Exodus 18:13-27
13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain —and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” 24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.
Consider what Moses was doing: each day he sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning to evening (verse 13). Why did the people do? They were bringing their issues to Moses, to receive a divine instruction of what they should do. But for Moses, the line is not getting any shorter, instead it was getting longer and longer. In our english translation it seems that they only brought disputes to Moses, but the word actually means “matters” which whether it includes disputes or not. Moses here was acting like a counsellor and also a judge to all the people of Israel. Then we know, Jethro was coming to Moses, and said to him that what he was doing is not good (verse 14). Instead Jethro said that being a good leader should not take all the burden for himself alone (verse 18). This will cause Moses as well as the people to wear out or in other words burn out.
Have we ever had to the point we feel our ministry puts us into a heavy burden instead of a joyful ministry? Are we taking too much more than what we capable of? Do we ever in a situation or are now within a situation where we are burn out in our ministry? Then maybe we should evaluate again and ask God for His counsel to help our ministry. Maybe we are in the same situation of what this passage is going to tell us.
Before we explore of Jethro’s wisdom on his advise to Moses, i would like to point out something quite important on this story: Jethro said to Moses that what he was doing was not good (verse 17). Can you imagine if you were Moses? how do you react on such comments? we might tends to feel offended by such words. “I am the prophet here” or “I am the priest / missionary / or an evangelist and you want to tell me that what i did is not good?” Our pride might suddenly appear to protect our prestigious identity, but hey Moses was wise here. He did not complain or argue back, but instead he listens to Jethro. We should learn from Moses to have a sensitive heart toward God’s way which might use other people’s word to disciple us.
This passage teach us a very practical thing about ministry, of what we should do as a christian leader. A successful Christian leader is the one that has wisdom, and here is Jethro’s wisdom on his advise to Moses of what we should do as a christian leader:
1. Pray for the people (verse 19).Moses was advised to stand before God, to become people’s representative before God bringing their dispute to God. When we do our ministry, do we pray for the people? when we serve in a church, or in a bible study group, have we had time to pray for the people? Pray is the first step mentioned by Jethro here. Prayer is the key for an effective ministry. Prayer is also the essential steps for delegation.
2. Disciple the people (verse 20).
For Moses to be able to effectively delegate his part of ministry, he should first teach them the law - God’s law / God’s command, and show them how they should “walk the talk” - meaning Moses has to disciple them by instructing them what is God’s command, and showing a living example of God’s love. Moses has to show them how they should live. The idea is If the people knew God's word for themselves, many disputes could be settled immediately. Rather than Moses has to wait for people to come to him to tell their own problem, Moses has to be proactive (instead of reactive). Moses has to teach them and tell them a God-centered heart instead of seeking “God-solutions”.
3. Select disciplers or capable men to assist the ministry (verse 21).
Once discipleship has been done, a true discipleship should have its fruit which is to have new discipler (or new leader). Discipleship should do its mission to disciple a “discipler or leader” to be. Jethro has a wise advise here that to select a discipler or man capable for leadership. A man capable for leadership has to be firstly having a God-fear life. Proverbs 1:7 says that "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom". God-fear life means that such man will put his life as a total submission to God. Such man knows where to put God in his life, he knows who God is, and how he should acknowledge God in his life. If you know someone as a king and you acknowledge him as a king you will honor him and behave as a people towards his king. If you know someone as a teacher and you are the student, and you acknowledge the teacher, you will obey his advise and learn from him. And so for God our creator, our king and master, our savior, we should also acknowledge Him as appropriate as what we call HIM. Living a God-fear life is living Coram Deo. This is the criteria of selecting a new leader for an effective delegation. We should see delegation as a way to advance the gospel, instead of just assisting us and make free up our burden. It requires a heart that trust God fully, as Moses, he has to trust God, by trusting these people, their loyalty towards God. Delegation teach not just the leader to be, but also the current leader to leave everything in God’s hand. I can tell that this is somewhat difficult for some people, especially for those that tends to be a perfectionist, but this is also a way where God disciples us.
4. Delegation does not mean abandoning the people.For Moses to effectively delegate, he must still have oversight and leadership over those under him. Delegation is the exercise of leadership, not the abandoning of it. Here in one side, Moses has to learn to trust God by leaving of what he used to do to other people; but on the other hand Moses has to keep oversight the people, observe them, and reminds the leader of God’s heart (God’s law). Moses still has to serve the leader for un-resolved matters that they can’t do. Moses has to be a servant to the other sub-leader.
Now comes the question: where is the Gospel in all of these “delegation” matters? Is this just some sort of business management that we can apply in our daily lives? at work? at church? No. It is there because God seek to instructs us regarding the matters of life. It is not God's intention to leave us in the dark in regards to the issues of life. God comes to us to reveal God’s self and to make His ways known. He desires for us to take on His character and to practice His habits of heart. God came to Abraham with a promise and a call to trust. God came to Moses at a burning bush and revealed His name, Yahweh. We are about to receive the Ten Words for Life on Mt. Sinai just a few chapters later in Exodus. And so, later in New Testament, theh WORD become flesh, God came in Christ Jesus so that we may know Him fully. He is Immanuel, so that we may know His presence in our daily lives. God wants us to know His way and from that we have faith in Christ, so that through Him we may have the life that He has promised.
