The Law · Chapter 18 of 40

Exodus 18

Jethro, Moses' father in law, brings Moses' wife and two sons to meet him in the wilderness and rejoices to hear all the LORD has done, confessing that the LORD is greater than all gods. Watching Moses judge the people alone from morning to night, Jethro warns he will wear himself out and counsels him to appoint capable, God fearing men to judge smaller matters. Moses heeds the wise advice and shares the burden.

What happens in Exodus 18

Jethro, priest of Midian and Moses' father in law, hears of God's deliverance and brings Zipporah and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, to Moses at the mount of God. Moses welcomes him and recounts all the LORD did to Egypt and every hardship along the way. Jethro rejoices, blesses the LORD, and declares that now he knows the LORD is greater than all gods, then offers sacrifices and shares a meal with Aaron and the elders before God. The next day he watches Moses judge the people alone from morning to evening and objects that the task is too heavy; Moses will wear himself and the people out.

He counsels Moses to keep teaching God's statutes and representing the people before God, but to appoint able, truthful, God fearing men over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens to judge routine matters, bringing only hard cases to him. Moses listens and does so, and Jethro departs to his own land.

Exodus 18 in context

Exodus 18 offers a pause between the sea and Sinai, focusing on wise leadership rather than miracle. Jethro, a Midianite priest and outsider, gives counsel that God's chosen mediator humbly accepts. The chapter shows Israel's need for sustainable structures of justice before the law is even given.

It also records a Gentile's confession of the LORD's supremacy, hinting early that God's saving fame is meant to reach beyond Israel to the nations of the world.

Main themes of Exodus 18

Exodus 18 (KJV)

1When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt; 2Then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, 3And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land: 4And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh: 5And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God: 6And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her. 7And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent. 8And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them. 9And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. 12And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God. 13And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. 14And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? 15And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: 16When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. 17And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. 18Thou 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. 19Hearken 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: 20And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. 21Moreover 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: 22And 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. 23If 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. 24So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. 25And 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. 26And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. 27And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.

Verses to carry from Exodus 18

“Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.”Exodus 18:11

“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.”Exodus 18:18

“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:”Exodus 18:21

Reflection

Are you trying to carry alone what God meant to be shared? Even Moses needed help, and a wise outsider's counsel saved him from collapse. Ask God for the humility to receive advice and the courage to delegate. The work is His, not yours alone, and He gives many hands to bear one burden.

A prayer from Exodus 18