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Revelations 11:15
“The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of Adonai, and of his Messiah; and he shall reign for ever and ever”. As Moses arrived at Mt Horeb with the people of God, his Father-in-law Jethro pays him a visit. Jethro is not really his name. Jethro is a title defining a societal rank. The name of Moses' father-in-law was Reuel (The shepherd of God) (Exodus 2:18). With Reuel’s visit, we realize the greater purpose for the Exodus program. Reuel was a descendant of Abraham through his third wife Keturah (Genesis 25: 1-2). It is recorded that Abraham gave that side of his descendance what is today called Saudi Arabia to settle in. It seems that they did not continue in the faith of Abraham but adopted the paganism of the area, thus we find Jethro, a descendant of Abraham as a pagan priest of Median. Jethro witnessed the life of Moses as a seeker. Like Abraham in Ur, Moses was not satisfied with he had learned in Egypt (Hebrews 11:8-16; 24-28). Moses was not going to put up with the magic tricks of the Egyptian priests. He wanted the real thing. He searched for Hashem with all his heart; that’s why he found Him (Jeremiah 29:13). Jethro also was a seeker. He probably knew about the God of Israel but thought He was dead, or maybe asleep. Whichever the case this God, this Creator of Heaven and earth, was on the verge of meeting all those who seek Him for all generations to come. He was about to make such a grand entrance on the scene of World History that it would not be forgotten for generations, not even until today. As Jethro received knowledge of all God had done to Egypt i order to free His people, he returned to the faith of his ancestor Abraham. He said, Blessed be Adonai, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that Adonai is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people. And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to Hashem; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God. (Exodus 18:10-12). A greater Exodus is coming. A time is coming when people will not say anymore, As Adonai lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but rather, Blessed be Adonai who brought back His people from all the nations where He scattered them (Exodus 16: 14-15). This will have the same effect as the first Exodus. Like Jethro, the whole world will then know that Hashem is the Lord of all the earth. May it be soon Abba, even in our days!
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1Timothy 3:1-6 (CJB)
Here is a statement you can trust: … A congregation leader must be above reproach, he must be faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, orderly, hospitable and able to teach. He must not … get into fights; …, he must be kind and gentle. He must not be a lover of money. … if a man can't manage his own household, how will he be able to care for God's Messianic Community? He must not be a new believer, because he might become puffed up with pride and thus fall under the same judgment as did the Adversary. The concerns and intentions God wanted to express in this statement seem to be lost either in translation or in the chauvinist bias of the translator. Instead of “helper fit for him”, the Hebrew says, “a helper against him”. It seems that the help man most often needs is someone to be ‘against’ him; not someone to fight him, but someone to be a balance to him. Because of this, Judaism even advises to not trust the teaching of a man who is not married. Such a man doesn’t have balance. As much as it goes against his grain, a wise man will invite the counsel of his wife. Not only his life will be more harmonious if he willingly listens to her, but he will make wiser decisions. A wise woman needs to learn how to ‘fitly’ advise her husband. If she nags him or makes him feel inferior, he’ll turn off and she won’t be able to fulfill her God-given duty. She needs also not to do it as an attempt to control him. If because of control issues, passiveness, or a lack of wisdom a wife is not able to advise her husband, she fails in her main reason for being. The same goes for one who fans her husband. A woman usually does that because she wants to bask in his glory. She will then be responsible for his downfall.. A beautiful example of a married relationship in American History is that of the second president of the Unite States John Adams, and his wife Abigail Adams. It is even said that one time Georges Washington went to Abigail Adams to convey an important piece of advice to her husband. When Roman Emperor Tiberias started commandeering the Senate, one senator protested and compared his governing body to an unheard and ignored wife. If a man, if a leader does not have a wife, he should at least be able to listen to the counsel of those wise people God put around him. It is a wise man who surrounds himself with people who are wiser than him. Paul was not married, but he worked within counsel. Though he took some liberties, he went to Jerusalem to make sure that his race was not in vain. He sought the approval of his own apostolic leaders.. Sad to say though, many leaders in their pride, fear, and insecurity surround themselves with passive people, or people who adulate them. There are also those who find an interest in the relationship. All those will not balance a leader or a teacher. Even if they try, they eventually will give in. The leader knows it and it will be his downfall in the sight of God if not in the sight of men. May God give us leaders men who have a right spirit before Him; leaders whom the position of office does not corrupt with pride; true humble ministers of God’s flock who only wish to serve. Acts 6:3
Look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. Flabbergasted Jethro looks at Moses single-handedly dealing with every problem in the camp. He foresees danger in that kind of leadership. Mainly, Jethro sees that eventually people will learn to lean too heavily on Moses. His son-in-law will not last very long. At that rate, he will burn out quickly. Jethro, who is a spiritual leader in his own rights, suggests a lower court to be established to care for simpler cases. Moses would then share the load of leadership with others. God’s leadership is not autocracy. In God’s Kingdom even a King has advisors, and a wise king leans on the council of his advisers as a cripple does on a cane. God’s style of government is not democracy either. The ‘will of the people’ is not supreme; God’s will is! God’s government is usually made up of a leadership teamwork; a group of upright people elected by the congregation. It is to be no less than three people, so a tie vote between them is less likely. Also a man and his wife either tend to have a dominant party or they fan each other, so a couple generally does not provide a good balance for judgment. Also, no one person is perfectly well-rounded so this leadership teamwork should be composed of people exerting different views and ways of looking at things. They should also be filled with a spirit of humility so they can yield to each other’s counsel and advice. We can see this pattern as God’s leadership all throughout the Scriptures. Even Yeshua used it. He did not keep the whole burden on Himself but established a group of disciples who also went to preach, exhort, exorcise, and heal people. He even said that they will sit on twelve thrones judging the tribes Israel, so even Yeshua shared the responsibility of judgment. Peter and the disciples later followed that same example and asked the congregation to submit seven people that they could ordain as leaders (Acts 6:1-7). These forms of congregation leadership follow the ‘Jethro’ pattern, and if Yeshua Himself did it, why shouldn’t we? The answers to that question are varied and can be scary. We will try to answer them in later articles. In the mean time, may God give us leaders, men and women of integrity whose sole desire is to do whatever needs to be done, either it be to step in or to step out, that His Kingdom be established on earth as it is in Heaven. Revelations 11:15
“The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever”. As Moses arrived at Mt Horeb with the people of God, his Father-in-law Jethro pays him a visit. Jethro by the way is not really his name. Jethro is a title defining a societal rank. His name was Reuel (Exodus 2:18). With Reuel’s visit, we realize the greater purpose for the Exodus program. Reuel was a descendant of Abraham through his third wife Keturah (Genesis 25: 1-2). It is recorded that Abraham gave that side of his descendance what is today called Saudi Arabia to settle in. It seems that they did not continue in the faith of Abraham but adopted the paganism of the area, thus we find Jethro, a descendant of Abraham as a pagan priest of Median. Jethro witnessed the life of Moses as a seeker. Like Abraham in Ur, Moses was not satisfied with he had learned in Egypt (Hebrews 11:8-16; 24-28). Moses was not going to put up with the magic tricks of the Egyptian priests. He wanted the real thing. He searched for God with all his heart; that’s why he found Him (Jeremiah 29:13). Jethro also was a seeker. He probably knew about the God of Israel but thought He was dead, or maybe asleep. Whichever the case, this God, this Creator of Heaven and earth was on the verge of doing something that would meet all His seekers for generations and generations even until today. He was about to make such a grand entrance on the scene of World History that it would not be forgotten for generations, not even until today. As Jethro received knowledge of all God had done to Egypt in order to free His people, he returned to the faith of his ancestor Abraham. He 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. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. And Jethro, Moses' father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father in law before God (Exodus 18:6:12). A greater Exodus is coming, a time is coming when people will not say anymore, “blessed be the Lord who delivered His people from Egypt”, but rather, “Blessed be the Lord who brought back His people from all the nations where He scattered them”. This will have the same effect as the first Exodus. Like Jethro, the whole world will then know that God is the Lord of all the earth. In the greatness of His presence, in the acknowledgment of His greatness, our puny will our petty earthly concern seem; our like nothing will all the earthly objects of adoration of the earth will seem. May it be soon Abba, even in our days! 1Timothy 3:1-9
