Do you want to learn how to read, interpret, and apply God’s word? In today’s episode, let’s get some hands-on practice.
This is Scripture for Students. I’m Steve Whitacre, president of Trinity College and a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. I want to help students build a daily habit for life-long Bible reading. Today is March 7, 2025 and this is a Read With Me episode from Exodus 18. What I mean is that in this episode, rather than you just listen to me talk about the day’s reading, I want to read the text with you and have you get some hands-on experience with interpretation. So grab your Bible and let’s get started.
Our readings for today are Exodus 18, Luke 21, and Job 36.
Please open your Bibles to Exodus 18.
Not long ago, I had to fix a problem with my refrigerator and I needed some professional help, so I did what anyone who needs advice would do these days: I turned to Youtube. It worked fine, but you know what I would have liked even better: I would have liked someone there in person to coach me through it. Having a video of advice is good. Having live advice from a more experienced person is even better.
In today’s Scripture of Students, we’re going to read about some personal advice that Moses received from his father-in-law and the difference it made for Moses.
Before I read, I want to point out: this is a genre of literature called historical narrative. It is basically a sequence of events that is presented as true. As I read, be looking and listening for a couple of things. First, pay attention to the main characters: what does the story reveal about the character of the characters? Pay attention to the dialog between the characters. What does it reveal about the problem—and the solution—in the story?
Would you please follow along as I read Exodus 18:13–27.
13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.
14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?”
15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God;
16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.”
17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.
18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.
19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God,
20 and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.
21 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
22 And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.
23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves.
27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.
May the Lord bless the reading and the hearing and the keeping of his Word.
Ok, so I’m sure you got the characters figured out: it’s just Moses and his father-in-law Jethro, plus the nameless crowds of Israelites that are bothering Moses every day.
Let’s talk about what we learn about these men from their dialog. Our next step is to go back over this dialog carefully. There’s two ways to do this: if you are listening to this episode with someone else, you could act it out. Try to put as much feeling into it as you can. Imagine what tone of voice would Jethro use; do you think Moses sounded defensive, defeated, optimistic, something else? You could even improvise a few lines of greeting together at the beginning or make up a conclusion at the end. If you are reading by yourself, take a minute to go over this dialog carefully in your head. Try to imagine carefully what Moses and Jethro would look like and sound like. And then, read through, trying to imagine their tone of voice, facial expressions, body language. So, either way, let’s read back through the dialog. Pause here, do that, and when you’re done come back and we’ll keep going.
Ok, did you learn anything from that? I am so curious to know how you imagine Moses and Jethro sounding. I imagine Jethro being a bit indignant: “What is this?… Why do you sit alone?” And maybe Moses is a little defensive? He’s already got all these people making demands on his time, and now Jethro, too? “Because the people come to me to inquire of God…” In my head I hear all this in a very New York Jewish accent, and I doubt that’s what it sounded like, but it is fun to imagine.
Now, let’s take a deeper dive into what is going on here. This seems like a good passage to look for key words. What we want to do here is read through the passage again and notice any words that seem important: unusual vocabulary, repeated words, lists of things, people and places, imagery, anything like that. You could underline or circle these words and phrases in your Bible, or just write them down in your journal. Don’t rush this part, you should read through a couple of times and make note of any words that seem important to you. Pause the episode, go do that, and then come back when you are done.
Ok, we’re back. What do you find? There’s not really right or wrong answers here. It’s all the word of God, so it is all important. But here are a few words I noticed:
- 13, judge
- 16, statutes of God and his laws
- 17, “not good”
- 18, “You are not able to do it alone.”
- 21 a list: “able men, trustworthy, hate a bribe.” Put them over smaller groups.
I’m sure you found some other important words and phrases here. There are a bunch of them!
Now, with the time that we have left, let’s try to pull this together to understand what it means and how we might apply it. Can you pick one or two phrases or maybe entire verses that you think summarize the big idea of this story? Take a minute to look the story over again, write down the verse (or verses) that you think sum it up. Pause the episode, do that, and then come back.
Ok, we’re back. Was there a phrase or even a verse or two that you think summarized the story? I picked two. One of them I mentioned already: verse 18: “It is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.” The other is verse 22: “They will bear the burden with you.” Not every story contains a summary in such a neat little package, but this one seems to work pretty well!
And now the last thing: these verses happened a long time ago. That’s great for Moses, but does it have any relevance for us today? I think it does. Did you notice the outcome that Jethro predicted in verse 23, “If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
God is giving directions for how his people should be led so that they can live together with peace and unity, and endure together in the long journey they on together. Do you think there are any parallels between Israel in Exodus and the church today? Can you think of any directions that God has given his people in the New Testament that would help us to walk in peace and unity together on the long journey that he has put us on between here and heaven? Talk about it with your family at dinner tonight and see what you can come up with.
That’s all for today. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with a friend and follow us on Apple Podcasts.
This content is sponsored by Trinity College of Louisville. We shape young men and young women for Christ and for the church. Learn more at TrinityCollegeLou.com. Until next time, keep growing!