18:13-16 The way in which Moses was willing to sit all day answering the people's questions and the way that he spoke to Jethro - as if Jethro should have understood why he did it - shows that Moses was completely selfless in his service to the nation of Israel. We tend to use excuses - I am too tired - I have been at work all day - the children have tired me out - and then neglect the needs of our brethren and sisters.

17:2 has the people saying to Moses 'Give us water …' It is interesting that this request is seen by Moses as 'tempting God' (17:2) and as saying 'is the Lord among us or not?' by Yahweh. The way that we speak or think speaks volumes about what we think about God.

18:10 In saying 'Blessed is the Lord who …' Jethro seeks to bless God because he has done something. There are a number of occasions when we see similar language.

Genesis 24:27 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren.
2 Chronicles 2:12 Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the LORD, and an house for his kingdom.
2 Chronicles 6:4 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David, saying,
Psalms 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.
Psalms 72:18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.
Psalms 124:6 Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Knowing that God has worked in our lives should cause us to want to praise Him.

17:12 Now it is evident that God did not require Moses’ hands to be held aloft in order that Amalek should be discomfited. There has to be a spiritual reason for this. Moses, all the time his hands were raised, showed the need for praise to be given tot he Father. However that he had not the strength to do this demonstrates that of ourselves we have not the strength to do the father’s will – we are inadequate.

18:25 The ‘able men’ were chief of the tribes (Deut 1:15) so we conclude that Moses was able to easily make a choice as these men had already shown their skills in the tribes.

Exo 17:8-16 The strange way God allowed Moses to give salvation to Israel is surely showing us how our Saviour stretched up His hands until the time of "the going down of the sun". One and a half thousand years before Christ’s sacrifice God saved His people in a very symbolic way. However, when our Lord died, the disciples had forsaken Him and fled. Luke says though that "all His acquaintance, and the women that followed Him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things" Luke 23:49 Those faithful supporters play the part of ourselves.

Israel encountered the Amalekites for the first time.  The hatred of the Edomites towards the Jews continued through this warring people who descended from Amalek, Esau's grandson.  The Amalekites would be utterly destroyed but not before many other skirmishes with Israel (Exo 17:14-16).

Saul was supposed to do the job but he failed (1Sam 15:2,3), and it was only by Hezekiah (1Chron 4:43), and later David (2Sam 8:12), that Amalekites, as a group, were destroyed.
 
In their first battle with the Amalekites, Moses' hands were held up by Aaron and Hur.  Holding up the hands is recognition of the LORD's power in our lives.  Although we might become tired, we must persevere to realize the LORD's victory (Heb 12:12). 
 
Jethro praised the Lord (18:10) and offered Moses sound administrative wisdom (v.19).  It seems that the Lord rewarded Jethro with entrance to the Promised Land.
Hobab, who was either Jethro or his son (Num 10:29, Judg 4:11), clearly had representation in the Land.

17:12 - Right from the start of the Old Covenant there was provision for the inclusion of those who had been brought into the flock from elsewhere - gentiles who had been accepted into Israel, and yet there always seems to have been a stumblingblock with the Jews about this.

17:7      The challenge ‘ is the Lord among us or not’ for it was a challenge to God shows an amazing ignorance of the character of God on the part of the nation. However we need to be careful that we do not think like this in the way that we carry on our daily lives.

17:1,8 They are camped at Rephidim when the Amalekites come against them. v6 God tells Moses to walk on ahead with the elders to the rock at Horeb/Sinai, where water is provided, and 18:5 & 19:1,2 would indicate this is where they next camped. So possibly the Amalekites came against them before they left Rephidim and went to Horeb, where water was provided? Perhaps it was the result of their grumbling, and they had to see the hand of God at work, and believe, before they could receive the water (of life).

17:11 has links to 1Tim 2:8 lift up holy hands in prayer

17:15 is linked to Isa 11:10 where Jesus is the banner, as the remnant of Israel returns from captivity at the end time.

SHARE THE LOAD
 
As Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, watched Moses at his work judging the people from morning till night, he realised that both Moses and the people would be worn out before long if things continued as they were. His advice was that Moses appoint people to share the load with him.
 
For some of us who are leaders in our churches, we find sharing the workload a hard thing to do. We can feel bad about placing the burden on other people; maybe we have never had the example to show us how; maybe as a servant of Christ, we feel we should do it all alone; or perhaps we have tried before and found that it didn't work.
 
Both Moses and Jesus shared the workload. Moses took Jethro's advice and appointed judges. Jesus appointed apostles - people he sent out to help him in his work. Their example is an example for us. Neither men are recorded as facing unwillingness when they asked people to help - both of them were men of prayer.
 
There are two lessons we should learn.
1. If we are hardworking leaders, let us not be afraid to share the load and ask people to share it with us. After all, we need people to take our place when we are gone. Many people are just waiting to be asked.
2. If we are not leaders, let us offer our time and our skills to those who are leaders to us. They may just be waiting for our offer of help.

