Exodus 18 Family Advise can be good

[seekeroftruth]

Exodus 18:17 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.”​

I can't decide, this morning, if Jethro's advice was good or bad. Sure, it wasn't fair the Moses had to do it all. He was human after all and subject to burn out. But, it opened the door for what turned into kings and corrupt leaders. King Saul and Caiaphas come to mind.

Here's what the blueletterbible.com site says about who should be chosen.

This was the next step in effective delegation for Moses. Delegation fails if the job is not put into the hands of able, godly men. Only particular men were fit for this job:

- Men of ability: able men
- Men of godliness: such as fear God
- Men of God's Word: men of truth
- Men of honor: hating covetousness​

This is from the easy English site.

Jethro told Moses that the situation was not satisfactory. Moses was wearing himself out, and the people would become impatient. Jethro reminded Moses that he must speak to God on behalf of the people. As their judge, Moses must also teach God’s laws to the people. He should teach them how to obey these laws every day. Jethro suggested that Moses should choose some good men but they must have the right moral qualities. They must be honest men, whom Moses trusted. They must not try to get money from the people. They would help Moses. Moses should appoint them as the officials over groups of the people. Then everyone would get attention. He organised the people rather like the army. Those officials dealt with the easy problems. And then Moses dealt only with the difficult problems.​

The secret to the value of Jethro's advice is in the details. It only works for God if the right people are chosen.