Godly Order in a Chaotic World Text: Exodus 18:1-12
Introduction: The Gospel Spreads
We live in an age that despises authority, structure, and order. Our culture champions a radical, atomistic individualism where every man is his own king, his own priest, and his own god. The result is not liberation, but bondage to chaos. The world preaches a gospel of self-actualization, which is simply a long word for pride, and the fruit of that gospel is always exhaustion, burnout, and tyranny. When every man does what is right in his own eyes, the man with the biggest club wins.
Into this frantic and disordered world, the Word of God speaks with a calm, structuring authority. The book of Exodus is not simply about a great escape. It is about the formation of a people, the establishment of a holy nation, a kingdom of priests. God did not deliver Israel from the highly structured tyranny of Egypt only to dump them into the wilderness as a chaotic, disorganized mob. He delivered them from a pagan order to establish them in a godly one. And here, in Exodus 18, we have a fascinating and intensely practical interlude. Between the miraculous provision in the wilderness and the terrifying glory of the Law at Sinai, we have a family reunion and a lesson in godly administration.
This is not a throwaway chapter. It is a crucial demonstration of how God's vertical deliverance is meant to work itself out in horizontal, practical, everyday life. God's grace is not an ethereal mist; it has bones and sinews. It builds things. It organizes things. And here we see that God is pleased to use ordinary means, common sense, and even the counsel of a Gentile father-in-law to bring about His good order. This passage is a rebuke to two kinds of errors: the spiritualistic error that disdains practical wisdom, and the secular error that believes practical wisdom can function apart from the fear of God.
Jethro, the priest of Midian, comes to Moses not as a rival, but as a fellow worshiper of the true God. He hears the gospel, he rejoices in the gospel, he worships in response to the gospel, and then he gives sound, godly counsel that flows directly from that gospel reality. This is a picture of the nations coming to the light of Israel, a foretaste of the Great Commission. It is a story of family, faith, and the foundations of godly government.
The Text
Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt. And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah, after he had sent her away, and her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” And the other was named Eliezer, for he said, “The God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.” Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped, at the mount of God. And he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.” Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. And Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had befallen them on the journey, and how Yahweh had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, that He had delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians. So Jethro said, “Blessed be Yahweh who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods; for in this matter they acted presumptuously against the people.” Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
(Exodus 18:1-12 LSB)
The Report and the Reunion (vv. 1-7)
The story begins with the simple power of testimony.
"Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt." (Exodus 18:1)
The fame of God's deeds has spread. Jethro, a priest of Midian, hears the report. We should not assume Jethro was a pagan idolater. He was likely a priest of El Elyon, the Most High God, a remnant of the true faith preserved outside the line of Abraham, much like Melchizedek. But whatever his prior knowledge, the news of the Exodus is a powerful confirmation and clarification of who God is. The gospel is news. It is the announcement of God's mighty acts in history. And faith comes by hearing this news.
Jethro does not just hear; he acts. He brings Moses' family back to him. Moses had sent Zipporah and his sons away, likely for their own safety during the intense confrontation with Pharaoh. A responsible patriarch protects his family. But now, with the danger passed, the family must be reunited. Ministry is not an excuse for familial neglect. A man's first flock is his own household. Jethro, the elder patriarch, facilitates this restoration. The names of Moses' sons are a testimony in themselves: Gershom, "a sojourner there," and Eliezer, "God is my help." These names preach the story of Moses' life: exile and dependence, followed by divine deliverance.
The reunion itself is a model of patriarchal honor and affection.
"Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent." (Exodus 18:7)
Moses, the great prophet and leader of a nation, humbles himself before his father-in-law. He bows. This is not idolatry; it is the proper rendering of honor within the created order of the family. Our egalitarian age chokes on such a display, but it is the grease that makes the gears of a healthy society turn. Moses shows respect for age and for the office of father. This mutual honor, this asking after one another's "shalom," their peace and well-being, is the foundation for the fellowship that follows. True order begins in the tent, in the home, with husbands and wives, fathers and sons, honoring one another as God has commanded.
The Gospel Proclaimed and Received (vv. 8-11)
Inside the tent, Moses does what every believer should do when asked about his welfare: he preaches the gospel.
