Jethro's visit to the wilderness brought a great blessing to Israel in terms of introducing changes in handling people's disputes. It was good that Moses listened to the advice of his father-in-law.
This narrative is usually taken as a model in biblical governance, leadership, and Christian service. What lessons can we learn from the advice of Jethro?
We are informed in Exodus chapter 12 verses 37 and 38:
The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.
The number of men that went out of Egypt was about 600,000 excluding women and children. If we make a rough estimate that all those men that were counted have wives and two children at the minimum, that was approximately 2.4 million people. And we are not including here those "many other people" who joined the Israelites.
No wonder, in settling people's disputes, Moses spent the whole day. After giving his best and getting tired, the cases of many other people were assigned for the following day. Such a situation is prone to frustration and exhaustion.
Notice a few things here that Moses had been doing:
He serves as people's judge to settle disagreements.
He was doing the work alone.
People come to him to seek the will of God.
So far, so good. People were seeking the will of God in their day-to-day affairs. Moses as a judge is knowledgeable and upright. As such, he is qualified for the task. The problem is he was doing the work alone.
Notice Jethro's observation of what Moses had been doing:
What you are doing is not good. 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.
Yes, judging people's cases based on God's word is good. Nevertheless, Moses' effectiveness as a judge depends on the number of people under his oversight. If there are too many, which was the case here, good work becomes "not good" in the way Moses executes his office alone.
In Christian service, we have the term "burn-out" when ministers of the gospel after many years of serving a local church become tired and exhausted. The activities that he enjoyed in the past become tiring and exhausting. I think the phrase "wearing yourself out" in our text describes such a situation. To avoid such exhaustion, a leader must learn to delegate some of his tasks. By doing this, his load will be lighter and people will be empowered.
I hope and pray that many Christian leaders will not reach the point in their lives that they no longer listen to wise advice. It is a dangerous thing if leaders come to the point that they think they are beyond correction.
Moses is supernaturally chosen to deliver Israel out of Egypt and to lead the people to possess the Promised Land. Despite such a stature, Moses still maintains a teachable spirit. This proves that indeed Moses is a humble national leader. We badly need such an attitude among leaders in our time.
Let us see the content of Jethro's advice:
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.
We see here that the presence of God is invoked in giving advice. This tells us that listening to wise advice and the presence of God must go together. Some leaders claim to be walking in the presence of God but refuse to listen to advice. Others just listen to human advice taking the presence of God for granted.
Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave.
It is no mistake therefore to consider the Bible as a manual for life. In it, we know the will of God. An old catechism asked this question:
What does the Bible primarily teach?
And the answer is:
The Bible primarily teaches what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man.
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. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times . . .
The qualifications are very clear. The fear of God is the priority. A man who fears God is trustworthy and will not accept dishonest gain. Many leaders today, both in politics and religion give lip service to the fear of God. I am not sure if the practice of putting one's hand on the Bible in taking an oath for a public office is still maintained today. Though this custom is commendable, this does not mean that someone who took an oath fears God. In today's politics, double talk and accepting dishonest gain seem to be the norm. This tells us that the fear of God has no place in public office. No wonder, chaos, injustice, and legal plunder are popular in our days.
That will make your load lighter because they will share it with you. If you do this and God commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.
This is the outcome of listening to wise advice. Leaders will no longer be overburdened, people will be empowered, and public service will be prioritized.
We learn in this article that doing the work of God alone isn't good, and will wear you out, and that is why you need to listen to wise advice.
