Who was his father-in-love?
He was a non-Jewish believer. Jethro like Melchizedek, both were not Israelites, but they were nevertheless worshipers of the true God and played important roles in the Old Testament.
These guys remind us of God’s commitment to reach the whole world (to use believers to influence and win souls). You know how God chose one nation (Israel) through which to work, but his agape love and huge concern are still for ALL nations and individuals! Go boldly tell!
Jethro’s religious background prepared him for, rather than prevented him from, responding in faith to God. Many religious individuals (including "leaders") don't allow that to happen inside. When Jethro saw and heard what God had done for the Israelites, he worshiped God wholeheartedly. You can do that!
We can guess that for 40 years as Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro had been watching God at work, molding a real leader. Moses’ and Jethro’s relationship -- close -- because Moses readily accepted his father-in-law’s advice. Each one benefited from knowing each other. Jethro at some point met God through Moses, and Moses received warm hospitality, his candid wife, and practical wisdom from Jethro. Listen, the greatest gift one person can give to another is an introduction to God. All can accept this free Gift!
It's been taught and accepted by Jews that Moses' father-in-love had seven names: "Reuel", "Jether", "Jethro", "Hobab", "Heber", "Keni", and "Putiel." (Eleazar's father-in-law Exodus 6:25 being identified with Jethro by interpreting his name either as "he who abandoned idolatry." Reuel means “friend of God,” so the fact that the Bible calls him first by this name may mean that he was a priest of the Most High God, rather than a pagan deity. Many people were called by more than one name such as Jacob (Israel, Genesis 35:10), Simon (Peter, Luke 6:14), Matthew (Levi, Mark 2:14; Matthew 9:9), and Paul (Saul, Acts 13:9). Sometimes the name change was due to an encounter with God). Moses and Jethro together were always cordial (verses 7–8). The son in love applied all of Jethro’s practical fatherly advice on how to delegate authority: “Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said” (verse 24). Moses then sends Jethro back to Midian with his blessing (see verse 27).
From all we can tell in the Bible, Jethro was a godly man of integrity who played a small part in God’s great story of deliverance for the Israelites. He is a good role model for in-laws. He offered wise counsel, stepped in to help when needed, and then got out of the way.
Only with that vital vertical relationship can you pass on to others the excitement of allowing God to guide your life. Have you reached the point of saying, with Jethro, “I know now that the LORD is greater than all other gods” (Exodus 18:11)?
His strengths:
• As father-in-(love)-law to Moses, he came to recognize the one true God
• He was a practical troubleshooter and organizer• He was a practical troubleshooter and organizer
Lessons from his life:
• Wise supervision and effective administration are team efforts
• God’s Message and Plan include all nations to this day
Vital statistics:
• Where did Jethro live?: In the land of Midian and the wilderness of Sinai
• Occupations: Shepherd, priest
• His daughter and wife of Moses: Zipporah.
A Key Verse: “Jethro was delighted when he heard about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel as he rescued them from the hand of the Egyptians” (Exodus 18:9). See how Jethro’s story is told in Exodus 2:15–3:1; 18:1–27 and is mentioned in Judges 1:16.
These men went the distance with God. Sometimes the best key to lasting success is ..true worship, listening up, and simply lasting (persevering). Moses did that concerning the Lord with his father-in-law and family. Would Moses or Jethro have lasted if they weren't humble (please submit to Authority)?
Take-Away: The healthiest way to lead is by God's grace through effective delegation to decent godly people.
We've seen with Moses’ life how it was divided into three 40-year periods:
1. 40 years in Pharaoh’s palace in Egypt,
2. 40 years in the desert in Midian,
3. 40 years in the wilderness as leader of Israel.
It was stubborn hard-hearted Ramses the Second in this line who was the Pharaoh of the Jewish oppression and the one “who knew not Joseph.”
“Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody; forty years learning he was nobody; and forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody.” ~ D.L. Moody
...seeing what God can do with a nobody fully submitted to the Somebody who cares about and can save anybody (like me).
