Title: Exodus 18
Description Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came to Moses after hearing the story of the Lord leading Israel out of Egypt. Perhaps he brought Moses' wife and children back home because of the blood husband incident in Chapter 4 (verses 2, 3).
Jethro hears detailed stories from Moses and praises God. God is revealing the unbelief of Israel by having a Gentile hear what God has done and praise the victory of Jehovah, who is greater than all gods. Jethro, who could not directly witness all the things God had done, including the Red Sea incident, praised God and offered sacrifices to rebuke Israel for showing unbelief in front of fleshly problems even after witnessing everything.
Until then, Israel had only looked to Moses. So, if there was any problem, everyone came to Moses. Jethro advises Moses on the way of his people. In other words, we want to appoint leaders other than Moses. However, Jethro sets the qualifications for the leader as one who fears God, is ignorant, and hates the unrighteous (verse 21). Jethro's advice makes Israel a more organized state.
However, Israel does not become the kingdom of God (a kingdom of priests) by accepting the organizational system of a foreign country. This is because there is a different aspect of the nation that God wants. Exodus 19:5,6 says, “If you will listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be mine among the nations, and you will become a kingdom of priests to me and a holy people.” The nation is a nation in the covenant of God and becomes a nation of priests. This is what enables Israel to exist as a source of blessing in the world.
God made a promise to Abraham that he would become a source of blessing, and now he is trying to leave that promise to the world by forming a nation called Israel. Then, what is the necessary covenant plan for Israel to exist as a source of blessing?
The covenant given here is called the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant is merely an extension of the Abrahamic Covenant. In other words, it is God's intention to sustain the spirit of the Abrahamic covenant in the world through the form of a nation, and God's intention is more concretely expressed through the Mosaic covenant.
The Mosaic Covenant remains holy. In other words, the covenant that included the blood of the Lamb and its sacrifice, which was the basis for the Exodus from Egypt, and Israel's existence in the spirit of the Passover that contains blood and sacrifice will remain as a holy nation in the covenant. Therefore, Israel is a separate nation from the nations of the world, and Israel is maintained only by the blood of the Lamb, not by the organization and manner of the world.
Because the church is Israel, which was established in the world through the intervention of the blood and sacrifice of the cross, the church is not maintained as an organization and material in the way of the world. It must be borne in mind that the church can be the church only when it is in the spirit of the sacrifice of the cross.
The leaders of Israel were also established not for the purpose of making Israel rich, but to spread the Godhood of God in Israel. Therefore, the qualifications of a leader are those who fear God.