The document discusses themes from Exodus 17-18, focusing on Israel's experiences in the wilderness, the significance of Moses striking the rock to bring forth water, and the establishment of leadership structures as outlined by Jethro, Moses' father-in-law. It emphasizes the importance of godly leadership, fear of God, and the necessity for leaders to delegate responsibilities to avoid burnout. Additionally, it highlights the symbolic meaning of Jesus as the 'rock' and the 'banner' under which the faithful find refuge.

1. Exodus 17-18, Test the LORD, strike the rock,
Joshua means Yehoshua or Jeshua, our banner,
our judicial system and 3 branched system of
government, Godly Leader Qualifications, fear
God, a holy nation

2. Pastor Dave Kooyers
Valley Bible Fellowship
Box 433
Boonville CA 95415
www.ValleyBibleFellowship.org
(707) 895-3212
God bless you as you examine His Word,
Your servant in Christ, 2Cor. 4:5,
Dave

3. Exodus 17:1 the wilderness of Sin, and
camped at Rephidim,

5. Modern Day Wadi Refayid

6. Modern Day Wadi Refayid

7. Exodus 17:2, Test The LORD?
• Exodus 17:2 Therefore the people quarreled
with Moses and said, "Give us water that we
may drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do
you quarrel with me? Why do you test the
LORD?“
• Test the LORD’s patients, longsuffering, or His
tolerance for sin?
• How do I/you test the LORD?

8. Exodus 17:6
strike the
rock, and water
will come out of
it
• Exodus 17:6 "Behold, I will stand before you there on
the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and
water will come out of it, that the people may drink."
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
• THINK DRAMA, I need 2 volunteers
• #1 Rock, #2 the LORD, #3 Moses swinging his staff
• Who’s gonna’ get hit?

9. Exodus 17:6
strike the rock,
and water will
come out of it
• Exodus 17:6 "Behold, I will stand before you…
• Romans 8:34 …Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather
who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who
also intercedes for us.
• Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our
transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The
chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by
His scourging we are healed.

10. Exodus 17:6
strike the
rock, and water
will come out of
it

11. Exodus 17:6
strike the rock,
and water will
come out of it
• John 4:13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone
who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever
drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst;
but the water that I will give him will become in him a
well of water springing up to eternal life."
• NIV 1 Corinthians 10:4 and drank the same spiritual drink;
for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied
them, and that rock was Christ.

12. Exodus 17:7, Testing and contending
• Exodus 17:7 He named the place Massah and
Meribah…
• Massah means “testing” or “trial” and
• Meribah means “contending” or “quarrel”

13. Exodus 17:9, Joshua?
• Exodus 17:9 So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose
men for us and go out, fight against Amalek.
Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the
hill with the staff of God in my hand.“
• 1st NASU of 23 uses of the name “Joshua”
• Who’s going out to fight to defend God’s people?
• Yehoshua = 'the LORD is salvation‘
• Usage: Jeshua(28), Joshua(219).

14. Exodus 17:8-16

15. Exodus 17:8, Amalek
• Exodus 17:8 Then Amalek came and fought
against Israel at Rephidim.
• This photo is titled, THE REALM OF THE
GOBOLITIS AMALEKITES

16. Exodus 17:8,
Amalek The Grandson Of Esau
• Exodus 17:8 Then Amalek came and fought
against Israel at Rephidim.
• This man, Amalek, was actually the grandson
of Esau, the brother of Jacob, as we read in
Genesis 36:12
• Genesis 36:12 Timna was a concubine of
Esau's son Eliphaz and she bore Amalek to
Eliphaz….

17. Amalkites?
• When was the last time you saw an
Amalekite?
• King Saul destroyed almost all the Amalkites in
1 Samuel 15:20, as did David in 2 Samuel
1:1. The Amalkites were the enemies of the
Jews in Judges 3:13 and in Judges 6:3.
Haman, in the book of Esther, wanted to wipe
out all the Jews and he is considered to a
descendant of the Amalekites.

18. Exo 17:12, Moses' Hands Were Heavy

19. Exo 17:12, Moses' Hands Were Heavy

21. Who Is Your
Banner?
• John 3:14 "As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted
up;
• John 12:32 "And I, if I am
lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men to
Myself.“
• Song of Solomon 2:4 "He
has brought me to his
banquet hall, And his
banner over me is love.

