Exodus II Notes Week 5

Notes:

Exodus 18

Leadership

Exodus 18:1-12

Moses reunited with Jethro and his family

Evangelism — Jethro had heard about what the Lord had done

Moses shares all that God has done

Jethro believes!

Exodus 18:11 CSB

11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because he did wonders when the Egyptians acted arrogantly against Israel.”

Exodus 18:12 CSB

12 Then Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’s father-in-law in God’s presence.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 1: Genesis–Leviticus (Revised Edition) Commentary

This confession formula—“Now I know”—is used by two other Gentile believers: the widow at Zarephath (1 Ki 17:24), and Naaman, commander of the Syrian army (2 Ki 5:15). It is a clear statement to Yahweh’s incomparable greatness above all the gods of Egypt (not necessarily Jethro’s past or present penchant for polytheism).

Exodus 18:12-27 Leadership

Moses

Contrary to wordly leadership, Moses is not grasping for power and control he is ready to give it away.

Words

Judge (שׁפט)

used 6x(Exod 18:13, 16, 22(2), 26)

judge, administer justice, rule

Chief/Ruler (שַׂר)

Exod 18:21

representative of the king, commander, chief, leader, ruler

Commentary

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory A New Form of Government

Jethro had the solution. An army general would recognize it as the old military strategy of divide and conquer. An economist would call it the division of labor. The Bible has a word for it too. It is called Presbyterianism, the spiritual rule of God’s people by a representative group of godly men, whom the Israelites called “elders.”

Spiritual Leadership (Ryken)

Spiritual Leaders must be mature

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory Spiritual Leadership

Here the word “select” has the connotation of insight or discernment. If God’s people were to have wise leaders, they needed to be wisely chosen.

Advice given from Jethro (new convert) — God’s People

He was a shepherd — he knew about running a business

God leads us through:

His word (moses given), His spirit (presence), his people (through Jethro)

Jethro was submitting his advice to God’s Blessing

Exodus 18:19 ESV “19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God,

Scriptures

Deuteronomy 1:13–15 ESV

13 Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes.