Good Morning.
Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods.” (Exodus 18:9-11)
In this we see a man who was not part of the people of Israel yet discerned that the God of Israel was truly the Almighty and Sovereign of the Universe. When you think about it, any one should have been able to come to this conclusion. Like all, he had heard of how God had humbled the pride of the Egyptians and, at same time, delivered Israel. However, unlike most, he came to believe in Israel’s God. In fact, Jewish tradition teaches that he immediately forsook his idolatry and traditions to follow the God of Israel.
This reminds us, once again, of why God delivered Israel in the manner recorded for us in Scripture. Multiple times, through Moses, He told Israel and Egypt that, when all was said and done, all would know that “I am the LORD.” And as it had been determined, that is just what happened. Here, a Midianite — a man from a tribe that had and would continue to display hostility toward Israel — acknowledged God’s greatness and joined the family of God.
In the last days, as God shakes heaven and earth, we should expect that more “Jethros” will come from among the nations to join themselves to God’s people. In fact, Messiah told a group of religious people that they should not think that being born into the family of Israel was a guarantee that one would enter the Kingdom. He said that even, “Tax collectors and the prostitutes will go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31).
The point is that, in the last days, many will come to know that He is the LORD and will abandon their old ways to become part of the family of God. The key to the Kingdom, then, seems to be those who truly know Him as opposed to those who know about Him. Many will be turned away from the Kingdom with the words, “I never knew you.” Let us, like Jethro, be among the number who came to KNOW Him and to know that He is the LORD.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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