A Family Reunion, and a Father-in-law’s Advice

 

Gavel & Stryker (Photo credit: KeithBurtis)

Exodus 18 with notes from the Reformation Study Bible.

Apparently Moses had sent his wife and boys back home while he was dealing with Pharaoh and getting Israel out of Egypt.  Now that Israel is on its way to Sinai, and news has reached Jethro (Moses’ Father-in-law), Jethro brings Moses’ family back to him.  In Exodus 18:1-12 there is a lot going on, there’s a family reunion, a time of story telling and testimony that is centered on God (compare that to the non-God-centered story telling in Genesis 47:7-10) .  Since Jethro is a priest of Midian, and Midian is a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 25:2), it is possible that Jethro also followed Yahweh, although we don’t know this for certain.  So this story telling time might serve as either a strengthening of Jethro’s faith, or a conversion from a pagan faith to following Yahweh.

But the next day is also very interesting.  Because Moses was playing the role of a legal and spiritual mediator to an entire nation, and trying to do so within his human limitations.  He was mediating legally between individuals within the nation, and spiritually between the nation and God.  The two roles individually are far outside the realm of human capacity, but Moses was trying to do them both.  We’re not told if he was succeeding (even temporarily) or if he was failing in the performance of these roles, but from Jethro’s strong reaction, it’s pretty clear that Moses, like many modern jack-of-all-trades pastors, was on a path to burn-out.  He had to delegate his civil role while maintaining his spiritual role.  This is not much different from the apostles delegating the care and feeding of widows in Acts 6 to deacons so that they (the apostles) could focus on teaching the Gospel.

While pastors today still play an important role in making known to us the statutes and laws of God, as Moses did for Israel (Exodus 18:16), our only remaining spiritual mediator is now Jesus Christ himself (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 9:15, 12:24).  We don’t have to wait in line in a spiritual court room.  We read the Bible to hear from God the Father regarding Jesus Christ, we pray to and in the name of Jesus Christ, and the answer (should we have the sensitivity to “hear” it, and the discernment to validate it with Scripture) comes from the Holy Spirit.

See Also:  Timothy Lovegrove on Exodus 18

Related articles

• We can’t get off the hook. (thinkrhema.wordpress.com)
• Deliverance, Remembrance, Complacence (thinkrhema.wordpress.com)

 

We can’t get off the hook.

Exodus 3-6 with notes from the Reformation Study Bible.

We aren’t let off the hook when God has a plan for us.  In this section of Exodus, Moses tries to make excuses about why he won’t be successful in doing the thing that God is sending him to do, or why he isn’t qualified.  Moses knows that it won’t be easy, but that the task is necessary.  Much like Christ knew that going to the cross wouldn’t be easy, but that it was necessary, and was reluctant to do it.  Even Christ – or at least the human part of him – pleaded with God to let him off the hook.  But God’s ultimate plan and promise to Israel was fulfilled in part by Moses eventually being obedient and going back to Egypt, just as God’s ultimate plan to redeem his elect was ultimately and finally fulfilled by Christ going to the Cross.

Moses silliest excuse for why he won’t be successful is “Well, God, I don’t know your name, so I can’t tell Pharaoh or Israel who sent me, and since I can’t tell them who sent me, they won’t listen to me.”  God smacks down that objection with “sure you do, tell them I AM sent you… tell them Yahweh sent you.”  I AM and Yahweh are both packed with meanings that point to God’s self-existence and ultimate sovereignty over everything in creation – including Egypt, Israel, Pharaoh, and Moses.  Moses didn’t go to Egypt to demand the freedom of God’s people under his own authority, like when he killed the Egyptian for beating one of the Hebrews, this time he acted with the authority of THE LORD.  Jesus of Nazareth wasn’t just a nice guy that came to earth to shake things up just because he felt like it, he was Jesus the Christ, the anointed one, come under the authority of God the Father to redeem his elect.

Moses was given miraculous signs to show to Pharaoh and Israel to authenticate his God-given authority.  Even after that, Moses still tried to get off the hook and hang the possible success of the whole plan on his own qualifications, and he was indeed utterly unqualified for his task.  He was a stuttering escaped convict, and a coward, that God later raised up to become Israel’s law giver.  Christ also did miracles to authenticate his authority.  But Jesus, unlike Moses, was fully and completely qualified for his task, and despite his fear of it, he did it.

God had a plan, Moses had excuses.  God didn’t let Moses off the hook, so Moses went to Egypt.  God had a plan, Christ had a humanly understandable fear of the cross.  God didn’t let himself of the hook – he didn’t let Jesus Christ (God incarnate) off the hook, so Christ went to the cross.

Once Moses and Aaron arrived in Egypt and had their first conversations with Israel’s elders and with Pharaoh, things didn’t go according to the human plan, even though God had told them what to expect.  God then reassured them that everything would work out just fine.  God has given us his plan and his reassurance in Scripture.  We’ll undoubtedly be much better prepared to face life’s challenges by exploring and endeavoring to understand God’s ultimate plan, and by seeking his reassurance.