- Balance of the spiritual type (Ex 18). Moses experienced a really great adventure starting inside and then outside the borders of Egypt. He exited by faith. He followed the greatest Leader and God made him a great leader. He obeyed direct Authority and God blessed his delegated authority.. as he delegated. God gave him multiple miracles of deliverance to bless the people. These miracles came from God and they were more than magnificent (I don't call them "regulars" cuz they weren't. All were far from regular or every day). It was so exciting up-close and personal to watch God work, but we people tend to quickly forget the Lord and His works. And now Moses returns to the everyday duties of life.
Remember, it's God who balances our lives by His Spirit and the Scriptures -- it's Him who allows us enough burdens, needs, and trials here for us to see our need for Him. This is so that we'll earnestly pray and see Him respond.
Why should you and I pray if everything is predestined?
Prayer is God's special way for us to receive a good outcome that He has ordained, and it prepares His people to receive what God will not give to us otherwise.
Experiencing real trails, needs, difficulties, opposition and challenges.. this is how God can keep us humble enough see Him intervene on our behalf (there's no time for the opposite in us--pride cuz that's what got a third of the angels thrown out of heaven. Why think that's what will get you in?).
God allows us to see not-yet-met-needs weekly or daily in order to bless us (as he has promised to).
The Bible says, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
Answering prayer (with a yes, no or wait) is how God often shows he cares and keeps us joyful in this most important of all relationships.
Moses returned to his family members, he told them all that God had done in delivering the people, and then he whole-heartedly worshiped the Lord together with them.
- Counsel of the spiritual type. Jethro was basically an outsider who had a different perspective on things. It's so easy for us to loose sight of the forest for the trees when we are smack dab in the middle of it. Sometimes an outsider can see the challenges more clearly than we who are feeling stressed when shoulder deep with the pressure while doing the work, but why not daily.. we just remain open to God's word and to wise counsel (Prov. 12:15; 13:10) as we are led.
Moses was striving to do his best with the work by himself, and at that time he was not making a clear distinction between major matters and more minor problems.
He really needed God's help and some assistants, and he needed God's priorities.
Please see in the Text how his F.I.L. (father in love) Jethro expected Moses to seek God’s will in this very matter (v. 23).
What seems like good counsel from men might be bad counsel in God’s sight, so we must proceed cautiously. Yes, always asking for God’s directives and for the details knowing it's possible to miss Him (Acts 27:9–14).
- Leadership of the spiritual type. Verse 21 describes the kind of leaders God looks for (He has no needs). It's people characterized by ability, by the fear or respect of God, by honesty, and by a hatred for covetousness. (Want to see some more? See Acts 6:3 for additional leadership qualities). Moses was a great man, but he could not do the job God had planned all alone. God may not call you to be a leader of leaders, but He does want you to influence with godly character and perhaps help a leader do a better job at loving and leading His people.
Let's prayerfully read Exodus 18 esv.
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 Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, 3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner1 in a foreign land”), 4 and the name of the other, Eliezer2 (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”).
5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. 6 And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,”
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.
8 Then Moses told his father-in-law uall that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. 9 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.
10 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.
11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.”12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.
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 till evening?”
15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.”
17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 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. 19 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,
20 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. 21 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.
22 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. 23 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.”
24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.
Sure, there are a couple types of wisdom.. like from God or from this world.
Bible colleges and seminaries disagree as to the interpretation of Exodus 18, whether Jethro’s advice to Moses was of the Lord or of the world. It seems like it was practical and from God to me.
Some teachers point to Numbers 11 where God took of His Spirit and distributed such power among the seventy officers, suggesting that Moses already had all the power he needed to get the job done.
