BACKGROUND
Complaining reached new heights when the people started to quarrel with Moses (17:2) and were ready to stone him (17:4) when they got thirsty. I marvel at the patience of God toward an unbelieving, grumbling people because he tells Moses to strike the rock at Horeb (the Sinai region) so that they can drink. Moses called the place Massah ("testing") and Meribah ("quarreling").
In this place, they also met up with the Amalekites. The Amalekites were descendants of Esau through Eliphaz (Genesis 36:12). In this passage, we also meet a new character who will play a major role in the next book: Joshua! This story is significant because Moses held the staff of God above his head with both hands in total dependence on God for the victory over the Amalekites. When he lowered his hands, the enemy won. Aaron and Hur had to help keep his hands up for the victory to be assured.
In Exodus 18, Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, visited and gave praise to God by sacrifices after he heard of all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. He was a Midianite priest (Exodus 2:16), and the Midianites were idolatrous, but perhaps he now believed in Moses' God because he said to Moses "and may God be with you" (18:19).
This chapter concludes with Jethro giving Moses some sound advice about the delegation of his tasks.
The Scarlet Thread of Redemption
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 and discover for yourself the scarlet thread for today!
REFLECTION (Written in 2008)
In 1988, I was on a three-month trip in Bangkok, Thailand with sixteen other "twenty-somethings" from all over the United States. We did ethnographic research for five days a week, and one day a week we spent walking the hot, noisy streets of Bangkok praying for God to be glorified in that city, and I tell you, like the Israelites and the Amalekites of Exodus 17, it was a battle. Bangkok is one spiritually dark place!
During one of our team devotional times, our leader, Steve Hawthorne (author of Prayer Walking), taught from Exodus 17 in order to illustrate the importance of team. He said that just as the Israelites were in a physical battle with the Amalekites, we are in a spiritual battle with the enemy, and we need to "lift up each other's arms." In order to illustrate this, he had each of us, individually come to the center of the room so that that person could be supported by two other team members as that person lifted up his or her arms. Those two other team members (our "Aaron" and "Hur") prayed blessing, protection, and support over our lives.
It was one of the most powerful prayer experiences of my life.
APPLICATION
In borrowing from the cheesy High School Musical song:
We are all in this together!
Who are the "Aaron" and "Hur" in your life as you face the daily battle? Who props your arms up when you are tired? Whose arms are you helping stay up? We are the body of Christ, and we need each other!
I suggest you have at least two people in your life whom you can call, email, or text to ask for prayer through the battles of your life. I call my little band of women my "Go to Girls," and they help we weather the storms, and I help them.
PRAYER
Lord, thank You for Your word that challenges us every day to grow. I thank You that You have given these great people of faith to us as examples of how we might live out this life of faith. Lord, make us people who support others in their battle, and provide people to support us too. Lord, thank You that You created us to be in community with one another! Amen.
7 comments:
Amen! I am thankful right now for other Christians who encourage and support and pray. We are going through a heart-wrenching time right now with an adult son and I have experienced the love and help of other believers.
And probably because of where I am right now - wondering what big thing I did wrong to result in a son who isn't following the Lord I notice in this chapter that the perfect Father, God, had children who didn't learn, who were stubborn, who were short-sighted. I was/am by no means the perfect parent, but God was. He didn't always get good results.
And Jethro's suggestion to Moses just seems so full of common sense... I wonder why Moses didn't think of it! But that's another way we can be helped by others. Sometimes others see what we don't. Moses had the humility to listen.
How fun to have a comment first thing this morning!
Yes, I thought that the whole delegation thing was another extension of the concept of Aaron and Hur keeping his hands lifted up. Don't know why Moses didn't think of it, but I do know that I am often busy with leading, and it is hard for me to see the forest from the trees sometimes. So, I just keep my nose to the grindstone and don't always look at the opportunities right before my eyes when I am in the middle of a project. Sometimes it takes someone coming from the outside to evaluate the bigger picture for me. This is what Jethro did.
God is the perfect parent and children still disobey even when they see miracles and the mighty hand of God. We can never override our childrens' free will. I hear and hurt for you, Becky!
Holding you up in prayer,
Carol
Carol, in Ex. 18:11 Jethro says: "Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly." (referring to the plagues on Egypt)
I didn't remember that the Midianites were idolatrous, but I do believe that Jethro then turned to believe in Moses' God.
Jan
It is true that Jethro does say those things, but none of the commentators were willing to say that he definitely turned to Moses' God. He was willing to acknowledge his power but a total turning would have implied a giving up of his role as a priest of Midian. We would like to hope that he did turn, but this is not stated specifically in the text.
And the Zipporah question from the other night was maybe answered in that Jethro comes with Zipporah and sons when they are in the wilderness. Katrina wrote me an email today (I asked her your question) stating this indicated that she and the sons had not been with Moses through the exodus.
The thing that struck me about Jethro's advice (besides how much sense it made) was that not only did he advocate delegating, he suggested Moses teach the people. Instead of constantly "putting out fires," how much better to teach others and let them grow in personal responsibility. Of course there is risk in that--what if those we are responsible for make wrong decisions? But how much better to give them the tools to grow, rather than have little robots just doing what we say with no real understanding!
Yes, I love the teaching aspect of that advice! It reminds me of the saying that "if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day, but if you teach the man how to fish, he eats for a lifetime." Education is so crucial! I am glad you pointed that out.
In reflecting on this over the last 15 years, I think we have gotten better at delegating leadership. There is one thing that I started in 2016, and there is someone chomping at the bit to take it over. I am still praying about it.
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