22. Exodus 17:15, In The LXX Differs
•
•
•
•
•
NAU
Exodus 17:15 …named it The LORD is My
Banner [kataphugea] ;
BGT Exodus 17:15 …ὄνομα αὐτοῦ κύριός μου
καταφυγή
καταφυγή noun nominative feminine singular
common
[LS] καταφυγή
καταφυ²γή, ἡ, a refuge, place of
refuge, Hdt., Eur.: c. gen., κ. κακῶν refuge from
evils, Eur., Thuc. II. a way of
escape, excuse, Dem.

23. Exodus 17:15, In The LXX Differs
•
NAU
Exodus 17:15
…named it The LORD
is My Banner
[kataphugea] ;
• a refuge, place of
refuge
• I have not read this
book, but I wonder if
this is the idea

24. Exodus 17:15, The LORD is My Banner
• The LORD is My Banner and under Him we find
a place of refuge

25. Exodus 18
Fireworks Long Exposure Shot

26. Exodus 18:1-12

27. Exodus 18:1, Jethro Heard In Midian
• Exodus 18:1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses'
father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and
for Israel His people, how the LORD had brought Israel out
of Egypt.
• All the nations are without excuse (Romans 1)
• the LORD had bringing Israel out of Egypt is a matter of
history that all gentile since then should know about,
unless they are willingly ignorant
• John 3:19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come
into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the
Light, for their deeds were evil.
• 2 Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were hardened; for until
this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same
veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.

28. Exodus 18:1, The Priest Of Midian
• Exodus 18:1 Now Jethro, the priest of
Midian, Moses' father-in-law…
• Pagan priest?
• Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem
brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest
of God Most High.
• Joshua 24:2 Joshua said to all the people, "Thus
says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'From ancient
times your fathers lived beyond the
River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and
the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.

29. Did The Priest Of Midian Get Saved?
• Exodus 18:1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian…
• Exodus 18:10 So Jethro said, "Blessed be the
LORD … 11 "Now I know that the LORD is greater
than all the gods; indeed, it was proven when
they dealt proudly against the people." 12 Then
Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering
and sacrifices for God, and Aaron came with all
the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses'
father-in-law before God.

30. Exodus 18:13-27
• This is the structure of our judicial
system, from the Supreme Court down to
Small Claims Court
• Our 3 branched system of government comes
from the Bible also (I’ll expound later)

31. Exodus 18:21,
Godly Leader Qualifications
• Exodus 18:21 "Furthermore, you shall select
out of all the people able men who fear
God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest
gain; and you shall place these over them as
leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties
and of tens.
• As seen in NT; Acts 6:3, 1Tim 3:1-7, Titus 1:6-9

32. Exodus 18:17, Not Good, Hebrew Phrase
• Exodus 18:17 Moses' father-in-law said to him,
"The thing that you are doing is not good.
• Where have we read that before?
• Genesis 2:18 Then the LORD God said, "It is
not good for the man to be alone; I will make
him a helper suitable for him."

33. “Not Good”, Hebrew Phrase
eTeacher Biblical Newsletter
• “…Jethro understood that in order for Moses to be a
real leader, he couldn’t do everything single thing for
his people. A leader must guide his people, but he
can’t forget about his wife, (which was, by the
way, Miriam and Aharon’s biggest criticism of Moses)
nor can he judge every single
legal case and still have time to listen
to the commandments of God. Jethro understood that
Moses would simply burn out, like any human being.
Moses deeply respected his father in law and
was attentive as a leader, so he was happy to make
some changes in his leadership. When an outsider
came and shared with Moses some different views
about his leadership, Moses understood that he
needed to take a step back and

34. “Not Good”, Hebrew Phrase
eTeacher Biblical Newsletter
• reassess. For that reason, the changes Moses made in
his leadership were successful….”
• “…When I teach Biblical Hebrew, I always remind
both my students online and my pupils in high school
that there's a difference between Biblical Hebrew and
Modern Hebrew. Some words and expressions may be
written and pronounced the same way, but the
meaning often isn’t the same. Today we will look at the
one expression that never lost its meaning, from
Biblical times through to today. That expression is
about when things are not going well. We will examine
this expression in relation to leadership….”

