Eld Ko Swee Chay

Jethro – Moses’ Father-In-Law, a Wise Counsellor
(Exodus 18:1-27)

Introduction

The Bible is God’s Word. It is divinely inspired and perfectly preserved by God throughout the ages, that the believers in all generations can have a perfect Bible without mistakes. The Bible teaches us many precious spiritual lessons through the lives and service of His servants with different backgrounds, education and social status.

All of us certainly know of Moses, who lived in the palace of Egypt as the prince of Egypt, the son of Pharaoh’s daughter for 40 years. He spent the next 40 years working for his father-in-law as a shepherd. He spent his last 40 years as a great leader, under whose hand God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. They crossed the Red Sea on dry land, wandered in the wilderness and finally arrived at the border of the Promised Land. On the other hand, little is mentioned about his father-in-law Jethro.

In this article we shall look at the life of Jethro – his personality and conduct, the wise counsel he lovingly gave to Moses concerning the selection and appointment of leaders, delegation of responsibility and authority and administrative structure. The biblical principles behind his advice are applicable to the ministry in the church today.

1. Jethro is gracious, kind and caring

Jethro was a Midianite priest living near Mount Sinai. He was a descendent of Abraham by Keturah (Gen 25:1-2). Apparently, he had two other names: Reuel (Exo 2:18) meaning “friend, companion of El”, and Raguel (Num 10:29) meaning “friend of God”. Jethro might be his official title. It was not uncommon for one person to bear more than one name.

By God’s divine appointment, Moses came to be associated with Jethro. Moses killed an Egyptian whom he saw beating a Hebrew. When Moses knew that the people around and even Pharaoh had heard about the murder and sought to kill him, he feared for his life and fled to the land of Midian. He came to a well where the seven daughters of Jethro had come with their flocks. When they were driven away by other shepherds, he protected them and helped them to water their flock. Jethro greatly appreciated the kindness of Moses. He graciously offered food to Moses, invited him to live with them and even gave his daughter Zipporah to him in marriage (Exo 2:11-22). During the 40 years Moses stayed with Jethro, Zipporah bore two sons to Moses named Gershom and Eliezer (Exo 4:20, 18-3-4).

The LORD called Moses to return to Egypt to deliver the Jews from the bondage of the Egyptians (Exo 3:7-10). Before Moses set off for Egypt, he went to his father-in-law Jethro to ask for permission to return to Egypt to see his people (Exo 4:18-20). Jethro graciously agreed and gave his blessing. Moses took his wife Zipporah and two sons and returned to Egypt. Exodus 18:2 mentions that “he (Moses) had sent her back”, suggesting that Moses subsequently sent his wife and two children back to Jethro. There was no mention of this incident previously. The last mention of Moses’ wife and children is in Exo 4:25. Moses sent them back to Jethro for some unknown reason some time after that incident recorded in Exo 4:24-26.

After the exodus from Egypt, having crossed the Red Sea and while the Israelites were in the vicinity of Mount Sinai, Jethro heard of their safe arrival and took time to personally bring his daughter Zipporah and two grandsons back to Moses (Exo 18:1-6). Jethro’s initiative to bring them to meet Moses at Mount Sinai speaks a lot about him. Truly he was a good, gracious, kind and caring father, father-in-law and grandfather to take all the effort and trouble to bring Zipporah and her two children to be reunited with her husband and their father.

Moses had a good meeting with Jethro. He shared with Jethro what the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians and how the Lord had delivered the Israelites. On hearing this testimony, Jethro rejoiced and praised the LORD. He blessed the LORD and acknowledged the greatness and goodness of the LORD. He made a burnt offering and sacrifices for God and had a thanksgiving meal together with Israel’s leaders (Exo 18:7-12).

2. Jethro advised Moses on organization and administrative matters

He observed (Exo 18:13-14a) – Jethro spent time observing Moses’s daily activities. How long Jethro observed was not mentioned, but from his observations we can infer that he must have quietly and patiently done so for at least one full day from the morning to the evening and “saw all that he (Moses) did to his people”.

