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All We Need, But Still Need More
When the Lord redeems his people, he gives them all they need in one sense but not all they need in another sense. When we come to Jesus in repentance and faith, we’re given a new life, eternal life, freedom from sin, righteousness, hope, the Holy Spirit, the word, and the church. Paul says that those who’re in Christ have been given “every spiritual blessing” (Eph. 1:3).
But when we come to Jesus and become his people, we still need other things. We need wisdom to know how to navigate the wilderness of life. We need strength and encouragement and counsel and help from brothers and sisters in Christ. When we come to Christ, we’re not given answers to all the problems that we’ll face in life. We need daily manna or sustaining grace.
This is true for our lives, and it was true for Israel in their journey out of Egypt and into the wilderness. The Lord delivered them from slavery, Pharaoh’s army, the Red Sea, hunger, thirst, even his own anger when he took their place on the rock in chapter 17. God’s deliverance and redemption defined who they were. They were the people of the Lord.
But as the redeemed people of the Lord, they also needed help navigating life as a new nation. They don’t know what they need and what they need comes from someone they don’t know. But the Lord knows what they need, and in Exodus 18, he yet again sends them exactly what they need, and he sends it through a man named Jethro. In this text, we’ll see Jethro’s visit (vv. 1-12) and Jethro’s advice (vv. 13-27).
Jethro’s Visit
In verses 1-12, we see Jethro’s visit. News of what happened with Israel in Egypt was traveling quickly across the wilderness through well-established trade routes, from oasis to oasis. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law hears what’s happened and takes Moses’ wife and children out to meet Moses in the wilderness of Sinai.
Moses meets him on his way and greets him with honor and takes time to see how he’s doing (v. 7). Good leaders respect their elders and want to know how people are doing.
Moses tells Jethro all that’s happened with Israel, the blessings and the hardships (v. 8). Deep relationships are deep because they don’t leave the hard stuff out. They’re deep because they dive into the hard stuff.
Israel’s First Evangelist
The emphasis in this section is on the Lord’s “deliverance” of Israel from Egypt, as the word is used five times in these twelve verses (vv. 4, 8, 9, 10). Yes, it was hard, but “the Lord had delivered them” (v. 8).
Do you see what’s happening in this conversation? The purpose of the exodus is beginning to be fulfilled (9:16). Jethro is a Midianite, so Moses is “declaring” the name of Yahweh to the nations. Jethro responds with joy and blesses the Lord and says in verse 11, “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods.” He publicly confesses that Yahweh is God of gods and Lord of lords. Whatever his faith was before this meeting, he now has a new realization of who Yahweh is in light of how he delivered Israel. His faith results in worship (v. 12).
The Lord’s goal of being known among the nations through the exodus is beginning to be fulfilled. Moses is the first evangelist in Israel. What he does all God’s people are called upon to do. Psalm 96:3-4, “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!” Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”
What Moses does here has been repeated throughout the earth for thousands of years. Yet, there is still work to do. Billions of people have still never heard about the “marvelous works” of God. Our mission is to make God’s name known among the nations. We can do that by staying here in Dallas or by going to the ends of the earth. But, either way, we must do it. How could we not want to share the Lord’s deliverance with others?
Jethro’s Advice
The Lord redeemed them and met their deepest and most fundamental needs. But they had other needs. They were a people rescued from oppressive societal structures and needed to develop just societal structures of their own. In other words, they were redeemed but their life together needed shape. The gospel, as it were, saved them, now the Lord graciously begins to reshape and reorder their lives.
Starting in chapter 19, he’ll do that with special revelation directly from his mouth to the people. But here in chapter 18, he does it through the gift of Jethro’s common sense (vv. 13-27).
The Problem
First we’ll look at the problem, then we’ll look at the solution. Moses was overrun with the demands of leading Israel, so Jethro confronts him about it. He tells him that solo ministry won’t work because he’ll wear himself and the people out. He says he needs qualified men to help him so that he and the people can endure.
The ironic thing is that the people who said to Moses, “Who made you a judge over us?” (2:14) now are willing to stand in line all day to listen to his judgment. But he could never get to all their cases, so they’d understandably grow impatient. No one likes to stand in line!
But the long lines weren’t the ultimate problem. The concern here is the proper administration of justice in the community. In verses 15-16, Moses says that the people come to him because he’s the one who adjudicates their disputes. The main problem is justice in the community of the redeemed.
Moses’ lack of delegating authority to others is creating injustice in the community. His own well-being and the well-being of the community is at stake here (v. 18). Jethro is right to point out that what Moses is doing is “not good” (v. 17), language echoing the divine ordering of things in Genesis 1. God cares about order. He ordered the world to be a world of order.
