There was Jethro Pugh, Defensive Tackle for the Dallas Cowboys' "Doomsday Defense." There was Jethro Clampett, one of the Beverly Hillbillies. And there is Jethro -- the father-in-law of Moses. Moses sent his wife and sons to Jethro, where Jethro heard all about what God had done through Moses. Jethro brought Moses' wife and sons back to Moses in the desert. Jethro was delighted to hear all these things and said, "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for He did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly." Later Moses, Aaron, Jethro and all the elders of Israel ate bread "in the presence of God."
That sure is an interesting detail. I wonder what that was like.
Later Jethro saw Moses sit in the seat of judgment and handles Israel's disputes from morning to night. He told his son-in-law that he shouldn't do all that work by himself, but to appoint trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain to judge the simple cases for smaller groups -- tens, fifties, hundreds, thousands. This would lighten Moses' load, who would only try the harder ones. He took his father-in-law's advice and it worked.
When I look back and think of the problems these guys faced (Israel), it really helps my perspective to look at the time element. The grumbling that the people did might seem justifiable to me to some degree (since mothers will naturally speak up for the sake of their children after a few days of no water); but one can't ignore that this grumbling seemed to displease God (as well as Moses). Travelling around in the desert with over a million people plus livestock and property had to be troublesome, tiring, and take a long. long time. Each event or problem we read about more than likely took place with large chunks of time between each one. It might be sort of like the "year in review" type family newsletter that you might get with some of the Christmas cards that come your way. Someone in the family recaps what went on throughout the year. It might all be on one page and you can read it in a couple of minutes, but those events stretched out over a whole year. When I realize that my problems or obstacles or challenges are temporal, it helps me not feel overwhelmed or too bummed out about it.
God is in control.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at June 7, 2007 08:21 AM