Exodus Chapter Eighteen

Exodus 18:1 - 7: Jethro Visits

Exodus 18 : 1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father - in - law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Jethro, Mo ses’ father - in - law, took Moses’ wife , after he had sent her away, 3 and her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” 4 The other was named , for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.” 5 Then Jethro, Moses’ father - in - law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped, at the mount of God. 6 He sent word to Moses, “I, your father - in - law Jethro, am comi ng to you with your wife and her two sons with her.” 7 Then Moses went out to meet his father - in - law, and he bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. In this passage we have a temporary reunion between Moses and his father - in - law, Jethro who brings with him Moses’ wife Zipporah and his children, Gershom and Eliezer. He is visiting Moses because he heard what God had done for the Israelites with the ten plagues and the destruction of Pharaoh ’s elite chari ot force at the Red Sea. The news of the Lord delivering the Israelites by destroying Egypt with the ten plagues and the destruction of the elite chariot force at the Red Sea would have been carried by c aravaneers, messengers, general gossip, and the like . Jethro would have heard this news . Now, Exodus 2:21 - 22 records that Moses settled with Jethro in Midian and married Jethro’s daughter Zipporah who gives Moses his first child who he names “Gershom” whose name in Hebrew means “a sojourner there,” which e xpresses Moses’ circumstances from his perspective. He was an exile from Egypt and rejected by Israel. He was a man without a country. He was unwelcome in both nations. So even though he was settling down in Midian and was starting a family there, he did n ot consider Midian home. This passage does not record that Moses had a second son who was Eliezer who is mentioned in Exodus 18:4 and whose name like Gershom reflects an experience in Moses’ life. Eliezer’s name means “my God is my help.” It was given to him because of course God helped Moses in Egypt in delivering him from Pharaoh. In Exodus 2:18 Jethro is called the father of seven girls and was called “ Reuel ” However, in Exodus 3:1, 4:18 and 18:1, he is called “ Jethro ” yi ṯ · rô . ( רְ עוּאֵ ל ) r e ʿ û ·ʾ ēl . in Judges 4:11 ( חֹבָ ב ) and “ Hobab ” ḥ ō · ḇ ā ḇ ( יִתְ רֹ ו )

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“Jethro” was the man’s name or we would say in our day and age his “first” name whereas “Reuel” was his clan’s name or what we would call his “last” name. “Hobab” was Moses’ son - in - law since the vowels of “son - in - law” and “father - in - law” is the result of a misunderstanding of a Masorete who first pointed Numbers 10:29 as “father - in - law” rather than “son - in - law.” Both w ords share the Masoretic . חתן pointing for the consonants Interestingly, in Exodus 2:16, Jethro is simply called “ the priest of Midian ” whereas in Exodus 2:17 his clan name is given. This is significant because it indicates he was a believer in Yahweh, who is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. It me ans that he worshipped Yahweh. Therefore, Stuart’s claim that Exodus 18 presents Jethro’s conversion is in error since he was already converted. Constable has an excellent comment, he writes “ As a Midianite, Jethro was a descendant of Abraham as was Amalek . Both were blood relatives of the Israelites. Nevertheless the attitudes of the Amalekites and Jethro were very different, though Midian as a nation was hostile to Israel. Set next to each other in the text as they are, the experiences of Israel with Amal ek and with Jethro illustrate two different attitudes that other nations held toward Israel. These differences have characterized the attitudes of outsiders toward God's elect throughout history. Jethro was a God - fearing man, part of a believing minority i n Midian. ” 1 The statement in Exodus 18:2 has caused quite a bit of controversy among interpreters since it says that Moses sent away Zipporah. Some have argued that this refers to the fact that Moses divorced Zipporah, no doubt because of her antagonism to Jewish circumcision of eight day old infants, which she found repulsive as recorded in Exodus 4:24 - 26. Also, Numbers 12:1 says that Moses married a Cushite woman. However, in response to this, Exodus 18 says three times that Zipporah was Moses’ wife (Exod us 18:2, 5, 6). Furthermore, at the time Moses married the Cushite woman the Lord had not outlawed polygamy though it was not endorsed by him. Thus, it was not unlawful of Moses to acquire a second wife in addition to Zipporah. Stuart has an excellent disc ussion regarding this statement in Exodus 18:2, he writes “ Exodus 18:2 – 3 says literally, ‘ Jethro, the father - in - law of Moses, took back Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after her being sent away, along with her two sons. ’ The word used in Exod 18:2 for ‘ sending away ’ is a noun form, šillû ḥ , which functions essentially as a gerund as used in the verse, a kind of verbal noun built from the piel verb stem. In medieval Hebrew it came to mean ‘ divorce, ’ so a number of rabbinical commentators, and a few moderns ones as well, concluded that Moses was divorced from Zipporah at least until this point in his life, if not permanently. For each of the reasons in favor of the conclusion that Moses and Zipporah had

