Jethro's Message (Ex. 18:1-6)

5/30/2008 7:56 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time           Focus:  Jethro’s message

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Exodus 18:1-6

            Message of the verses:  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, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah, 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 Eliezer, 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 coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her."

            There are things that happen in the Bible that are not explained, and I guess that sometimes when reading the Bible I wonder about how different things happened that are not explained.  That is the case with this section.  I learn that Moses father-in-law knows all about what happened in Egypt and also that Moses’ wife and two children had gone to live with his father-in-law at some point, but do not know when.  When did they leave Moses and how did his father-in-law know all about what happened in Egypt?  It is possible that they left right after the last judgment came upon Egypt and therefore could tell Jethro what had happened.  At any rate he knew and Moses’ family was with him and now they are returning to Moses, which was not really to far from Mt. Sinai.

            I have written about the question of how old Moses’ sons were when Moses and his wife along with their two sons went to Egypt because by the time Moses and his family left for Egypt he was eighty years old, and he got there when he was forty so his sons could have been pretty old by that time, they could have even had children of their own, but nothing is said about all of this so it is unknown.

            Moses and his wife must have taken a lot of time in picking out a name for each or their sons as the name of each son gave a great deal of meaning to Moses and what was going on in his life during this time.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This chapter in Exodus is a chapter that tells of how life was in the camp, how things were on most days as Israel was moving from Egypt to the mount of God.  There is no mention of any real troubles in this chapter.  I can learn from this section that Moses had love and concern for his family as he sent them home before some of the real problems happened, and that there was a good relationship between he and his father-in-law, and that he had respect for him, for he was older than Moses.  I have a great deal of respect for my father-in-law too, although I do not agree with all of the things he does or has done, but he has good morals, and has handled life as far a taking care of the monetary things in life in a good way.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to begin to have a better prayer life and try to follow the example of Epaphras as seen in Colossians 4:12;  I want to allow the Lord to direct my path as seen in Proverbs 3:5-6; I want to learn to be content with my life and be able to learn contentment through the different episodes of life as Paul describes in Philippians 4:11; I want to yoke up with my Lord as He speaks of in Matthew 11:28-30, and I want to trust the Lord to deliver me from temptation today as seen in 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Memory verse for the week:                                   Col. 4:12

12.    Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

5/30/2008 8:40 AM