Old Testament Survey

Jethro glorifies God when Moses reports what the Lord has done.

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 Lordis greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.” Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

a. Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him: Though he was the leader of a nation, Moses honored Jethro both as his father-in-law and as a legitimate priest of God. His position of leadership did not make Moses proud.

b. All the hardship…and how the Lord had delivered them: Moses gave Jethro an honest report, describing both the hardships and the deliverance.

c. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods: It is possible Jethro knew this before, because he was the priest of Midian (Exodus 2:16, 3:1, and 18:1). But when he heard of God’s great works over the gods of Egypt, it brought this truth to Jethro more clearly than before.