1 Notes on Exodus, 2003 Edition, Dr. Tho mas Constable; page 91; Published by Sonic Light; www.soniclight.com/

 2012 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2 divorced, counter - arguments exist. First, the other two uses of šillû ḥ in the OT are both in neutral/positive contexts (1 Kgs 9:16; Mic 1:14), suggesting no overtone of divorce, marital separation, or even marital friction. Second, the standard Hebrew word for divorce is not šillû ḥ (which cannot be proved to mean ‘ divorce ’ at all) but k ĕr ı̂ tut . Third, there is nothing untoward in Moses ’ marrying a second wife, i.e., the Cushite wife mentioned in Numbers. The Bible contains no specific law against polygamy, even in the NT, though it hardly endorses the practice, which is clearly inferior and not part of the creation design (cf. the monogamistic principle as enunciated in Gen 2:24 and Jesus’ quotation of it as constituting the normative view of marriage in Matt 19:5). Old Testament leaders such as Abraham before Moses and after him had m ore than one wife, so from one point of view it could be said that polygamy was not something that at least some Israelites felt obligated to avoid (though the fact that sinful characters in the OT did a thing hardly makes it right). Fourth, by the time of Moses’ marriage to the Cushite woman, he and Zipporah were probably reunited (assuming that the second marriage took place after the arrival at Rephidim/Sinai, since a marriage prior to that time would be unlikely). The nrsv, representing one legitimate w ay of reading the text, translates as follows: ‘ After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father - in - law Jethro took her back, along with her two sons. ’ In ancient Israel, as in most world cultures aside from that of the recent modern West, a woman w ho married was ‘ sent away ’ from her father’s family to become part of her husband’s family. If her husband later divorced her, he ‘ sent away ’ his wife once again — this time back to her birth family and normally ‘ sent away ’ her children with her as well. Thu s ‘sending away’ can connote a positive, happy event (leaving home to get married), but it can, conversely, connote divorce. Which kind of connotation does it have here? In favor of the theory that Moses had divorced Zipporah sometime prior to this story o f their reuniting are the following considerations. First, Moses was married to a black Cushite (Nubian) woman as of a point in time sometime after the Exodus according to Num 12:1. It is argued that he would not have felt free to marry this woman had he s till been married to Zipporah, especially if he had merely sent Zipporah to Jethro for safety during the encounters with Pharaoh. In this line of reasoning a righteous man would not marry a second wife while his first was not present to be aware of the new marriage — at least formally if not by approval emotionally. Second, Exod 18:3 refers to ‘ her children ’ (Zipporah’s) rather than ‘ his children ’ or ‘ their children, ’ as if the children were now legally assigned to her after the divorce rather than still bein g his own as well. Third, the ‘ incident at the lodging place ’ recounted in 4:24 – 26 may be interpreted as evidence of marital friction between Moses and Zipporah, with her words, ‘ Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me ’ being taken as an angry, denuncia tory attack on Moses, reflecting the extent of Zipporah’s rage against him

