Speaker 1: Life Audio The Bible Study Podcast, Episode nine seventy seven. Today,
Speaker 1: The Bible Study Podcast continues the study of the book
Speaker 1: of Exodus with chapter seventeen. Welcome to the Bible Study Podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Chris Kristensen. We're going to continue on
Speaker 1: with the study of Exodus with chapter seventeen, Water from
Speaker 1: the Rock. But first a word from this sponsor. Exodus seventeen,
Speaker 1: the whole Israelite community set out from the desert of sin,
Speaker 1: traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They
Speaker 1: camped at Refidim, but there was no water for the
Speaker 1: people to drink, so they quarreled with Moses and said,
Speaker 1: give us water to drink. Moses replied, why do you
Speaker 1: quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to
Speaker 1: the test. But the people were thirsty for water there,
Speaker 1: and they grumbled against Moses. They said, why did you
Speaker 1: bring us out of each to make us and our
Speaker 1: children and livestock die of thirst. Then Moses cried out
Speaker 1: to the Lord, what am I to do with these people?
Speaker 1: They are almost ready to stone me. The Lord answered, Moses,
Speaker 1: go out in front of the people. Take with you
Speaker 1: some of the elders of Israel and take in your
Speaker 1: hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go,
Speaker 1: I will stand there before you by the rock of Horeb.
Speaker 1: Strike the rock, and water will come out of it
Speaker 1: for the people to drink. So Moses did this in
Speaker 1: the sight of the elders of Israel, and he called
Speaker 1: the place Masa and Marabah, because the Israelites quarreled and
Speaker 1: because they tested the Lord, saying is the Lord among
Speaker 1: us or not? And the two words there, Masa means
Speaker 1: testing and Marabah means quarreling. This is not an isolated instance.
Speaker 1: We will have Moses standing in front of a rock
Speaker 1: again and the people thirsty again. We're going through a desert.
Speaker 1: So this is a theme that will keep coming up,
Speaker 1: and each time it's like it never happened before. Each
Speaker 1: time it's like God did not bring him through the
Speaker 1: Red Sea. God did not the destroy the Egyptians. Their
Speaker 1: faith is still pretty darn shallow. But Moses strikes a rock,
Speaker 1: water comes out, and they are no longer thirsty. Continuing on,
Speaker 1: the Amellekites defeated the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites
Speaker 1: at Refidem. Moses said to Joshua choose some of our
Speaker 1: men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I
Speaker 1: will stand on top of the hill with the staff
Speaker 1: of God in my hands. So Joshua fought the Amelekites
Speaker 1: as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Her went
Speaker 1: to the top of the hill. As long as Moses
Speaker 1: held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever
Speaker 1: he lowered his hands, the Amellekites were winning. When Moses'
Speaker 1: hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it
Speaker 1: under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Her
Speaker 1: held his hands up, one on one side, one on
Speaker 1: the other, so his hands remained steady till sunset. So
Speaker 1: Joshua over came the a Meleekite army with the sword.
Speaker 1: Then the Lord said to Moses, write this on a
Speaker 1: scroll as something to be remembered, and make sure that
Speaker 1: Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the
Speaker 1: name of Amelek from under heaven. Moses built an altar
Speaker 1: and called it. The Lord is my banner, he said,
Speaker 1: because hands were lifted up against me the throne of
Speaker 1: the Lord. The Lord will be at war against the
Speaker 1: Amalekites from generation to generation. A couple of interesting things
Speaker 1: to note here. First of all, the role of Joshua
Speaker 1: is starting to get defined here. Joshua is Moses's assistant.
Speaker 1: He's going to be very key in the story going forward,
Speaker 1: as we sort of get that little hint of when
Speaker 1: the Lord tells Moses write this to remembered that the
Speaker 1: Amalekites will be destroyed, and I'm going to and give
Speaker 1: it to Joshua. And why Joshua doesn't make sense as
Speaker 1: much now as it will later on in the Book
Speaker 1: of Numbers, which is two books from now. But this
Speaker 1: is interesting thing where they're fighting the Melachites and Moses
Speaker 1: is holding up and now remember this used to be Moses' staff,
Speaker 1: but this staff is from now on really going to
Speaker 1: be called the staff of the Lord, the staff here
Speaker 1: that Moses used to part the water, or that the
Speaker 1: Lord used to part the water with Moses holding it
Speaker 1: hit in his hand. And as long as they're holding
Speaker 1: that up, they have victory. Their victory therefore, is because
Speaker 1: God was giving them victory. We're going to continue on.
Speaker 1: We're going to go a little faster this week and
Speaker 1: go on to chapter eighteen. Also, Jethro visits Moses. Now Jethro,
Speaker 1: the priest of Midian and father in law of Moses,
Speaker 1: heard of everything God had done for Moses and for
Speaker 1: his people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel
Speaker 1: out of Egypt. After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah,
Speaker 1: his father in law Jethro, received her and her two sons.
Speaker 1: One son was named Jersham, for Moses said, I have
Speaker 1: become a foreigner and a foreign land. The other was
Speaker 1: named Elizar. My father's God was my helper. He saved
Speaker 1: me from the sword of Pharaoh. Jethro, moses father in law,
Speaker 1: together with moses sons and wife, came to him in
Speaker 1: the wilderness where he was camped near the Mountain of God.
Speaker 1: Jethro had sent word to him, I, your father in law, Jethro,
Speaker 1: am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.
