20 Teaching them his rules and his laws, guiding them in the way they have to go, and making clear to them the work they have to do.
And Moses sent for all Israel, and said to them, Give ear, O Israel, to the laws and the decisions which I give you today, and give attention to them so that you may keep and do them.
Let the story of your mercy come to me in the morning, for my hope is in you: give me knowledge of the way in which I am to go; for my soul is lifted up to you.
I have been teaching you laws and decisions, as I was ordered to do by the Lord my God, so that you might keep them in the land to which you are going to take it for your heritage.
And now give ear, O Israel, to the laws and the decisions which I am teaching you, and do them; so that life may be yours, and you may go in and take for yourselves the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
And last of all, the prayer which we make to you from our heart and in the name of the Lord Jesus, is this: that as we made clear to you what sort of behaviour is pleasing to God, as in fact you are doing now, so you will go on in these ways, but more and more.
I will give you knowledge, teaching you the way to go; my eye will be your guide.
Teaching them to keep all the rules which I have given you: and see, I am ever with you, even to the end of the world.
Now we give you orders, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from all those whose behaviour is not well ordered and in harmony with the teaching which they had from us. For you yourselves are used to taking us as your example, because our life among you was ruled by order, And we did not take food from any man for nothing, but were working hard night and day not to be a trouble to any of you: Not because we have not the right, but to make ourselves an example to you, so that you might do the same. For even when we were with you we gave you orders, saying, If any man does no work, let him not have food. For it has come to our ears that there are some among you whose behaviour is uncontrolled, who do no work at all, but are over-interested in the business of others. Now to such we give orders and make request in the Lord Jesus, that, working quietly, they get their living.
It is as when a man who is in another country for a time, having gone away from his house, and given authority to his servants and to everyone his work, gives the porter an order to keep watch.
And if they have any question between themselves, they come to me, and I am judge between a man and his neighbour, and I give them the orders and laws of God.
And a number of nations will go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will give us knowledge of his ways and we will be guided by his word: for from Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the children of Israel: so give ear to the word of my mouth, and give them word from me of their danger.
That the Lord your God may make clear to us the way in which we are to go and what we are to do.
And at your back, when you are turning to the right hand or to the left, a voice will be sounding in your ears, saying, This is the way in which you are to go.
And you came down on Mount Sinai, and your voice came to them from heaven, giving them right decisions and true laws, good rules and orders: And you gave them word of your holy Sabbath, and gave them orders and rules and a law, by the hand of Moses your servant:
So keep the orders and the laws and the decisions which I give you today and do them.
Now these are the orders and the laws and the decisions which the Lord your God gave me for your teaching, so that you might do them in the land of your heritage to which you are going: So that living in the fear of the Lord your God, you may keep all his laws and his orders, which I give you: you and your son and your son's son, all the days of your life; and so that your life may be long.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 18
Commentary on Exodus 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
This chapter is concerning Moses himself, and the affairs of his own family.
Exd 18:1-6
This incident may very well be allowed to have happened as it is placed here, before the giving of the law, and not, as some place it, in connection with what is recorded, Num. 10:11, 29, etc. Sacrifices were offered before; in these mentioned here (v. 12) it is observable that Jethro is said to take them, not Aaron. And as to Jethro's advising Moses to constitute judges under him, though it is intimate (v. 13) that the occasion of his giving that advice was on the morrow, yet it does not follow but that Moses's settlement of that affair might be some time after, when the law was given, as it is placed, Deu. 1:9. It is plain that Jethro himself would not have him make this alteration in the government till he had received instructions from God about it (v. 23), which he did not till some time after. Jethro comes,
Exd 18:7-12
Observe here,
Exd 18:13-27
Here is,
Now Moses did not despise this advice because it came from one not acquainted, as he was, with the words of God and the visions of the Almighty; but he hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, v. 24. When he came to consider the thing, he saw the reasonableness of what his father-in-law proposed and resolved to put it in practice, which he did soon afterwards, when he had received directions from God in the matter. Note, Those are not so wise as they would be thought to be who think themselves too wise to be counselled; for a wise man (one who is truly so) will hear, and will increase learning, and not slight good counsel, though given by an inferior. Moses did not leave the election of the magistrates to the people, who had already done enough to prove themselves unfit for such a trust; but he chose them, and appointed them, some for greater, others for less division, the less probably subordinate to the greater. We have reason to value government as a very great mercy, and to thank God for laws and magistrates, so that we are not like the fishes of the sea, where the greater devour the less.