Jethro

Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. (Exodus 18: 5 to 9)

Jethro was a priest of Midian. Even though Midian was not one of the Israeli twelve tribes, the people of Midian were descendants of Abraham through his wife Keturah after Sarah had died as described below.

Abraham married another wife, named Keturah. The children she bore him were Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. (Genesis 25: 1 2)

So, that made Jethro a distant relative to Moses who was a descendant of Abraham and Sarah. Jethro not only accepted Moses as his son-in-law and provided him a refuge for 40 years, an experience seen as a time of preparation and training for the future leadership role of Moses, but also took care of Moses' wife and two sons when Moses was summoned by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. After hearing all the good that God had done to Israel, Jethro rejoiced and praised God as described below.

Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God. (Exodus 18: 10 to 12)

Jethro was also the ancestor of Rechab. The descendants of Rechab, Rechabites, who followed the strict commands of their ancestors as described below.

Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. (Jeremiah 35: 5 to 10)

This was in contrast to most of the Israelites. So, the prophet Jeremiah compared their obedience to the rebellion of the Israelites. This all showed that Jethro was a godly man. Jethro also showed his godly wisdom to advise Moses how to judge God's people as described below.

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, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.” (Exodus 18: 19 to 23)

So, Moses did. Jethro taught Moses not only the knowledge but also the godly principle to represent the people and their cases to God, then wait for God to direct. Maybe that's why Jethro could affect his descendants so much for so long because God always prevail. Emmanuel.

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