PARASHA: “Yitro” (Jethro) EXODUS 18:1-20:26
We see in this Torah study, a lot of wisdom on the part of Moshe and Yitro, his father-in-law. First, we learn that Moshe had sent his wife and children back to stay with their father. I believe for safe-keeping, when one sees danger, it is wise to care for one's family, as Moshe did, His wife and children might have been in danger, the Egyptians might have retaliated, might have kidnapped his wife and children, or killed them, so Moshe took precaution, which is a good thing.
The second piece of wisdom comes from Yitro, He is a man of experience, so he says; “Moshe, what are you doing to this people?” hey, you are only one man, and a few million of them? Come on dude, get wise-er, this isn't a one-man deal here, no such things as “lone-rangers” in ministry, even the “Lone-Ranger” was not alone, he had “Tonto”. Ministry is to be shared with other believers, that is why the Ruach Ha Kodesh has given the Spiritual gifts, to be shared, to minister to others, by many, not just one. The rabbi cannot do it alone, neither can the pastor. The rabbi needs his co-workers, and so does the pastor, if not, they are going to run themselves ragged. This is called “pastor/rabbi Burn-out”
Another thing to point out is that it directs us to a question. The scripture says that Moshe sat in judgment of the people and made known the ordinances of God. But…Moshe and the people had not received the Torah yet. That came afterward. So, if Moshe hadn’t received the commandments yet, how did he know the ordinances of God with which to judge the people?
Two possibilities. The “Oral Torah” was given probably to Adam, who passed it on to Seth, and from Seth to Enoch and from Enoch to Methuselah, and so forth until it reached Moses. So, he knew, from the teaching of the patriarchs.
The other possibility is that during the time that Moshe was sent back to Egypt, God revealed his laws and statutes to him personally through visions or dreams. Remember that God spoke to Moshe as one man speaks to another. These are just possibilities, then on Sinai, they were given orally to Moshe and the people, then, God wrote them on stone tablets and later, Moshe wrote them on parchment papers or o lamb skins. From the “Oral Torah to the Written Torah.”
This is the Bible study covering the “Ten Mitzvoth” the “Ten Commandments” but before the giving of these, YHVH presents the deal to the people, kind of like when the bride-groom presents himself to the bride, these are beautiful words;
” Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself, therefore IF you harken unto my voice and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be my treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (19:4-6)
It is all conditional, like all contracts, and covenants, we see the “IF” and “THEN” He says that He bore Israel on eagles' wings. An eagle will carry her young on her wings to protect them from harm. So did YHVH, He brought Israel through the Sea on dry land, and brought them nigh unto Har Sinai, now, they have to decide, will they accept YHVH as their one and only God? And obey HIS words? It is like asking the bride to accept the groom as her only husband, provider, and loving ruler, (not tyrant) BUT…even though Israel broke the covenant many times,
YHVH has remained faithful and we are HIS HOLY PEOPLE, his ELECT, whether we were born and raised in Israel or from the nations, doesn't matter, we are HIS because we have accepted HIS sacrifice in YESHUA our “Goel” (Redeemer), and we choose the follow his Torah, his LIVING Torah. The HE lays out the first 10 of the 613 commandments, which generalize, one can say “all” of the Torah: We need to realize that the first ten were given directly by Adonai to his people, HIS voice to HIS people, the other 603 were given to the people THROUGH Moshe, but still, they are all GOD’s commandments. Moshe simply did not make them up.
HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER...This needs no explanation, it is common sense to honor our parents and respect them because of WHO they are, and what they have done for us. My mom and dad used to say to me; “We went without many times to give you the things that you have today” Our parents give us love, raise us, hopefully, to love God, ( I can't speak for all of you readers, since everyone is different) But, if our parents gave us love and taught us about God and Yeshua/Jesus, then, we ought to do the same for our kids. Honoring fathers and mothers does not mean sticking them in a rest home when they are old and going off and forgetting about them, doesn't work like that. Were your parents rotten to you? Did they mistreat you? Well, love them anyway! It is what Yeshua taught.
