Jethro(Yitro) Exodus(Sh’mot) 18:1-20:23
1.This week, in Exodus 20 we have the 10 Words or 10 commandments. Which do you think is the most important of the Ten Commandments and why?
Exodus 20”1-17, “And G-d spoke all these words: “I am the L-rd your G-d, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before[a] me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the L-rd your G-d, am a jealous G-d, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.“You shall not misuse the name of the L-rd your G-d, for the L-rd will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the L-rd your G-d. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the L-rd made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the L-rd blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the L-rd your G-d is giving you.“You shall not murder.“You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Which is the most important commandment?
What does the Shema say? Deut. 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The L-rd our G-d, the L-rd is one.
What did Yeshua say?
Matthew 22:36-40“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Yeshua replied: “‘Love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
In our portion Exodus 20:1-2, “And G-d spoke all these words: “I am theL-rdyour G-d, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Our belief in G-d and love for G-d must precede anything else.
Without faith our actions, while they may be good, accomplishes nothing spiritually.
We can keep the commandments but if we do not love the L-rd G-d our works will be dead.
The first commandment stresses the L-rd is G-d.
Yeshua said the greatest commandment is to love the L-rd G-d with all our heart.
When we come to our own personal meeting with G-d
the first thing we must settle is – “He is the L-rd our G-d.”
Here Israel settled the question with their response in
Exodus 19:8, “The people all responded together, “We will do everything the L-rd has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the L-rd.
So what is then required of us?
Our lives must be lived for Him – not for our own desires.
His will His direction is our guiding light.
Even Jethro proclaimed his belief in the one true G-d in Exodus 18:11, “Now I know that the L-rd is greater than all gods; for in the thing where they dealt proudly He was above them.”
Can you think of an example in the Messianic scripture of a person who kept the commandments but did not love the L-rd with all their heart?
Matthew 19:16-22, “A man approached Yeshua and said, “Rabbi, what good thing should I do in order to have eternal life? He said to him. Why are you asking me about good? There is One who is good! But if you want to obtain eternal life, observe the mitzvot. The man asked him, which one? And Yeshua said, Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t give false testimony, honor father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him I have kept all these; where do I still fall short? Yeshua said to him, If you are serious about reaching the goal, go and sell your possessions, give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me? But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he was wealthy.”
2.Exodus 19:1-2 says in the third month after leaving Egypt, the children of Israel departed from a place called Rephidim. The Hebrew root word for Rephidim means to rest. Their next stop would be Sinai and a face to face with G-d the Maker of the Universe. Do you see any significance in G-d choosing that place for them to stop before Mt. Sinai. Also is there any significance in what happened to them there (Exodus 17:8)? Is there a lesson here for us?
After leaving Egypt they camped at a place called Rephidim.
Next stop would be Sinai and a face to face with G-d.
These former slaves were just three months out of Egypt
G-d was going to speak to them.
This would be a new relationship with G-d.
G-d knew they needed a place to rest.
As we saw in the last Torah portion it was also a place to learn spiritual lessons.
It was a place to learn to trust G-d.
First at Rephidim they had no water.
G-d provided water.
Then they experienced an unprovoked attack by Amalek.
This was their first battle. In Exodus 17:14-16 says, “Then the L-rd said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Moses built an altar and called it The L–rd is my Banner. He said, “Because hands were lifted up against[c] the throne of the L–rd,[d] the L–rd will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”
G-d wanted them to remember.
He told Moses to write on a scroll what happened.
Moses built an altar called The L-rd is my Banner.”
They were to remember G-d’s saving power
Not only were they resting but they were learning the L-rd could be trusted.
Has G-d ever brought you to a place of rest to teach you something? Has He ever brought you to a full stop to get your full attention so you would not miss His message?
So now in this Torah portion G-d gave them a covenant.
From now on they had a two way covenant.
They were agreeing to obey fully and keep this covenant.
Exodus 19:4-8, 4“‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine,6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the L-rd had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, “We will do everything the L-rd has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the L-rd.”
In Hebrew verse 4 “you yourselves have seen”, is a plural form of you.
G-d was speaking to the group as one unit.
verse 5, “if you obey” is a singular you.
G-d was speaking to each individual.
Each individual had to answer for himself that he would obey and keep the covenant.
Verse 6, You will be for me a kingdom of priest goes back to plural form of you.
So the entire nation was to be a kingdom of priests and holy not just one or two leaders.
It was not smooth sailing for the rest of their journey.
They made bad decisions over and over even after all the miracles G-d did for them.
We might see a similar pattern in ourselves.
Sometimes it seems like our walk is two steps forward and one step back.
But Numbers 14:18a tells us, “The L-rd is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.”Many times the L-rd called Israel back to Him as He does with us. We may pay a price for our rebellion but Psalms 86:5 says, “You, L-rd, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.”
3.Now to a personal question. How do you handle unsolicited advice? We see in Exodus 18 Moses’ father in law giving unsolicited advice. Who was Jethro. How did Moses handle the advice given? Where do you go for advice?
Who was Jethro
Jethro and his descendants appear in other places in scripture
Numbers 10:29-34. Here he is referred to as Hobab.
Moses asks him to go with them to the Promised Land.
Judges 1:16 and I Samuel 15:6 Jethro is mentioned as being a Kenite.
(Kenites are generally understood to be a specific clan or subgroup within the broader Midianite confederation)
Jethro was a pagan priest of Midian
He heard about the one true G-d.
Exodus 18:17-23 He shared with Moses how to better meet the needs of the people.
Moses listened. He was respectful.
He saw the advice was good and he immediately made changes.
He did not say, “who are you to tell me what to do?”
He was willing to look at his situation and see there was a better way to do things.
Have you ever had someone give you advice you didn’t ask for?
Was it hard to listen to someone telling you a better way to do something
especially if they begin with Jethro’s words, “the thing that you do is not good?”
Does pride sometimes get in our way?
Important thought:
there are different kinds of advice. What would Moses have done if his father in law had given him spiritual advice . How do we handle spiritual advice?
Who do we go to for spiritual advice?
The Midrash says, “If you are told, there is wisdom among the nations, believe it. If you are told there is Torah among the nations do not believe it.”
Some people go from person to person asking for spiritual advice. Or they accept advice about their spiritual life without questioning who is giving the advice. We must always test the spirit of the advisor.
I John 4:1, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from G-d, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
We witnessed the destruction of a congregation because no one checked out the stranger who arrived with what he said was a word from G-d.
This man came from Africa saying G-d sent him to advise the leaders of the congregation. His speech was so compelling most of the leadership immediately jumped on board without checking who the man was or asking G-d if this man could be trusted. His message to the leader of the congregation was very flattering. He told him he did not need correction or to hear from other leaders. After a few weeks of his presence in the congregation things began to fall apart. He quietly left. We never heard from him again.
I know the above story is dramatic and most of us will hopefully never witness deception on a large scale like this. But we may, as individuals, need spiritual input in our life and it is important how we go about it. No matter the situation we find ourselves in we must first go to our Heavenly Father with our questions. If we need more help we then find a person we know to be a well-grounded spiritual person.