Know It All
Exodus 18: 1 – 27.
Introduction
Nobody is perfect. It is only human to make mistakes. If your name is not google, then you don’t know everything.
This is a wonderful time to be alive. Anything you want to know is at the tip of your fingers. When I was a kid, the best way for me to satisfy my curiosity or to work on a school project was to look it up in the World Book Encyclopedia. Any time I had to write a paper, I used the World Book. Any time I asked my dad a question that he didn’t know the answer, he told me to look it up in World Book. When my kids ask me questions that I don’t know the answer, I usually say, “Now that is a question for google.”
A few weeks ago, Collin and I were watching a football game together. He asked me a question that I did not know the answer, so I pulled out my phone and googled it. Months ago, we were watching the football movie, We Are Marshall, on TV. I wondered how accurate the movie was, so I pulled out my phone and googled it. Surprisingly, the movie stayed very close to the true story. And, every week, I use google to help me write my Sunday morning sermons.
I don’t know how I could answer my children’s questions, watch a movie on TV, or preach a sermon without google.
Now you probably already know this…But you can’t believe EVERYTHING you read on the Internet. There are some crazy people out there with some crazy ideas. And all the crazy people have their own websites. It’s important to remember the words of President Abraham Lincoln, who said, “You can’t believe everything you read on the Internet.” (I found that quote on the Internet.)
Nobody is perfect. It is only human to make mistakes. If your name is not google, then you don’t know everything.
This was even true about Moses. Of course, Moses had a lot going for him. He was God’s chosen man to redeem God’s people from slavery. Moses spoke to God directly, and God spoke to Moses directly. God gave Moses the words to say to Pharaoh, and God gave Moses specific instructions on where and how to find water and food in the desert. But, Moses wasn’t perfect…And, Moses didn’t know everything. There was a time when Moses needed advice from his father-in-law, of all people.
So far, in our study of the Book of Exodus, we have experienced one theme—God came to his people when they were in need. They were slaves in
At this point in the Book of Exodus, we are witnessing the beginning of a new theme—God went with his people on their journey. Another way to describe this shift in themes is to say that the same God who saved his people is the same God who sustains them on their journey.
Perhaps that is a message you need to hear this morning. The same God who saved you is the same God who will sustain you and provide for all of your needs on your faith journey. God did not give up on the Hebrew people after he saved them from slavery. He led them into the desert. In the desert, they met with many difficulties—they had no food, they had no water, and they faced hostilities from other nations. In each of these trials, the God who saved them also provided for their needs. God did not give up on his people after he saved them, and God does not give up on us either.
Salvation is only part of what God promised to do for the Hebrew people. He promised to save them and to make them his people. He saved them by sending the plagues and parting the
Exodus 18 illustrates both sides of what God does for his people. It begins by describing God’s salvation. It ends by describing God’s on going provision.
Good News Travels Far and Wide--Exodus 18: 1 – 12.
1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.
2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her
3 and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses said, "I have become an alien in a foreign land";
4 and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, "My father's God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh."
5 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, together with Moses' sons and wife, came to him in the desert, where he was camped near the mountain of God.
6 Jethro had sent word to him, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons."
7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent.
8 Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them.
9 Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians.
10 He said, "Praise be to the LORD, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians.
11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly."
12 Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law in the presence of God.
(NIV)
It is remarkable that Jethro had already heard about the Exodus. Jethro was not with Moses and the Hebrew people when they escaped from
Moses met Jethro during the period of time when Moses was in exile in the desert. Moses protected Jethro’s daughters from some unscrupulous shepherds at a well. So, Jethro gave Moses his daughter to become Moses’ wife. AND, Jethro gave Moses a job as shepherd of Jethro’s sheep.
This was not Jethro’s only job. He was a sheep owner, and he was a priest of Midian. This is a revealing fact about Jethro. He was not a member of God’s people. He lived in a foreign land and, more than likely, worshipped a foreign god—not Yahweh, the One True God.
There was no email in the ancient world. Moses didn’t have a cell phone to call his father-in-law when he was in the neighborhood. So, how did Jethro find out?
Exodus 12: 37 tells us that there were 600,000 Hebrew men who left
Verse 1 tells us that not only did Jethro know that Moses was in the neighborhood. He also knew that Moses was there because of God’s work of salvation. He knew about God by reputation only. But that didn’t last for long. Jethro asked Moses to tell him the whole story of what God had done for Moses and the Hebrew people.
The Bible doesn’t give us the details of what Moses told his father-in-law. But, I believe it is safe to assume that Moses did two things. First, he told his father-in-law the details. Second, he talked about God’s salvation in very personal terms.
This encounter with Jethro is no accident. It’s not even serendipity. This is what God has intended from the very beginning. God described this in his covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12. God chose Abraham so that all nations of the earth could be blessed through Abraham and his relationship with God. This is what God predicted in his words to Pharaoh in Exodus 9: 16, “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
God does not work in secret. He performs miracles; works salvation; and provides for his people in ways that can be seen and known by all people. All people can know God by his reputation. They know him as the all powerful creator; a lover of beauty, who has built beauty into his creation; the savior, who demonstrated his love for all humanity through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus; and as the sustainer, who provides for all who will trust him. But, it is not enough to know God by reputation.
This is where we ought to follow in the example Moses set for us. When we meet someone who knows about God through his reputation, we need to share with them the details of God’s story and how that story is personal to us. The most powerful witness you have is to talk about what God has done for you.