To be a good and effective church leader, one needs to be able to make a fair and considered assessment of a situation after careful observation and collection of background information. One cannot jump to conclusions, make sweeping statements and judgement merely based on piece-meal information, “hear-say” and one's own perceived opinion without seeking further information and listening to clarifications from the parties concerned. To make careful observation and get full understanding of any situation is an important skill all of us need to cultivate for the sake of unity and peace in the church and the glory of God.

He made enquiries and listened to explanations (Exo 18:14b-16) – Once Jethro had observed and knew what Moses was doing daily, he asked Moses three questions: 1) “What is that thou doest to the people?” 2) “Why sittest thou thyself alone” 3) “and [why do] all the people stand by thee from morning to even?” These are good and pertinent questions not only to help Jethro himself to fully understand the situation, but more importantly to point out the problems and make Moses reflect on them, and in so doing help Moses to discover his blind spots and solutions. These were not meant to criticize Moses but to help him recognize the problems. Moses replied that the people came to him to enquire of God, to seek judgement when there were disputes among the people, and to learn the statutes of God and His laws.

He gave feedback (Exo 18:17-18) – Jethro said to Moses that the way he was doing things was not good. Both Moses and the people with him would certainly wear out, i.e. “burn out”. The reason was that the work simply was too heavy for him, and he was not able to perform it alone. Jethro rightly diagnosed the problem and made it plain and simple to Moses.

Because Jethro took time to observe, ask questions and listen to Moses’s explanation, he could boldly give feedback on his observations.

He gave suggestions (Exo 18:19-23) – Jethro, with God-given wisdom, went on to give his advice to ease the burden of doing all the work alone and wearing out both Moses and the people. He gave several suggestions to Moses on how to manage a large population. This management and administration structure, given more than two thousand years ago, is used in churches, government and commercial organizations, the military etc. till today.

Firstly, Jethro pointed out that the prime duty and responsibility of Moses was to teach God’s Word: to represent the people before God and bring their matters to God, to teach them the counsel of God – ordinances and laws (i.e. God’s Word), to make them know the way in which they must walk and the work that they must do. Moses should focus first and foremost on feeding the people with God’s Word and nurturing their spiritual lives.

Secondly, Moses needed to choose and appoint leaders from among the people to assist him. Moses was to choose the rulers or leaders based on four basic qualities: men who were able; men who feared God; men who were truthful; and men who hated covetousness. These are biblical criteria for selecting and appointing church leaders like Elders, Deacons, ministry and fellowship group leaders.

In Deuteronomy 1:9-18, Moses gave a similar list of requirements to identify leaders: known by the people, wise men, understanding, shall not respect persons in judgement, not be afraid of the face of man. He did not simply choose men who liked him or whom he liked. This same pattern is seen in Acts 6:1-6, where the people were taught to select individuals for daily ministration with these requirements: “men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom.”; then the leaders lay hands on them and officially appointed them and vested them with proper authority. These biblical qualities ought to be used to assess and evaluate the suitability of candidates for leadership role in church ministries and fellowship groups, as well as for those serving as full time staff in the church office. A comprehensive list of qualifications for Elders and Deacons is given in 1Timothy 3:1-7 and 3:8-13 respectively.

Thirdly, Moses needed to delegate. The basic problem with the way Moses was doing things was a lack of delegation. Jethro advised Moses to select rulers (leaders or administrators) and to assign them to look after groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens with delegated duties to judge the people in all seasons, who would thus share his burden. They were to handle and judge small matters but to bring great matters and hard cases to Moses. Moses was a great man called by the LORD, but he was finite. He only had so much time and so much energy for the people he led. Clearly, with more people sharing the work, it would help him to endure, and the people would live in peace.

The work of the church is teamwork. It is impossible for any one person to be effective and at the same time efficient to perform all the work of the church. Every church leader, ministry and fellowship leader, and member has different gifts and abilities, and must come forward to serve and discharge his or her duties and responsibilities to the best of his or her ability, for the glory of God and the testimony of the church. There is always the danger of one man trying to do too much and wrest control of everything. He will be stretched thin and become ineffective, feelings of weariness and frustration will set in, and he may even suffer a burn out.

