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Preacher: Ross Macdonald
Scripture: Exodus 18:1-27
We have a light crowd, but a heavy chapter, a lot of words from chapter 18, and we're going to do our best to work through. For that very reason, there's going to be all sorts of details and directions we could take that we won't take this morning.
We want to somewhat prepare for the giving of the law at Mount Sinai over the next few weeks. So as we work through chapter 19, though we'll be dealing with the text of 19, we'll also use that as an opportunity to sort of prepare the way for the giving of the law.
How should we understand the role of the law, the timing and the purpose of it within covenant history, the way it relates to Israel, and the way it relates to us as God's people, as the true Israel of God in Christ.
And so in some ways, chapter 18 is going to begin pointing us in that direction. We're going to focus a little bit on some of the aspects of the text in the front half, and then take a direction with application toward the end.
As we draw close to Mount Sinai, we draw close to the giving of the law, of course there's a great need for how Moses will administer this law to the people of God. For that reason, some scholars debate whether the events recorded here in chapter 18 actually took place after Mount Sinai.
Some try to harmonize Numbers 11 and Deuteronomy 1 here with Exodus 18, and they conclude that this most likely is material coming after Sinai. I don't think we're forced or constrained to view it that way, but chronologically the narrative sometimes will give way to the flow or the emphasis of the story, and so either way I'll let other more able scholars make decisions on that.
We'll read it as chronological. And of course here, in God's good providence, Jethro's come at a needed time, because as we said, for this law to be effective in the lives of the people, it must be administered to the people, and Moses is just one man.
And if there's 600 ,000 men among him, how could one man administer the law faithfully and rightly to that kind of size of a people? Well, as we begin chapter 18, we do see what some of you will encounter later today and tomorrow, a family reunion.
And hopefully you'll have an opportunity to give some solid advice or some wise counsel to your extended family. That's what we have at the beginning of chapter 18. Jethro, we read, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, his people, that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.
It's been many chapters since we've heard of Jethro, but Jethro has heard of what the Lord has done for Moses and the people. Jethro, we read, Moses' father-in-law took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back, with her two sons.
We have their names here repeated, Gershom, for he said, I've been a stranger in a foreign land. And the name of the other was Eleazar, for he said, the God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.
And 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. Some view that as Horeb, the plain of Sinai. Others view that as actually the base of Sinai itself, encamped around the mountain of God.
Now he had said to Moses, I, your father-in-law, Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her. Now we're given no reason when or why Zipporah, Gershom, and Eleazar had returned to Jethro.
This could have been right after the events of chapter four, where sort of in a fit of frustration, Zipporah said, you're a bridegroom of blood to me.
Maybe she said, I'm off.
You can sleep on the couch. I'm going to my father-in-law's. We don't know exactly the circumstances. There's some Jewish traditions that basically the, the sent her back was a way of restoring.
A marriage. There had been a divorce.
There's no real reason to conclude that at all. It could have, could have been far more economical reasons. Perhaps just they were in the area and she was given time to go visit with her father-in-law and then return.
Or perhaps even during all of the conflicts we've read in the past several chapters, Moses had sent her away for safety's sake. We just simply don't know why. We don't know when. All we know is that now they're reunited.
We know of course that Jethro has heard the saving acts of God, likely through the report.
Of Zipporah.
And also we have the names of their sons repeated. It's another way of exclaiming or emphasizing the redemptive acts of God. So we have Jethro hearing it. We have it contained in the names. And as we'll see in a moment, Jethro is going to rejoice over the news of Moses.
Everywhere here in chapter 18, we have this wonderful picture of the people of God rejoicing in the news that God has done great works for them. We have this family gathering, beginning in verse 7. Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him.
And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent. Some of you will, even today, go out and meet your in-laws. I don't think any of you will bow down and kiss them. They might be startled if you do that.
Maybe don't do that. But you'll ask, how's it going with you? You'll go into your equivalent of the tent. And we see here, and this is important for where we're going, we see here a reflection of the fifth commandment.
Here's the lawgiver showing honor to his father-in-law. It's a reflection of the fifth commandment that will be contained in the law of God. We see here this desire on Moses' part to show honor and respect to his father-in-law.
Here's this great reunion, but he doesn't ignore his father-in-law and spend all his time embracing his boys, and catching up with Zipporah, and sort of leaving him off to the side. As soon as he sees his father-in-law, he bows down, embraces him, shows him this great respect, has a concern to understand how he is doing and how things are with him.
So you see this genuine, mutual affection between Jethro and Moses. For decades, Moses had been in Midian as a shepherd. For 40 years, he had built this relationship with Jethro. It doesn't mean that this affection came naturally.
No two sinners naturally build these relationships of affection. Every relationship has strain. Even the most righteous relationships have moments and pockets of tension or awkwardness. So this relationship required a certain level of commitment, a certain intention.
