NOTES for Exo 18:1-27
Today’s passage tells of Moses meeting his father-in-law Jethro in the desert. It is not surprising that when they meet, Moses tells him everything that happened in Egypt and on the way to Sinai (vv. 5–8). What is unusual, rather, is Jethro’s reaction: he effectively acknowledges the God of Moses as the true God (vv. 9–12). This acknowledgment does, however, have a logic of its own. In the Bible, Jethro is called a “prophet” (v. 1; Ex 2:16, 3:1). Not a “priest,” as the Synodal translation reads, but specifically a “prophet,” because the Hebrew word “kohen” used here denotes a priest only when it refers to the Levitical priesthood, which appeared later and existed only among the Jews. Before the emergence of the Levitical priesthood, this word meant precisely a prophet, as did related words in other Semitic languages. We can only guess which god Jethro served: practically nothing is known about the religion of the Midianite tribe, or indeed about the tribe itself. Something else is known, however: prophets of every age and nation were distinguished by having direct contact with higher powers and often communicating directly with the gods they served. What happened next depended solely on Jethro’s readiness to hear the God of Moses and accept Him. Mystical experience is neutral in itself; a person who undergoes it differs from others only in possessing certain special psychic abilities that others lack or possess to a lesser degree. How these abilities are used depends on the person. They can be used for self-assertion, or for serving God. One can listen to the voices of numerous spirits, or to the voice of God. And, of course, it depends on the person alone whether to heed the testimony of someone who has encountered the One, or to leave that testimony without attention. In the latter case, no mystical abilities will help: that person will never come to know the one true God. In the former case, the person will know Him, and a special mystical gift will help them know Him still more deeply and commune with Him more intensely. Like any gift, the prophetic gift can either draw a person closer to God or lead them away from Him. Everything depends on the person’s own choice.