Exodus 18

Jethro visits Moses

Now Moses’s father-in-law, Jethro, (who was Midian’s priest) heard about everything God had done for Moses and his people including bringing them out of Egypt. Jethro had been watching over Moses’s wife, Zipporah, and her two sons since Moses had sent them away. One of Moses’s sons was named Gershom (“foreigner”) since Moses had been a traveler in a foreign country, and the other was named Eliezer (“God is help”) since his forefathers’ God had helped Moses and saved him from Pharaoh’s sword. 

So Jethro brought Moses’s wife and sons to Moses’s campsite near God’s mountain in the desert. He sent Moses a message saying that he was coming with Moses’s wife and two sons, so Moses went out to meet them. When they met, Moses bowed to his father-in-law, gave him a kiss, and they asked how each other were doing. Then they went into the tent and Moses told Jethro about everything the Existing One had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians on Israel’s behalf. He told him about all the hardship the Israelites had faced on their journey and how the Existing One had rescued them. Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Existing One had done for Israel throughout the process of rescuing them from Egypt’s clutches. Jethro said,

“The Existing One is celebrated! He rescued you from Pharaoh’s clutches, and he rescued our country from Egypt’s clutches. Now I know that the Existing One is more prominent than all other gods. His prominence was proven when Egypt crossed the line with Israel.” 

Then Jethro prepared a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron brought all of Israel’s elders out to eat with him in front of God.

Jethro advises Moses to appoint leaders

The next day Moses needed to serve as a judge for the Israelites, so everyone presented themselves to Moses all day long. When Jethro saw everything that Moses was doing for the people, he asked,

“What are you doing? Why are you the only one serving as a judge while everyone else presents themselves to you all day long?”

Moses said,

“Because everyone brings me their questions to ask God. Whenever they have a dispute, they ask me about it, and I serve as judge between the two parties and inform them of God’s boundaries and instructions.”

Jethro told him,

“What you’re doing isn’t good. You’re gonna burn yourself out along with everyone else, because that’s too much for you. You can’t do all of that by yourself. I hope you consider my advice. May God be with you as you decide what to do.

“I think you should serve as the people’s representative to God and voice their concerns to God, but you should also teach them God’s boundaries and instructions. You should teach them the way to live and what to do. On top of that, you should find some influential, reliable men who respect God and hate dishonest gain. You should appoint those men as leaders over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. Let them constantly serve as judges for the people. They can bring the major disputes to you, but they can judge the minor disputes themselves. That will make things easier for you since they’ll be helping you carry that burden. If you do that and God is the one compelling you to do it, then you won’t get burnt out and everyone else will be able to live in peace.”

So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he recommended. He chose some of Israel’s most influential men and appointed them as leaders over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They served as the people’s judges who handled the minor disputes while bringing Moses the major ones. 

Then Moses gave his father-in-law a warm send off and he returned to his own country.