Allowing Other In
Exodus 18
“I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.” vs. 6
Baggage
There is a dating show on GSN called Baggage. It is a lot like the Dating Game show of the 70’s and 80’s and is a show that is a dating show where people reveal things in their life that people don’t necessarily know about and that if they did they may not want to date them. The contestants have 3 pieces of info about themselves that they reveal and each time they revel each new piece of info (the size of the luggage increases as well) it is more sensational than the last.
(Have props on stage and do a mock run thru of the show.)
So let me show you how it might work. Try to sound like Jerry Springer: Open the first bag and say “I take a shower every day with knife.” Then pretend like the show is happening and run through it a bit.
You know, we all have baggage. We all have things we don’t want people to know about us and things that are maybe somewhat embarrassing. Today we are going to see this scenario of baggage in our life played out with a guy named Jethro in Exodus 18:
Read Passage – Exodus 18:5-27
5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, 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 a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God. 13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 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 instructions.” 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 his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave.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.
Sent Away
As our story begins Moses has sent away his wife and sons and they have gone back to her Father, Jethro. We find that in verses 2-3:
“After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her 3 and her two sons.” vs. 2-3
We are not sure why Moses sent his wife and daughters away. It doesn’t say when or why.
-Before the plagues so they wouldn’t be affected? Or experience Pharaoh’s wrath. (Not likely)
-During their walk in the wilderness so they wouldn’t experience the harsh journey? (Not likely)
-Maybe to protect the children during the fighting with people they would encounter?
-Maybe they just went on a vacation so Moses could focus on God’s work.
-Or, maybe Moses and Zipporah wer having marital differences.
Who knows. We are not told and anything that is conjectured is just a guess.
Jethro the Midian Priest
I wish I knew why they were sent away but here we see Jethro bringing Zipporah and her two sons back to Moses. (if you are like me I have a hard time not thinking about Jethro on The Beverly Hillbillies when I say his name.)
Jethro was also called Reuel. Reuel meant friend of God, while Jethro meant excellence. Reuel was apparently his personal name, while Jethro may have been a more official or honorary name.
The Midianites originated from Midian, a son of Abraham (Genesis 25:1-2), which therefore actually made Jethro and Moses distant cousins. The Midianite territory consisted mostly in the area east of The Dead Sea and The Jordan River, but during the time of Moses also included a large part of the Sinai.
During the long time that Moses lived and worked keeping Jethro’s flocks, Jethro no doubt taught him all about desert life. Many are surprised when they first read that Moses spent 40 years out in the desert wilderness before returning to Egypt for the Exodus. Certainly by then he would have become well familiar and accustomed to life in the Sinai, where he would later spend another 40 years leading the Israelites during their Wilderness Journey before their entry into the Promised Land.
A Big Job
Moving this large group of people and organizing everything is a big job; probably an such a big job that it must have seemed overwhelming at times. God is about to give His laws to the Israelites but Moses can’t focus with all the other things he is doing, he is having a difficult time telling the major things form the minor things and he is overworking himself. So God uses Jethro to move him into a place to hear God.
He observes Moses acting as judge and there are these long lines of people that are having disputes and they are coming to him to solve them. (Is this any surprise when we hear how much they complain in the wilderness?) So they are coming to Moses and he is working all day settling their disputes. Jethro sees this and tells Moses he is burning himself out and he can’t keep going this way and suggests Moses break the people down into manageable groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens and then tells him to appoint judges to rule on their disputes. (vs. 17) It seems like a good idea to Moses and he does it.
When I read this I realized how important it is to look at what jethro did and how that applies to our lives.
Letting Others Speak Into Our Life
So this morning, let’s look to Jethro to gain insight into letting others speak into our life. Let’s see how he sees this.
- Find People You Can Trust
First, it is important for us to find people you can trust to speak into your life. Verse 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.” Vs. 9
Remember, Jethro, is a Godly man. He looks at what is going on and affirms all that God is doing through Moses. He is supportive of Moses and the work that God has done through him. We need people that affirm the things God is doing in our life. It helps too that people affirm what God is doing even if they are not believers. Not everyone that we allow to speak into our live needs to be a Christian but they need to be able to affirm our values and morals, the Godly ones we put into our life.
Ill. I recently wrote an article in the Antioch Hearl and took some flack for quoting Ghandi. Ghandi may not have been a Christian, but he still had some good things to say.
Ex. Financial advice – We sometimes have smart and wise people tha can help us with our business, finances, real estate, etc. that are not believers but they can affirm our values and help us with the situations of our life. Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived said in Prov. 12:26:
“The righteous choose their friends carefully…” Proverbs 12:26
We should choose our friends carefully because if we allow them to speak inot our life we need to be able to trust what they say. Hopefully, that will be fellow believers but don’t discount someone just because they are not a believer. Sometimes believers lead us astray as well.
Ex. Someone was having difficulty in their business and some well meaning believers told them to just walk away from their commitment.
- Open Up To Others
Second, we have to have people we can open up to. We need people to chare our stores with. Verse 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.” vs. 8
People love to tell their story. We love to share. When you find someone you can trust you can open up to them and tell your story. It makes you feel better, it makes you feel affirmed, it t is therapeutic. Sometimes I don’t want someone to help me solve my problems or fix things for me, although that can be a benefit too, but we just need someone to listen and to open up to. That is a real friend. Again, Solomon said in Prov. 18:24:
“There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24
I would encourage you to find people to open up to. Many will stick close to you; closer than a relative, brother as Solomon said. Really what his is is dropping the waterline. (the analogy of an iceberg, you only see 10% of it and we only let people see our 10%) Drop the waterline and open up to others.
- Hear What Others Say
Third, we also have to be willing to listen. Notice what happens in verse 17-19:
“Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 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. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you.” vs. 17-19
When we share with others, especially when we are opening ourselves up to them, we need to be willing to hear the words they speak into our life. Jethro hears what Moses is saying, he sees what is going on, and then he speaks into his life. It’s not in the form of a question but he is essentially asking Moses permission to speak into his life. Let’s go back to Solomon one more time, Prov. 1:5:
“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” Prov. 1:5
Wise people look for others they can trust and open up to, to speak into their life and they have a willingness to hear what is being said. You don’t have to do it alone. In fact, we might need to acknowledge that we can’t do it alone. That doesn’t make us less of a person or less valuable, it actually makes us stronger and as Solomon says, valuable.
One note: make sure you take it back to God. Don’t forget to pray and ask for God’s wisdom and discernment.
- Have A Willingness To Act
Finally, we should have the willingness to act. Notice verse 24:
“Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.” vs. 24
Jethro had some good advice to give Moses and Moses did it. He could have blown him off, done what he wanted, or even discounted what his father-in-law said. I mean really, what would Jethro know about leading this many people. But Moses was willing to act on the advice from Jethro. James 2:17 says:
“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:17
Our actions speak louder than our words. Moses was humble enough and open enough to hear these words and do exactly what was being told to him. I would bet he prayed about it to but the story doesn’t say that.
Caution
Finally, let me caution you; I believe everything I just told you but there are times where it will back fire on us. We can open up to others and they will break our trust, hurt us, laugh at us, put us down, and maybe use it against us. That is way it’s important to find people we can trust.
There is a great ending here we shouldn’t miss. Do you know what happens just after this story? Moses goes to Mt. Sinai and he speaks with God and God gives him the 10 Commandments. God used Jethro to clear out the things in Moses life that were not allowing him time to spend with God and to hear God. Because of Jethro’s actions Moses was freed up to go meet with God and spend time with God and get further instruction, the 10 Commandments. Pretty cool how God used Jethro.
