View source for Exodus 18

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| '''Comments'''
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| According to the Book of Genesis, the Midianites were descended from Midian, who was the son of the Abraham by the latter's second wife, Keturah.<Ref>Genesis 25:1-3  “Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. </Ref>  Was their a king at that time among the Midianites like there was in [[Numbers 31]]?
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| V1 To understand the role of the ''Jethro, the priest of Midian'' we need to understand what a [[priest]] was and how they were of value to the people. They facilitated a [[social welfare]] system that bound the people with [[social bonds]] of love and appreciation. We will see the priests and judges would also be a part of the  [[cities of refuge]].
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| V7 "and did obeisance" is from the base word  shachah (החשׁ)<Ref name="obeisance">{{07812}}</Ref> bit appears as the word wayyištaḥū VavYodShinTavHeyVav(וַיִּשְׁתַּ֙חוּ֙) often translated [[worship]]. 
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| V12 burnt offering<Ref name="olah">{{05930}}</Ref> and sacrifices<Ref name="zebech">{{02077}}</Ref> ... the elders<Ref name="zaqen">{{02205}}</Ref> of Israel, to eat<Ref name="eat">{{0398}}</Ref> bread<Ref name="bread">{{03899}}</Ref> 
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| V16 "know<Ref name="yada">{{03045}}</Ref> the [[statutes]]<Ref name="choq">{{02706}}</Ref> of God"
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| V20 The people must learn and walk and work so in [[The Way]] that they learn to attend to the [[weightier matters]] of law.
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| V21  Men "able", "fear God", "Men of truth"<Ref name="emeth">{{0571}}</Ref> ... rulers is YodShinReish<Ref name="ruler">{{08269}}</Ref> meaning more that they hold a position. That authority may be over a position of responsibility rather than power over others.
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|V21 Lastly "hating [[covet]]ousness"<Ref name="betsa">{{01215}}</Ref>; and place<Ref name="place">{{07760}}</Ref> appears in this text with '''[[Tav]]'''ShinVavMem . But the [[rulers]] ShinReish[[Yod]] <Ref name="ruler">{{08269}}</Ref> of thousands<Ref name="thousand">Appears here with AlefLamedPei'''YodMem'''  {{0505}}</Ref>, and rulers of hundreds <Ref name="hundred">MemAlef'''VavTav'''{{03967}}</Ref>, rulers of fifties<Ref name="fifty">{{02572}}</Ref>, and rulers of [[tens]]<Ref name="ten">{{06235}}</Ref>:
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| '''These [[rulers]]''' ShinReish[[Yod]] <Ref name="ruler">{{08269}}</Ref> were not rulers over the people but were people given a responsibility to serve. This is not the word ShinReishReish, nor the word ''ruler'' we see in Judges<Ref>[[Judges 8]]:23  And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.</Ref> where  Gideon refuses to be a ''rule over'' '''[[Yod]]'''MemShinLamed<Ref name="mashal">{{04910}}</Ref> the people.
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| 22V "And let them judge<Ref name="judge">{{08199}}</Ref> the people". People have to learn how to Judge the [[weightier matters]] righteously and fairly according to the [[perfect law of liberty]].
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| We see this word also in '''[[Deuteronomy 1]]:15'''  "So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads<Ref name="heads">{{07218}}</Ref> over you, captains over thousands, and captains<Ref name="ruler">{{08269}}</Ref> over hundreds, and captains<Ref name="ruler">{{08269}}</Ref> over fifties, and captains<Ref name="ruler">{{08269}}</Ref> over tens, and officers among your tribes." Is not a head as in ''an authority ruling over the people'' but a ''rank position'' of responsibility  and service. And the word translated captain <Ref name="ruler">{{08269}}</Ref> is wəśārê '''[[Vav]]'''ShinReish'''[[Yod]]''' merely a leader uniting the people through a [[network]] of [[charity]] and service just as Christ taught according to [[The Way]].
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| V25 made them heads<Ref name="heads">{{07218}}</Ref>  We know Jesus does not want us ruling over one another. Which He made clear concerning governments that [[exercise authority]].<Ref name="exauth">{{exauth}}</Ref>
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| V25 [[Tens]] pattern is seen here with "rulers<Ref name="rulers">{{08269}}</Ref> of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of [[tens]].<Ref name="tens">{{06235}}</Ref>   Seen clearly [[Mark 6]]:39  And he [[commanded]] them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
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| V26 The people will become ''judges <0430>'' translated from the word ''elohym'' normally translated god.<Ref>[[Exodus 21]]:6  Then his master shall bring him unto the judges <0430>; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.
[[Exodus 22]]:8  If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges <0430>, [to see] whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods. 9  For all manner of trespass, [whether it be] for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, [or] for any manner of lost thing, which [another] challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges <0430>; [and] whom the judges <0430> shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.</Ref> Understanding the word gods is important because we will see Jesus say in [[John 10]]:34  "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?"
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| V27 see [[cities of refuge]] and [[Jury]] and [[Nullification]], the power of the people to decide  of ''fact and law''. The responsibility of tending to the [[weightier matters]].
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| '''[[Jordan Peterson]] review'''
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|'''Peterson's Exodus Episode 8'''<Br>
You need to have mercy to have justice and justice to have mercy.
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| But Dennis Prager says "Justice in the macro and mercy in the micro"(36:) This is not correct according to Moses and Jesus who said differently concerning the [[weightier matters]] of the ''law which includes [[judgment]] and [[mercy]] ,and [[faith]]''<Ref>[[Matthew 23]]:23  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.</Ref> which takes us back to [[cities of refuge]], the [[Jury]], and their power of [[Nullification]].
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| When a child is in the milk it is receiving compassion but as it grows you need to become more just who you may [[Meat and milk|boil a kid in its milk]].
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| [[Ethos]], [[logos]], [[Pathos]], conscientious, compassionate, agreeable (balance?). At 49 min. thinking Parliament prevents chaos provides "cohesion" and "order", is there a better way than [[Democracy]] and [[Republic]].  Moses will set up ''a government of the people, for the people and by the people''. Which is why V19 says " Be thou for the people to God<Ref name="God">{{0430}}</Ref>-ward<Ref name="ward">{{04136}}</Ref>, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:"
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| 55 minutes. [[Tens]] and ''rulers''<Ref name="rulers">{{08269}}</Ref> like the [[Common Law]] but they think the highest judge is the Queen. (58m) People have been crippled by the [[bondage of Egypt]] but the bondage was brought on by [[covetous practices]] because as you judge so shall you be judged. Two things are required for a free society: the [[Power of choice]] and [[sacrifice]] of self. (103m)  ''hating [[covet]]ousness<Ref name="betsa">{{01215}}</Ref>'' and the people will judge with more power than the king... [[William Penn]]. 
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| 56 minutes they talk about these leaders being being a [[hierarchy]]. What they do not seem to understand that it is a [[hierarchy]] of service not one of power and men exercising authority.
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| 59 minutes Larry speaks about having to learn to govern themselves and what the pharaoh took away their right to choose. Part of that was their system of a [[social safety net]] through the compelled offering and [[free bread]] in a [[covetous practices]] of [[legal charity]].
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| 103 minutes Blackwood mentions "hating covetousness" as an attribute of these leaders (ShinReish[[Yod]])<Ref name="ruler">{{08269}}</Ref> were not rulers over the people but were people given a responsibility to serve. [[Covet]]ing was at the root of why the Israelites went into [[bondage]] because they would not hear the anguish of his brothers.<Ref>Genesis 42:21  And they said one to another, We [are] verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
:Exodus 6:9  And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.</Ref>
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| 112 minutes they discuss reason and [[Logos]] Father is not beyond [[Right Reason]], but it is the [[Divine Will]]. Can we get to [[Right Reason]] by eating of our own [[tree of knowledge]] but only by eating of the [[tree of life]] through revelation. It was to that [[Spiritual]] tree that [[Moses]] kept returning to and now the people need to learn that too.
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|[https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/exo/18/1/s_68001]
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== Jethro's Advice ==


