Jethro

Exodus 18:5 KJV
And Jethro, Moses' father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God:

We learn from Exodus 3 that Jethro was the priest of Midian. From Genesis 25, we know that Midian is one of the sons Keturah born to Abraham. So Jethro is a direct descendant of the Father of the Faithful just as Moses is.

Scripture does not clearly tell us whether Abraham’s other sons served God or not, but it seems Jethro had at least a concept of the one true God as he ministered as a priest in the land of Midian. A religion called the Druze was spawned from Jethro and his death is honored by its adherents annually. This religion is a monotheistic religion, so while aspects of this religion may be incorrect, it seems the concept of the one true God did flow to most of Abraham’s descendants.

In Exodus 18, Jethro serves 2 purposes:

1.He reunites Moses with his wife and children.
2.He gives Moses advice and wisdom in serving as a minister to the people.

First, Moses sent his wife back to her father along with their two sons when she complained about the circumcision required by God. Again, scripture leaves us with much to ponder. It is not clear if there was repentance on the part of Moses’ wife, but regardless, marriage is a lifelong commitment. God desires the family unit to remain whole; therefore, I believe Jethro’s action here in reuniting Moses and Zipporah is pleasing to God.

Second, Jethro has experience ministering to the people. He sees that Moses will likely burn out if he continues working at his current rate. As a result, he offers some common sense changes to Moses’ administrative procedures. Jethro essentially tells Moses to find upright men to become ministers beneath him. The setup is very similar to our American justice system. The lower courts hear disputes and if they cannot come to agreement, the cases are sent to higher courts until they reach the Supreme Court. Moses was the Supreme Court in this scenario and his judgment was reserved for the most difficult of cases. These changes likely allowed Moses to attend to other aspects of God’s service that were more beneficial for the people and avoid burn out.

Whether Jethro was in a right relationship with God or not, God was able to use Him to aid Moses. God can use our co-workers, family, friends, and acquaintances to bless us and help us even if they themselves are not in right relationship with Him. He is Lord of ALL. So if you receive wise counsel from someone take it to heart, but give double the attention to wise counsel that comes from godly men and women.

Proverbs 11:14 KJV
Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.