The work of the church, either at the Session, ministries, fellowship level, or administrative and accounting work, must be done decently and in order. Having good constitutions, policies, structures, guidelines and practices according to the teaching in the Bible is important.They are, however, not meant to be bureaucratic and cumbersome and to make life difficult. Without them, there would be inconsistency, confusion and chaos whereby everyone will do what is right in his or her own eyes. All the ministry and administration work in the church must be organized in such a way that roles and responsibilities, accountability and reporting relationships are clear and transparent, minutes of meetings properly recorded, accounts diligently kept. Above all, it is important that all who work in the church office or serve in whatever capacity in the church ministries are constrained by the love of Christ and to show Christian virtues: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowel of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering: Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” (Colossians 3:12-14). Let each member of the church discover his or her spiritual gifts and use them for the benefit of God’s people in God’s church. It is not appropriate for one to say, “I am called to serve God, and I report and am answerable to God alone”. Yes, we are all answerable to God for all our work and conduct and behavior, but we must also submit and be accountable to the church leaders whom God has appointed, and abide to the guidelines and practices of the church.

Fourthly, what Jethro said is significant: “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.” (Exo 18:23). Jethro recognized the sovereign will of God and that any command for Moses to do something has to come from God. While Jethro may give counsel to Moses, which appeared sound and logical, Jethro suggested that Moses inquire of God to make sure that it was His will to appoint rulers and to delegate work to others. If Moses did so, God would direct him, he would be able to endure, and all the people would enjoy peace. The spiritual lesson here is that church leaders should not accept and implement suggestions without first committing them to God and seeking His approval through prayer. God will direct and guide the leaders to make the right decision and give the blessing and success.

3. Moses humbly accepted and implemented Jethro’s suggestions

“So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he said. 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. And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, and every small matter they judged themselves.” (Exo 18:24-26).

Moses had been called by the LORD to be the leader of some two million Israelites and had overcome many challenges in leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Yet, that he was willing to accept and act upon the counsel of his father-in-law says something about his character. He did this in the spirit of meekness. From this account, we see the genuine display of meekness in Moses, one of the characteristics of his life which made him a great leader. Many in the leadership position of Moses would consider it too humiliating to take the advice of another as it is deemed a sign of weakness. To be meek is to be teachable, willing to accept help and suggestions from others through coaching, counselling and feedback. We need to remember the example of Moses, to emulate him and be meek in our acceptance of feedback and counsel to recognize our blind spots and weaknesses. Jesus said: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5). Jethro helped Moses to be a better and more effective and efficient leader by his counsel.

Conclusion

God gave Moses a good, gracious, kind and caring father-in-law, Jethro. By the providential care of God and in His perfect will and timing, He made use of Jethro to provide Moses with wise and practical suggestions on how to nurture the spiritual lives of and judge the two million Israelites wandering in the wilderness effectively and efficiently. This was necessary to prevent Moses and the people under his care from burnout as the work was simply too much and too laborious for him to do it alone.

Jethro spent time to first observe and understand the daily work of Moses before giving feedback and advice to Moses. The advice given by Jethro consisted of: 1) Moses focusing on feeding the people with God’s Word and nurturing their spiritual lives; 2) biblical criteria for selecting and appointing church leaders – men who were able, who feared God; who were truthful; and men who hated covetousness; 3) delegation of responsibility and authority to the appointed leaders under an organizational structure; 4) seeking approval from God to implement the suggestions. Jethro’s advice is applicable to the church today.

The work of the church is teamwork. The works need to be shared among leaders and supplemented by members. The work of the church must be done decently and in order through good constitutions, policies, structures, guidelines and practices according to the teaching in the Bible. May God help us to learn from the life and wise counsel of Jethro to be a better leader in leading and managing the church, and a better co-worker in doing the work He assigns each one of us to do, according to His will and purpose and with the different gifts He gives us. AMEN.