There had to be, on the one hand, respect, and with it, self-denial on the other hand. And this is how their heart was kept tender toward one another. Genuine affection, mutual affection, from Jethro for Moses, and from Moses for Jethro.
One of the things I love about this is, not only are we told that Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth, here we actually see it. Here we actually see that despite all of the radical changes in Moses' life, he himself has not changed.
His character, his humility, his affection, his concern, his modesty, that has not changed. He's gone from prince of Egypt under Pharaoh's household, to then a sort of fugitive shepherd out in the wilderness, and now he's risen to the greater heights.
He's the mediator between God and the people of God. The great prophet of the Lord, the one who, in Pauline terms, is given visions of the third heaven, and yet all of this, no matter how highly he rises, no matter how catastrophic his fall, his integrity remains the same.
His character remains the same. He could relate to Jethro with this compassion when he was absconded as a shepherd, and even now that he's the great and mighty leader of millions, he comes with the same attitude, the same rapport, the same familiarity.
He doesn't say, I don't have much time for this. He doesn't do what a lot of A-list celebrities do, where they basically reject their family. I was listening to an interview with someone even this week who had become a Christian, and was just saying, I have no contact with my mother, I don't keep up with two of my siblings, just, you know, no interest there, no desire there.
It was on her part she was saying that, not on their part, on her part. It's unbecoming of a Christian. We all feel that strain, especially perhaps this time of year, so look carefully at the example of Moses.
His character, his desire, his fondness and softness and desire to have a relationship with family members has not changed. Verse 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 come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.
Throughout all of these verses we have several different ways of emphasizing what the Lord has done, this rejoicing in what the Lord has done. It's the good news being proclaimed. Now as we move closer to Sinai and the giving of the law, this is very important because how does God give the law?
He gives the law by reminding His people, this is who I am, this is what I've done. I am the Lord who brought you up out of the house of Egypt. So even here in chapter 18, this is all being front-loaded and foreshadowed.
The good news that gives way to the law. Exodus 18 beginning in verse 9, the reaction of Jethro, he rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel whom He delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.
You see him as he rejoices, the Greek translation of that in the Septuagint is he shuddered. It's like he couldn't contain himself. He was absolutely floored, he was flooded with amazement when Moses was able to give even more detail than he had heard about all the things the Lord had done, His mighty, powerful, saving acts.
And so he breaks out into this doxology, blessed be the Lord, blessed be the Lord who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
Moses, I remember when you came to me 40 years ago, and you were on the run from Pharaoh, and now look at what the Lord has done. Look what He's done for you, look what He's done for your people. When you came to me, they were all enslaved.
I remember when you came back from that theophany, and your eyes were wide because you had seen the glory of the Lord in the burning bush, and you said, He has called me to go. He's going to liberate the people.
And I, if I'm being honest, I didn't see how that could possibly happen. I know what the Egyptian army is like, I know what Pharaoh is like, I know that the Midianites would be like a flea on their armor, I know that what people on the earth were as great as the Egyptians, and I thought, you're going to go?
Forty years a shepherd, and you're going to go and liberate the slaves? But now look at what the Lord has done. Now look at what the Lord has done. How He made a path for you in the Red Sea, how He crushed all of the chariots of the.
Evil empire.
Now I know, I heard, but now I know, verse 11, now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for in the very thing which they behaved proudly, He was above them. This is essentially a summary of all of the plague narrative, all of the great strengths and flexes of the Egyptians, God turned back over upon them, turned their greatest blessings and strengths into their worst curses.
And then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before.
God.
Matthew Henry points out that after a couple chapters of seeing the Israelites murmur, God's own people murmur, we have here a Midianite rejoicing, literally shuddering with joy. What a contrast. The Gentiles, who aren't even directly involved, but just hearing of what the Lord has done can't contain their joy.
Meanwhile, the Israelites, who are on the receiving end of God's acts, are the ones murmuring and complaining. Isn't that sort of a travesty in our sight? Is it not a shame when onlookers are more affected by the work of God than God's own people are affected by the work of God?
How many times have you had some onlooker, some unbeliever, take a look at some blessing in your life, perhaps your marriage or your family, and they just say, you are so blessed. I was so rebuked several weeks ago around Thanksgiving when we went over Elisha's grandmother's house, and towards the end of the night, I was sort of, you know, awkwardly sort of trying to navigate some of the family relationships.
We're not as close with that side of the family, and of course that meant I was very concerned about the girls being very proper, not being sarcastic or getting out of hand. So the whole time I was sort of bent out of shape, making sure everything was in order and still being very winsome to the people there, and one of Elisha's uncles said, you are so blessed, and I thought, I have not thought that one time so far tonight.
At no point tonight was I like, I am a blessed man. It's a shame when onlookers can see the blessings that are right in front of our eyes, and we spend our whole time murmuring, uptight, unreflective, ungrateful.
Jethro is not an Israelite, but he is a believer. So we have a foreshadowing of the great ingathering of Gentiles. Here, just a smattering, a Jethro here, a Rahab there, but soon the floodgates will open, the time of the Gentiles will begin.