 2012 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 and perhaps marking the point of her being sent away from him back to her father’s house. Fourth (and possibly closely related to the third reason) is the fact that Zipporah did not continue to accompany Moses to Egypt even though that could be construed as their original intent as described in 4:20. Marital discord would have ended the planned joint trip, with Moses going on alone to meet at Mount Sinai (4:27) and Zipporah bei ng sent back to her father’s home with the boys. Fifth, Zipporah was not living with Moses but with her father Jethro when Jethro came to see Moses at Rephidim/Sinai, creating at least the presumption of a marital separation. Sixth, it seems that Jethro me ntioned having Zipporah and the boys with him in so overt and deferential a way (18:6) as to suggest that he was trying to effect a reconciliation. Jethro may be seen as virtually saying, ‘ If you want to see me/accept me, you have to see/accept your wife a nd children too. ’ Finally, from the overall perspective of the unity of Scripture, could not Jesus’ statement in Matt 19:8 ( ‘ Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning’ ) be understood to associate Moses with divorce, disapprovingly, as if perhaps he were one of those whose hearts were ‘ hard ’ ? For each of the reasons in favor of the conclusion that Moses and Zipporah had divorced, counterarguments exist. First, the other two uses of šil lû ḥ in the Old Testament are both in neutral/positive contexts (1 Kgs 9:16; Mic 1:14), suggesting no overtone of divorce, marital separation, or even marital friction. Second, the standard Hebrew word for divorce is not šillû ḥ (which cannot be proved to me an ‘ divorce ’ at all) but k ĕr ı̂ tut . Third, there is nothing untoward in Moses’ marrying a second wife, that is, the Cushite wife mentioned in Numbers. The Bible never outlaws polygamy, even in the New Testament, and Old Testament leaders such as Abraham bef ore Moses and David after him had more than one wife. Polygamy was not something that a righteous Israelite would feel obligated to avoid. Fourth, by the time of Moses’ marriage to the Cushite woman, he and Zipporah probably were reunited (assuming the sec ond marriage took place after the arrival at Rephidim/Sinai since a marriage prior to that time would be unlikely). Thus Moses would not in fact have married the Cushite without Zipporah’s awareness. Fifth, the fact that the text mentions ‘ her and her two sons ’ (18:2), ‘Moses’ sons and wife’ (18:5), and ‘your wife and her two sons’ (18:6), that is, three different times in three different ways, gives them a prominence that appears positive and suggests approval on the part of the narrator, Moses. Indeed, it can be argued that Jethro was actually using the presence of Zipporah and the boys to ensure his own acceptance by Moses, whom he now encountered not as an escaped Egyptian alone but as the leader of a great nation of people that had just distinguished it self by beating the Amalekites in war, something Jethro and his Midianites could not expect to do. Alternatively, it can be argued that Jethro seems to have been speaking proudly in his message in 18:6, as if he was bringing along a

 2012 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4 present for Moses that he knew Moses would be very happy to see because the marriage was not only intact but a happy one. Moreover, the terminology ‘her sons’ does not suggest divorce. In a polygamous society, identifying children by connection to their specific mother is natura l and often necessary. Sixth, when Jethro came to Moses on these terms — as part of a ‘ package deal ’ with Moses’ wife and sons, Moses received him gladly, without any hint of rancor or disapproval at what Jethro had done. The fact that the story departs from the emphasis on Moses’ wife and sons provided by the repeated mention of them in 18:1 – 6 and thereafter concentrates on the interaction of Moses and Jethro that begins in 18:7 reflects the typical economy of the narrative style rather than a slighting of Z ipporah or the boys. Seventh, the boys’ names are mentioned along with the reason for their names in vv. 3 – 4, a combination that happens elsewhere in the Old Testament only in cases of children who are proudly loved and accepted as part of a person’s famil y line. Eighth, it may reasonably be assumed that 4:20 – 26 refers to a plan for Zipporah and the boys to accompany Moses only as far as the rendezvous with Aaron at Mount Sinai, the intent always having been for her to go back to her father’s home with the boys in the interest of their safety because of the hostility of the Egyptians for Midianites, whose resistance against Egyptian attempts to subdue them had made them odious to the Egyptians. Ninth, in 18:27 Moses ‘sends away’ (piel of šl ḥ ) Jethro but appa rently keeps Zipporah and the boys with him, as if there were no thought of any other scenario. Tenth, Zipporah is called Moses’ wife ( ʾ iššāh ) three times. The Hebrew term for ‘ first wife, ’ ʾ ēšet n ĕʿ ûr ı̂ m , usually is translated ‘ wife of [one ’ s] youth ’ (Pro v 5:18; Mal 2:14 – 15). Notably, this term is not employed here to describe Zipporah. She was simply Moses’ ʾ iššāh , wife, happily returned to him by the escort of her father so Moses could be reunited with his family after protectively sending them away from him for the duration of his dangerous mission in Egypt. The evidence, then, suggests on balance that Moses was not divorced from Zipporah and that the Cushite woman he later married was a second wife, married either with Zipporah’s knowledge and understan ding or, possibly, after Zipporah’s untimely death in the wilderness. ” 2 Exodus 18:5 tells the reader that Moses and the Israelites were camped in the wilderness at the mount of God. Exodus 17:1 says that they were in the wilderness of Sin and were camped at Rephidim and Exodus 17:6 records that they were at the base of Mount Horeb. Numbers 22:12 - 14 informs the reader that before camping at Rephidim, the Israelites stopped at Dophkah and Alush. Traditionally, Rephidim is thought to be located in present - da y Wadi Refayld, which is near Jebel Musa, which is a supposed site of Mount Sinai. The Israelites were traveling from place to place in

2 Stuart, D. K. (2007). Vol. 2 : Exodus (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (404 – 408). Nashville: Broadman & Ho lman Publishers.

