Exodus 17 & 18: Will You Rejoice In God’s Goodness?
Verse of the Day: (18:9) 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.
1. Rock (17:1-16)
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. (17:6)
God can do anything and everything except fail! Though time and again, Israel murmured and complained against Moses, yet God in His goodness always provide for them, and this time, He provided water for them from the rock. When Amalek, Israel’s enemy, attacked them, God gave them victory over Amalek only when Moses held his hand with His rod. However, when Moses let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. Subsequently, Aaron and Hur went to Moses, their leader, and each kept holding one of his hands, until God gave them the final victory. Like Aaron and Hur, let us be supportive of our leaders by praying for them, and helping them, so that God’s work be victoriously accomplished!
2. Rejoice (18:1-12)
Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. (18:11)
Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, believed that the God of Moses and Israel was the one and true God, and he rejoiced in God’s goodness after he heard from Moses all that God had done for Israel in delivering them out of the Egyptians. Indeed, let us trust God and rejoice in His goodness, as He shall deliver us from all our troubles and trials, and one day, He shall deliver us from fiery hell and promote us to glorious heaven.
3. Ruler (18:13-27)
Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: (18:21)
The most important criterion of a leader or ruler is to fear God or to do what is right and honest before God. When Jethro saw Moses spending all his time and energy alone teaching and ruling Israel, he advised him to choose rulers to assist him. The criteria for these rulers were that they must fear God and be men of truth who hated covetousness. Moses listened to Jethro, and chose his rulers and delegated them to teach and rule Israel - some led thousands, others hundreds, others fifties, and others tens. Only the difficult issues did Moses handle them while the routine issues were handled by his rulers. Indeed, there is nothing new under the sun, as everything, including leadership and management theories, such as delegation and empowerment, came from God’s holy Word, the Bible.
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to fully trust You, and rejoice in Your goodness.
