jeffersonvann

Exodus 18

Exodus 18:1 Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, a priest of Midian, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how Yahveh had rescued Israel from Egypt.

Exodus 18:2 Previously, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her for a visit,

Exodus 18:3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (because he said, “I have been a foreign guest in a foreign land”),

Exodus 18:4 and the name of the other, Eliezer (because he said, “The God of my father has been my partner,[1] and stripped me from the sword of Pharaoh”).

Exodus 18:5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the open country where he was camped at the mountain of God.

Exodus 18:6 And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,”

Exodus 18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked how each other were and went into the tent.

Exodus 18:8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that Yahveh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the trouble that had come upon them along the way, and how Yahveh had stripped them.

Exodus 18:9 And Jethro rejoiced because of all the good that Yahveh had done to Israel, particularly that he had stripped them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

Exodus 18:10 Jethro said, “Blessed be Yahveh, who has stripped you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has stripped the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

Exodus 18:11 Now I know that Yahveh is greater than all gods, because in this thing they dealt arrogantly against the people.”

Exodus 18:12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought an ascending offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

Exodus 18:13 The next day Moses took his seat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.

Exodus 18:14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, then he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit apart, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?”

Exodus 18:15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people are coming to me to inquire of God;

Exodus 18:16 when they have a case, they come to me and I decide between one man and his companion, and I make them know the prescribed tasks of God and his instructions.”

Exodus 18:17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not right.

Exodus 18:18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, because the thing is too much for you. You are not able to do it alone.

Exodus 18:19 Now listen to my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You should represent the people before God and bring their cases to God,

Exodus 18:20 and you should warn them about the prescribed tasks and the instructions and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.

Exodus 18:21 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are reliable[2] and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as officials for thousands, for hundreds, for fifties, and for tens.

Exodus 18:22 And let them judge the people at all times. Every major case they will bring to you, but any minor case they will decide themselves. So, it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.

Exodus 18:23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

Exodus 18:24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.

Exodus 18:25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, officials for thousands, for hundreds, for fifties, and for tens.

Exodus 18:26 And they judged the people at all times. Any major case they brought to Moses, but any minor matter they decided themselves.

Exodus 18:27 Then Moses let his father-in-law leave, and he went back to his own country.

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[1]עֵזֶר = partner.

[2] אֱמֶת = reliable, reliability. Exodus 18:21; 34:6.

Exodus 18 quotes:

“The history of some churches and the expectations placed upon the pastor by some congregations and the pastors themselves have stifled team development. For The Jethro Ministry to work the advice of Jethro to Moses can never be forgotten, “You cannot do it alone.”

Roach, J. Dale. Jethro Ministry: A Biblical Strategy for Strong Teamwork. Westbow Press, 2015. p. 135.

“The pastor needs the help and assistance of other leaders in the church in order to be effective in his office. A classic example of this can be seen in Moses. Moses wanted to do everything by himself. He was encouraged by Jethro, his father in law, to enlist the help of other leaders (see Exodus 18:13).”

Guns, Geoffrey V. Spiritual Leadership : A Guide to Developing Spiritual Leaders in the Church. Orman Press, 2000. p. 18.

“This time when Moses needed help, the solution did not come in a voice on the mountain or in any other spectacular way. In a very ordinary way with no fanfare, Moses’ father-in-law made a suggestion. Moses did not automatically accept his father-inlaw’s advice. In fact, Jethro, himself, qualified his suggestion by saying, “If … God command thee so …” (Exodus 18:23). It was Moses’ responsibility to determine for himself if this advice was God’s will. As it turned out, Jethro’s suggestion was put into practice and the problem was solved.”

Lassetter, J. Stuart. Manna from Moses: 101 Morsels for Successful Christian Leadership. Morris Pub., 2000. p. 27.

Exodus 18 links:

Exodus- teamwork
greater than all gods
new structure

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EXODUS in Jeff’s library

Exodus 17

Exodus 17:1 All the congregation of the sons of Israel moved on within the Sin open country by stages, according to Yahveh’s commandment, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

Exodus 17:2 So the people protested against Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses asked them, “Why are you protesting against me? Why are you testing Yahveh?”