1 When Jethro, the priest of Midian, [[Moses]]' father in law, heard of all that God had done for [[Moses]], and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt;

2 Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back,

3 And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:

4 And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh:

5 And Jethro, Moses' father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God:

6 And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.
  
7 And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance<Ref name="obeisance">{{07812}}</Ref>, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent.

8 And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them.

9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.

10 And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.


=== Sacrifice and feast ===

11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing(בַדָּבָ֔ר)<Ref name="dabar">{{01697}}</Ref> wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.

12 And Jethro, Moses' father in law, took a burnt offering<Ref name="olah">{{05930}}</Ref> and sacrifices<Ref name="zebech">{{02077}}</Ref> for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders<Ref name="zaqen">{{02205}}</Ref> of Israel, to eat<Ref name="eat">{{0398}}</Ref> bread<Ref name="bread">{{03988}}</Ref> with Moses' father in law before God.

=== Sat to judge ===

13 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.

14 And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing(בַדָּבָ֔ר)<Ref name="dabar">{{01697}}</Ref> that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?

15 And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God:

16 When they have a matter<Ref name="dabar">{{01697}}</Ref>, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the [[statutes]]<Ref name="choq">{{02706}}</Ref> of God, and his laws.

17 And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing(בַדָּבָ֔ר)<Ref name="dabar">{{01697}}</Ref> that thou doest is not good.

18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing(בַדָּבָ֔ר)<Ref name="dabar">{{01697}}</Ref> is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

=== They must walk in the way ===

19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God<Ref name="God">{{0430}}</Ref>-ward<Ref name="ward">{{04136}}</Ref>, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:

20 And thou shalt teach them [[ordinances]]<Ref name="choq">{{02706}}</Ref> and laws(''hattōwrōṯ'')<Ref name="hattōwrōṯ;">{{08451}}</Ref>, and shalt shew them [[the way]] wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.

=== Able men ===

21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth<Ref name="emeth">{{0571}}</Ref>, hating [[covet]]ousness<Ref name="betsa">{{01215}}</Ref>; and place<Ref name="place">Appears in this text with '''[[Tav]]'''ShinVavMem {{07760}}</Ref> such over them, to be rulers<Ref name="ruler">ShinReishYod {{08269}}</Ref> of thousands<Ref name="thousand">Appears here with AlefLamedPei'''YodMem''' {{0505}}</Ref>, and rulers of hundreds <Ref name="hundred">MemAlef'''VavTav'''{{03967}}</Ref>, rulers of fifties<Ref name="fifty">{{02572}}</Ref>, and rulers of [[tens]]<Ref name="ten">{{06235}}</Ref>:

=== let them judge ===

22 And let them judge<Ref name="judge">{{08199}}</Ref> the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear<Ref name="bear">{{05375}}</Ref> ''the burden'' with thee.

=== If  God command ===

23 If thou shalt do this thing(בַדָּבָ֔ר)<Ref name="dabar">{{01697}}</Ref>, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go ''to their place'' in peace.

=== Moses hearkened ===

24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.

25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads<Ref name="heads">{{07218}}</Ref> over the people, rulers<Ref name="rulers">{{08269}}</Ref> of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of [[tens]].<Ref name="tens">{{06235}}</Ref>

26 And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

27 And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.
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