Jethro is not an Israelite, but he is a believer. Now I know, he says. I had heard, now I believe. And part of that belief is outflown into worship. Now he gathers to worship the only true and living God that he has known.
And how does he worship? He worships by a burnt offering. The burnt offering is the whole sacrificial system will be developed after we get the giving of the law. We'll have more, much more to say on the offering, the system of offerings.
The burnt offering was something entirely consumed and devoted to the Lord. So this animal was given over to the flames and it was as though the Lord were entirely devouring or consuming that sacrifice.
But then other sacrifices are brought as we read. Other sacrifices, and this is what all of the worshipers would gather and consume together. This is the equivalent of what would be a peace offering after, fellowship offering.
And so Aaron and the other elders join. That in itself is striking because Aaron of course representing as it were the priesthood of the Israelites and all of the leaders gathering with Jethro, sharing the sacrificial meal with Jethro.
In other words, they recognize that he has a right to worship Yahweh. And so not only does he offer sacrifice to Yahweh. He eats the ritual covenant meal with the worshipers of Yahweh. So here we see the greatness of Jethro's position.
The next day, Moses sat to judge the people and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, what is this thing you're doing for the people?
Why do you alone sit and all the people stand before you from morning until evening? Moses said to his father-in-law, the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a difficulty, they come to me and I judge between one and another and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.
So the sacrificial scene, this great feasting scene with Jethro, Moses, his reunited family, Aaron and all the elders of Israel, that now gives way to the next day. And as Jethro sort of yawns and makes his way out in his sort of pajama robe outside of his tent, he notices this long line, like a marathon line of people.
And there's his son-in-law, Moses, sitting at the head making decisions as row by row.
Moves forward.
He notices this and he says, why is it that you're sitting alone? That's the key word. Why are you undertaking this alone? Moses answers that he must decide. He must judge for the people. And that word, shafat, that word judge, it primarily means to decide, to make an authoritative decision, to be an arbitrator between people.
So the people bring their difficulties to Moses, Moses makes a decision for them. In fact, when we get to the law, right after the law come the decisions, the mishpatim, the decisions. This is what Moses is doing.
He's offering decisions. The arrangement was clearly a lose-lose, not just for Moses, but also for the people of.
That's what Jethro recognizes. The thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. This thing is too much for you. You're not able to perform it by yourself.
I love that reply. Not good. Have you ever had some relative, maybe some co-worker, they notice you're doing something wrong and that's all they say.
Two words.
Not good. Not good. That's what Jethro does. Two words, it says it all. What you're doing, not good. It isn't just you, Moses, that are wearing yourself out, but you notice these long lines of people, they're wearing themselves out too.
It's a lose-lose for both of you. Again, 600 ,000 men, just counting the men. What would this have looked like on a given day? Think of the RMV times 600 ,000, but only one worker. The RMV from hell.
That's what Moses is dealing with, but again, notice Jethro. Jethro's concern is for his son-in-law. Jethro's concern is for Moses. Remember, the sincere affection that we saw gave way to this sincere honesty.
The affection was there, the embrace, the kiss, the how are you, the understated or implicit way of saying I love you, I care about you, led way the next day to say this is not good. You are not being wise.
There's a better way to go about this. So sincere affection makes way for sincere honesty, for blunt honesty, and rarely can you have one without the other. It's almost impossible to have one without the other.
If you don't have sincere affection, you probably won't have enough desire to be honest.
You won't care enough.
The affection isn't compelling you, but if you have honesty without affection, either you'll go about delivering it in the wrong way or it just won't be received. Who are you to talk to me?
You don't know me, right?
When have you ever cared about this before? Why are you on my case all of a sudden, do you see? Affection gives way to honesty. One really can't prosper without the other. Jethro was compelled to speak.
He had to say something, and he doesn't say it like a murmuring Israelite would say it. He doesn't get in line to then give his complaint to Moses. He says it like a concerned father. And Moses receives it like a son.
Though Moses is at the height of heights, he is the one who makes known the will of God. It's amazing to me that Jethro has the gumption to say, I think you're doing this wrong. I know that you are the meekest and the wisest man on the face of the earth, but yeah, you're doing this one wrong.
And then Moses has the gumption to say, you know what, you're right. So this beautiful relationship. And notice that Moses does indeed have a big blind spot. Even a wise leader like Moses can be stuck to a very foolish method.
I don't know if this is apocryphal, but I was reading somewhere in my preparations this week that Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientific minds that history has known. Sir Isaac Newton used to be visited in his study by a mother cat and her kitten.
And he would always have to get up and go and open the door, and it was a distraction to him, so he thought, I need to solve this sort of crisis of interruption. And so he went and he carved two holes into the bottom of the door, a big one for the Let's let that sit in.
Greatest scientific mind, greatest genius, and he carves two holes instead of just one big one. They can both go through, right? Sometimes even a wise man can be stuck to a foolish method. God seems to use these kinds of encounters to bring about a certain dependence, a certain.
