3-21-15. Exodus 18:13-27. Dare To Be A Jethro And Speak Up-my devotional

Exodus 18:13-27                                                                    Kevin E. Jesmer

Key verse 18:17-19a                                                              3-21-15

 “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….”

Though Jethro was a new convert, God worked through him powerfully to help Moses and the Israelites manage the growing demands of the fledgling nation. Look at Exodus 18:13-27 read, “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.”

Moses had a very hard job. Look at verse 13. “The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening.”  Think about how hard it is for Moses to counsel others and to lead the people. He had no time for himself. When he rolled out of bed there was already a line up people at this tent. He went from morning to evening, listening, praying, teaching, managing and making decrees. Jesus and his disciples were busy like this. They served the crowd morning to evening. In the evening they would listen to some teaching from Jesus, pray and rest for a short time before doing it all again. That was their life for 3 ½ years. Pastors have a very hard job today. I know some pastors who have over 200 emails and texts a day. They are continuously counseling people. In order to keep a relationship with their family, and to carve out some time to gather their own thoughts. They don’t answer their texts and emails. They practice “sabbathing” which is taking one day a week off,  and some time off each year. They need this time for it is so hard to keep up with the pace of ministry. But despite all of the challenges, God gives his servants strength to serve the mission he has called them to.

God saw Moses’ need and intervened in a very wise way…He sent Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. Jethro saw the needs of Moses and spoke up. Look at verse 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?”  We might think, and even expect that God should send Moses someone who is more spiritually mature than he was. But God sent Jethro, a priest of Midian who was a recent convert to the faith. He was the one whom Moses was to listen to. We need to humble ourselves to listen to the one whom God sends, even if it is not the one we would choose to disclose our hearts to.  Jesus taught this principle to his disciples, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?” (Matt 21:16; NIV) Moses was humble. “Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.” (24). This humility was amazing and refreshing. It opened the way for a great work of God. Are you humble enough to listen to advice from a young believer?

Jethro had the guts to speak up, though it was not easy to do it. Look at verse 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.”  He had insight to see where things were headed if Moses kept his course… that is burn out. He urged Moses to listen to him. Look at verse 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.”  I admire Jethro’s courage. He spoke up. Most of the time we sit quietly, being like “Yes men” on the elder board. Do you know about the story of the elephant in the room? The elephant is the problem. We know that there is something wrong and something needs to be said and everyone else thinks so too. But no one is willing to open their mouth to say that there is an “elephant in the room.” They just carry on as if there is nothing there. Jethro was willing to open his mouth and begin to talk about the “elephant in the room.” People in the congregation yearn for people to speak up and say something about the elephant in the room. May God grant us to courage and wisdom and humility to open our mouth and speak words of constructive criticism like Jethro, without fear.

Jethro came up with a wise plan. Look at verses 19b-23, “…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.”  He did not just criticize Moses, but rather he offered up a very constructive plan. He reminded Moses of his first responsibility–to teach the Bible to the people and to represent them in prayer before God. This is important. If we are going to say that something needs to be changed, we need to offer up a constructive plan to change it. This requires God’s wisdom, but God is willing to dispense his wisdom in overwhelming proportions. All we need to do is ask.

Moses, not only listened, but he implemented this new way offered up by Jethro. Look at verses 25-26, “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.” Moses and the leaders were not stuck in a certain way… a certain framework. As the needs changed, they were able to see God’s wisdom and change. They were flexible and as a result, dynamic. God worked powerfully through this body. When a man, like Jethro, is full of thanksgiving and praise for God, his spiritual eyes are opened and he becomes a blessing and an encouragement to others.

God blessed the whole human race through Jethro’s advice and Moses’ implementation. They provided the model of delegation that has been used by managers for thousands of years. God showed the human race the importance of delegation. It is one of the cornerstones of management. Delegation is ultra important in the secular and spiritual realm. Those who do not know how to delegate will find themselves burnt out before long. But those who delegate with the wisdom of God, God can bring about much good fruit to bless the world.

Delegation requires faith and trust. Naturally we don’t trust people to do something. We have a tendency to want to manage everything ourselves. Even if we do delegate we tend to micromanage those under us. Or, we endlessly groom people to fit the job, and when we deem them faithful to keep the framework then we delegate. For some people, this will take a couple decades. But the bottom line is, we need to trust people. We need to entrust the work of God to other people and trust God that he will work through them. Have faith that your attempts at delegation for the glory of God will be blessed by God.

As I serve the role in the mission to the North, I will need to learn how to delegate. At the present time, there is not enough mission on my plate to delegate much. But as God continues to grow the mission I will need to be “all inclusive”, trusting God and trusting people. Then there will be endless possibilities for the future.

Moses continued with the respect towards his father-in-law. Look at verse 27, “Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.”  He sent Jethro on his way. Moses was not “hurt” by being told what to do by a spiritually younger one. He respected Jethro, He was thankful for Jethro’s input. Jethro would be in his mind, heart and prayers.

Prayer: Lord, teach me to be humble, humble enough to listen to advice and implement that wise advice into my life. Grant me the “spiritual guts”, humility and wisdom to speak up and show the way that you are revealing to your people.”

One Word: Dare to be a Jethro.