Speaker 1: So Moses went out to meet his father in law
Speaker 1: and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other,
Speaker 1: and then went into the tent. Moses told his father
Speaker 1: in law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh
Speaker 1: and the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and about all the
Speaker 1: hardships they had met along the way. And how the
Speaker 1: Lord had saved them. Jethro was delighted to hear about
Speaker 1: all the good things the Lord had done for Israel
Speaker 1: in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. He said,
Speaker 1: praise be to the Lord who rescued you from the
Speaker 1: hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued
Speaker 1: the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I
Speaker 1: know that the Lord is greater than all other gods,
Speaker 1: for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.
Speaker 1: Then Jethro, moses father in law, brought a burnt offering
Speaker 1: and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all
Speaker 1: the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses'
Speaker 1: father in law in the presence of God. The next day,
Speaker 1: Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people,
Speaker 1: and they stood around him from morning till evening. When
Speaker 1: his father in law saw all that Moses was doing
Speaker 1: for the people, he said, what is this that you're
Speaker 1: doing for the people. Why do you alone sit as
Speaker 1: judge while all the people stand around you from morning
Speaker 1: till evening. Moses answered him, because the people come to
Speaker 1: me to seek God's will. Whenever they have a dispute,
Speaker 1: it is brought to me, and I decide between the
Speaker 1: parties and inform them of God's decrees and instructions. Moses
Speaker 1: father in law replied, what you're doing is not good.
Speaker 1: You and these people who come to you will only
Speaker 1: wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you.
Speaker 1: You cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me, and
Speaker 1: I will give you some advice, and may God be
Speaker 1: with you. You must be the peoples representative before God
Speaker 1: and bring their disputes to him. Teach them His decrees
Speaker 1: and instructions, and show them the way that they are
Speaker 1: to live and how they are to behave. But select
Speaker 1: capable men from all the people, men who fear God,
Speaker 1: trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain, and appoint them as
Speaker 1: officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve
Speaker 1: as judges for the people at all times. But have
Speaker 1: them bring every difficult case to you. The simple cases
Speaker 1: they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter
Speaker 1: because they will share it with you. If you do this,
Speaker 1: and God so commands, you will be able to stand
Speaker 1: the strain, and these people will go home. Satisfied, Moses
Speaker 1: listened to his father in law and did everything he said.
Speaker 1: He chose capable men from all Israel and made them
Speaker 1: leaders of the people, officials. Over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
Speaker 1: They served as judges for the people at all times.
Speaker 1: Dificult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones
Speaker 1: they decided themselves. Then Moses said his father in law
Speaker 1: on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.
Speaker 1: So one of the things that I missed in the
Speaker 1: beginning of this book was that Jethro was a priest
Speaker 1: of Midian, And I'm not sure if it said that
Speaker 1: way back in chapter two when we first met Jethro.
Speaker 1: But Jethro comes, he brings the kids, he brings his
Speaker 1: daughter who's Moses's wife, and he brings some really good advice.
Speaker 1: He watches what they're doing where Moses is having to
Speaker 1: answer all the questions and says, this doesn't make any sense. Now.
Speaker 1: I remember a time that my company was growing rapidly
Speaker 1: and I wasn't yet putting in a layer of management
Speaker 1: below me, and I ended up at one point managing
Speaker 1: over twenty people personally, and the people below me said
Speaker 1: that that doesn't make sense. You're working too hard, divide
Speaker 1: up the effort. Well, Moses is doing that, but with
Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of people coming to him for answers.
Speaker 1: And Jethro says, first, make sure people know what the
Speaker 1: rules are, make sure they know the law, make sure
Speaker 1: they understand what God wants. And then if you tell them,
Speaker 1: for instance, things like well, let's say don't kill and
Speaker 1: don't steal, then somebody else can decide if in that
Speaker 1: particular case they think the person killed or stole. Right.
Speaker 1: You just have to be there for the big decisions.
Speaker 1: It's more like in our country, we don't have the
Speaker 1: Supreme Court answer all court cases, but they interpret the law.
Speaker 1: They deal with when is the law need to be
Speaker 1: changed or when is there a problem with the law,
Speaker 1: And then everybody else, all the other judges below them,
Speaker 1: deal with in this case, who is guilty and who
Speaker 1: is innocent? And that's the same sort of thing that
Speaker 1: Jethro is suggesting. The other interesting thing about this, as
Speaker 1: they're putting in this layer of management here is how
Speaker 1: do you choose capable men? Men? In this case, no
Speaker 1: women chosen to do this sort of thing. Who do
Speaker 1: you want in this sort of position of authority. You
Speaker 1: want men who fear God, one trustworthy men two who
Speaker 1: hate dishonest gain. Now why is that? Because you're giving
Speaker 1: them power. And if somebody doesn't fear God and isn't
Speaker 1: trustworthy and likes dishonest gain, they're going to be someone
Speaker 1: who if you slip them a few denarii, then you
Speaker 1: can have whatever justice you want, and all the prophets
Speaker 1: will be talking about those kind of judges. It's still
Speaker 1: the case today. If we want people to represent us,
Speaker 1: if we want people to be our leaders, we ought
Speaker 1: to look for these kind of characteristics. People who are
Speaker 1: trustworthy and hate dishonest gain, because if you don't, it's
Speaker 1: not going to turn out good. That's a great thing
Speaker 1: to know about choosing leaders. And with that, we're going
Speaker 1: to end us upisode of the Bible Study Podcast. If
Speaker 1: you have any questions, send an email to Chris two
Speaker 1: x at gmail dot com, or, better yet, leave a
Speaker 1: comment on this episode at the biblestudypodcast dot com. And
Speaker 1: as always, thanks so much for listening. I want to
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