You don’t have to know everything about theology. You don’t have to have an answer for every question—relationship between science and religion; the origin of evil; why bad things happen to good people. What you need is a personal experience with God. All you need to know is that you once were a sinner who could not solve your own sin problem; Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins; Jesus rose from the dead to give you the hope of eternal life; and when you placed your faith in Jesus as the Lord of your life, God changed your life.
When Jethro heard Moses’ personal testimony, he placed his faith in the One True God. Exodus 18: 9 – 12 tells us that Jethro 1) Delighted to hear; 2) Worshipped God; 3) Acknowledged God as the One True God; and 4) Offered a sacrifice. Jethro became the first Gentile convert!
The rest of Exodus 18 tells us that Jethro also became a full member of the community. He immediately made a contribution to God’s people.
Division of Labor, Or Something Else?--Exodus 18: 13 – 27.
14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?"
15 Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God's will.
16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and laws."
17 Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good.
18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.
19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him.
20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform.
21 But select capable men from all the people-- men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain-- and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you.
23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied."
24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.
25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.
27 Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.
(NIV)
There are some good things and some bad things we can say about the way God’s people were functioning as a community.
On the good side, we can say that the people were very concerned about doing God’s will. On the bad side, Moses was trying to do everything by himself.
Every day, people would come to Moses to find out what God wanted them to do with their lives. This is very commendable. They recognized that God loved them and wanted the best for their lives. They recognized that they were God’s people and ought to live up to God’s expectations for their lives. But they had no way of discerning God’s will for their lives. They also didn’t fully understand what God’s expectations were for the way they lived their lives. So, they took all their questions and disputes to Moses.
Imagine what Moses’ father-in-law must have seen that next morning. Moses sat down as a counselor and judge. The people lined up early in the morning to wait their turn to talk to Moses and learn God’s will for their lives. With 3,000,000 people in the community, the lines had to have been worse than the lines at Disney World! (The people were probably wishing they could have access to a Disney Fast Pass.)
There is one basic problem with the way Moses dealt with this. But we can describe it in two ways. Since Moses was trying to do everything on his own, he was wearing himself out quickly. Also, since Moses was trying to do everything on his own, he wasn’t doing a very good job of teaching the people how to discern God’s will for themselves.
With that in mind, I really don’t want to think about this in terms of “division of labor.” Of course, Jethro’s advice was a division of labor on the surface. However, there is something even bigger and better taking place here. Jethro encourages Moses to teach God’s word to the people and to teach them how to incorporate God’s will in their lives.
The 3,000,000 people were divided into smaller groups. There were divisions of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. I suppose we could over think this and do the math to determine how many division leaders Moses had to appoint (3,000 leaders of thousands; 30,000 leaders of hundreds; 60,000 leaders of fifties; and 300,000 leaders of tens). But the best way to interpret this is to focus on the smallest divisions.
Perhaps it would be attractive to interpret the divisions of tens as a Sunday School class or a small group / discipleship group. But the Hebrews didn’t think about discipleship the way we do. More than likely these divisions were family units. The basic building block for discipleship and discerning God’s will is your family.
I can think of two ways this is significant. Moses has placed God’s word in the hands of the people. They no longer have to think of Moses as their priest—the only person qualified to speak to God on behalf of the people and the only person qualified to interpret God’s word to the people. God’s word is in the hands of the people, and specifically God’s word is in the hands of the families.
Parents, you are responsible for the discipleship of your children. Grandparents, you are responsible for the discipleship of your grandchildren.
Conclusion
Jethro’s advice did not save Moses from
A lot of people might be tempted to interpret this passage from Moses’ point of view. To do that, we would walk away saying something like, “I need to be better organized in the way I do my work. I need to delegate some responsibilities to other people. I have to get some help, or else I’m going to burn out.”
That’s probably not the best way to read this. Instead, we ought to interpret this from Jethro’s point of view and the people’s point of view.
In the beginning of the chapter, Jethro converted. He left his faith in the false gods of Midian and became a believer in Yahweh, the One True God. Then, Jethro immediately made a contribution to the community of faith.
The people expected Moses to represent them before God and to interpret God’s word and will for them. Then, Moses placed God’s word in the hands of the people. He asked the people to become responsible for discerning God’s will for their lives. He asked them to make a contribution to the life of the community.
This Scripture does not tell you that you are doing too much. It tells you that you are not doing enough.
Every member of the church has a contribution to make to the community of faith. If you are not making a contribution to the church, then you are not doing enough. If you are not making a contribution, then you are expecting someone else to take up your responsibilities.
Our church is really not that different from other churches. In a typical church, twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work (and twenty percent of the people give eighty percent of the money).
Only you can answer this question. Which percentage are you in? Are you a member of the twenty percent who support the church through financial support and work? Or, are you a part of the eighty percent who account for a minority of the work and finances?
It doesn’t matter who you are or how long you have been a part of this church, you have a contribution to make. God has given you gifts, experiences and wisdom that no one else has. Perhaps you have gifts to contribute to a ministry that already exists. If so, get to work. Or, maybe you have a passion to start something new in our church. If so, go for it. (This is the way our women’s ministry began, and I am waiting for a man to have the same passion to start a men’s ministry.)
I can promise you this…God wants you to contribute to the work and the finances of our church…And I will not hold you back. I will help you find the resources and the volunteers to accomplish what God has placed on your heart.
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