God delivered Israel from an unjust society and wants their new society to reflect his justice. The goal in any social order is to reflect the wisdom and justice of God. God intends social order to reflect his order.
The problem was that Moses was hindering the justice of God from flowing through the redeemed community by attempting to do all the work himself. He was, inadvertently, promoting injustice because people weren’t having their disputes heard in a timely manner.
The problem is a lack of justice in the community because of a lack of order in the community. Injustice because of disorder. So what’s the solution?
The Solution
We’ll get to the specifics of the solution in a moment, but the first thing to notice is that the solution came from someone outside the community of faith. Jethro was a Midianite, not an Israelite. A foreign priest is the one who solves Israel’s judicial problem.
There’s a pattern in the Bible of the nations helping God’s people. When King David was organizing his government, he used foreign assistance (eg. 1 Chron. 27). King Solomon used designers from Phoenicia to build the temple. Rahab the Canaanite hid the Israelite spies in Jericho. So it’s no surprise that Jethro the Midianite helps form Israel’s judicial system.
What does this mean? It means that God intends to help his people through those who aren’t his people. This is called common grace. God special grace is what delivers his special people from death. It’s only for those who trust and follow him.
His common grace, however, is for everyone. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord (Ps. 33:5). All people enjoy his provision and help through things like science, technology, medicine, computers, air conditioning, cars, smartphones, hospitals, and governments.
To say that something has to be made by a Christian or run by a Christian or designed by a Christian in order for it to be profitable is to miss the fact that most of the things we enjoy in life don’t come from Christians. The homes we live in, schools we go to, cars we drive, technology we use, and governments we live under are mostly the result of God’s creative work through unbelievers.
We need to see this, be grateful for it, and be willing to learn from anyone. Here’s how one scholar puts it:
“The Creator has blessed the world with numerous gifts quite apart from God’s redemptive activity. The redeemed community should be anxious to discover what those gifts are and to make use of them with gratitude, no matter their source within God’s wide creation…much of what (we do) in (our) daily life has been informed by ideas and perspectives and methods concerning which there has been no special revelation from God. This does not mean that such matters are any less in tune with the will of God. Rather, the people of God…should accept its common dependence upon general human experience in the world for much of what they do, recognizing that God the Creator has been powerfully at work in that sphere in the interests of the well-being of all. This God often makes use of the wisdom, insight, imagination, and common sense of the Jethros of this world to make the divine will known.”[1]
The solution to Israel’s judicial problem comes from outside Israel, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t come from God. Who made Jethro and gave him the life experiences and wisdom he had? Who led Moses to Jethro’s doorstep so that he married his daughter and now has a place of influence with Moses? God graciously provides for his people through common grace.
Jethro’s Plan
Jethro sees the inefficiency of Israel’s justice system and its debilitating effects on Moses and the people. So he privately recommends a solution. His solution is simple but genius.
First, Moses is to act as the teacher of the people (v. 20). An informed citizenry who knows the law will bring down the amount of litigation needed.
Second, he says Moses should appoint “lower court” judges to deal with the ordinary and less complicated cases, and that only the difficult cases should be brought to Moses. This is a decentralizing of authority, a spreading out the responsibility for justice throughout the community.
Third, verse 21 says these judges should come from “all the people,” ensuring fair representation of all segments of the nation.
Fourth, these judges should be qualified in several ways (v. 21). They should be “able men,” meaning they have the skills and capacities necessary for the work. They should be “men who fear God,” meaning they need to know the Lord and honor him in all they do. And they should be “trustworthy and hate a bribe,” meaning they have a strong moral fiber and aren’t easily swayed by money. Not just any man will do. Jethro understands that good leaders have character and competence.
Jethro assumes these men are already in the community, so he says in verse 21 to “look for them.” The leaders Moses needed were there all along. He didn’t have to outsource the problem. Men with character and competence were already in Israel, Moses just needed to identify them and give them opportunity to put their gifts into practice. So he selected them, trained them, released them, and didn’t micromanage them. He only did what they couldn’t do.
This will make Moses’ life easier (v. 22), but it will also bring peace to the community (v. 23). People who don’t have to stand in line all day are much more peaceful people!
Jethro returns home and we never hear from him again, but Israel was forever blessed by this non-Israelite who used his common sense to promote justice in their nation and bring them peace.
Constructive Criticism
What can our church take away from this? There are at least three lessons here for us.
First, the redeemed are open to constructive criticism. Moses’ willingness to receive counsel from Jethro is one reason he was the humblest person to ever live. He didn’t just hear what Jethro had to say, he took it to heart and acted on it. “A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool” (Pro. 17:10).
