The Second Book of Moses called EXODUS - Chapter Eighteen

Jethro visits Moses

1 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.’

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 round 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 round 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 Let them serve as judges for the people at all times, but let 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.

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Exodus 18: “strain” (v.23) 

Do you feel overloaded?  Is “strain” a problem?  Duties can grow out of all proportion, and then some adjustments need to be made. There may be some times you have to reorganise to make yourself less indispensable. 

It happened to the apostles – they had to prioritise (Acts 6 vv.1-7). 

It happened to Moses, and his father-in-law Jethro told him so bluntly (“what you are doing is not good” v.17). His “advice” (v.19)?  “Select capable men” (v.21) who “will make your load lighter” (v.22). Then what?  “Moses listened” (v.24). 

Are you blind to your own “strain” (v.23), and deaf to good “advice”?

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EXODUS Chapter Eighteen

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The Second Book of Moses called EXODUS - Chapter Seventeen

Water from the rock

1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, travelling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarrelled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’

Moses replied, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?’

3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?’

4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.’

5 The Lord answered Moses, ‘Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.’ So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarrelled and because they tested the Lord saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’

The Amalekites defeated

8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.’

10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up – one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

14 Then the Lord 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.’

15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. 16 He said, ‘Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.’

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Exodus 17: “lifted” (v.16)

Intercessory prayer (i.e. praying on behalf of others) is vital in spiritual conflicts. Joshua and his men were in the front line against the Amalekites, but the Scriptural record reveals how the tide of battle below ebbed and flowed according to what was being done on the hill. 

Note: 

[A] “as long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning” (v.11); 

[B] “whenever he lowered” them, the reverse happened; 

[C] “Moses’ hands grew tired” (v.12), but Hur and Aaron supported them; 

[D] “hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD” (v.16). Anyone for some tough praying?  Hands up!

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The Second Book of Moses Called EXODUS - Chapter Sixteen

Manna and quail

1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat round pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.’

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.’

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, ‘In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?’ 8 Moses also said, ‘You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.’

9 Then Moses told Aaron, ‘Say to the entire Israelite community, “Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.”’

10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked towards the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 ‘I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, “At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.”’

13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was.

Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: “Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.”’

17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

19 Then Moses said to them, ‘No one is to keep any of it until morning.’

20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much – two omers for each person – and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, ‘This is what the Lord commanded: “Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.”’

24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 ‘Eat it today,’ Moses said, ‘because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.’

27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.’ 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: “Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.”’

33 So Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.’

34 As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, that it might be preserved. 35 The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

36 (An omer is one tenth of an ephah.)

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Exodus 16: “flakes” (v.14)

The Israelites had “flakes” (v.14) to eat every single morning. Do you like corn flakes for breakfast?  Better than an empty stomach, certainly. There were no shops, yet a fresh supply appeared, “thin flakes like frost … on the ground” to nourish them. They called this novelty they couldn’t understand “manna” (v.31), which means ‘what is it?’  (v.15). 

Do you ‘eat’ God’s word daily (Matthew 4 v,4), as your “spiritual food” (1 Corinthians 10 v.3)?  You need never “starve” (v.3). Just go and “gather” it (v.16). God will “prepare a table” (Psalm 23 v.5) before you to feast from. Tuck in!  

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The Second Book of Moses called EXODUS - Chapter Fifteen

 

The song of Moses and Miriam

1 

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

‘I will sing to the Lord,

    for he is highly exalted.

Both horse and driver

    he has hurled into the sea.

2 

‘The Lord is my strength and my defence;

    he has become my salvation.

He is my God, and I will praise him,

    my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

3 

The Lord is a warrior;

    the Lord is his name.

4 

Pharaoh’s chariots and his army

    he has hurled into the sea.

The best of Pharaoh’s officers

    are drowned in the Red Sea.

5 

The deep waters have covered them;

    they sank to the depths like a stone.

6 

Your right hand, Lord,

    was majestic in power.

Your right hand, Lord,

    shattered the enemy.

7 

‘In the greatness of your majesty

    you threw down those who opposed you.

You unleashed your burning anger;

    it consumed them like stubble.

8 

By the blast of your nostrils

    the waters piled up.

The surging waters stood up like a wall;

    the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

9 

The enemy boasted,

    “I will pursue, I will overtake them.

I will divide the spoils;

    I will gorge myself on them.

I will draw my sword

    and my hand will destroy them.”

10 

But you blew with your breath,

    and the sea covered them.

They sank like lead

    in the mighty waters.

11 

Who among the gods

    is like you, Lord?

Who is like you –

    majestic in holiness,

awesome in glory,

    working wonders?

12 

‘You stretch out your right hand,

    and the earth swallows your enemies.

13 

In your unfailing love you will lead

    the people you have redeemed.

In your strength you will guide them

    to your holy dwelling.

14 

The nations will hear and tremble;

    anguish will grip the people of Philistia.

15 

The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,

    the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling,

the people of Canaan will melt away;

16 

    terror and dread will fall on them.

By the power of your arm

    they will be as still as a stone –

until your people pass by, Lord,

    until the people you bought pass by.

17 

You will bring them in and plant them

    on the mountain of your inheritance –

the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling,

    the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.

18 

‘The Lord reigns

    for ever and ever.’

19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 

20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing. 

21 Miriam sang to them:

‘Sing to the Lord,

    for he is highly exalted.

Both horse and driver

    he has hurled into the sea.’

The waters of Marah and Elim

22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they travelled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, ‘What are we to drink?’

25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.

There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. 26 He said, ‘If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.’

27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Exodus 15: “women” (v.20)

When things go well we feel euphoric. This song of praise was not a solo – “Moses and the Israelites sang” (v.1). Nor was it a male voice choir – “Miriam the prophetess … took a tambourine … and all the women followed her dancing” (v.20). Musical instruments and graceful movement expressed their joy in liberation. 

Such a high point doesn’t prevent us seeing more challenges, as with them: “for three days they travelled in the desert” (v.22). Then they found an oasis, but “its water was bitter” (v.25), so “the people grumbled” (v.24) – men and women too. It’s not a gender thing. So is it your thing?

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READING

 

EXODUS Chapter Fifteen

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Song of the Sea.(Hebrew) | Exodus 15 

Song Of Moses | Aaron Keyes 

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Dancing in the dessert

T D JAKES 

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