: We can criticize with more ease when we have earned the right to do so. Jethro was not just Moses’ father-in-law; he was his former employer (Exodus 3:1) who willingly released Moses to return to Egypt to free the Israelites (Exodus 4:18). He had provided for Moses’ family until the Israelites were safely in the wilderness, and then he had reunited them with Moses (Exodus 18:5). He had been sincerely glad for all of God’s goodness to Israel. He was not envious that Moses had been exalted