Daily Devotions
Exodus
"...I am the LORD your God, who divided the sea whose waves roared - The LORD of hosts is His name." Isaiah 51:15
Text: Exodus 18 : 11-12
THE FAITH OF JETHRO
Jethro was a priest in the land of Midian! Exactly what kind of a priest he was, we do not know! Did he possess the kind of faith that the Patriarchs of Israel had? Or was he a priest of the gods of Midian? The Scriptures give no specific details with reference to these questions. But the words of Jethro in the following text may well offer us a very good glimpse of the kind of faith that he possessed!
“Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods;
for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly,
He was above them.”
EXODUS 18:11
1. “Greater than all the gods”
Is it possible that Jethro was a priest of the gods that abounded in Midian? There were many deities worshipped in the land of Midian. Was Jethro one of the priests searching for the one and only true God? He had considered all that Moses had spoken to him. He could not deny the facts and the truth that were presented before him! Indeed the LORD was “greater than all the gods”. He had triumphed over all the gods that Egypt boasted!
2. “He was above them”
The gods of Egypt were held in awe and reverence by many. The greater the country, the more these national gods were held in awe! But the God of the children of Israel, He was way “above them”! The proud gods of Egypt were humbled and humiliated before the LORD God of Israel!
THE WORSHIP THAT JETHRO OFFERED
There was only one thing that Jethro felt that he must do, to complete his new-found experience of God! He must offer worship!
“Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law,
took a burnt offering and other sacrifices
to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders
of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.”
EXODUS 18:12
1. “A burnt offering and other sacrifices”
This act of worship now represented the new-found and confirmed faith of Jethro. He may have been a very old man when he discovered the God of Israel. Nevertheless his faith in God must be regarded as genuine and valid!
2. “Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread…”
This was another way of saying that Israel accepted Jethro as one who embraced their faith and their God. Thus they could fellowship with him over a meal after worship!