of unfaithfulness.
- [15:26]
They don't have houses to live in. They're living in freshly made but probably scanty tents.
- [15:37]
Food. You remember they complained about the manna. They wished they were back in Egypt. These are difficult times. And Moses is doing all of the ruling and governing. And so in verse 13, the next day, Moses sat to judge the people. And people stood around Moses from morning till evening.
- [16:00]
You can imagine it in your head. Lines and lines of people, and they're coming to Moses. And after one session of counseling, I need to lie down with an ice pack on my head.
- [16:15]
If you get involved in the emotional affairs of other people. And Jethro, his father in law, is shocked to see what he sees. And.
- [16:28]
He has wisdom.
- [16:31]
And he tells Moses in verse 14, when Moses, Father in law, saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, what is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone and all the people stand around you from morning until evening? And then in verse 17, what you are doing is not good?
- [16:53]
Well, it takes some nerve for a father in law to address somebody as renowned as Moses.
- [17:06]
He sees a problem, and it is a problem. It's a very real problem. But he doesn't just see the problem. He proposes a solution. And the solution is divide and conquer.
- [17:22]
Sometimes the problem can be micromanaging, and there's no evidence in the text that Moses was a micromanager.
- [17:33]
Sometimes the problem is.
- [17:36]
Distrust in the competence of others, that you can do it better than someone else. Sometimes the issue is pride.
- [17:48]
Strife in the workplace.
- [17:53]
Delayed justice can be viewed as denied justice. So some of these people are at the end of the line, and they may not get to Moses for months.
- [18:09]
And so the problem, whatever the problem is, is getting worse and worse and worse.
- [18:14]
And Jethro's concern is that Moses will wear himself out, that he'll wear himself out.
- [18:26]
That he'll experience.
- [18:29]
A situation in which he can no longer think straight. His body is going to give way, his mind is going to give way, his affections are going to give way. I think today we would call it burnout, that he's going to experience burnout. I've never experienced burnout, but I have lots of friends who've experienced burnout. Tensions, difficulties, emotional stress in the church, giving advice, people Seeing things differently, people leaving the church.
- [19:02]
And so on and so forth. And you're just mentally and physically exhausted and incapacitated. So what is Jethro's solution? And Philip Reichen calls it Presbyterianism.
- [19:20]
Now Jethro knew that Israel's future lay in making sure that Moses wasn't going to suffer from burnout. He understood that. He understood and saw the importance of the role that Moses will have in the life of the people of God.
- [19:43]
It's a very similar problem, though on a much smaller scale. In Acts chapter seven when they propose what look like proto deacons, seven men are chosen for the distribution of, of food and other things to widows. And the Gentile believers are at odds with the Jewish believers and this accusation of favoritism and so on and so forth. And so the solution that was proposed is to appoint seven men to do this. And so.
- [20:25]
These.
- [20:28]
This advice that Jethro is giving to his son in law is to appoint able men from all the people, men who fear God and who are trustworthy and hate, to bribe and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, 50s and tens. So there's a chain of command goes up the ladder. And if there's something that's really, really, really important, I mean really important, and it's going to affect hundreds of thousands of people.
- [21:06]
Then Moses, you need to do that. But there are trivial things, you don't need to be involved in that day to day stuff.
- [21:16]
And so.
- [21:19]
Boyle's law is that if uncontrolled work always flows to the most competent until it submerges.
- [21:28]
Well I think Jethro understood that. He tells his son in law, look, you should teach, you should preach, you should explain the law, you should explain God's commandments. You should perhaps have a sermon, maybe several sermons in different parts of the location. How would you speak to a million and a half, 2 million people? And perhaps they were gathered into groups of a few thousand and Moses would move from one to the other. That's where his competence lay.
- [22:10]
There was no one else who could do that the way that Moses could do that.
- [22:15]
But he needs to appoint able men. And I'm semi joking, but it does sound a little bit like the appointment of elders in the New Testament. They had to have certain qualifications, they had to have a relationship with God, they had to fear God, to walk with God, to revere him, to put him first. They had to be serious minded. And what he proposes is representative government from all the people.
- [22:47]
Some over 10, some over 50, some over 100 some over a thousand.
- [22:54]
And delegated.
- [22:58]
Jethro is aware that leadership can be a burden, a heavy burden. And Moses liked what he heard and he had.
- [23:11]
The grace.
- [23:14]
To receive what his father in law had told him.
- [23:22]
I'm sure that meant well for his marriage. I'm very sure.
- [23:30]
Always receive with grace the advice of a concerned and wise father in law. I think that's good marital advice.
- [23:44]
Well, that's Jethro in Exodus 18.
- [23:54]
B
That was Ligonier teaching fellow Derek Thomas from his series who Are They? This is Renewing youg Mind, the daily discipleship podcast of Ligonier Ministries. There are numerous people who, though lesser known in the Bible, played important roles in God's acts of redemption. And in this brand new series, Dr. Thomas describes the historical context, redemptive significance, and practical lessons that we can learn from some of these lesser known characters of the Bible. This is a unique series and I do encourage you to consider this series for your own personal study or perhaps for your small group. In the new year, you can gain lifetime digital access to this series and its study guide. Plus, we'll send you a Renewing youg Mind notebook when you give a donation before midnight tonight at renewingyourmind.org or when you call us at 800-435-4343. The messages will be unlocked in the Ligonier app, so you'll be able to take them with you on the go and use the notebook to take down your notes and quotes or use it as you listen to sermons on the Lord's Day. Give your gift while there's still time@renewingyourmind.org or by using the link in the podcast. Show notes and remember. Any additional gifts you can make this month help to reach our December year end goal and fuels the outreach momentum we are seeing around the world into 2026. Thank you.
- [25:27]
In the Christian life, each of us to one degree or another, will experience suffering and trials. But how should we respond when that suffering becomes comprehensive and chronic? And how can we care for those in the midst of such a situation? Situation? Join me tomorrow for a conversation with a special guest to talk about her new book, Limping Heavenward. That'll be Friday here on Renewing youg Mind.
- [26:09]
A
Ra.