If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, … must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. As Israel was organizing itself as an independent nation, it developed the need for a legislative body. It started with Jethro who first advised Moses to appoint seventy elders from among the people. Later, as the second generation prepared to enter the Land, Moses continues the practice and tells the congregation that they should appoint judges over the people to rule over them. This became a commandment. Moses instructs the people that these leaders were to judge using righteous judgment, not pervert justice nor show partiality, and that they were to certainly not accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous, the Text tells us. They were to follow justice and only justice, that they may live and inherit the land that the LORD their God is giving them (Deuteronomy 16:18-20). Of course, righteous judgments and justice were to be defined by the principles and morals established in the Torah Itself, so by inference, these people were to also be experts in the knowledge, handling and application of the Torah Texts. After Yeshua’s departure to His and our Father, the Jerusalem congregation finds itself flooded with Pentecost pilgrims (Acts 2), Diaspora Jews and God-fearing Gentiles who after the particular Pentecost events of that year decided to stick around Jerusalem to learn more from the disciples. In order to support these people, the Jerusalem believers established a kibbutz-like system of communal wealth (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32). As the disciples found themselves in the same predicament as Moses by Mt Sinai, they decide that a body of elders should be elected to care for the logistical affairs of the new fledgling congregation (Acts 6). As he went and started congregations in other areas of Asia, Paul also continued the practice. We can read in the apostolic Scriptures some of the advice he gave about the appointment of elders (1 Timothy 3:1-9; Titus 1:5-9). Problems in a congregation seem to stem from mainly two things,: a lack of decisive and wise team-working leadership, or if there is one, the people don’t like it so they don’t respect its advice. The latter can stem for another two reasons: the people are rebellious, or the Spirit of Hashem did not confirm the leadership team in their heart. Corinth is a good show-case of a congregation running amok, where everybody interpreted the Word according to his own mind, and as a result promoted heresies that are still present in today’s believers. They could not even produce a good leader among themselves (1 Corinthians 6:1-6). Today, as many feel disenchanted with corporate congregations, they start forming home-groups. Many of us in the Western world are plagued with an inordinate sense of independence. The problem is that Torah can only be properly practiced in community, not in individuality. As these home-groups grow, Corinth stands a good example of what happens unless Moses’ and the disciples’ advice are followed (Deuteronomy 16:18-20; Acts 6:1-3). Soon, Yeshua will return and Himself rule over His people with a legislative body from among the congregations (Matthew 19:28;Revelation 12:6). May it be soon, Abba, even in our days! 'A Few Good Men'1 Timothy 3:1 If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Mankind is of a rebellious nature. We are small, weak, vulnerable and yet as ironic as it may seem, we strive for independence at any cost. Human history teaches us that our thirst for freedom from even God-appointed human leadership has solely been quenched by the spilling of much blood. Mahatma Gandhi is known to have said to British officials then controlling India that, “Every man would prefer to have his own bad government that the good government of others”. Whereas countries do have their own right to self-determination, in theology today this principle translates in that mankind prefers to be led by his own distilled spiritual errors than by the Truth taught him by a God-appointed leadership.
The Father knows that we need leadership that’s He inspired Jethro to advise Moses to establish a council of elders. This council was to be called the ‘Court of Judgment’ or ‘bet-din’ in Hebrew. Authority was granted to individuals to help people find answers interpreting the Torah by the Torah. This council would later become the Sanhedrin. Just as people today refuse to answer to any human authority, it is not hard to imagine that there were some in the Children of Israel who resented that lower court in favor of wanting to solely refer to the higher court: of Moses (Torah). It is not hard also to imagine that a charismatic council member would draw much attention to himself thus provoking unbalanced loyalties from the people. These problems with human leadership exist today, and they certainly existed then; we see them plenty in the Bible. This is why these needed to be men known for their integrity men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, men to whom Moses would teach the statutes and the laws of God. Moses had the charge to make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do (Exodus 18:20-21). The disciples of the Master established leadership in the Messianic congregations according to the same blue-print. We see how at a time of crisis they felt the need to established leaders in order to judge petty matters within the community (Acts 6:1). Again, as in the Horeb blue-print, these men were chosen for their integrity; men of good repute and full of the Spirit and of wisdom (Acts 6:3). Also Paul established leadership over each and every congregation according to the same parameters. Hear his advice to Timothy on how to choose congregational leaders: an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive … dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain … their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things (1 Timothy 3:1-12). It is also noticeable that it was the people who chose these leaders who were afterward anointed and appointed by Moses or Paul. |
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