God had told Moses back in chapters 3–4 that He alone would supply the needed grace to do the job. In v. 11, Jethro called Jehovah “greater than all gods,” but this is a far cry from a definite confession of faith in the true God. Furthermore, in v. 27, we see Jethro refusing to stay with Israel, but going back to his own people. Certainly our God is a God of order, and there is nothing wrong with organization. In the NT the apostles added the deacons to assist them when the burdens of ministry became too great (Acts 6). God’s people can learn even from outsiders (Luke 16:8), but we must test everything by the Word of God (Isa. 8:20). We wonder if this “worldly wisdom” from Jethro was pleasing to God, for Jethro himself was not sure (see v. 23). He was willing to rejoice in all that the Lord had done (vv. 9–10), but he was not willing to believe that God could help Moses with the everyday burdens of life. Moses adopted Jethro’s scheme, and the people agreed to it (Deut. 1:9–18), but we have no assurance that God approved the new arrangement. In fact, God’s attitude in Num. 11 suggests otherwise. Believers face open and obvious attacks of the flesh, as with Amalek (17:8–16); but also subtle ideas of the flesh, as with Jethro.Certainly Moses could have done whatever work God called him to do, for “God’s commandments are His enablements.” How easy it is for us to pity ourselves, to feel that nobody else cares and that God has given us too great a burden! Read Isa. 40:31 for God’s solution to this problem.
Key v. “I am the LORD thy God, who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Exd. 20:2 Why Exodus?
The Greek Septuagint (LXX) and the Latin Vulgate versions of the OT assigned the title “Exodus” to this second book of Moses, because the departure of Israel from Egypt is the dominant historical fact in the book (19:1). In the Hebrew Bible, the opening words, “And (or Now) these are the names,” served as the title of the book. The opening “And” or “Now” in the Hebrew title suggests that this book was to be accepted as the obvious sequel to Genesis, the first book of Moses. Hebrews 11:22 commends the faith of Joseph who, while on his deathbed (ca. 1804 B.C.), spoke of the “departure” or the “exiting” of the sons of Israel, looking ahead over 350 years to the Exodus (ca. 1445 B.C.).
From and through whom and when? From God via Moses. The mosaic authorship of Exodus is unhesitatingly affirmed. Moses followed God’s instructions and “wrote all the words of the LORD” (24:4), which included at the least the record of the battle with Amalek (17:14), the Ten Commandments (34:4, 27–29), and the Book of the Covenant (20:22–23:33). Similar assertions of Mosaic writing occur elsewhere in the Pentateuch: Moses is identified as the one who recorded the “starting points of their journeys” (Deut. 31:9).
The OT Scriptures corroborate Mosaic authorship of the portions mentioned above (see Josh. 1:7, 8; 8:31, 32; 1 Kin. 2:3; 2 Kin. 14:6; Neh. 13:1; Dan. 9:11–13; and Mal. 4:4). The NT concurs by citing Ex. 3:6 as part of “the book of Moses” (Mark. 12:26), by assigning Ex. 13:2 to “the law of Moses,” which is also referred to as “the law of the Lord” (Luke 2:22, 23), by ascribing Ex. 20:12 and 21:17 to Moses (Mark 7:10), by attributing the law to Moses (John 7:19; Rom. 10:5), and by Jesus’ specifically declaring that Moses had written of Him (John 5:46, 47).
Have you heard the 80/20 rule? Over the years American pastor friends have told me that twenty percent of congregants typically do 80 percent of the work in local churches, and 80% of the giving in churches is granted by 20% of the people too. Maybe that's on average accross our Land? This would mean that no matter the size of the church, the pool of individuals in leadership and ministry is limited so burnout could become an issue because churches are constantly pulling from the same group of people attending. I want to stay on-fire for Jesus! God is very decent and likes order instead of chaos or confusion in His church. He desires that you and I serve Him wisely so that we never get burnedout on any level because we represent Him.
"Let all things be done decently and in order." 1 Cor. 14:40
Did they get this idea from the Italian named Mr. Pareto? Long ago he noticed that 20% of the pea pods in his garden were responsible for 80% of the peas. Pareto expanded that basic principle to macroeconomics by showing that 80% of the wealth in Italy was owned by 20% of the population.
