Exodus 18:1-27

Exodus: Israel becomes a nation

The *Israelites leave Egypt

Exodus Chapter s 1 to 18

Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride

Chapter 18

Jethro’s visit – verses 1-12

v1 Jethro was the father of Moses’ wife, and he was the priest in the country called Midian. He heard about everything that God had done for Moses and for his people. Jethro heard how the *LORD had brought the *Israelites away from Egypt.

v2 Moses had sent his wife, Zipporah, and her two sons to stay with her father. And Jethro was very glad to receive her v3 and her two sons. ‘I have become a stranger in a foreign country’, Moses had said. So he had named his first son Gershom. v4 ‘My father’s God helped me. He saved me from *Pharaoh’s sword’, Moses had said later. So he had named his other son Eliezer.

v5 Then Jethro, the father of Moses’ wife, came to Moses in the *desert. Moses’ wife and his two sons came with Jethro to where Moses had camped. It was near God’s mountain. v6 Jethro had sent a message to Moses earlier. ‘I am Jethro, your wife’s father. And I am coming to visit you with your wife and her two sons.’

v7 Then Moses went out to meet his wife’s father. He respected Jethro very much. So Moses leaned forward in front of him and he kissed Jethro. They greeted each other and then they went into the tent. v8 Moses told his wife’s father about everything that the *LORD had done on behalf of the *Israelites. Moses told Jethro how God had rescued them from *Pharaoh and from the *Egyptians. And he told Jethro how the *LORD had helped them during all their troubles along the way.

v9 Jethro was very pleased. He heard about all the good things that the *LORD had done for the *Israelites. He heard how the *LORD had rescued them from the *Egyptians’ power. v10 Jethro said, ‘Give *praise to the *LORD. He saved you and your people from *Pharaoh’s power and from the *Egyptians. v11 Now I know that the *LORD is greater than all other gods. He rescued the *Israelites from those people who were so proud. They had behaved very badly towards the *Israelites.’

v12 So Jethro, the father of Moses’ wife, brought a gift to burn in front of God. And he offered other gifts to God. Then Aaron came with all *Israel’s leaders. And they shared a meal with Jethro in the place where they *worshipped God.

Verses 1-4 Probably Moses had sent his wife and his two sons to her father. They would be safe there. ‘Gershom’ means ‘a stranger there’ (Exodus 2: 22). The name ‘Gershom’ shows how unhappy Moses was earlier. He had been happy in Egypt and then he had to leave his home there. Moses’ second son’s name does not appear anywhere else. But ‘Eliezer’ means ‘God is my helper’. By the time his son, Eliezer, was born, Moses understood God better. He had realised how much God had done for him. Moses had left Egypt a few years earlier. And God had helped him in so many ways since that time.

Verse 5 Moses and the people had moved east from Rephidim to ‘God’s mountain’. So they were probably in the lower area near *Mount Sinai.

Verses 7-8 The two chiefs, Moses and Jethro, greeted each other. Moses was humble enough to respect an older person. So he leaned forward in front of Jethro. We say that he ‘bowed’ to him. Then Moses kissed him. Moses told Jethro about everything that had happened. Moses told him how God had rescued the *Israelites from Egypt. Also Moses told him about the difficulties that they had met since then.

Verses 9-12 Jethro was happy to hear about the *LORD’s great power. He heard how God had saved the *Israelites from the *Egyptians. Jethro *praised the *LORD. He declared that all other gods were worth nothing. Those gods were false gods. Some writers think that Jethro had not recognised the real God before that time. He had not known Moses’ God as the real God. The usual way to thank God was to burn a gift in front of him. Nobody ate any part of an animal that they burned in that way. But Jethro gave other animals to God as gifts. And they used some meat from those other animals for a special meal. Aaron and *Israel’s leaders shared that special meal with Moses and Jethro. It was a part of their *worship.

Moses appoints judges – verses 13-27

v13 The next day Moses sat down in the place where he served as a judge of the people. And the people stood round him from the morning until the evening. v14 Jethro, the father of Moses’ wife, saw how much Moses was doing for the people. ‘It is too much!’ he said. ‘Why are you the only judge for all these people? Why do they stand round you from the morning until the evening?’

v15 And Moses answered him. ‘The people come to me to get answers from God. They ask me what God wants them to do. v16 When they do not agree with each other, they come to me. And I decide which person is right. I tell them God’s rules and his laws.’

v17 But Jethro replied to him. ‘What you are doing is not a good thing. v18 You will wear out. And these people who come to you will wear out too. There is too much work for you. You cannot do this alone. v19 Listen to me now, and I will give some advice to you. Then God will help you. You must speak to God on behalf of the people. And you must tell their problems to him. v20 Teach the people God’s rules and his laws. Show them the way to live. And show them the work that they must do for God. v21 But choose some capable men from among the people to help you. These men must respect God. And you must be able to trust them. They must be honest. And they must not gain money from people in the wrong way. Appoint them as officials over groups of 1000 people, or 100 people, or 50 people, or 10 people. v22 Let them serve the people as judges all the time. Let them bring every difficult problem to you. But they can decide the easy things. They will be sharing the responsibility with you. So your difficult responsibility will be lighter. v23 You must do what God wants. And if you do this, then you will not wear yourself out. And you will satisfy all these people. Then they will be happy when they return to their homes.’

v24 Moses listened to Jethro, his wife’s father. He did everything that Jethro had said. v25 He chose capable men from among all the *Israelites and he appointed them as the leaders. They became officials, who each served a group of people. Some served 1000 people, some served 100 people, or 50 people or 10 people. v26 They served as judges for the people all the time. They decided the easier problems. But they brought the people with difficult disagreements to Moses.

v27 Then Moses said goodbye to Jethro, his wife’s father. And Jethro returned to his own country.

Verses 13-16 Moses was making himself very tired. He was trying to do everything without any help. Many of the people wanted to see Moses. They wanted to hear his decision about their problems. They had to wait for a very long time. And they were becoming very tired as well.

Verses 17-23 Jethro told Moses that the situation was not satisfactory. Moses was wearing himself out, and the people would become impatient. Jethro reminded Moses that he must speak to God on behalf of the people. As their judge, Moses must also teach God’s laws to the people. He should teach them how to obey these laws every day. Jethro suggested that Moses should choose some good men but they must have the right moral qualities. They must be honest men, whom Moses trusted. They must not try to get money from the people. They would help Moses. Moses should appoint them as the officials over groups of the people. Then everyone would get attention. He organised the people rather like the army. Those officials dealt with the easy problems. And then Moses dealt only with the difficult problems.

Verse 24-27 Jethro had given his advice in a polite way. He did not order Moses to take his advice. But Moses was humble. He was wise enough to learn from his wife’s father. The record in Numbers 12:3 tells us this. ‘Moses was a very humble man. He was the most humble person in the world.’

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has been here always.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the Hebrew word ‘Adonai’, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

Hebrew ~ the language that the Israelites spoke. A Hebrew is a Jewish person or an Israelite

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
Pharaoh ~ the Egyptian ruler or king.

Egyptian ~ someone from the country called Egypt; anything with a relationship with Egypt.
desert ~ a wild place where there are small bushes and not much water. It has poor soil and people cannot grow crops there. So, not many people live there.
Egyptian ~ someone from the country called Egypt; anything with a relationship with Egypt.
praise ~ to tell God how great he is; to give love to God, as when people are praying or singing
Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.
worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a gift to God.
Mount ~ another name for mountain