Exodus 17:3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and the people protested against Moses and asked, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, only to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

Exodus 17:4 So Moses cried out to Yahveh, and this is what he said, “What should I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

Exodus 17:5 And Yahveh said to Moses, “Get out in front of the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and walk.

Exodus 17:6 Notice, I will stand in front of you there on the rock at Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did it, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Exodus 17:7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the protest of the people of Israel, and because they tested Yahveh by asking, “Is Yahveh among us or not?”

Exodus 17:8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

Exodus 17:9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

Exodus 17:10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

Exodus 17:11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel succeeded, but whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek succeeded.

Exodus 17:12 Then Moses’ hands grew tired, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So, his hands were steady until sunset.

Exodus 17:13 So Joshua gained victory over Amalek and his people with the sword.

Exodus 17:14 Then Yahveh said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it so Joshua can hear it, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.”

Exodus 17:15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, Yahveh is my war flag,

Exodus 17:16 saying, “My hand was on the throne of Yahveh! Yahveh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Exodus 17 quotes:

“‘And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed’ (Exodus 17:11). But could the hands of Moses promote the battle or hinder the battle? — it is, rather, to teach you that such time as the Israelites directed their thoughts on high, and kept their hearts in subjection to their Father in heaven, they prevailed; otherwise they suffered defeat.”

Cohn-Sherbok, Dan. The Sayings of Moses. Ecco Press, 1998. p. 60.

“The rock mentioned in Exodus 17 foreshadowed Christ on the cross because there He was smitten. However, the rock of Numbers 20 foreshadowed the ascended Christ, who now intercedes as a high priest for believers. The significant difference in the rocks of Exodus 17 and Numbers 20 is also indicated in that a different word for “rock” is used in these two passages. Although both rocks speak of Christ, God was endeavoring to communicate two different things to us concerning the Person of Christ.”

Epp, Theodore H. Moses Greatest Moments. Back to the Bible Broadcast, 1976. p. 128.

“Amalek was a tribe of people opposed to God. They were strong and didn’t like God’s people; in fact, they were the Israelites’ avowed enemy. Amalek can be to us a picture of the “flesh,” or self. The Bible tells us God vowed He would have war with Amalek throughout all generations (Exodus 17:16). Selfishness must have less and less part in our lives once we are rescued from being selfcentered and become God-centered.”

Briscoe, Jill. Here Am I, Lord– Send Somebody Else : How God Uses Ordinary People to Do Extraordinary Things. W Pub. Group, 2004. p. 122.

Exodus 17 links:

ACST 45- The Tempters
Exodus- one solution
expire
my war flag
strike the rock
trusting, not testing

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – Saturday, August 5, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Sunday, August 6, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, March 19, 2019

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EXODUS in Jeff’s library

Exodus 16

Exodus 16:1 They pulled up from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel entered the Sin open country, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt.

Exodus 16:2 And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the open country,

Exodus 16:3 and the people of Israel said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of Yahveh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, because you have brought us out into this open country to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Exodus 16:4 Then Yahveh told Moses, “Notice, I am about to rain bread from the sky for you, and the people will go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may test them, whether they will walk by my instruction or not.

Exodus 16:5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

Exodus 16:6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you will know that it was Yahveh who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

Exodus 16:7 and in the morning, you will see the glory of Yahveh, because he has heard your grumbling against Yahveh. Because what are we, that you grumble against us?”

Exodus 16:8 And Moses said, “When Yahveh gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to satisfy you, because Yahveh has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him- what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against Yahveh.”

Exodus 16:9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Approach the face of Yahveh, because he has heard your complaining.'”

Exodus 16:10 And while Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, they looked toward the open country, and noticed the glory of Yahveh appearing in the cloud.

Exodus 16:11 And Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Exodus 16:12 “I have heard the complaining of the sons of Israel. Tell them, For the next full day you will eat meat, and in the morning, you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am Yahveh your God.'”

