Exodus 18: 7-12: “And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent. And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God.”
Jethro was a priest of Midian and a nomadic herder. He was ideally placed to give Moses advice while Moses led the Israelis through the wilderness. While it is true that the Lord was in control of the situation and the Lord spoke to Moses when Moses needed information, Moses also needed to have another person he could speak to and ask advice. Moses spoke to Jethro and told him everything that the Lord had done to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt. This was an entirely miraculous experience. How could a group of slaves escape from the greatest superpower of that day? Well the Lord intervened and kept the promise that He made to Abraham more than four hundred years before. Jethro was so impressed that he offered a sacrifice to the Lord himself, showing that he understood that the Lord was truly God of all creation. That miracle is only a small miracle compared to the miracle of modern salvation. God came down from heaven to earth to save sinners (1 Tim 1: 15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”) and give His life a ransom for many (Matt 20: 28, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”) Surely we should be so pleased about this good news that we want to tell others about it.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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