Exodus | Chapter 18 – Scripture Supply

Exodus 18:1-27 – “Life Is Hard But God Is Good”

I.) Intro.

The 18th chapter is a transitional one as it bridges the initial stages of Israel’s wandering with that of God meeting the nation at Mount Sinai. The spiritual development of the servant that God uses has been seen in the life of Moses. God chooses him & uses him before he had anything to do with delivering a nation. You will recall that his life being spared by Pharaoh’s daughter no doubt saved all the other male Hebrew babies. Then you have recorded those first 40 years growing up in the house of Pharaoh, educated, refined, yet instead of that being an asset, it became a liability as he undertook the work of the Lord in the energy of the flesh. Then we are told of the 40 years in the wilderness, where Moses learns to follow so he can lead. He is stripped of pride, yet he still sees the work from what he can do for God rather than what God can do for him. Then we have seen Moses used of God, successful in his service as he obeys the Word of the Lord & sees the Lord standing before him.

With all of that as truth, God is not done dealing with Moses; in fact, God is never done, in this body, in dealing with any of His servants. Through God, Moses has defeated Pharaoh & the Egyptians. The physical obstacles of the Red Sea, lack of water & food, even the Amalekites, Moses handled in the energy of the Lord. But now Moses faced his biggest challenge he had yet faced: Himself & the tyranny of the urgent!

II.) Vs. 1-12 My God works

Before we get into the text I would like to take a side trip here & deal with an issue not directly mentioned in the text but implied. In this section, we are told of Moses’ father-in-law (Jethro’s) visit. Throughout the Bible, we learn a lot about Moses, but we are not told much about his home life. What kind of husband & father was he? Num. 12:3 informs us that his character was, “very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.” So that would seem to indicate that he was probably a good guy at home. However, there are only a few references in scripture about his dealings at home, and they are not that favorable.

1.) In chapter four, Moses had refused to circumcise their son Eliezer, and judging by Zipporah’s response, she viewed the whole practice as barbaric. So Moses’ reluctance was because he wanted to please his wife more than the Lord.

2.) You do not hear of Moses’ family again until here in this chapter. In verse 18:2 we are told that at some time Moses “sent her back” to Jethro, which implies that she did not go voluntarily. (Perhaps it was after the above incident, but we cannot be sure.) You can search the scriptures for references to his family & find very little about them. Gershom had a son named Shebuel (return to God), and none of his other children are mentioned. Eliezer had only one son named Rehabiah, who we are told became chief. Zipporah is only mentioned three times in scripture & this is the last time she will be mentioned.

So? Well, you ought not make an argument out of silence, but all of this would lead me to believe that Moses was at very least preoccupied with ministry at the expense of his family, something that I have a little experience with myself.

These verses leave us with more questions with regards to Moses’ family life than they do answers.

Jethro hears of the work of the Lord on behalf of Moses & Israel. Yet we are told in verse two that he has to take Moses’ family to him. Moses had been separated from his family for a year.
Geographically, Moses had passed by the area where Jethro & his family were, so instead of going right to where his family was, Moses passes by them.
Lastly, when Jethro comes with his family, Moses goes & talks with Jethro and not his family.

We can allot for some of this behavior through the difference in culture, but even still, when you read the rest of this chapter, one can easily see Moses preoccupation with ministry at the expense of his family. I mean, people stood before him from morning to evening every day! Pastor, what are you trying to say? Simply this: watch out that you do not begin to slip into the Moses syndrome, where you have no time for your first ministry, your family. Now, there are a great many folks that spend little or no time in service to the Lord & his people. That’s why others are spending too much time serving! Strike the balance of your time between serving the Lord & serving your family. Some of us need to get off the pew & get to work so some of us can go home.

Vs. 1: Now we are told that the basis of Jethro’s visit was because he had “heard of all that God had done for Moses & for Israel His people.” I take that to mean that Jethro felt it was safe to bring Moses’ family back to him. Back in chapter 4:18, Moses had gone to Jethro & asked permission to go back to Egypt, to which he replied, “Go in peace.” I can just imagine Jethro anxiously awaiting any news that came that way about Egypt. Clearly, the reports that came back were all about what the Lord had done, & not about what Moses had done.

This week the Sun Star called me & wanted to run the second article on Calvary Chapel & our move to the South side. I thought to myself how interesting that they wanted to do this on our 12th anniversary. The questions that the reporter asked would have been easy for me to talk about what we have done for God, boasting in our achievements. But the fact is our existence as a fellowship, as well as our move to the South side, has been because of what God has done! The victory as well as all the glory belongs to Him, not to me or to us. I pray we never forget this truth!

How about it? When you speak to other Christians, do you spend most of your time talking about what you are doing for God? My wife told me of a conversation she had with a lady from another church that was not all that friendly until she found out that Donna was a pastor’s wife. Then she proceeded to tell Donna, in essence, how lucky God was to have her on His side. You know what? God is not lucky to have me on His side. I’m blessed to be on His side! Most of the time, I look at myself & my failure & think that He made a mistake!

Vs. 2-6: We are told the purpose of Jethro’s visit was that of a family reunion. Now we know that Moses wrote this book & thus this section. These verses retell the story of Moses’ two sons, as well as Jethro bringing them to him. So? Well, I can’t help but wonder if Moses, in writing this sometime later, realized that he had not been much of a father & husband to Zipporah & the two grown boys. Perhaps this chapter can serve as Moses’ warning to us not to do as he had done. Moses seems to be surprised by the visit, and we are not told of any greeting from Moses to his family, but perhaps it did that as well.

Vs. 7-8: From verses 7-12, we can form two equally important truths about life in general & ours in specific:

Life is hard!
God is good!

Moses greets his father-in-law in the customary way, but what is interesting to me is that Moses bows down to him. Moses is now a leader of a nation, a war hero, and yet he still has remained humble.

Four times in verses 8-10, we are told how God delivered Moses & the nation. Again, notice in verse 8 that Moses tells Jethro all the Lord had done. Now Moses’ handling of success impresses me here. Folks, it is easy to handle pride when you fail, but it‘s a whole other thing to deal with pride when you have success. You don’t see any mention of Moses saying, “Well, you should have seen how I went up to Pharaoh & told him he had better not mess with me, man!” Neither do you see him boast in the nation’s goodness. God did what He did for Israel’s sake. In other words, He did so because of who He is, not who they are. Furthermore, Moses does not sugarcoat the story as he spoke to Jethro. He told of “all hardship that had come upon them on the way.” Did you notice the words “on the way”? It seems that Moses spoke of how they lacked water & food. So? Well, the word “hardship” means travel trouble. Moses told how the Lord had blessed them even though they grumbled & complained. Can you imagine how easy it would have been for Moses to leave that part out, thus giving the impression that God’s blessings were based upon Israel’s goodness? But he does not; he makes sure that he shares that God’s blessings are based upon His goodness in spite of the lack of ours. Folks, you want to blow unsaved people’s minds? Tell them what a mess you are, then tell them how great God’s love is for you. You see, the whole world is used to things by merit, but they have no concept of grace! You know what, though? We don’t often do this, do we? Instead, as Charles Spurgeon said, “We engrave our trials in marble & write our blessings in sand!” We make it seem as though God has been unfair to us & all that we have good in our lives has come from our own self-effort!

Vs. 9-12: Reveals the effect of Moses’ sharing had on Jethro.

Vs. 9 REJOICED: Jethro delights in all the “good” the Lord had done. You see, Jethro gets the point of Moses’ sharing. “Man, you are right, Moses! God is good, the way He delivered you guys, knowing that you were just going to doubt Him & complain against Him!” The word “rejoiced” means to make glad. In other words, this blew Jethro’s mind about God.
Vs. 10 BLESSED THE LORD: This word means to kneel, to adore. Look at how Jethro describes the goodness of the Lord in the present tense (has delivered). This tells me that old Jethro was realizing that since God had done this, then He would continue to do so. Since that was based upon the Lord’s goodness & not man’s, then he too could be a recipient of God’s goodness. Jethro is beginning to appropriate the Lord’s promises in his own life. “Man, Lord, I want to know You who so love & care for people!”
Vs. 11 NOW I KNOW: Jethro acknowledges personally the Lord’s greatness above all other so-called gods. Jethro, or Ruel, was a Midianite. They were the descendants of Abraham’s younger son through Keturah. Though they were monotheistic, it appears that Jethro was not fully convinced about the true God. What convinced him was that God judged the mightiest polytheistic nation by acts of plagues.
Vs. 12a TOOK A BURNT OFFERING & SACRIFICES: In other words, Jethro shows the reality of turning his life over to God by obedience to the Word of the Lord. Perhaps we would say that there was a radical change in his life. Some of you have made some changes in your lives & people have started to notice. Now when you’re around Christians, they are very supportive, but those out there in the world—your old buddies—they are not too keen on the idea.
Vs. 12b ATE BREAD WITH MOSES’ FATHER-IN-LAW: There was fellowship, man. These guys all came together & hung out with each other in the Lord. Jethro became one with them in the Lord. This old Midianite priest became a follower of God & as such was accepted. Is that not great to hang out with fellow Christians?

The simple sharing of God’s truth changed the life of Jethro & as we shall see, he wastes no time in straightening out Moses.

III.) Vs. 13-27 I know God & you’re not Him!

Vs. 13-14: The next day after the potluck, Moses goes right out to work. From morning to evening, dealing with the people’s difficulties. When you take into consideration the fact that there were around 2 million people, this must have been quite a sight. I mean, you think the lines at Christmas are bad—this must have been a nightmare.

Now notice the two questions Jethro has for Moses after observing this all day:

What is it you are doing?
Why are you doing it?

The nation already had elders; in fact, Jethro had dinner with them the night before. But what he observed was that they were not “elding.” More importantly, Moses had shared how God was good & took care of all the difficulties of the nation, & now instead of teaching the people that, he was trying to handle it himself.