~ Paul Hartono
13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain —and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” 24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.
Consider what Moses was doing: each day he sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning to evening (verse 13). Why did the people do? They were bringing their issues to Moses, to receive a divine instruction of what they should do. But for Moses, the line is not getting any shorter, instead it was getting longer and longer. In our english translation it seems that they only brought disputes to Moses, but the word actually means “matters” which whether it includes disputes or not. Moses here was acting like a counsellor and also a judge to all the people of Israel. Then we know, Jethro was coming to Moses, and said to him that what he was doing is not good (verse 14). Instead Jethro said that being a good leader should not take all the burden for himself alone (verse 18). This will cause Moses as well as the people to wear out or in other words burn out.
Have we ever had to the point we feel our ministry puts us into a heavy burden instead of a joyful ministry? Are we taking too much more than what we capable of? Do we ever in a situation or are now within a situation where we are burn out in our ministry? Then maybe we should evaluate again and ask God for His counsel to help our ministry. Maybe we are in the same situation of what this passage is going to tell us.
Before we explore of Jethro’s wisdom on his advise to Moses, i would like to point out something quite important on this story: Jethro said to Moses that what he was doing was not good (verse 17). Can you imagine if you were Moses? how do you react on such comments? we might tends to feel offended by such words. “I am the prophet here” or “I am the priest / missionary / or an evangelist and you want to tell me that what i did is not good?” Our pride might suddenly appear to protect our prestigious identity, but hey Moses was wise here. He did not complain or argue back, but instead he listens to Jethro. We should learn from Moses to have a sensitive heart toward God’s way which might use other people’s word to disciple us.
This passage teach us a very practical thing about ministry, of what we should do as a christian leader. A successful Christian leader is the one that has wisdom, and here is Jethro’s wisdom on his advise to Moses of what we should do as a christian leader:
1. Pray for the people (verse 19).Moses was advised to stand before God, to become people’s representative before God bringing their dispute to God. When we do our ministry, do we pray for the people? when we serve in a church, or in a bible study group, have we had time to pray for the people? Pray is the first step mentioned by Jethro here. Prayer is the key for an effective ministry. Prayer is also the essential steps for delegation.
2. Disciple the people (verse 20).
For Moses to be able to effectively delegate his part of ministry, he should first teach them the law - God’s law / God’s command, and show them how they should “walk the talk” - meaning Moses has to disciple them by instructing them what is God’s command, and showing a living example of God’s love. Moses has to show them how they should live. The idea is If the people knew God's word for themselves, many disputes could be settled immediately. Rather than Moses has to wait for people to come to him to tell their own problem, Moses has to be proactive (instead of reactive). Moses has to teach them and tell them a God-centered heart instead of seeking “God-solutions”.
3. Select disciplers or capable men to assist the ministry (verse 21).
Once discipleship has been done, a true discipleship should have its fruit which is to have new discipler (or new leader). Discipleship should do its mission to disciple a “discipler or leader” to be. Jethro has a wise advise here that to select a discipler or man capable for leadership. A man capable for leadership has to be firstly having a God-fear life. Proverbs 1:7 says that "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom". God-fear life means that such man will put his life as a total submission to God. Such man knows where to put God in his life, he knows who God is, and how he should acknowledge God in his life. If you know someone as a king and you acknowledge him as a king you will honor him and behave as a people towards his king. If you know someone as a teacher and you are the student, and you acknowledge the teacher, you will obey his advise and learn from him. And so for God our creator, our king and master, our savior, we should also acknowledge Him as appropriate as what we call HIM. Living a God-fear life is living Coram Deo. This is the criteria of selecting a new leader for an effective delegation. We should see delegation as a way to advance the gospel, instead of just assisting us and make free up our burden. It requires a heart that trust God fully, as Moses, he has to trust God, by trusting these people, their loyalty towards God. Delegation teach not just the leader to be, but also the current leader to leave everything in God’s hand. I can tell that this is somewhat difficult for some people, especially for those that tends to be a perfectionist, but this is also a way where God disciples us.
4. Delegation does not mean abandoning the people.For Moses to effectively delegate, he must still have oversight and leadership over those under him. Delegation is the exercise of leadership, not the abandoning of it. Here in one side, Moses has to learn to trust God by leaving of what he used to do to other people; but on the other hand Moses has to keep oversight the people, observe them, and reminds the leader of God’s heart (God’s law). Moses still has to serve the leader for un-resolved matters that they can’t do. Moses has to be a servant to the other sub-leader.
Now comes the question: where is the Gospel in all of these “delegation” matters? Is this just some sort of business management that we can apply in our daily lives? at work? at church? No. It is there because God seek to instructs us regarding the matters of life. It is not God's intention to leave us in the dark in regards to the issues of life. God comes to us to reveal God’s self and to make His ways known. He desires for us to take on His character and to practice His habits of heart. God came to Abraham with a promise and a call to trust. God came to Moses at a burning bush and revealed His name, Yahweh. We are about to receive the Ten Words for Life on Mt. Sinai just a few chapters later in Exodus. And so, later in New Testament, theh WORD become flesh, God came in Christ Jesus so that we may know Him fully. He is Immanuel, so that we may know His presence in our daily lives. God wants us to know His way and from that we have faith in Christ, so that through Him we may have the life that He has promised.
~ Paul Hartono
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