Respect for others.
In other words, God doesn't distribute all his gifts to some and none of his gifts to.
Others.
Everyone has a certain gift, a certain quality, a certain skill, a certain background, a certain virtue, some strength. You have never met anyone, and I mean this, you have never met anyone from which you could gain nothing, from which you could learn nothing, from which there's nothing that would be helpful.
To you.
And if that's true of anyone you encounter in the world, how much more so in the church where everyone is given a gift, where everyone is given that by God which is used to minister to others for the glory of God and for the unity of his people.
And so he distributes his gifts and we learn dependence and we're taught to respect the gifts of others. We're taught to respect the strengths of others even as they expose our own weaknesses. Well, I think I have this, this, and this, and this, but when I consider my brother, when I look at my sister, I can see my weakness, how I desire to have their patience, or their love, or their joy, or their wisdom, or their discernment, or their care.
I wish I had a type A personality. Some of you have very strong type A. It's like, Lord, why? Give me a beard and give me type A, please. But I have to learn how to respect that in others. I lack it. How to depend upon those skills in other people.
Listen now to my voice, Jethro says, verse 19. I will give you counsel and God will be with you. Stand before God for the people so that you may bring the difficulties to God and you shall teach them the statutes and the laws and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.
So the great need is for the people to be told God's will. Jethro knows that. Ultimately, this is something that only Moses can do. He knows that. Moses is the mediator. Moses is the one who goes between God and the people.
Jethro is not offering some alternative to that. So the first thing he does is he affirms Moses' unique role. He grounds his advice in Moses' actual responsibility. Stand before God. You must be the one who shows the people the way, tells them how to walk, tells them the work to do.
In other words, Jethro first begins his advice by affirming what Moses is doing. He doesn't come in like Gordon Ramsay and start barking at Moses, saying, what is this? He doesn't have this sort of contemptuous attitude.
No.
He comes in and he says, you're doing exactly what you should be doing. Keep doing that. But let me advise you. Let me give you counsel in this way. He knows that God has a rule for the lives of his people.
Here's this Midianite, this Gentile, and he understands this is what the people need most. Don't ever stop doing this, Moses. You must inquire of God his will for the people. Show them the way they're to walk.
Show them the work they're to do. That's what they need most. So don't stop doing that. The Israelites, Jethro knows, can't live any way they choose. The will of God is their vital need. The will of God must now structure their lives.
Their lives were once structured by the bondage they were in. It was structured by the Egyptian taskmaster. God has freed them. Now they're in, as it were, a yoke with God. Now they're wed to God. Now their lives are to be structured by the Lord.
Moses must show them this way. You'll love this. This is reflecting this Hebrew idiom of a life being conceived as a path, as a journey, right? Just go to Psalm 1. There's the way of the righteous. There's the way of the wicked.
There's a path in life that corresponds day by day to your end, to your destination. And that's contained in this view. Show them the way, right? Don't lead them to the path of destruction. Lead them, however narrow and difficult it may be, lead them, Moses, on the way to everlasting life.
The advice, now that he's grounded his advice with a grasp of Moses' role, a grasp of his responsibility, now comes the wise advice, beginning in verse 21. You shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, rulers of tens.
Let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, every small matter they themselves shall judge. And it will be easier for you. They will bear the burden with you.
If you do this thing, and God so commands you, you love that little caveat, if I'm not speaking from the hip here, if God is actually commending this, then you will be able to endure. And all of this people will also go to their place in peace.
So difficult cases, we could say maybe cases without precedent, these will be brought to Moses. All of the lesser cases will be dealt with according to the circuit courts, as it were. According to these rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
And this is establishing how Israel's later legal system will function. But notice, and this is very important, notice the answer to Moses' dilemma is able men. The answer to Moses' dilemma is able men.
So often in history, the answer to the dilemma of the day is able men. And notice that these men were not chosen for their intellectual prowess,.
For their wealth,.
For some sort of cultural status. These men were chosen for moral reasons.
Moral grounds.
It's the same thing we see in the New Testament in terms of qualifications for leaders. Right? Your wealth, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're a CEO, that means absolutely nothing in terms of qualification for leadership in the church.
It's on moral grounds. It's on character that one is given the right, the basis to lead. And this is what it means to be an able man. Another translation would be a capable man. One who is capable. And that capability is shown in the morality, in their integrity, in their character.
Men of truth. They hate covetousness. They'd never take a bribe. They hate anything that is seething with sort of unrighteous gain. They're held in regard by the people for this integrity. They're men who fear God.
And so they're not swayed by popular opinion. They don't put their ear to the ground. I was reading this week of Alexander McLaren, the great 19th century preacher who preached a eulogy for the passing of William Gladstone, William E. Gladstone, the great British Prime Minister.
And he drew his eulogy from Exodus 18. And he said, the statesman is not one that puts his ear down to the ground and then makes up his mind to follow in the path of the mob. He's not sensitive to varying winds of public opinion.