Vs. 15-16: Now as a reason for what Moses was doing, he offers these two statements:

Vs. 15: Because the people want me to.
Vs. 16: Because we have always done it that way.

Never once did Moses say, “Well, you see, I prayed about this & the Lord said do it this way.” In fact, it will be Jethro that offers the suggestion and then tells Moses to go seek the Lord on what he had said to see if it is of the Lord (verse 23). Instead, he says, “The people wanted me to ask God’s opinion on matters.” Now I must say that this is good that they desire to have the Lord direct them, but they have not yet learned that they can go directly to God. Second, a lot of times, traditions get started out of a need but never get any structure. Now, I kind of like to throw curveballs at our leadership, because that is how real life is. In other words, you can count on life not going the way you count on!

Vs. 17-20: Jethro says, “Hey, Moses, this is not effective. Look, man, these guys will drive you nuts & their waiting line will give them more things to come & complain about.” Look carefully at those words: “You are not able to perform it by yourself.” Folks, I do not have any more of a direct line to God than you do. Neither does any other living or dead person. So what was Moses to do for the people?

Vs. 19: Go to God in prayer for the people. E.M. Bounds once said, “Those who would go to the people for God must first be willing to go to God for the people!”
Vs. 20: Teach them the Word of the Lord. Teach them the Word so that they will be able to correct their behavior before it ever has to get to you. Notice what the Word of God was to teach them:
- The way they must walk: how they should behave towards each other.
- The work they must do: how they should behave towards God.

Folks, I can’t solve your problems—only God can. All I can do is pray with you & for you & share with you what & how to apply God’s Word in your situation. Anymore, we turn to the professionals for our needs. Hey, why not turn to prayer & the Word of the Lord?

Now I bet this was a bit humbling for Moses. I mean, not only is this his newly converted father-in-law, but Jethro is saying, “Hey, man, anyone can do your job.” Notice that what God did for the people was “good,” but what Moses did was “not good.” It is good to want to serve the people, but not when they don’t learn how to be dependent upon God. D.L. Moody once said, “It is better to set a hundred men to work than to do the work of a hundred men!”

Vs. 21: Jethro gives Moses four qualities to look for in the servants he chooses:

ABLE MEN: The word means to have virtue & valor; you can’t know these traits until you have observed them in their lives. Men who have proven themselves by already doing the work. Put guys in those positions who have shown their gifts & abilities among the people. How many times have we seen folks in the church in leadership positions that have not proven themselves to be servants?
FEAR GOD: Those that first & foremost love the Lord. Find those guys out who want nothing more than to grow in the Lord’s grace & knowledge. They don’t need a title to serve; they serve, period, because they are serving the Lord! Now, because they fear God, they are concerned about how they live their lives, so they live in the sight of God, holy, chaste lives.
MEN OF TRUTH: Men of the Word of God! Men who seek God daily through the Word. Self-feeders, man! Find those guys who hunger for the Word, knowing how to rightly divide the word of truth in their lives so they can help others do the same!
HATING COVETOUSNESS: Not self-centered but rather other-centered. Look for guys that care only about God & others. Those are the ones you can entrust with others’ problems.

Man, as I look at that list, I sure am glad that God has provided Calvary Chapel with just such godly men! I can honestly say that if you want to know what a believer looks like, go look at Butch, Willard, Carlos, or Tom. Go look at our deacons & deaconesses. They are men & women that I am thankful to serve with. Hey, guys, can I have that raise now?

Vs. 22-27: So Moses was only to handle the situations that others could not deal with, and the rest of his time, he was to spend praying for the people & teaching them the Word. Now you can go to the book of Acts in chapter 6 & find the early church coming up with the same idea. We read in verse 2 & verse 4: “It is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.” If it was not for this style of leadership here at Calvary Chapel, we would not be celebrating our 12-year anniversary.

Now Jethro says here that if Moses does delegate, he can expect three things:

Vs. 22: IT WILL BE EASIER: It will lighten the load because you will have more hands to the plow. I’m so thankful for all the folks that give their time & hearts to our children’s ministry, worship ministry, sound ministry & youth team. It makes Calvary Chapel function. Without folks stepping up, we would not be able to further God’s kingdom.
Vs. 22: THEY WILL BEAR THE BURDEN WITH YOU: They will make it more fun! Hey, when you have the crew we have here, serving the Lord is not a burden, it’s a blast! You ought to see us on Thursdays worshiping the Lord. It’s not work, it’s fun.
Vs. 23: YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ENDURE…& THIS PEOPLE WILL GO TO THEIR PLACE IN PEACE: The bottom line is that it will bear more fruit in the lives of others & yourself. Success will happen in our lives as well as the lives of others.

As we see, Moses was teachable & implemented the plan that the Lord gave Jethro. Folks, we will be moving into our new home in a little over a year & I can tell you that things will not stay the same. It will be interesting to see who among you will show themselves to be able, fearing God, of the Word, & others-centered!