NOTES for Exo 18:1-27
1 When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt; |
2 Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back, |
3 And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land: |
4 And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh: |
5 And Jethro, Moses' father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God: |
6 And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her. |
7 And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent. |
8 And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them. |
9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. |
10 And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. |
11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. |
12 And Jethro, Moses' father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father in law before God. |
13 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. |
14 And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? |
15 And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God: |
16 When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. |
17 And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. |
18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. |
19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to Godward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: |
20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. |
21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: |
22 And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. |
23 If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. |
24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. |
25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. |
26 And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. |
27 And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land. |
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Moses' father-in-law clearly has a great deal of management experience. It is no accident that he is the one who advises Moses to create the first administrative apparatus in the history of the people. One might think that the point here is only Moses' desire to shift part of the burden of governing the people onto others. And that is understandable: why should he personally decide every case and sort out every problem that arises? His task is prophetic ministry; he must be the mediator between God and the people, since the people need a mediator. The rest can be entrusted to others.
In reality, however, everything is more complicated. In addition to easing Moses' own burden, there is also an attempt here to make the people at least somewhat responsible for their own life and their own affairs, because those who rule over the people are chosen by the people themselves. No one chose Moses; he is a leader appointed by God. Any claims can be made against him without taking responsibility for anything: after all, he, Moses, is the initiator of everything he does. God leads him, so let him solve his own and our problems with God while we wait.
Now everything changes: the people choose the new leaders for themselves. Now it will no longer be possible to remove responsibility from oneself completely, because the one who chooses is always responsible for those whom he chooses. Besides, now disobedience to these chosen leaders becomes, at the very least, obviously inconsistent for everyone. First choose elders for yourselves, and then ignore their instructions, not listen to orders, simply disregard them? Any reasonably normal person in such a case would simply stop respecting himself, and those around him would scarcely take him seriously either.
The issue, then, is training in the most elementary responsibility: responsibility connected with authority, with its delegation, and with conscious obedience to those whom one has chosen as leaders. Of course, not everything always goes smoothly here, but people learn from mistakes, and there is no other way to learn responsibility. The people will still have to settle the land promised to them by God, and the experience gained in this way will be very useful there. Without it, no more or less normal life can be arranged on the land given by God.
Readings for 30 March 2026
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