Exodus 18
Dear RTB’ers,
Let’s continue to pray for Mary G. as she recuperates from knee replacement surgery.
It’s easy to forget that Moses was a family man, with a wife and two sons. We first met Zipporah when Moses had exiled himself to Midian after killing an Egyptian. There he married Zipporah. However, after Moses was commissioned at the Burning Bush incident, I don’t recall that Zipporah came to Egypt with Moses. Presumably he sent her back to her father, Jethro. We see her again today, coming with her father and Moses’ two sons. Then we don’t hear of her again. However, there is mention later of Moses (second?) marriage: Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married… (Numbers 12:1) Scholars disagree as to whether this is a second marriage for Moses or simply a translation issue. One other item of note – in the New Testament we know that Peter was married (Luke 4:38-40), but we never hear of his family. So these two men who are leading God’s people, did they have normal family lives?
Moses’ father-in-law offered good advice, creating a sound judicial system, a pattern that we see in our country even today, with smaller local courts, then district and state courts, then federal courts leading all the way to our Supreme Court. It’s also a pattern in our military, with Armies, brigades, battalions, companies, and squads.
It’s surprising to me that STS has this chapter set off by itself instead of being combined with chapter 17. But, we move on.
Blessings!