exodus 18

Question	Answer	Note---10-02-2016
When did Moses send back Zipporah and his two sons?	The scripture is silent on the exact time. However it must be between the time of them entering into Egypt and the falling of the plagues.	18: Note Moses had sent his wife (Zipporah) and two sons (Gershom and Eliezer) back to Midian to their grandfather/father while Moses was in the wilderness/Egypt, but now joined him/Moses in the wilderness
		18:4 Note that the names of Moses’ son Gershom and Eliezer have dual application the meaning of their names. It is possible to apply the meaning to the circumstances before/after the coming out of Egypt for Moses.
Why is it that all the elders came to eat bread with Jethro?		18:12
What does eating before the Lord mean?		18:12
Since Moses was in direct contact with God why didn’t God give him the instructions directly for himself; why did he use Jethro to deliver this message?	Here we see that God is working on the character of Moses as well, in the midst of all. God was talking Moses through Jethro. Moses could have rejected the counsel, but his character was perfect, so he listened to the counsel. This could also have been a test of humility to ensure that the position was not getting to the head of Moses.	18:13-23 It was a good thing for Jethro to come. It seemed this was an everyday thing for Moses to be judging the people night and day. But God intervened to show Moses wisdom in how to deal with such a great number of people.
		18:23 Jethro had now come with Moses’ Family, and Moses could no longer be expected to meet the needs of the people, and exclude that of the needs of his family. Consequently, Jethro came and put things in perspective for Moses. He was chief ruler among the people but this did not excuse him of the responsibility of raising his family. Jethro showed Moses how he could both be chief among the people, and still have time for his family.
		18:27 Jethro did not stay with Moses in the wilderness. It is obvious that Jethro had his own people and life to return to. He simply had brought Moses’ family back to him.