Whoever we are, let us share the load.

17:4That Moses had to cry to God because he did not know what to do about the absence of water teaches us the Moses was also being tested in the wilderness. However he, unlike the rest of the people, realised that God would have the answer for him. Do we realise that God has the answers for us in our ‘wilderness’?

18:1-4  Whilst the record mentions, almost casually, that Jethro had heard about the way that God had worked for Moses we must realise that there must have been quite effective communication in those days.  We may remember that 40 years later Rahab knew what had happened - Josh 2:10 - but that was some time later and news could easily pass around the known world in that length of time. However when Jethro heard it was not many months after Moses had brought Israel out of Egypt.

18:2 Moses had left Jethro and gone, at God’s instruction, to deliver Israel from Egypt. So it is hardly surprising that Jethro meets Moses with his wife and two sons in the wilderness.

18:2 No mention is made in the early record of Moses leaving his family to go back to Egypt. However clearly he did. This is a case of a man who put God’s commands above his family. He certainly was not guilty of the error which Jesus later warned of – Matt 10:37

17:9-13  Joshua was down in the valley, Moses on a hill above him, God in heaven above him.  Quite literally Moses was the intermediary here between God and man.

On the hilltop were both mediator (Moses) and High Priest (Aaron)  We're not told precisely what Hur's role was, but there was a Midianite Hur some time later who was of the royal household. (Num 31:8)  Although these two are clearly not the same person, perhaps the name "Hur" was a regal name.  The Hur with Moses and Aaron was clearly of some importance to Israel. See Exo 24:14

Moses had to hold up his hands in supplication towards heaven for there to be any success for Israel.  Since he was over eighty years old at the time and given that they were out in the desert all day ("till the going down of the sun") it's not surprising that he needed to be seated.  He didn't chose soft, relatively comfortable sand, but chose to base himself an a rock - a sure, firm foundation.

Psa 41:13, 72:19, 106:48

The Hebrew verb: "Amen"  given in a number of Psalms.  Often one hears the English version of it to mean: "So be it".  My Hebrew dictionary gives 7 forms of Amen and each form gives an interesting translation of the verb.  Starting with the simple form of amen = to bring up, to foster; 2nd form of amen = to be true, to be faithful; 3rd form of amen = to train, to educate; the 4th form = to be educated, to be skilled; 5th = to believe, to trust; 6th = to be believed; 7th = to train oneself, to practice.  All these forms have the same stem = amn (vowels were not added until the 12 century AD) so the addition of the vowel 'e' = amen.  Like forms in other languages each form is used for a  different,  purpose.  an example from another language may help: the 2nd form in French is used when relating to an event  that  has passed, or the 4th form to scholarly writings.  That is why one leans the different forms of one's own language.   The different forms are distinguished in Hebrew language by the addition of a word(s) as a prefix or a suffix to the stem (root) of the word.

V.16 The spiritual blessings, as often in Scripture, are set forth by material, the abundance of which is described by a figure, in which a "handful"  (or literally, "piece," or a small amount} of corn in the most unpropitious locality, shall produce a crop, waving in the wind in its luxuriant growth like the forests of Lebanon. We have a similar figure of speech "shall flourish like grass of the earth" referring to increase.

72:9     Whilst it may be that enemies licking the dust is just a way of speaking of dominion over enemies there is a deeper meaning. Isa 49:23 shows Jesus’ subjects  who come to worship him in the kingdom ‘lick up the dust’ of his feet.

This psalm concludes Book II. V.20 does not imply that David wrote all the psalms in Book II, nor does it suggest that his writing ceased at this point. Clearly, he wrote more psalms subsequent to Ps 72.

72:20 Whilst we read here that the ‘prayers of David are ended’ we see another occasion – 2Sam 23:1 – when we are shown the last words of David and then 1Chron 23:27. Each of these three events mark different ends. The record in 1 Chronicles speaks of David’s last instructions relating to temple worship. 2 Samuel 23 records David’s last words about his expectations and Messiah whilst Psalm 72 marks the end of David’s prayers about Messiah.

David begins by requesting Yahweh, on Solomon's behalf, for the ability to judge Israel honorably. Then the psalm clearly elevates to talk about David's greater son, Jesus, the messiah.  The psalm gives some insight into the joy, bounty, and justice that will be in the kingdom age.

