Moses Shares the Leadership

KEY VERSE: “Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee.” —Exodus 18:19

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Exodus 18:13-26

JETHRO was the father of Zipporah, Moses’ wife. He was a priest of Midian. Moses spent the forty years of his exile from Egypt with Jethro, and naturally would be very well acquainted with him, and apparently favorably so, for he was quite willing to be guided by his advice in the matter to which our lesson refers; namely, to divide the responsibility of judging the people of Israel with subordinates.

Although Jethro was not a worshiper of Jehovah, the God of Israel, there is little doubt that Moses must have told his father-in-law much about the true God during the forty years he lived with him and tended his flocks. This would be bound to have a salutary effect on Jethro’s religious thinking. Thus he was prepared to be convinced by the miraculous manner in which Jehovah delivered his people from Egyptian bondage and cared for them in the wilderness.

Observing the goodness of the Lord toward his chosen people, Jethro said: “Now I know that the Lord [Jehovah] is greater than all gods; for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.” Jethro then offered sacrifice to the Lord; and Aaron and all the elders of Israel ate bread with him, indicating their acceptance of his expressions of faith in Jehovah.

Jethro did not return to Midian immediately. The next day he observed Moses’ way of dealing with the problems of the people—that he was undertaking to do this unassisted. The result was that from morning until night this great leader of God’s people was busy hearing and adjusting their complaints. This was not only a great strain on Moses, but it was also difficult for the people. We can imagine that many of them had to stand in line for hours waiting to be heard.

So, Jethro suggested to Moses that he appoint helpers in this huge task, that he select trustworthy, unselfish men, and appoint them to be rulers over thousands, and hundreds, and fifties, and tens. These were to hear the problems of the people, and judge among them in all cases for which they deemed themselves qualified. The larger issues, at their discretion, could be referred to Moses. Moses readily accepted this suggestion. He was not power-hungry, but willing that others should share his authority.

The counsel Jethro gave to Moses was to instruct the men he selected in the law of God so that they might be qualified to teach and judge the people in keeping with the Lord’s will. This was good counsel, for it meant that the people would thus be learning more and more about their God and his divine law by which they were being governed.

It was natural that Jethro should have Moses’ best interests at heart and would be concerned over the burden of service which his son-in-law had undertaken; and so he did not hesitate to counsel Moses in what he thought would be the best thing to do under the circumstances. Moses, the meekest man in all the earth, was ready and willing to take the advice.

No doubt Jethro was concerned over the fact that his son-in-law was working too hard. By counseling him to lighten his burden by sharing it with others, Jethro was not suggesting that Moses relinquish his responsibility and authority, for all the important matters were still to be brought to him. He recognized the responsibility the Lord had placed upon Moses, and his wise counsel to him took this into consideration.

One of the important practical aspects of this lesson is the wholesome example set by Moses in his willingness to accept and act upon the advice given to him by his father-in-law. He did this in a spirit of meekness which is seldom equaled in the lives of the Lord’s people. It is a true evidence of Moses’ meekness, and one of the characteristics of his life which made him truly great.

One qualification for participating in the future work of instructing the world, is teachableness. One cannot be a teacher of others unless he is willing himself to be taught; we see how important is the grace of meekness. Any time we discover ourselves resisting instructions or suggestions, imagining we are beyond the need of help from others, we should recall the example of Moses.

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