 2012 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 5 the wilderness of Sin as evidenced by the fact that the places stopped at are located in this wilderness.

- ref - ee ) ( רְ פִ ידִ ים ) Rephidim ” is the masculine singular proper noun r e p̄ î · ḏîm “ deem´ ), which means “camping place” or “resting place.” It was a station between the wilderness of Sin and the wilderness of Sinai. This name is related to the root raphad, which in Sabe an Arabic means “terraces,” derived from the idea of “support,” which is appropriate for an area where rain is in short supply and thus must be carefully preserved. The journey from Elim (Wadi Gharandel) to the Wadi Feiran resulted in the Israelites becomi ng very thirsty. This was a long trip. ḥ ā · rē ḇ ) that means ) ( חָרֵ ב ) ḥ ō · rē ḇ ) is derived from a Hebrew root ) ( חֹרֵ ב ) ” Horeb “ “devastation” and probably means “a desolate place.” It was at this location where the Law was given to Moses and Israel (Malachi 4:4; Deuteronomy 4:10). It was at this place that Is rael sinned by worshipping a golden calf (Exodus 33:6). The Lord spoke to Elijah in a cave at Horeb (1 Kings 19:8f). The exact location of Horeb or Sinai is disputed by scholars. However, Deuteronomy 1:2 teaches that the mountain is an eleven day journey from Kadesh -

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Barnea, which tends to support a location in Sinai. Edwin Yamauchi gives four possible locations for Mount Horeb: (1) A mountain in Midian called al - Hrob; (2) Jebel el - Halal, thirty miles west of Kadesh - Barnea; (3) Sinn Bishr, thirty miles sout heast of Suez; (4) one of three different peaks in Sinai. Older traditions from the fourth century place it in the Sinai Peninsula at Jebel Musa. Exodus 18:6 says that Jethro first sent a messenger to Moses before he actually did visit with Moses. In the m essage, Jethro stated to Moses that he was going to visit him and would be accompanied by Zipporah and Moses’ two boys. Exodus 18:7 tells the reader that Moses went out to meet the priest of Midian and bowed down to him and kissed him. This was proper and normal hospitality on the part of Moses. He was showing deference to Jethro and affection for him by doing so.

Exodus 18:8 - 12: Jethro Worships Yahweh in Response to Moses Testifying that Yahweh Had Delivered Him from Pharaoh

Exodus 18: 8 Moses told his father - in - law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had befallen them on the journey, and how the Lord had delivered them. 9 Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which the Lord had done to Isra el, in delivering them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10 So Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know t hat the Lord is greater than all the gods; indeed, it was proven when they dealt proudly against the people.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father - in - law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal wit h Moses’ father - in - law before God. (NASB95) Moses gives Jethro a complete report describing to him the ten plagues and their aftermath and the instructions for the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He would of course tell Jethro about the destruc tion of Pharaoh’s elite chariot force at the Red Sea and the Lord provid ing water at Marah as well as manna from heaven. Thus, the report is one of the Lord delivering Moses and the Israelites not only from Egyptian bondage but also physical death. Jethro responds in joy upon hearing this report. Jethro blesses the Lord which in context refers to him praising the Lord for His sovereignty and omnipotence as demonstrated by delivering Moses and the Israelites from Egypt and it denotes that Jethro has a coven ant relationship with God.