THOU SHALT NOT MURDER, THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.....ever wonder why those three commandments are together? If one commits adultery, that person is “murdering” a marital relationship, and “stealing” what does not belong to you, being another person's spouse. Yeshua explains it even better, He said if you only “think” of sleeping, or having sex with another person's wife or husband, that person has already committed adultery in his or her mind, it gets pretty intense if you look at it that way. “Murder” does NOT include going to war and fighting for your nation, you are DEFENDING your family and homeland. “Stealing?” can be a two or three-page explanation, if you come back late from lunch, you are “stealing” time from your employer, if you do not do your very best, then you are “stealing” from your employer, your ability and usefulness. Can a man rob God? Malachi says, “Yes” God speaking through his prophet, “You have ROBBED me of your tithes and offerings” One can rob from God when we do not utilize our spiritual gifts, or waste them on worldly things.
DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS....this is another lengthy subject, but with simple words, always tell the truth, and do not hide the truth from others. To know that some thieves are planning to rob your neighbor, and you remain silent and do not alert your neighbor, it is if you open your neighbor's door for the thieves, you are being false. To tell a half-truth is to be false. Yes, the truth at times can be costly, and painful, but being false can be worse.
DO NOT COVET.... Be satisfied with what you have, the job you have, the bank account you have, with the car you have, with the wife or husband you have...Coveting can lead to worse crimes, look at Aachen, who coveted the Babylonian tunic and gold from Jericho, it cost him his life, and his family's lives too. If you want more than you have already, take it to the LORD in prayer, if the LORD sees that there is nothing wrong with giving you a little more, HE will give it to you in HIS perfect time. You never know, people with “more things” usually have “more headaches” or “more” to worry about. I remember what the TV preacher Rex Humbard said once, “God may give you what you want, but you're not going to want what you get!” So, give thanks for what you already have, when we go to heaven, we will leave it ALL BEHIND.
Have a blessed week.
We see in this Torah study, a lot of wisdom on the part of Moshe and Yitro, his father-in-law. First, we learn that Moshe had sent his wife and children back to stay with their father. I believe for safe-keeping, when one sees danger, it is wise to care for one's family, as Moshe did, His wife and children might have been in danger, the Egyptians might have retaliated, might have kidnapped his wife and children, or killed them, so Moshe took precaution, which is a good thing.
The second piece of wisdom comes from Yitro, He is a man of experience, so he says; “Moshe, what are you doing to this people?” hey, you are only one man, and a few million of them? Come on dude, get wise-er, this isn't a one-man deal here, no such things as “lone-rangers” in ministry, even the “Lone-Ranger” was not alone, he had “Tonto”. Ministry is to be shared with other believers, that is why the Ruach Ha Kodesh has given the Spiritual gifts, to be shared, to minister to others, by many, not just one. The rabbi cannot do it alone, neither can the pastor. The rabbi needs his co-workers, and so does the pastor, if not, they are going to run themselves ragged. This is called “pastor/rabbi Burn-out”
Another thing to point out is that it directs us to a question. The scripture says that Moshe sat in judgment of the people and made known the ordinances of God. But…Moshe and the people had not received the Torah yet. That came afterward. So, if Moshe hadn’t received the commandments yet, how did he know the ordinances of God with which to judge the people?
Two possibilities. The “Oral Torah” was given probably to Adam, who passed it on to Seth, and from Seth to Enoch and from Enoch to Methuselah, and so forth until it reached Moses. So, he knew, from the teaching of the patriarchs.
The other possibility is that during the time that Moshe was sent back to Egypt, God revealed his laws and statutes to him personally through visions or dreams. Remember that God spoke to Moshe as one man speaks to another. These are just possibilities, then on Sinai, they were given orally to Moshe and the people, then, God wrote them on stone tablets and later, Moshe wrote them on parchment papers or o lamb skins. From the “Oral Torah to the Written Torah.”