“If something can be done 80% as well by someone else, delegate!” ~ John C. Maxwell
A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. 2. A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.
Delegation is not about being the boss of all and feeling like it, or getting rid of tasks; it's about empowering others to help you achieve the right goals that glorify the Lord. Wise delegation is one among many keys to successful fruitful leadership.
Exodus means “the way out.” Redemption is by the blood and by God’s power too. (See Hebrews 11:23-29).
After opting to fear God (respect, reverence, Him..) instead of fearing man let's remember.. “Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.” — D.L. Moody
Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt, the setting for Israel’s dramatic departure, was not a politically or economically weak and obscure period of Egyptian history. Thutmose III, for example, the Pharaoh of the Oppression has been called the “Napoleon of Ancient Egypt,” the sovereign who expanded the boundaries of Egyptian influence far beyond natural borders. This was the dynasty which over a century before, under the leadership of Amose I, had expelled the Hyksos kings from the country and redirected the country’s economic, military, and diplomatic growth. At the time of the Exodus, Egypt was strong, not weak.
Mr. J.C. Maxwell explains that no matter "the task’s importance..
1. If someone else can do a task better than I can, I give it away.
John has learned that there are only four things he does really well: lead, communicate, create, and network. He routinely gives everything else away, such as administrative and financial tasks, to his experts.
2. If someone else can do a task at least 80% as well as I can, I give it to them.
Mark Cole is one such person with his ability to lead at least 80% as well as John can. (And probably in many situations, 80% better than John could!) They've spent a lot of time together and Mark now knows how John thinks. John says if you want a picture of how I would personally lead, I’d tell you to just look at Mark.
3. If someone else has the potential to do a task at least 80% as well as I can, I train them.
It does take some time to pour into others, but it is worth the investment.
Now take a look at your own delegating style. What are you dumping without development? What are you holding onto that’s stealing time from your priorities? If you take time to train your people, you can release them. You can trust their thinking enough to let them do even the most important tasks well. It doesn't have to be done exactly the way you would do it. Why not delegate? You can use your best energies to do the things you do best.
Israel has been panicking, rejoicing, grumbling (not to God in prayer), and has been gaining from Jethro (to Moses) on the road to Sinai (see chapter 18:27), so what's ahead for them?
Q: What’s something that you did last week that you wish you could have paid someone else to accomplish for you?
Q: If you could remove one task from your life, never having to do it again, what would it be?
- THINK: Reflect on all your experiences in different organizations, whether you were the main leader or not. How have you seen healthy team leadership and delegation? What unhealthy leadership strategies have you seen? Reflect on any “lone ranger” type of leaders you have seen. What was the result for the leader and for the organization? When we understand the biblical model of team leadership, how will this affect the way we support our church leaders? How will it affect the way we volunteer to serve in different areas of ministry? Facebook.com/shareJesus- Israel will be camping at Sinai (19:1–40:38)
- The Law of God will be Prescribed (19:1–24:18)
- The Tabernacle of God will be Described (25:1–31:18)
- The Worship of God will be Defiled (32:1–35)
- The Presence of God will be Confirmed (33:1–34:35)
- The Tabernacle of God will be Constructed (35:1–40:38)
Follow the Lord, and He will help you edify, win people, and delegate for His glory.
- PRAY for God to show you how you can step in to support the leaders in our church community or in other organizations of which you are a part. How can you help keep that person from feeling like a “lone ranger” type of leader? How can you do your part as a member of the body to make the team as effective as it can be? How is God calling you step in and help the leadership team in different areas of ministry?
- ACT: Step up to help support your leaders. Maybe God isn’t calling you to be one of the leaders over hundreds or thousands in the ministry, but every person can help serve in some capacity in the body of Christ, even the smallest parts. Pray for God to show you how you need to step in to help take some of the load off the leaders and to also use your own giVs in ministry to serve. Then call, e-mail, or text the leader of that ministry area and offer to serve.