72:10-11 The bringing of gifts by the kings, showing their submission, is a consequence of their seeing the glory of Jesus’ kingdom – Psa 48:5

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Mark 5:15      That 'Legion' was found 'clothed and in his right mind' is indicative of two things. Luke 8:25 advises us that he was unclothed. Here is clothed. There is a play on Adam's condition when he was naked and then clothed by God. Secondly it was his mind that needed attention. That was also true of Adam.

v 8,9 Jesus talks to the unclean spirit in the singular sense, but the man's concept is multiple. Is this to do with the fact that all sin is sin to God, but we/"man" tend to see a multiplicity of different sins, and we grade them according to our view of their seriousness.

v 28-34 the woman had to realise that the power/healing was not in his clothes, but was as a result of her faith. It was also important for the disciples to witness the miracle.

5:14-16 Notice the threefold use of see / saw. The healing was evident to all. There was evidence for all. However many chose to disregard the evidence because it did not sit them. We can be the same. We might see the incontrovertible evidence and yet still disregard it.

5:7      In recognising Jesus as ‘the son of the most high God’ Legion is showing his recognition of what God had said about Jesus –Mark 5:11 – even though the Jewish leaders could not. The historical account of the healing of the man is a parable of repentant Israel recognising Jesus.

Vs.22,23 Jairus came to Jesus pleading for Him to accompany him home to help his dying daughter.  Jesus agreed but was interrupted by the woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.  Jesus healed the woman (v.34). 

However, during the delay in healing the woman, Jairus' daughter had died.  Imagine the grief of Jairus.  He might have thought: If only Jesus had attended to my daughter right away she would have been saved. 

Subsequently, we know that the Lord brought the little girl back from the dead (vs.41,42). Jesus showed that He possessed the power of His Father (John 3:34).  The lesson for Jairus, and the onlookers, was in the parallel experiences of the healed woman and Jairus' daughter. 

Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, who represented the Law, would have banned the woman from attending worship because she was unclean.  She had been spiritually dead for twelve years.  Jairus' daughter of twelve years was now physically dead. 

The Lord Jesus, who fulfilled the Law, was able to make the woman physically and spiritually clean; and was able to resuscitate Jairus' daughter.  Jesus gives life where the Law cannot (John 14:6). 

YOUR STORY

After Jesus had healed Leigon, Leign begged to go with Jesus. "Jesus did not let him, but said, 'Go home to your family and tell them how much the LORD has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.' So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolos how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed." (Mark 5:19-20)

Leigon had only known Jesus for perhaps a day at the most. He probably did not have a thorough knowledge of the Bible and we are not even told if he had been baptised or not. Leigon was a brand new disciple  with less qualifications to preach than you or I probably have. And yet when Leigon went out he made big inroads for Jesus in the community where he lived.

What was the message he preached? He told how much Jesus had done for him. Every one of us who has a relationship with God and Jesus has a similar story. We may not know much about preaching the gospel, but we can tell people what God and Jesus have done for us. Once they are interested, others can help with the details.

When Leign spoke, people were amazed at his story. No doubt our story of God working in our lives can have a similar effect. When we let the Lord work though us, his story, written and told in our lives, can work miracles.

5:7 The miracles that Jesus performed clearly are not all recorded in Scripture. Those that are recorded are recorded for our instruction and have specific messages for u. Legion, in this case, represents Israel who are astray from God. His bizarre behaviour picks up language from the Old Testament which reflects Israel’s false worship as I have made in an earlier comment on this chapter.. The assertion that Legion makes that Jesus is the son of the Most High with the desire that Jesus would depart actually reflects the views of the Jewish leaders. They knew he was a teacher sent from God – John 3:2 and yet they rejected him.

Legion begged Jesus to allow him to follow him. The people begged him to go away. Jesus responded equally well to both. The ruler of the synagogue begged Jesus to heal his daughter. The woman fearing and trembling fell down at Jesus' feet. The people, believing Jesus couldn't heal a dead girl, asked him to discontinue his journey, but he put them outside the house and healed her anyway.

We can learn a lot from these people, mostly Gentiles I presume, who begged Jesus. He always responds well to those who humble themselves before him. So we see from the evidence of all four Gospels that Jesus need not be feared by those who approach him humbly, even though he has the power to both forgive or condemn. Let's keep in mind his answer to the girl's father:

"Do not be afraid; only believe." (v36)

V.1 It seems that Christ crossed to the east side of the Sea of Galilee for the express purpose of healing Legion. This area was mainly inhabited by Greeks, hence the keeping of pigs.  The name of Legion (a Roman name) would further suggest that the demoniac was a Gentile. 

What was Christ trying to demonstrate?  Was He sending a message that He was the saviour of all people, both Jews and Gentiles (Gen 22:18; Gal 3:16)?  Christ sent the healed Legion away to publish this fact, which he did in Decapolis, the ten Gentile cities of east Galilee.

5:17 In seeking for Jesus to depart out of their coasts the people are behaving like the Jewish leaders did towards Jesus. Despite all the evidence that he was who he claimed to be he was rejected by those he came to save. The rejection of Jesus here foreshadows Jesus’ rejection by the Jewish leaders throughout his life.