Strong Bones
Judges 1:16
And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people.
The Author of every chapter of the human story loves to reference past successes while making present advances, doesn’t He? As pilgrims move ever onward, generation to generation, blazing new trails and advancing the work of discipleship, God wants us to carry the memory of our predecessors with us. This was most powerfully illustrated when Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt and carried the bones of Joseph in tote, a deed that provided powerful symbolism for saints in every generation. Mark this, friend: every new path we blaze today in pursuit of the Promise Land is an extension of a former path blazed by the blood, sweat, and tears of others.
We haven’t heard mention of Moses’ father-in-law Jethro since his final appearance in Exodus 18, but the shadow of his testimony looms large over these hills. It was Jethro who took a young, renegade Moses under his wing all those generations before, welcoming him into his family, giving him a beloved daughter as a bride, and teaching him the divinely blessed profession of shepherding. It was also Jethro, who, years later, after Moses crossed the Red Sea with a pilgrim band, traveled to meet him, offered encouragement and blessing, and delivered powerful leadership advice that I believe preserved Moses’ ministry, imploring Moses to delegate judgment to other godly men lest he get burned out from the sunup-to-sundown judicial labor. Seriously, imagine how many more boulders Moses’ might’ve shattered along the way to Canaan had he not taken that advice.
Well, God doesn’t want us to forget about Jethro, even generations later. And it’s as if He doesn’t want the next era of pilgrims to rush forward without reminding them that they carry the bones of their predecessors in tote. To remind them that the fields that are now ready for present harvesting were sown by the sacrificial toil of the saints of yore. So friend, take a moment right now to praise the LORD for the Jethro’s in your own biography who set the tone and set the stage for your present advance.