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Psalm 72:18 Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. (NASB95) which is the personal name of God ,( יהוה ) Lord ” is the proper noun yhwh “ emphasizing the “immanency” of God meaning that He involves Himself in and concerns Himself with and intervenes in the affairs of men whereas Elohim , “ God ” emphasizes the transcendent character of God. It is the per sonal covenant name of God emphasizing that the Lord was involving Himself in and concerning Himself with and intervening in the life of the Israelites and fulfilling His covenant promise s He made to the patriarchs. It indicates that God was faithful to Hi s covenant promises to the patriarchs. The fact that Jethro uses this name indicates that he is a believer since a non - believer would not use this name and instead would use Elohim , “God” instead. In Exodus 18:11, Jethro says that now he knows that the Lor d is greater than all the gods as evidenced by His treatment of the Egyptians who treated Israel badly. This statement expresses the fact that the Lord’s great deliverance of Israel from Egypt convinced him that he was worshipping the true and living God i n contrast to the false gods of the Egyptians. Verse 11 is saying that Moses’ testimony of the Lord delivering him and the Israelites from Egypt strengthened his conviction that he was in fact worshipping the true and living God. It says that this great d eliverance confirmed to Jethro his already held conviction that Yahweh, who he worshipped and served as a priest in Midian was superior to the gods of the world and in particular the gods of Egypt. Exodus 18:12 tells the reader that as an expression of wor shipping the Lord, Jethro presented a burnt - offering to Him. It also says that with Moses and the elders of Israel, he ate a meal with them before God. o - law), which portrays or typifies) ( עֹלָה ) (Burnt offering ” is the noun ʿ ō ·l ā(h “ that aspect of Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical death s on the Cross, which would propitiate the Father (1 John 2:2; 4:10). “Propitiation” is the Godward side of salvation whereby the voluntary subst itutionary spiritual death of the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union satisfied the righteous demands of a holy God that the sins of the entire world - past, present and future be judged (1 John 2:2; 4:10) . This worship of the Lord by Jethro wa s the appropriate response by him to the Lord delivering Moses and the Israelites by means of His omnipotence as demonstrated by the ten plagues and the Red Sea deliverance . There are four English words, “reverence,” “respect,” “awe,” and “wonder,” which e xpress the concept of worshipping God. Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines the noun “reverence”: “A feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration.”

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Therefore, paraphrasing this definition we would say that Jethro’s respo nse to this great manifestation of God’s power and sovereignty w as to possess an attitude of deep respect and awe for God . Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines the noun “respect”: “esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a pers on, a personal quality or trait, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or trait.” His response was to esteem the excellence of the Person of God as manifested through His personal qualities or attributes such as love, faithfulnes s, mercy, compassion, justice, righteousness, truth, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, immutability, and sovereignty. Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines the noun “awe”: “an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc. produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful or the like.” His response was to possess an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration for the Lord. Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines the noun “wonder”: “to be filled wit h admiration, amazement or awe; marvel.” His response was one of being filled with admiration, amazement and awe. Warren Wiersbe writes, “True wonder reaches right into your heart and mind and shakes you up. It not only has depth, it has value; it enriche s your life. Wonder is not cheap amusement that brings a smile to your face. It is an encounter with reality, with God, which brings awe to your heart. You’re overwhelmed with an emotion that is a mixture of gratitude, adoration, reverence, fear - and love. You’re not looking for explanations; you ’re lost in the wonder of God” . 3 Therefore, paraphrasing this comment by Wiersbe on wonder we would say that Jethro’s response to the Lord delivering Moses and the Israelites from Egypt through the ten plagues and th e destruction of Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea and the parting of the Red Sea and provided water at Marah reached right into his heart and shook him up and enriched his life . It overwhelmed him with an emotion that was a mixture of gratitude, adoration, re verence, fear and love for the Lord. He wasn’t looking for explanations since he was lost in the wonder of God. Therefore, Jethro worshipped the Lord in the sense that he was manifesting an attitude of deep reverence, respect and awe of the Lord for such a magnificent display of His power and sovereignty . Therefore, when Jethro worshipped the Lord he was expressing thanks to Him. Worship is adoring contemplation of God as He has been revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Person of Christ and in the Scriptures and is also the loving ascription

3 Real Worship, page 43, Baker Books

 2012 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 9 of praise to God for what He is, both in Himself and in His ways and is the bowing of the soul and spirit in deep humility and reverence before Him. Warren Wiersbe defines worship, “Worship is the believer’s response of al l that they are – mind, emotions, will and body - to what God is and says and does. This response has its mystical side in subjective experience and its practical side in objective obedience to God’s revealed will. Worship is a loving response that’s balanced by the fear of the Lord, and it is a deepening response as the beli ever comes to know God better” . 4 If we paraphrase Wiersbe’s definition, we could say the following: Jethro worshipped the Lord in the sense that he was responding in his mind, emotion s , an d bod y to what the Lord is and did for Moses and the Israelites through the ten plagues, destruction of Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea, the parting of the Red Sea and provided water at Marah and manna for food.

