Transcript
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Well, you all heard the saying, what would Jesus do? So I've entitled this week,
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what would Jethro do? Who's Jethro? Well, Jethro provides a beautiful example of
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Gentile support for the Jewish people. His story is quickly followed by the
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revelation of the high calling on the Jewish people by the God of Sinai. Now
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once we understand that calling, we should all want to follow Jethro's
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example of praise for the God of Israel and to have a desire to assist his
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people. So welcome to this week's Shabbat Shalom devotional when I seek to share
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just a little inspiration and bring a little piece to the close of your very
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busy week. Now this week's Torah reading is from Exodus 18 through 20 verse 23
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and it's called Yitro or Jethro. Now Jethro is Moses' father-in-law. He's a
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Midianite priest. He's not Jewish or Hebrew. In the story, he models Gentile
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support for the Jewish people in a really beautiful way. So here the Israelites
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have crossed the Red Sea, they're in the wilderness, and Jethro brings his
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daughter, who is Moses' wife, and his grandsons, who are Moses' sons, to the
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wilderness to be with their father, to with Moses. And after Moses tells Jethro
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the whole story of how God judged the gods of Egypt and brought down Pharaoh
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and his army and delivered the children of Israel, this is Jethro's response. We
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read it in chapter 18 verses 10 through 11. And Jethro said,
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Blessed be the Lord who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and
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out of the hand of Pharaoh and who has delivered the people from under the hand
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of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods for in
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the very thing in which they behaved proudly he was above them. So Jethro
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here is rejoicing in this mighty act of God for his people. And Jethro then
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acknowledges the real lesson of the entire saga. The God of the Israelites
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was greater than all those pagan gods of Egypt. The plagues were not against the
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people of Egypt, but against their idolatry and belief in their false gods.
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Now a few verses later, Jethro helps Moses greatly. He gives him very wise
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advice how to organize the people and to raise up other leaders. Now in our day
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God has miraculously drawn the children of Israel back to their ancient
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homeland and established sovereignty and is making them a leader amongst the
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nations. Jethro models what our response should be as Gentile Christians. We
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should rejoice in this mighty act of God and be glad in it for it proves how
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mighty is our God and it proves how faithful is our God. And we should seek
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to help as much as we can. One last final point this week is found in chapter 19
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verses 5 through 6 and this is where God speaks to Moses from the mountain and
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tells him the calling on the children of Israel. Now therefore if you will indeed
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obey my voice and keep my covenant then you shall be a special treasure to me
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above all people for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of
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priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the
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children of Israel. So the calling of the Jewish people was to be his people in
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the midst of this great earth that he had created. They were to be as a kingdom of
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priests serving him and mediating for the people before him. Now they have done
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this for you and me too. They mediated all the covenants all the promises of
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God and that we find in the Old Testament the promises to Abraham to Moses to
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David confirmed through the Hebrew prophets even the new covenant all of
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this they mediated on behalf of a pagan world. They gave us the birth ministry
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and death of the Messiah through which billions of people around the world
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believe in the God of Israel and read the Torah and the writings entrusted to
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the Jewish people. Now isn't that pretty phenomenal when you stop and think about
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it? Their role as a kingdom of priests on our behalf. We owe them a great debt of
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gratitude and along with Jethro we need to rejoice in what God has and will do
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through them and with that I wish you Shabbat Shalom.