For those who read the Old Testament, Jethro is a familiar name. The man is a priest and the father-in-law of Moses.
After the victory of the Israelites over the Amalekites, Jethro visited his son-in-law bringing with him Moses' family.
The names of Moses' sons were instructive. It tells us Moses' life journey and mindset. Gershom reminds him of his difficulty living in a foreign land. The name of Eliezer is a recognition by Moses that God was his helper and savior in his battle against the most powerful king of that time.
Perhaps Moses wanted to protect the lives of his wife and his two sons, so he sent them away when he was confronting many challenges in carrying out his mission to bring Israel into the Promised Land. Now that the young nation was already out of Egypt and had just won a battle, Jethro decided to bring with him his daughter and his two grandsons for them to be reunited with his son-in-law.
This is a typical theme in a battle film. A general or a king usually isolates their family members from them during critical times in fulfilling their task to keep them safe.
In this article, I just want to share three things about Jethro concerning the God Israel.
The first thing we know about Jethro is that he heard the many things that God did to Israel.
Jethro is not a Jew. He is the priest of Midian. What God did to Israel at that time became widespread even outside Egypt. Nations could not say that they knew nothing about what happened to Egypt. It was a public knowledge.
Jethro's response to what he heard was different from the response of the Amalekites. Despite the latter's knowledge of what God did to Israel, they still decided to remain hostile against God's chosen nation. Like what Egypt experienced, such hostility ended in disaster.
Jethro heard what God had done for Moses and how He mightily used his son-in-law to deliver a nation. Jethro wanted to hear a first-hand confirmation if everything he heard was true.
In our time, where we live in the era of information explosion, I am not sure if any nation could say that they never heard what God did to save mankind from the power of sin. In fact, during this Christmas season, it seems that everyone is familiar with the Christmas story that God sent His son into this world to redeem His people from their sins.
Jethro was delighted when he heard firsthand the confirmation of the story about Israel.
After hearing from Jethro that his family was coming, Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and brought them into his tent. Moses told Jethro everything that the Lord had done to Egypt, the hardships they encountered, and how the Lord provided and protected them in their journey. Hearing Moses' story, Jethro was delighted and praised the God of Israel.
Unlike the response of Pharaoh, Egypt, the Amalekites, and other nations that hated Israel, Jethro's response was different. He was happy after hearing from Moses what he heard before from other people. I believe that the Spirit of God had been working in the heart of Jethro for such a response could only happen if the word of God is received in faith.
Jethro worshipped the God of Moses.
Jethro did not remain a hearer. What he heard brought blessing to him and the whole of Midian. Now that Jethro heard first-hand the story from the mouth of his son-in-law, he recognized that the God of Israel is greater than all other gods. Jethro then in an act of worship, offered burnt offerings and sacrifices to the God of Moses. By this act, Jethro accepted that Moses' God is also his God.
Conclusion
We learn in this article that Jethro, Moses' father-in-law after receiving a confirmation from his son-in-law about the mighty things that God did for Israel, he too worshipped the God of Israel.