35. Exodus 18:21, Fear God
• Exodus 18:21 "Furthermore, you shall select out of all the
people able men who fear God, men of truth…
• Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God
for nothing? 10 "Hast Thou not made a hedge about him
and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast
blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have
increased in the land.
• Ecclesiastes 8:13 But it will not be well for the evil man and
he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he
does not fear God.
• The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you
fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear
God you fear everything else. Oswald Chambers

36. THE END
• The world's
youngest
veterinarian

37. Nehemiah 5:9-10 1 Samuel 26:16 Exodus 18:1718, Not good, Hebrew phrase, eTeacherBiblical
Newsletter
•
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•
When things are “not good.”During our last Webinar, where we spoke about Nehemiah as a social leader, I noticed that there's an essential expression in the Hebrew Bible - and actually
in our lives - that can make us change our perspective and actions.
•
When I teach Biblical Hebrew, I always remind both my students online and my pupils in high school that there's a difference between Biblical Hebrew and Modern Hebrew. Some words
and expressions may be written and pronounced the same way, but the meaning often isn’t the same. Today we will see that when things are not going well, this is the one expression
that never lost its meaning, from Biblical times through to today. We will examine this expression in relation to leadership.
•
When Jethro saw that Moses was sitting all day long, presiding over all the legal cases of the Israelites, Jethro said:
•
"Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thingthat you are doing is not good. You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for
you; you cannot do it alone"(Exodus 18:17-18)
."
- :
.
:
"
•
•
Jethro understood that in order for Moses to be a real leader, he couldn’t do everything single thing for his people. A leader must guide his people, but he can’t forget about his
wife, (which was, by the way, Miriam and Aharon’s biggest criticism of Moses) nor can he judge every single legal case and still have time to listen to thecommandments of
God. Jethro understood that Moses would simply burn out, like any human being. Moses deeply respected his father in law and was attentive as a leader, so he was happy to make some
changes in his leadership. When an outsider came and shared with Moses some different views about his leadership, Moses understood that he needed to take a step back and reassess.
For that reason, the changes Moses made in his leadership were successful.
•
The next time the expression about “not doing good” appears in the Bible was when David spoke with Abner about King Saul, David’s leader and his father in law, as written:
"This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives , all of you must surely die, because you did not guard your lord, the Lord’s anointed. And now, see where the king’s
•
spear is and the jug of water that was at his head.”(1 Samuel 26:16)
"
;
,
- -,
•
•
Here the expression relates to the leader's protection. Since days of old and through to today, leaders have always been protected by guards. Since King Saul wasn't protected at
night, David could have easily killed him. The only reason that Daviddidn't do it, despite the fact that his people tried to convince him to do so, is becausekilling the King would have been
another thing that is “not good”, to say the least.
•
The final time that this beautiful expression appears in the Bible was during the time of Nehemiah, who was appointed to be the governor of the Jewish people in Judah. Nehemiah as a
social leader noticed that there was great poverty amongst his people, as we discussed in the last Webinar. He couldn't bear the thought that people needed to sell their children in order
to eat. For that reason he said:
•
Again I said, “The thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, ourenemies? And likewise I, my brothers and
my servants are lending them money and grain. Please, let us leave off this usury"(Nehemiah 5:9-10)
."
;
- .
,
:
"
•
•
A great thing about being a leader is having the opportunity to enact change, to influence the lives of others, to make important decisions about the destiny of a nation. One must
remember, however, is that nobody is perfect - a leader can do wrong, can make mistakes, and can’t necessarily fix and change every situation, but a real leader should at least
try to understand what is good and what isn’t. This, for me, is the definition of a great leader. Nehemiah was one of the greatest leaders in the history of the Jewish people, thanks to his
understanding that it's time to write off thedebts of the nation's debts to when your people can’t even afford to eat. Being a goodleader means making sacrifices for your people, even if
the decision is a difficult one.
•
Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation
English
•
Transliteration
•
Hebrew
•
The thing
•
haddāvār
•
•
Not
•
Lō'
•
•
Good
•
tôv
•