He doesn't trim his sails to suit them. How often? You used to see a 30-year gap between the old congressional footage of a senator 30 years ago to what they're saying today. And it's diametrically opposite.
Now it's like three years. They'll say anything that's popular, anything that's in vogue, anything to retain their power. That's not what we see here in Exodus 18. He that would govern others must first be lord of himself.
It is only he that is lord of himself who is consciously and habitually the servant of God. The fear of God underlies the noblest life. And what McLaren does in his whole eulogy.
Is he says,.
In this skeptical, unbelieving generation, we had in Gladstone a devout believer, a man who feared God. And McLaren was almost eulogizing the fact that there was no one rising up after him that could be defined in that way.
And that was in the 19th century. We couldn't even give a eulogy like that today. Don't you long for statesmen like this? Don't you long for leaders like this? Magistrates like this? God-fearing men?
Capable men? Men who hate covetousness? Men of truth? The word truth here means they're faithful,.
They're reliable,.
They're men of their word. Some of you grew up when front doors were always unlocked through the night and business was done with a handshake. And you'd take the loss, you'd be cheated, you'd be wronged rather than have that handshake renege, rather than have your name or your reputation go under.
Those days are gone. Where are the men of truth? Where are the God-fearing men? It's only with such, Jethro says, that he will be able to bear the burden, be able to endure. And the response at the last here, beginning in verses 24 with the summary is, Moses heeded.
He doesn't give counterpoints.
He doesn't say, oh, you don't understand.
I've been doing this for a while now. You don't understand what it's like. You're not in my shoes.
He just heeds.
He's like, you know, you're exactly right. I'm so glad you pointed that out. You're exactly right. So let's consider some application now. And try to get through three points. We'll see how well we do.
I want to first talk about this idea of the way. This is what Moses is tasked with in verse 20. You shall teach them the statutes and the laws and show them the way.
Show them what way? Show them the way they must walk. Show them the work they must do.
You must show them the way. And as we've said, this is sort of idiomatic for the whole of the believer's life.
The whole life.
Every aspect of the people of God's existence. It's a way. It's a path. It's a journey of faithfulness and obedience to the will of God. This is the way. And it's a narrow way. It's a difficult way. Few find it.
But it's the only way. So let's talk about knowing the way. And with that, how to heed. Because you notice that response of Moses.
He heeds.
He's the mightiest man, but he heeds. So first we'll talk about knowing the way, which is knowing how to heed. Secondly, we'll talk about showing the way. We'll look at that in terms of the examples that are put before Moses and the people of God, but also the way that we're to understand endurance.
And then lastly, we'll talk about the only way. So first, to know the way, or how to heed. There's this wonderful interchange between Moses and Jethro. Jethro heeded Moses. We read, Moses told his father-in-law what the Lord had done, and Jethro rejoiced.
He heeded Moses' testimony. And on the other hand, Moses heeded Jethro. I will give you counsel. God will be with you. And we read, Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law. So there's this willingness, this desire to heed to each other.
Moses, of course, had good reason to think that all wisdom had been given to him. He wasn't wrong to go on that branch. More or less, all divine wisdom was being given or funneling exclusively through him.
Who else was given these divine revelations? Who else was encountering God in this way? When the rebuke comes to Miriam, God rebukes in this way. He says, who else in all the earth have I spoken to in this way?
Who has known the mysteries that I speak? The enigmas? With everyone else, they hear. But with Moses, I speak face to face. So Moses would be right almost to be puffed up with pride, but he's not. Though God had chosen him from all other men to make His will known, Moses shows no resistance to receive useful, practical counsel from a Gentile father-in-law.
Some of you grit your teeth at thinking, you know, taking advice from your in-laws, right? That'll be the day when I take their counsel,.
You know, what do they know?
Well, here's Moses, and he just heeds. He's like, you're right. So part of knowing the way is knowing how to heed. If Moses had not heeded, he and the people would have been worn out. The Hebrew there is withered.
They would have withered away. Things would not have gone well. Things didn't go well, and they could have gone worse. Well, first point along this line. The Lord has many means. The Lord has many relations by which He will prompt you, guide you, warn you, make known His will to you.
And we do not want to be resistant or prideful or condescending or somehow come off as we alone are wise. God will speak through a prophet or a preacher. God will also speak through a donkey. He can make stones cry out.
In any given day, in any given week, God will be speaking to you in many different ways. And you should not be resistant. You should not be disdainful of any of the ways that you might be prompted or guided.
You should rather be tender and say, Lord, are you trying to get my attention? Are you trying to slow me down? Are you trying to warn me? Psalm 32, the Lord says, I will instruct you, teach you in the way you should go.
I'll guide you with My eye. Don't be like the horse or the mule which have no understanding, which need to be harnessed with a bit. In other words, don't be so stubborn and resistant when God is guiding and showing you.
