jethro's advice

today i read exodus 18
in my days as a travelling conference speaker,
we used to use this passage as an ancient argument
for the need for small groups.
and it still speaks that message to me-
but today as i read it,
it had more to say-


setting:
moses has just walked out of egypt-
with all of pharaoh’s slaves-
then when they chased him,
he watched them all drown in the red sea.


after that, he watched God
miraculously provide, food and water
to the travelling hebrews.


he goes back to his father-in-law
to share the news.
this is the same guy who he fled to
after he killed that egyptian;
40 years earlier.


his father-in-law, jethro
watches moses at work:


“the next day moses took his seat
to serve as judge for the people,
and they stood around him from morning till evening.
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?"


moses answered him,
"because the people come to me to seek God's will.
whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me,
and i decide between the parties and inform them
of God's decrees and laws."


moses is a celebrity.
people love him and want to be around him-
he loves being around them.
he loves their attention, and they love his.


“moses' father-in-law replied,
"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.”


-pause-


worn out leaders.
worn out people.
heavy loads
that can’t be carried alone.
its not good.
ok- i’m listening.
was moses?


“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.
teach them the decrees and laws,
and show them the way to live
and the duties they are to perform.
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,
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.
if you do this and God so commands,
you will be able to stand the strain,
and all these people will go home satisfied."


jethro says to moses:
“stop being a rockstar!”
“its not all about you!”
“get some good guys and have them help you.”
and he makes some promises:
:: your load will be lighter
:: you will be able to stand the strain
:: people will go home satisfied.


that’s a great thought.
happy leaders-
happy people.
share the load.
i need to listen to that.
did moses listen to that?


i mean,
did he really need to?
i mean- he’s moses!
does he really need to take advice
from a guy named jethro?!
he has stared down the pharaoh
and walked through the red sea
he has beat on rocks
and made them gush water.
he was called out by God
from a voice in a burning bush!
i think he could have gotten away with saying
“that’s nice- that’s for those interesting ideas.”
and kept on doing what he was doing.


verse 24 says:
“moses listened to his father-in-law
and did everything he said.”


to me this passage says:
share the load and enlist others-
but it also says
that sometimes the best advice
comes from unlikely sources.
and there are times in life
when we need to stop thinking
that we have got it all figured out
and listen to someone else’s advice.
and that advice
may not be coming out of a burning bush,
but it may be from God just the same.