October 10, 2026 -- Day Ten of Joy: Exodus 18:8-9

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Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in that He had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.
Exodus 18:8-9 ESV
 
I must confess, after my last exploration of the word joy, the negative sense of it and how this the conflict between uncle and nephew points us to Jesus, I feel like I stumbled in these reflections. Today (four days later) my zeal for this project is renewed.
 
When Jethro is confronted with the goodness of the LORD, His deliverance of His people, which was promised four hundred years before, and now accomplished, he is filled with joy. Jethro is not an Israelite. Moses had married a foreign woman. So, Jethro needed to be brought up to speed on all that had taken place. No doubt as Moses told Jethro all that had happened, Moses himself was filled with awe and joy. The telling of it is contagious joy which then starts infecting Jethro. This joy spills over into blessing God. This rejoicing leads him to declare his firm faith in God Who delivers His people from all their enemies. Joy leads Jethro to bring a sacrifice of praise to God and to eat a fellowship meal with the leaders of God’s people.
 
In preparation for the last plague, the people of Israel put blood on the doorframes of their houses. The angel of death arrived that night and killed all the firstborn of Egypt. Anyone who didn’t have the blood of the lamb on the doorframe of their house lost their firstborn. Pharoah’s firstborn died. The lowliest slave woman’s firstborn died. The cost of God’s deliverance from slavery is blood.
 
In the New Testament, our deliverance from slavery to sin comes at the cost of Jesus’ blood. What the lamb’s blood in the Old Testament foreshadowed, the New Testament manifested. Jesus is the lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus’ blood is the final sacrifice. As New Testament Christians we celebrate the fact that no more blood, nor ever will be needed for us to approach God. Jesus is the full and complete evidence of all the good that the LORD has done for His people.
 
How has God blessed you recently? How have you seen His deliverance? Where has the goodness of Jesus been brilliant in your life? Share it. I have no doubt that will open a fountain of joy in your life. Perhaps even leading your listener to join you in rejoicing for all the good God has done.
 
Oh God of splendour and saving love, thank You for the rich salvation You have displayed in Jesus Christ. Thank You, God of Angel Armies, for the Holy Spirit Who seals this redemptive work to our hearts. Spirit of God, bring to mind the glorious works of God in my own life that as I review them and tell them to others, joy will flow from me to the praise and honour of Your Name. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/vz-FkqobgXY?si=l12R9jK8dAuD4yLc
 

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