And again, being a Christian for any length of time, you know providentially He employs all sorts of means, all sorts of relationships to do that. There's not one place you go to to get His counsel. It can come through a passing word.
It can come through some sort of encounter, some experience, something that's exploded onto your lap in the middle of the day. He has all sorts of ways to prompt and guide you. So don't be stubborn. Don't lack understanding.
Don't be like a mule.
When it comes to relationships in the church of God, the least in the people of God, if there's even a way of understanding or speaking to that, the least among the people of God may be the very means by which He will guide and humble you.
And to reject that counsel or to marginalize that brother or sister is to actually reject and marginalize the counsel of God. This is what Paul means in 1 Corinthians 12 when he says, the eye cannot say to the hand,.
I have no need of you.
God has so composed the church body that we're all interdependent. We all rely on one another's gifts. And the Lord will use each one of us in a way to prompt and steer the other. Of course there's roles for leaders.
And there's a way that we exemplify and seek to imitate those who are spiritually mature. But that's not to denigrate the usefulness of others. The eye cannot say to the hand,.
I have no use for you.
There's no one you could look around in this room and say, I have no need of you.
Despite all of the gifts.
That the Corinthians were craving, Paul puts before them this picture of absolute interdependence. The Corinthians were craving gifts because these were status markers. And the factions were forming around those who were especially gifted.
But there's a great danger in rejecting advice given by those who we deem to be less gifted. This is something that holds the sort of reformed world in thrall. As soon as we're captivated by something that a famous preacher or media content says, we sort of in a fanboyish way rally around everything they say.
And we're willing because we were so moved by one thing, they must be right on everything. And then we reject or plug our ears up to any other criticisms or concerns. It's the same sort of naive immaturity that I see the sort of leftovers of the young restless in reform movement now.
Where if you have a certain hero, no criticism can stick. No even honest, fair, gentle feedback.
Will be heard.
It's all or nothing. And it's just like Corinth. And Paul says, no, the eye cannot say to the hand. I love this. Here's an example of how to heed. Acts 18. In Acts 18 we read of the ministry of Apollos.
And Apollos is this incredibly gifted man. In fact, his giftedness is put on display by Luke four or five times. So Acts 18, the ministry of Apollos, we read Apollos is an eloquent man. That's the first thing.
He's eloquent. He's got that silver tongue. He's the chrysostom of the book of Acts. An eloquent man. Mighty in the Scriptures. That's the second thing. He's mighty in the Word of God. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord.
And he was fervent in spirit. So he's eloquent. He's mighty in the Word. He has a fervent spirit. He's strong in zeal. He spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord. But he only knew the baptism of John.
He didn't have everything quite worked out. Now he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. So again, notice all of these strengths. Mighty, eloquent, fervent in spirit. Speaking boldly in the synagogue.
Teaching accurately. And we read this. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and they explained to him the way of God more accurately.
Don't you love that?
It's almost like an English insult. He taught accurately the things of the Lord. Aquila and Priscilla helped him teach more accurately the things of the Lord. And we don't read of Apollos saying, who are you?
I don't need some married couple to question my teaching. Look at my eloquence. Look at my might. Look at my boldness. Look at my zeal. That's not how Apollos responds at all. He responds a lot like Moses responds to Jethro.
So again, see Aquila and Priscilla being used of God out of this concern to say, we recognize all of your giftedness, but here's some help that you need. And Apollos knows how to heed. He knows how to heed.
If Apollos did not heed, his ministry would not have been effective. If Moses did not heed, his ministry would not have been effective. If you don't know how to heed, your ministry won't be effective.
Secondly, heeding is not just a willingness to hear, it's a commitment to act.
Right?
Moses doesn't just hear and kind of nod and go, that's interesting, I'll have to think about that. He actually commits to act. He doesn't just agree and then keep doing what he's been doing. He agrees by acting.
And this is in contrast to how the future leaders of Israel would go about sitting in Moses' seat. Jesus in Matthew 23 condemns them. He said to His disciples in the multitudes this, the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
By the way, that little phrase, Moses' seat, most likely drawn here from Exodus 18. Moses sat down and received the people from morning till evening. Well, here are the future leaders, the scribes and the Pharisees, they're sitting in Moses' seat.
They're judges making decisions for the people. And Jesus says, therefore, whatever they tell you, do it. But, don't do it according to their works. Because they say and they do not do. In other words, they'll decide but they themselves won't act.
So do the things that they say but don't do what they do because they don't do what they say. So heeding, secondly, is a commitment to act.
Third, be a Jethro.
Be a Jethro to someone. We all have our blind spots. We are blessed when the Lord puts a Jethro in our lives. Someone that will take us to the side. Someone that will find an opportunity to say what you've been doing here and here and here is great.
You know, I've just noticed this in you, this is so wonderful, I just want to encourage you in this but I have noticed this. I think you're making life a lot harder for yourself. Or at least you will someday.
