Was Moses' father-in-law a priest of the true God?

[tonychanyt]

I think so.

Genesis 25:

1 Now Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah, 2and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

Exodus 2:

16 Now a priest of Midian [Reuel] had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.

Reuel (aka Jethro) was a descendant of Abraham. He seemed to worship the God of Abraham. The name Reuel, or Raguel, means “friend of God.” At this point, he only knew God as "El" and not as the LORD.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible:

His name, and the detailed notices in Exodus 18, prove that he was a priest of the one true God who was known to the patriarchs especially under the name El. The great bulk of his tribe, certainly those who lived farther north and more closely in contact with the Hamites of Canaan, were already plunged in idolatry. The conduct of the shepherds Exodus 2:17 may indicate that his person and office were lightly regarded by the idolatrous tribes in his immediate neighborhood.

In the ancient Near East, many people practiced henotheism, the belief in one supreme god while acknowledging the existence of other deities. There were many elohim and YHWH was one of them. Jethro was probably a henotheist.

Exodus 18:

8 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. 9 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.

At this point, Jethro acknowledged the name of the LORD. From Moses, he learned more about the one true God, the God of Abraham.

10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

This happened before Moses set up the Tabernacle and consecrated Aaron and his sons as priests.

Jethro worshipped the God of Abraham right from the beginning as a priest of Midian, though not all Midianites worshipped the one true God. Later in life, he learned of the mighty acts of the LORD from the mouth of his son-in-law, Moses. As a priest of God, he held a sacrificial feast with Moses, Aaron, and the elders of Israel before Aaron was ordained as the high priest.

27 Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own land.

In the end, Jethro left Moses and maintained ties to his original culture and religious identity. I doubt that he was fully converted to YHWH monotheism.

 

[KevinT]

I agree with what you have laid out. It makes me wonder how much knowledge of the true God was left in the land of Canaan as the Israelites were in Egypt.

Here is a different but similar question: Did Balaam serve the true God? Or was he worshiping a false god and the true God stepped in to deliver a message?

 

[tonychanyt]

Did Balaam serve the true God? Or was he worshiping a false god and the true God stepped in to deliver a message?

Balaam served many gods, including the true God. See Was Balaam a true follower of the LORD? and follow up there.