Are you willing to receive constructive criticism? Do you seek feedback when you’re making major decisions? Do you welcome it when it comes unexpectedly? Are you defensive or receptive? “In an abundance of counselors there is safety” (Pro. 11:14). “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisors they succeed” (15:22). “Plans are established by counsel” (20:18). Those who develop a rhythm of checking in with trusted counselors will have a track record of making good decisions. Those who act like they don’t need help will have a track record of making bad decisions.
Leadership Common Sense
Second, the redeemed use sanctified common sense when thinking about leadership. Leaders who have the attitude that they have to do it all will burn out, and churches who have the attitude that they hire leaders to do it all will burn out. Healthy churches don’t hire pastors as the “masters of ministry,” but understand that Jesus gives pastors to the church to train the church to do ministry (Eph. 4:11-12).
Pastors who try to do it all and churches who expect their pastors to do it all will burn themselves out. The leader will burn out, like Moses was about to, because the work “was too heavy for him” (v. 18). The church will burn out, like the Israelites, because they’ll get tired of standing in line wondering when their need or concern or project is going to get attention.
Rather, heathy churches are led by multiple pastors so that no one man has to bear the burden alone. These men are to be qualified and competent, “above reproach” and “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:1-7). Healthy churches are served by deacons and deaconesses who take responsibility for specific ministries in the church so that the pastors can focus on teaching and shepherding. And healthy churches are made up of members who understand that “justice” in the church is their responsibility, that they’re responsible to use their gifts to build up the church.
We Care about Justice
Third, the redeemed care about justice. This account teaches us that justice isn’t only God’s responsibility, but also the task of the redeemed community. God made things right with Israel so that he could make things right with the world through Israel. Or, to put it another way, God justifies people to extend his justice through the earth.
Justified people care about justice. Yes, there’s a prioritizing in our work. As John Piper said, “God’s people should care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering.” Getting the gospel to people who don’t have it is more important than anything else, but that doesn’t mean that nothing else is important.
As God’s people, we should care about every form of injustice on earth, not to replace or supplement the gospel, but as an expression of it, reflecting and representing the wisdom, righteousness, and goodness of God.
We take this calling everywhere we go, into our workplaces, schools, homes, neighborhoods, politics, and church. We want the same thing our Jewish friends want, tikkun olam, or to “repair the world.” So we work and pray for justice and righteousness everywhere.
We work and pray for the same four things God’s people have always cared about: the unborn, racism, sexual ethics, and the oppressed (i.e. the widow, orphan, immigrant, and poor). These four things characterized the earliest Christians, but nowadays you’re labeled “liberal” if you care too much for the poor and racism or “conservative” if you care too much about abortion and sexual morality. But which ones did the prophets and apostles care about? Which ones does the Lord care about?
God cares about all four and so should we. This means that abolishing abortion isn’t the only social issue God cares about, or racism, or poverty, or transgenderism or immigration or corporate greed. He cares about all of them because he designed the world beautifully and hates anything that corrupts his good design.
Our church is really strong on doctrine and expositional preaching and singing and loving one another, and we should be! But are we as strong in loving our neighbors and working to promote justice in our area?
In the early 1990’s, Michael Green wrote a book called Evangelism through the Local Church. In it he wrote, “Churches that live for themselves die by themselves.”[2]
We have to ask ourselves whether we want to reach people already like us or people far from God? The secular world doesn’t know what to do with a church that cares as much about the Bible as it does with helping people in need. Our good works make the good news plausible to people outside the church. When people far from God see us sacrificing for the good of others, they take notice. If our preaching isn’t accompanied by good works it’ll increasingly fall on deaf ears. Our priority is for people to know Jesus, but we can share him even while we help meet needs.
Someone Greater than Moses
There’s one final thing that Jethro’s plan teaches Israel, and us. It teaches Israel that a man can’t save them. Why didn’t Moses come up with this plan? Because he was just a man with blind spots and weaknesses. They must look beyond Moses for ultimate justice and salvation.
Israel needed someone greater than Moses. They needed a man who was unjustly criticized and didn’t curse in response. A man who led by serving. A man who did justice and satisfied justice. A man who’d lay his life down out of love for his people. This kind of man, this kind of love, is the only love that’ll change you, that’ll make you open to criticism and give you desires to serve and courage to do justice. Jesus is this greater Moses. Do you know him?
[1]Terence E. Fretheim, Exodus, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1991), 198, 200.
[2]Quoted in Collin Hansen, Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023), 158.