This is the Bible study covering the “Ten Mitzvoth” the “Ten Commandments” but before the giving of these, YHVH presents the deal to the people, kind of like when the bride-groom presents himself to the bride, these are beautiful words;
” Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself, therefore IF you harken unto my voice and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be my treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (19:4-6)
It is all conditional, like all contracts, and covenants, we see the “IF” and “THEN” He says that He bore Israel on eagles' wings. An eagle will carry her young on her wings to protect them from harm. So did YHVH, He brought Israel through the Sea on dry land, and brought them nigh unto Har Sinai, now, they have to decide, will they accept YHVH as their one and only God? And obey HIS words? It is like asking the bride to accept the groom as her only husband, provider, and loving ruler, (not tyrant) BUT…even though Israel broke the covenant many times,
YHVH has remained faithful and we are HIS HOLY PEOPLE, his ELECT, whether we were born and raised in Israel or from the nations, doesn't matter, we are HIS because we have accepted HIS sacrifice in YESHUA our “Goel” (Redeemer), and we choose the follow his Torah, his LIVING Torah. The HE lays out the first 10 of the 613 commandments, which generalize, one can say “all” of the Torah: We need to realize that the first ten were given directly by Adonai to his people, HIS voice to HIS people, the other 603 were given to the people THROUGH Moshe, but still, they are all GOD’s commandments. Moshe simply did not make them up.
HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER...This needs no explanation, it is common sense to honor our parents and respect them because of WHO they are, and what they have done for us. My mom and dad used to say to me; “We went without many times to give you the things that you have today” Our parents give us love, raise us, hopefully, to love God, ( I can't speak for all of you readers, since everyone is different) But, if our parents gave us love and taught us about God and Yeshua/Jesus, then, we ought to do the same for our kids. Honoring fathers and mothers does not mean sticking them in a rest home when they are old and going off and forgetting about them, doesn't work like that. Were your parents rotten to you? Did they mistreat you? Well, love them anyway! It is what Yeshua taught.
THOU SHALT NOT MURDER, THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.....ever wonder why those three commandments are together? If one commits adultery, that person is “murdering” a marital relationship, and “stealing” what does not belong to you, being another person's spouse. Yeshua explains it even better, He said if you only “think” of sleeping, or having sex with another person's wife or husband, that person has already committed adultery in his or her mind, it gets pretty intense if you look at it that way. “Murder” does NOT include going to war and fighting for your nation, you are DEFENDING your family and homeland. “Stealing?” can be a two or three-page explanation, if you come back late from lunch, you are “stealing” time from your employer, if you do not do your very best, then you are “stealing” from your employer, your ability and usefulness. Can a man rob God? Malachi says, “Yes” God speaking through his prophet, “You have ROBBED me of your tithes and offerings” One can rob from God when we do not utilize our spiritual gifts, or waste them on worldly things.
DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS....this is another lengthy subject, but with simple words, always tell the truth, and do not hide the truth from others. To know that some thieves are planning to rob your neighbor, and you remain silent and do not alert your neighbor, it is if you open your neighbor's door for the thieves, you are being false. To tell a half-truth is to be false. Yes, the truth at times can be costly, and painful, but being false can be worse.
DO NOT COVET.... Be satisfied with what you have, the job you have, the bank account you have, with the car you have, with the wife or husband you have...Coveting can lead to worse crimes, look at Aachen, who coveted the Babylonian tunic and gold from Jericho, it cost him his life, and his family's lives too. If you want more than you have already, take it to the LORD in prayer, if the LORD sees that there is nothing wrong with giving you a little more, HE will give it to you in HIS perfect time. You never know, people with “more things” usually have “more headaches” or “more” to worry about. I remember what the TV preacher Rex Humbard said once, “God may give you what you want, but you're not going to want what you get!” So, give thanks for what you already have, when we go to heaven, we will leave it ALL BEHIND.
Have a blessed week.
