Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
1. Describe the scene recorded in Exodus 18:1-6 (printed below).
Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, how Jehovah had brought Israel out of Egypt. (2) After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, Jethro, his father-in-law, took care of her (3) and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, because Moses had said, I have become a sojourner in a foreign land. (4) The name of the other was Eliezer, because he had said, My father’s God was my helper; he delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword. (5) Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and his wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped by the mountain of God. (6) He had sent word to Moses, saying, I, Jethro, your father-in-law, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons. (Exodus 18:1-6)
Word reaches Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, concerning all that God has done on behalf of Moses and His people. Note that the mighty works of God were not done in secret; they were broadcast throughout the ancient world. Upon hearing the report of Israel’s deliverance and the fact that Israel is now encamped at ‘the Mount of God,” Jethro departs from Midian to greet Moses—and he does not go alone. Jethro brings with him Moses’ wife, Zipporah, and Moses’ two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. There, at the Mount of God, they meet again in a most joyful reunion!
2. In what way is this reunion at the mountain of God a type (or, a preview) of one of the great blessings that awaits the Christian in heaven? Consider 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (printed below)
…the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (18) Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)
Christian, here is displayed before you one of the great joys of heaven: reunion with loved ones who have died in Christ. The calling of God had separated Moses from his family: for their own safety, he had sent Zipporah and his sons back to Midian. But now they are joyfully reunited at the mountain of God. Sometimes the call of God may cause you to have to leave behind home and family, sometimes even your native land. Sooner or later the call of God causes Christian men and women to leave behind family, home, and this present world, to enter the Father’s eternal home in glory (cp. John 14:1-3). But the reunion at the mountain of God is a foretaste and preview of the final great reunion that God promises His people in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.
3. When you compare Moses’ account of Israel’’s experiences (see Exodus 18:8 printed below) with Jethro’s response (see Exodus 18:9 printed below), what does Jethro seem to “overlook?”
Moses told his father-in-law all that Jehovah had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had encountered along the way and how Jehovah had delivered them. (Exodus 18:8)
Jethro rejoiced over all the good that Jehovah had done for Israel in delivering them from the hand of the Egyptians. (Exodus 18:9)
Jethro has heard of the mighty works of God, but now he receives a first hand report: “Moses told his father-in-law all that Jehovah had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had encountered along the way and how Jehovah had delivered them” (verse 8). Although Moses faithfully related to his father-in-law both the triumphs of the Lord as well as the trials experienced in the wilderness, notice Jethro’s response: “Jethro rejoiced over all the good that Jehovah had done for Israel in delivering them from the hand of the Egyptians” (verse 9). Jethro seems to “overlook” the part about “all the hardships” Israel encountered along the way.
4. How would you explain the difference between Moses’ complete account of Israel’s experiences and Jethro’s “selective” rehearsal of that account? Did Jethro, indeed, “overlook” part of Israel’s experience, or is there another explanation?
Did Moses down play the trials experienced in the wilderness? Did Jethro simply overlook them? No. Standing at the Mount of God Moses and Jethro could look back and see how all the works of God worked together to finally produce a glorious result. Jethro was led to rejoice for all the goodness of the Lord not because he didn’t have the whole story or because he intentionally overlooked parts of it, but precisely because he was given the complete and finished account. What Paul assets with confidence in Romans 8:28 (“we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, those who have been called according to his purpose”) Jethro actually was made to see, and thus he was led to rejoice in all the goodness of the Lord.
5. Having heard from an eyewitness the account of the Exodus, what does Jethro now confess (see Exodus 18:10-11 printed below; note, especially, verse 11?) Do you think Jethro had previously doubted this fact?
Jethro said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, who has delivered the people from the hand of the Egyptians! (11) Now I know that Jehovah is greater than all other gods; indeed, this has been proven by his response to those who treated Israel arrogantly. (Exodus 18:10-11)
Jethro testifies: “Now I know that Jehovah is greater than all other gods” (verse 11a). Prior to this time Jethro no doubt believed this to be true and accepted it as a God-given truth; but now he can testify that he knows this to be true. Jethro goes on to testify: “Now I know that Jehovah is greater than all other gods; indeed, this has been proven by his response to those who treated Israel arrogantly” (verse 11). The Lord irrefutably demonstrated the truth that He and He alone is God when He exerted His great power and acted both to redeem His people and to conquer His enemies. When the Lord acts, then what is accepted by faith becomes known by experience.