"And Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had befallen them on the journey, and how Yahweh had delivered them." (Exodus 18:8)
Notice the key elements of his testimony. First, it is God-centered: "all that Yahweh had done." Moses takes no credit. Second, it is comprehensive: he tells of the victories over Egypt and the hardships on the journey. A true testimony does not airbrush the difficulties. The gospel is not a promise of a life without trials, but of God's deliverance through them. The sovereignty of God is displayed not just in parting the Red Sea, but in providing water from a rock. Moses preaches a rugged, realistic gospel.
Jethro's response is the model for all who hear the good news. First, he rejoices. "And Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel" (v. 9). The proper response to grace is joy. He does not rejoice in the destruction of the Egyptians, but in the goodness of God shown to Israel. His joy is vicarious; he delights in God's blessing of others. This is the death of envy and the birth of true fellowship.
Second, he blesses God. "So Jethro said, 'Blessed be Yahweh...'" (v. 10). He turns his joy into worship. He gives glory to God for the deliverance. And third, his faith is confirmed and deepened. This is the intellectual component of his conversion.
"Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods; for in this matter they acted presumptuously against the people." (Exodus 18:11)
Jethro makes a great confession. He acknowledges the absolute supremacy of Yahweh. The Exodus was a direct contest between Yahweh and the gods of Egypt, and Yahweh utterly humiliated them. When Pharaoh acted presumptuously, he was simply the glove on the hand of his demonic gods. And God crushed them. Jethro sees this. He understands that the God of Israel is not one deity among many; He is the sovereign Lord over all pretenders. This is the first commandment in narrative form. Jethro gets it. His theology is now clear, sharp, and exclusive.
Covenant Fellowship and Worship (v. 12)
This shared faith immediately leads to shared worship and fellowship. Doctrine is the foundation for doxology and for dinner.
"Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law before God." (Exodus 18:12)
Jethro, now a confirmed worshiper of Yahweh, leads in offering sacrifices. As a priest of God Most High, he has this right. This is a beautiful picture of the Gentile coming into the covenant community. And what follows is a covenant meal. Aaron and the elders of Israel come to eat with this Midianite priest "before God."
This is table fellowship. This is church. It is a meal that seals their shared confession and joy. Eating together before God is one of the most basic and profound expressions of unity. They are breaking bread together on the foundation of God's mighty acts of redemption. This meal is a foreshadowing of the Lord's Supper, where we too eat and drink "before God," remembering His great act of deliverance at the cross and rejoicing in the fellowship of the saints.
This is the necessary prelude to the counsel Jethro will give in the second half of the chapter. You cannot have godly order without this kind of godly fellowship. You cannot fix the world's problems if you have not first rejoiced together in the world's Savior. The practical wisdom Jethro is about to offer is not secular management theory. It is wisdom that grows out of a heart that has been captured by the gospel, a man who has confessed that Yahweh is greater than all gods, and who has sealed that confession with sacrifice and a shared meal in the presence of God.
Conclusion: The Foundation of Order
What we have here is a pattern. True, lasting, and righteous order in any area of life, whether in the family, the church, or the state, must be built on this foundation. First, the hearing of the gospel, the report of what God has done. Second, the joyful reception of that gospel, leading to worship and a clear confession of God's supremacy. Third, the establishment of covenant fellowship, sealed in worship and communion.
Our world is burning out because it is trying to build a just society without a just God. It is trying to create order out of chaos while denying the one who spoke order into the chaos of the beginning. It is trying to have the fruit of fellowship without the root of a shared faith in Christ.
Moses was about to receive the Law on Sinai, the blueprint for the nation's life. But before he received the written code, God sent his father-in-law to remind him of the relational foundation upon which that code must be built. The law is not given to a random assortment of individuals; it is given to a redeemed people who are in fellowship with God and with one another.
The story of Jethro is the story of every believer. We hear the report of what God has done in Jesus Christ. We rejoice in that goodness. We confess that He is Lord over all other lords and saviors. And we are brought into the family, to the table, to eat and drink in the presence of God with all the saints. It is from this place of secure, joyful, worshiping fellowship that we can then turn to the practical tasks of building our homes, our churches, and our communities for the glory of God. First worship, then work. First gospel, then governance. This is God's order, and there is no other.