Sunday, September 11, 2022

The Exodus – Part 29 Jethro visits Moses

The Exodus – Part 29

Jethro visits Moses

Pastor Bruce A. Shields

House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org

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This document is a Sermon Outline. You may hear the full audio of the actual sermon by following the link Online Audio Files located above for this and other Full Sermon Audios. For a complete list of Sermon Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org or Truth Digest on Facebook; for our Official Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on Facebook at House of Faith Church.

 

 


SERMON TIMELINE

·          The Book of Genesis

·          The Book of Exodus

·         The First Three Miracles

·         The Ten Plagues

o   Passover & Feast of Unleavened Bread

§  Instructions for Passover Feast

§  Instructions for Feast of Unleavened Bread

§  The Exodus Begins

o   Passover Restrictions

o   Consecration of Hebrew Firstborn Sons

o   Cross the Red Sea

o   The Complaining Begins (continues)

o   Manna & Quail

o   Water from the Rock

o   Jethro visits Moses

 

INTRODUCTION

Over the last year or so, looking at the Book of Genesis, verse by verse, as well as more recently breaking down the Book of Exodus, verse by verse, I have mentioned that God's plan of redemption through Christ Jesus, the why, the how, and the results of, are all explained by God in these Books of the Bible.


Today we examine Moses being visited by his father-in-law Jethro

 

 

SCRIPTURE READING

Exodus 18

"Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.

 

2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her 3 and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land”; 4 and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

 

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.”

 

 

TODAY'S MESSAGE

 I.       THE PRIEST OF MIDIAN

a.      Moses sent his wife and children back to Midian

                                                 i.      Moses did this before traveling to Egypt to confront Pharaoh in Exodus 4

 

 

b.     Moses’ Father-in-law Jethro heard what God did

                                                 i.      Jethro head everything that God had done for Moses and the Israelites

                                              ii.      How the Lord brought them all out of Egypt

                                           iii.      Jethro brought Zipporah and the two sons out to the wilderness to return them to Moses

                                            iv.      They were camped near the Mountain of God

 

c.      Jethro returns Zipporah and the children to Moses

                                                 i.      Moses tells Jethro about everything that took place

                                              ii.      Jethro was delighted

                                           iii.      Jethro says, “Praise be to the Lord, NOW I know the Lord is greater than all other gods.”

                                            iv.      After this, Jethro brought burnt offerings and sacrifices to God

                                               v.      Aaron, the elders of Israel, Moses and Jethro all ate in the presence of God

 

 

II.   MOSES CHOOSES JUDGES

a.      Jethro sees how Moses is handling the multitudes

                                                 i.      The next day Moses gets up like usual and does his daily routine

                                              ii.      Sitting as judge for all of Israel from sunrise to sunset

 

 

b.     Jethro asks Moses to explain

                                                 i.      Jethro seeing this, asks “Why are you doing this? You are going to get burned out doing this all day every day.”

                                              ii.      This is too much for one man

                                           iii.      Moses responds, “Because the people need me to seek God’s will when they have a dispute and I inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.”

 

 

c.      Jethro then offers a solution to Moses

                                                 i.      “Here is some sound advice.”

1.      Teach them God’s decrees and instructions

2.      Show them the way they are to live

3.      Show them how to behave

 

                                              ii.      Select men from the people

1.      Men who fear God

2.      Trustworthy men

3.      Men who hate dishonest gain

 

                                           iii.      Appoint them as officials over 1000s, 100s, 50s, 10s

                                            iv.      Have them always serve as Judges for the people but have them bring you the difficult cases only.

 

                                               v.      If you do this, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.

1.      Jethro underestimates the dissatisfaction power of the Israelites.

 

 

III.            WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THIS

a.      Too much of a good thing

                                                 i.      Sunlight is good for us

1.      The sun’s UV rays help your body make Vitamin D

2.      which is important for your bones, blood cells, and immune system.

3.      It also helps you take in and use certain minerals, like calcium and phosphorus.

 

                                              ii.      Too much sunlight is and for us

1.      UV is radiation

2.      overexposure to sunlight increases the risks of cancers, premature aging of the skin, the development of cataracts, and other harmful effects such as skin cancer.

 

                                           iii.      Just because something is a “good thing”

1.      Doesn’t mean you cannot overdo it

2.      Doesn’t mean you are called to do it at all!

 

 

b.     The real dangers of burn-out

                                                 i.      Excessive stress (which has its own dangers to our health)

                                              ii.      Fatigue (which comes with other health risks)

                                           iii.      Insomnia (again, other health issues)

                                            iv.      Sadness, anger, or irritability

                                               v.      Alcohol or substance abuse

                                            vi.      Heart disease

                                         vii.      High blood pressure

                                       viii.      Type 2 diabetes

                                             ix.      We read in the scriptures that Jethro sees the “stress” Moses is having.

 

 

c.      There’s more than one way to skin a cat

                                                 i.      I would never skin a cat…I have two house cats and have cared for over 70+ feral cats, and never understood why this is even a saying.

 

                                              ii.      But it is a saying, which simply means, there is more than one way to do things.

1.      I normally refer to these as Your way, and the right way.

 

                                           iii.      Jethro offers a solution that works.

1.      Everything is still being accomplished, only no one is getting stressed with the burden of responsibility.

 

 

CONCLUSION

So, we must be mindful, just because it is good, doesn’t mean we cannot overdo it.

 

Just because it’s good and there is a need, doesn’t necessarily mean we are called to do it at all.

 

If you want to truly succeed in the Kingdom, find your calling, and stick to it.

 

God calls each and everyone of us to ministry.

 

1 Peter 2:4-5 “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

 

We are all priests

 

However, God does not call us to do everything, in fact, the Holy Spirit gives and takes gifts to suit the needs of the Body of Christ as He sees fit.

 

1 Corinthians 12:7 “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

 

No one has all the gifts, and not everyone has the same gifts

 

No one has all the gifts

 

1 Corinthians 12:8-11 “To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”

 

Not everyone has the same gift, because the Lord wants us to be the Body of Christ together.

 

1 Corinthians 12

 

If we are prayerfully minded and listen to God’s calling in our lives, He will reveal to us His will for us.

 

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

If you are confused or not sure of God’s Will for you in your life, then you may need to renew your mind, change your thinking, be transformed by His Word, not conforming to this world.

 

Sometimes we have our own desires that we then try to imprint His will onto. Doing our own will, then asking God to bless it. This ultimately leads to failure, then disappointment because it failed, and then discouragement because it failed and you may think “either God isn’t truly speaking, or I cannot truly hear.”

 

Therefore, the devil uses things of the world to confuse and confound, hoping to discourage and keep you from your true calling by God by bogging you down with something that “seems” right and good.

 

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”

 

Moses thought he was doing a good and right thing for God by sitting as Judge over all of Israel. But this seemingly good thing would last from sunrise to sunset, keeping Moses from serving God in the way he was called to.

 

We can seek His will for us through prayer and reading His word. If we stay focused on His will for us, He will provide the gifts, the means, and the strength to accomplish what He sets us out to do.

 

Moses could have looked at the struggles and difficulties in Judging all of Israel and justify it as “the devils just trying to keep me from doing this,” or, as wise men do, he listened to the council of his father-in-law and accomplished the same thing without losing his way of his true calling.

 

Proverbs 1:5 “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,”

 

God equips those He calls

 

 

NEXT WEEK

We will look at Moses and Mount Sinai

.

 

 

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