Exodus 18:13 - 27: Jethro Advices Moses to Impl ement a Court System

Exodus 18: 13 It came about the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. 14 Now when Moses’ father - in - law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening?” 15 Moses said to his father - in - law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have a disput e, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws.” 17 Moses’ father - in - law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. 18 You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. 19 Now listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, 20 then teach them the statutes an d the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do. 21 Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. 22 Let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and t hey will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place

4 Real Worship, 26

 2012 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 10 in peace.” 24 So Moses listened to his father - in - law and did all that he had said. 25 Mose s chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. 26 They judged the people at all times; the difficult dispute they would bring to Moses, but every minor dispute they themsel ves would judge. 27 Then Moses bade his father - in - law farewell, and he went his way into his own land. (NASB95) This pericope notes that Jethro observed that much of Moses’ time was taken up in settlin g disputes among the Israelites. From morning until evening he did this. It was to be expected that with such a large number of people traveling that disputes would arise and conflicts, all of which need ed to be settled peaceful ly and with justice. So Mose s was arbitrating between all the quarrels and conflicting claims of two and half million Israelites. Thus, he was completely absorbed in judicial matters. In the ancient Near East, as is the case in many parts of the world today, rulers of nations were i nvolved in the task of judging civil and criminal disputes. Not only were rulers like Moses required to provide not only political and military leadership but it was also expected that they be a judicial leader as well. Moses had already been engrossed wi th this task of leadership for quite some time. So after the celebration with Jethro, Moses went right back into his duties which involved judging matters of controversy among the Israelites. Not only was he judging serious matters but also petty matters. Thus, Jethro was aghast at what he saw. He saw a waste of Moses’ valuable time. He saw that Moses needed to delegate authority to other qualified men so as to release Moses for more important tasks of governing the nation and leading them in worship. Jeth ro’s experience as a leader of the Midianites made clear that Moses was overextended. He could see that Moses needed to delegate to other qualified men the simpler cases that were being brought to him and only take the more complex ones. So Jethro suggests that Moses establish a hierarchal court system in order to avoid wearing himself out as well as the people. The great majority of cases could be perfectly dealt with by the leading elders of twelve tribes. After Moses properly instructed these elders, the y could arrive at fair and just decisions for the people. Those cases which were complicated and involved unusual factors that needed to be taken into account could be appealed to a higher court. Those matters too difficult for a lower court or judge could be sent to Moses to resolve. Therefore, by employing this policy of delegation of authority, Moses would not only be relieved of fatigue and physical breakdown but he would also be training a large group of law students throughout the nation so that the y might personally obey the laws of the Lord. Only those men with proven integrity could assume such a responsibility before the people. The qualifications listed in verse 21 required that these men fear God, obey the truth, and hate dishonest gain.

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Jethr o instructed Moses to place these men as leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties and of tens. This is a figure of speech that denotes the various population groupings and should not be taken literally. He tells Moses in verse 22 that every major dispute sh ould be brought to him but every minor dispute should be taken care of by those delegated authority to settle such matters. All of this would free Moses up to fulfill his primary and essential duties of prayer and worship and studying and communicating God ’s Word. Verse 23 makes clear that Jethro wanted Moses to first consult the Lord with regards to his suggestion. This verse tells the reader that he should only agree to this proposal if it is God’s will or in others words something God would command him to do. Verse 24 teaches that this suggestion was God’s will since Moses did all that Jethro commands him to do. It is implied that this suggestion was God’s will since Moses would not act upon this proposal if it were not. If it was against God’s will f or Moses to carry out Jethro’s suggestions, and Moses carried out what Jethro commanded, then we would expect Moses to be disciplined by God. However, this is not the case. So Moses accepted the wise counsel of Jethro, but the plan was not implemented imm ediately since Deuteronomy 1:9 – 15 reveals that judges were selected after the law was given on Sinai a few weeks later (18:24 – 26). Verses 24 - 26 summarize the fulfillment of Jethro’s proposal. Verse 27 records Moses bidding Jethro farewell, who returns to M idian. The fact that there is no mention of Zipporah and Moses’ two sons returning with Jethro suggests strongly that they stayed with Moses, which is further indication that Moses and Zipporah were not divorced.

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