Exodus 16:13 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and it lay around the camp with the morning dew.

Exodus 16:14 And when the dew had gone up, they noticed on the face of the open country a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground.

Exodus 16:15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” Because they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that Yahveh has given you to eat.

Exodus 16:16 This is what Yahveh has commanded: ‘Collect it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You will each take one omer per person, according to the number of throats that each of you has in his tent.'”

Exodus 16:17 And the sons of Israel did so. They collected, some more, some less.

Exodus 16:18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever collected much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them collected as much as he could eat.

Exodus 16:19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.”

Exodus 16:20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it was wormy and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

Exodus 16:21 Morning by morning they collected it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

Exodus 16:22 On the sixth day they collected double the amount of bread, two omers for one person. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,

Exodus 16:23 he told them, “This is what Yahveh has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a sacred rest day, a sacred Sabbath to Yahveh; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.'”

Exodus 16:24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it.

Exodus 16:25 Moses said, “Eat it today, because today is a Sabbath to Yahveh; today you will not find it in the field.

Exodus 16:26 Six days you will collect it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

Exodus 16:27 On the seventh day some of the people did go out to collect, but they found none.

Exodus 16:28 And Yahveh said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my instructions?

Exodus 16:29 See! Yahveh has given you the Sabbath; on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days for this reason. Each of you stay in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”

Exodus 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

Exodus 16:31 The house of Israel called its name man.[1] It was white like a coriander seed, and it tasted like wafers made with honey.

Exodus 16:32 Moses said, “This is what Yahveh has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the open country, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'”

Exodus 16:33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of man in it, and place it before Yahveh to be kept throughout your generations.”

Exodus 16:34 Aaron placed it before the reminder[2] to be kept just as Yahveh commanded Moses

Exodus 16:35 The people of Israel ate the man forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the man till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

Exodus 16:36 (An omer is one tenth of an ephah.)

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[1] מָן = man (traditionally, manna). Exodus 16:31, 33, 35.

[2]עֵדוּת = reminder. Exodus 16:34; 25:16, 21-22; 26:33-34; 27:21; 30:6, 26, 36; 31:7, 18; 32:15; 34:29; 38:21; 39:35; 40:3, 5, 20-21.

Exodus 16 quotes:

“The instructions were clear, but some people gathered more than they needed. Perhaps they remembered times when food was not available, so they wanted to protect against that possibility. Or maybe they were simply greedy. At any rate, any unneeded manna rotted overnight. On the other hand, some didn’t gather enough..(Were they lazy or inept?) The people were being instructed on how to “listen” to God, how to hear and act obediently. They did not actually meet God’s expectations yet (see Exodus 16:28). Nonetheless, by divine grace, all of the needs of the people were met (Exodus 16:16-21), giving the prayer that some of us have learned much later—“give us this day our daily bread”—added significance as well.”

March, W. Eugene. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Abingdon Press, 2012. p. 25.

“Some scholars seek an explanation for manna in nature, yet the Israelites recognized this strange substance as a gift from God—a supernatural phenomenon that expressed his generosity and his care for them. Extraordinary quantities of manna were continuously available to them except on the sabbath (Exodus 16:26)—a strange lack if the manna was simply a natural occurrence—and sustained them over quite a protracted duration of time. The Israelites received the manna as divine provision, bread rained down on them from heaven (16:4).”

Kun, Jeanne. Food from Heaven : The Eucharist in Scripture. Word Among Us Press, 2007. p. 19.

“When the manna came, Israel didn’t know what it was. The name “manna” (given later in Exodus 16:31) meant, “what’s that?” It came from the question asked in Exodus 16:15. When God provides we often don’t recognize it. God has promised to meet all our needs – not all our expectations. Today, let God do His part while you do your part.”

Guzik, David. Free And Clear. Enduring Word Media. 2004. p. 65.

Exodus 16 links:

hunger games
Sky flakes
two for one Fridays

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, August 4, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, August 3, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, August 2, 2017

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EXODUS in Jeff’s library