Be a Jethro to someone. If you're older, be that Titus II Jethro to the younger women. What have you learned, both positively and negatively, that would bless them and prevent them a multitude of frustrations and sorrows because they didn't put it in practice?
Don't ever look at someone in the church and say, ah, they'll have to go through it and figure it out just like we all had to.
Be a Jethro.
Say, there's a better way, I've learned the hard way. Now my mission is to make sure no one else has to learn that hard way if I have anything to say about it. So first of all, to know the way or knowing how to heed.
Secondly, to show the way. And this speaks to examples and endurance. Moses was to show them the way they must walk and the work they must do. And I love that we have that word show connected with that verb teach.
Moses says, Moses is told, you will teach them and you will show them. This is the original show and tell. You ever have, most of you are homeschooled, that's okay. When I went to grade school, we always had show and tell.
Or take your dad to school day or something like that. This is show and tell. Don't just teach them, show them the way. In other words, your walk is going to show them how to walk. Your work is going to show them how to work and what that work is.
And now the leaders are being appointed and they're going to do the same thing. They're going to be living examples for the people of God. Here's how you are to walk. Here's the work you must do. It's the same thing that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11.
Imitate me as I imitate Christ. Or 1 Timothy 4, 1 Thessalonians 1. You become examples. This is a norm for the church of God. But also this relates to endurance. Jethro saw warning signs of burnout all over Moses' situation.
Moses was so in the midst of it, so overwhelmed, that he didn't have time to take a step back and get perspective, right? As soon as he got back into the tent, kissed his boys goodnight, hit the hay, snored, woke up, back to sit down and receive people all day.
When you're in that kind of constant blur, you don't have the luxury to take a step back and say, is there a better way to do this? You're just at the grind. There's no sense of perspective until someone speaks from the outside.
And this spiritual burnout is a very real thing for many believers.
They have gifts.
They have a desire to use their gifts. They have a desire to use their gifts to serve the faithful. But they may not see the warning signs of burnout.
All over them.
And others in the church might be willing to watch them burn out. Now on the other side of this, before I make a point, there are those in the church that never face burnout because they don't desire to use their gifts and they don't want to serve the faithful, right?
In other words, there's people who are burning the candle at both ends and there's some candles that have never been lit. They say, I feel bad for people that are burnt out. It's like, well, if you did something,.
You might get there someday.
There's some believers who do well to learn their own limits. And part of that, Jethro's advice, learning when to ask for help, how to delegate things.
But there's other believers.
Who will never risk Jethro's advice because frankly, they're just lazy. They're inactive for kingdom work. So part of this is remembering God doesn't appoint leaders to do all of the work because the church, and this is something we're going to see next week, the church is a kingdom of priests.
So we're all engaged in the work of priests. We are a kingdom of priests. We're all engaged in priestly ministry for one another and for the world at large. And when we understand that, as the saying goes, overachieving leaders lead to an underachieving church.
We're a kingdom of priests. We're all to put our shoulders into the work of God.
So this means delegating.
To someone like Moses, who has a servant heart, these grueling morning to evening lines constantly occupying him, to let go, to delegate, would almost feel like abandoning his call.
You can almost see that.
In the answer he gives to Jethro. You don't understand, like it's on me to go to the Lord and the Lord will only speak to me and then I bring that to the people. And Jethro's like, no, no, I get it. Keep doing that.
But you know, how many times are you repeating yourself, Moses? How many times have you given the same counsel? That could be outsourced to others. To ignore the practical wisdom of Jethro runs this great risk.
That eventually that servant heart gets so overwhelmed, so tired, that it becomes hard. And it becomes unfeeling. And it becomes overwhelmed and even agitated by the very situations and the very people it once so zealously wanted to serve.
And that is a sad thing when Ichabod is written over a servant's heart. And so the danger of burnout is a very real thing. If you have this desire to help and to counsel and you're detecting those signs of just being more frustrated rather than being patient, of having this sort of coldness or this non-regard.
You don't feel any pull, any compulsion. You're unmoved when people are going through great crises and so on. And so often in the counseling world that's the case. There's a sort of callousness, a calcified heart that was once a servant's heart.
The reason they went into this. It's like if you've ever gone to the veterinarian, right? Every veterinarian was once this bleeding hard ASPCA, listening to Sarah McLachlan on Spotify. Just like, oh, you know, I want to save all the animals in the world.
And you deal with animals for 18 years and you don't even care as you euthanize them. And the whole family's there like melting and you're just like, yep, you know, putting it in a sack out in the dumpster.
That's what happens. We're called to be servants. But the way to prevent burnout is we're the Lord's servants. We're not primarily servants of men but we are servants of the Lord serving men. And that means we don't fulfill every expectation, every desire that men may concoct.
We serve the Lord.
For we will only give account to the Lord.
And so wise limitations, wise delegations reframe our service to God. To say my service to God and God's people will be impaired if I keep going in this way. That's what Jethro saw. Moses couldn't see it.
