Exodus Chapter 18 Verses 17-23 

: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 God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: 20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show 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.” 

“And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.”  It is a common reaction that if someone tells us that what we are doing is not good, that we try to defend ourselves and try to make the case that the person telling us that does not know what he is talking about.  This is because of our pride.  Moses did not react in pride when his father in law told him that the thing that he was doing was not good.  Rather, he took the position of the writer: Prov. 27:6 “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”  Moses, no doubt, had a very high regard for his father in law and for his thoughts on the matter.  Jethro had been very kind unto Moses when he fled from the presence of Pharaoh.  Jethro had taken him in and had given Moses his oldest daughter to wife.  By all indications they had been close for those forty years that Moses kept his father in laws sheep in the wilderness.  No doubt Jethro’s words were received by Moses with high regard. 

“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.”  I would strongly suspect that Moses was by experience realizing that what his father in law told him was true.  To hear the causes of great lines of people from morning to evening would have to be tiring for Moses.  Then to realize that there are far greater numbers of people coming each day for judgment than what you could get around to in a days time had to be a weariness of mind to Moses.  Moreover, the people coming to Moses must have been getting frustrated as they perhaps had to stand in line for days to get their case reviewed and judgment given.   

“Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:”  Jethro’s counsel begins by advising Moses to be for the people to God-ward to bring the people’s causes unto God.  Interceding on behalf of others and then seeking God’s counsel is wonderful advice for us today.  Shouldn’t we bring the problems and burdens of our friends and family and church members to God and to seek his counsel to provide the solution to those problems and burdens. 

“And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.”  The giver of the laws and ordinances, and the instructions of how we are to walk and what work we must do comes from God.  Jethro is telling Moses to take what the LORD gave him and teach it to the people.  On a much smaller scale the gospel ministers of today are to do this also to the people they serve.  As the people of God, we need to know his laws and ordinances, we need to know how we are to live our lives in obedience to God to his name’s honor and glory, and we need to how what our work is and how we are to do that work. 

“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:” Paul told Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:2 “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”  Moses was not alone in the judgment of the people.  However, he had a responsibility to choose men of high moral credentials as detailed above and set them in order to the work at hand.  While we do not call men to the work of the gospel ministry, that is God’s work: we, as a church, are to determine their qualifications based on a very specific set of instructions set forth for those who are to be ordained.  Moreover they are not to be novices but are to prove themselves as able men, able to preach and teach the word of God.  

“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.”  This system of judicial review sounds very familiar to the system of judicial review that the framers of our constitution set forth in the constitution.  As a result of that which Jethro outlined, the burden would be shared by many and the efficiency of judgment would be greatly increased to the benefit of and timeliness for the people.   

“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.”  Jethro’s counsel was not to be heeded because he said it, but only heeded if God commanded it.  By all indications, God commanded it as this because the pattern for the judgment of Israel.  This relieved the burden of Moses and it relieved the burden of the people so that they could go their place in peace.   

Verses 24-27

: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.” 

“So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.”  By doing all that his father in law had said he had to have sought confirmation from God about this for his father in law had told him to do so. 

“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.”  Considering the children of Israel numbered about 2 million people, Moses had to make selection of a very large number of men.  The process for selection is not spelled out for us, so we are left to speculate about how he may have gone about selecting the men and how he determined that they met the required qualifications.  Since they are described as able men, the Lord’s involvement would be strongly suggested by this statement.   

“And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.”  Today, we do not bring our hard causes unto Moses.  We should bring both hard and small causes to God in prayer.  We should be looking to find our answers in the scriptures as they are a thorough furnisher unto all good works.  We need the direction of the Holy Spirit to guide us in our search for answers.   

“And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.”  When we have a close relationship and fellowship with someone, it is usually hard to see them leave, however, it would be selfish on our part to hinder them from going back to their own home as they have needs and responsibilities there.