A good example of this is Acts 6. The apostles don't make Moses' mistake. When this whole fury arose over distribution to the widows and all of this was unloaded to the apostles, they didn't say, oh, we're going to have to figure this out how to manage this.
They just said, all right, we'll appoint some other people to deal with it. We've got to pray and minister the word. They just completely bypass and delegate to others. They understood if we get bogged down in this we'll miss the very thing we're called to do.
And so delegation, showing the way, examples leading to endurance. And then lastly, the only way. This passage, I can't help but see this glorious picture of the one who is greater than Moses. And he is the one who is the only way.
So Moses was to teach them the statutes and the laws and show them the way,.
The way they would have to walk,.
The work they would have to do. So the first thing we see is that Moses was to teach them. But Moses was one man and so he had to delegate rulers of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens just to try to somehow administer that teaching.
And even that only led to a sort of hearing by the ear. Even if you could get the word out to all of the people of God, it was only external, it was only effective for the remnant among the people of God.
That's as far as Moses, as a mediator of this covenant, can teach. But how does the mediator of a better covenant teach? We read in John 6, Jesus says, it's written in the prophets, they shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Here's not a teaching that primarily comes by the ear, but by the Spirit to all. All are taught by God Himself. It's not dependent upon the letter or upon the flesh, but by His own Spirit.
All will be taught by God. That's the mediator of a better covenant. And this mediator walked in the way that we must walk. Moses walked imperfectly. If you copied Moses, you'd get very far, but you wouldn't get into the promised land.
Jesus walked that walk perfectly. He leads the people. The great Yeshua, the great Joshua. He leads the people into the land. He does the work that they should have done, that they put off, that they could not do.
He did the work that they must do. He did the work for them. In this way, Jesus has truly shown the way. Truly revealed the statutes and laws of God. And then in John 14, when Thomas says, Lord, we don't know where You're going, how can we know the way?
Again, taking up this idiom. How can we know God's will? How are we to follow the path for the righteous? The way to everlasting life? And Jesus said, I am the way. The truth and the life. Moses, at best, could show the way.
And when he showed the way, he was showing me because I am the way. I am the path to everlasting life. I am the way for the righteous. No one comes to the Father except through me. That is the way. One greater than Moses has come.
When Jethro told Moses, this is too much for you. You're not able to perform it by yourself. Moses couldn't. He relied on thousands of co-rulers. But this better mediator, this one greater than Moses, he came and he did all by himself.
The work for this new covenant. Hebrews says, the earliest manuscripts submit it, when he by himself purged our sins from us. It was by himself. Moses could not do all that was needed by himself. Jethro saw it.
Moses knew it. Jesus, on the other hand, says, you can't do anything apart from me. Moses can't do anything without an army of helpers. And even then, the people are left perishing in the wilderness. Jesus says, everything is done by me.
You can't do anything apart from me. Moses could not bear to govern God's people alone. But the government rests entirely on the shoulders of Jesus. What a contrast to our current leaders. Politicians that are fulfilling in ever greater ways the depths of Romans 3 .16.
Destruction and misery are their ways. The way of peace they have not known. There's no fear of God before their eyes. But we read of this mediator, this one greater than Moses. The government will be upon his shoulder.
Not upon the shoulders of thousands of co-rulers, but the government is upon his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. One mediator has come. Greater than Moses. God's own son. The way, the truth, the life. And this way is a new way.
And this new way doesn't lead to wandering in the wilderness, doesn't lead to wavering in doubt. It leads to a true heart. This new way comes with full assurance of faith. The question I leave before you as we close is, have you come to Christ as this way?
This new and living way? If you don't know how to answer that or how you could possibly know, do you have a true heart full of assurance? Assurance of faith. Can you say with Jethro, now I know. Now I rejoice.
I shudder because I believe. Therefore, brethren, the writer of Hebrews says, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh.
This new and living way was the body and blood of our Savior. This is a new and a living way that we come to God. So our boldness, our assurance of faith, our confession of hope is built upon, verse 23, holding fast the confession of our hope without ravering for he who promised is faithful.
The way that we must walk, the work we must do, all of this is built upon and built by the one who promised for he is faithful.
Amen?
Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Please bless us this day. Help us to be those who give godly counsel, capable men and women, Lord, men who fear you, women who fear you. Even this day, Lord, let us be salt and light to those that we're around as we reflect this season on what it means for you to have the government on your shoulders, this throne of David and the increase that will never end.
Help us to be ambassadors for that great kingdom, that kingdom of peace and justice and righteousness. Let us walk and do the work in this new and living way that you have opened for us, finding in you life and truth, for you are the way.
And Lord, help us to have that confession of faith without wavering. And pray for all that are absent this day, Lord, wherever they are, that you administer to them spiritually. And if there are some present, some who will hear this, Lord, that are estranged from your grace or perhaps crippled and bowed down by sin, might you touch them with your merciful grace, restore them anew, I pray, in your son's name.
Amen.