But now it's time to open the scripture together Have you meet me in exodus chapter 18? Exodus chapter 18. Uh, I'd like to begin tonight by making something of an editorial correction from last week I told you we were going to meet someone new in the first verse here and it's not a new name It's just the second time the name has been used is jethro the name that um that I am of a fair amount of certainty sure that it is the title of Ruel, the father of Moses' wife, Jethro the priest of Midian. We saw his name first in chapter 3. Ruel is in Chapter 2, Jethro the priest of Midian is the father-in-law whose flock Moses is tending in Chapter 3, but we haven't seen him since Chapter 3. It has been so long since we were in Chapter 3, you could almost say this is the first time that we've met him. It was the second time, but you don't remember him from the first time, but just for clarity's sake, it wasn't the first time that we've seen his name. So, got that out of the way. I don't like to be wrong and misspeak in that way, but I'll correct it when we do, when I do. We see Moses receiving counsel from someone other than the Lord. Now this is one of the first cases of assistance that Moses receives from another person. Moses has been shouldering a very substantial load and he has not complained about it. Moses has taken on the leadership of God's people with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He feels a debt when you read in chapter 2 when Moses refused to be called Pharaoh's daughter's son to be called by her name and decided he wanted to, what the writer of Hebrews says, that he chose rather to suffer with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Moses had a passion for his people. And in that passionate concern for his people, he was willing to spend and be spent every aspect of his life for these people and we see that on full display here and one of the the One of the things that we don't see very much in Moses his life. We don't see very much of encouragement coming Moses his way When they come through the Red Sea Little sister is helping him in this antiphonal song leading leading the people of God in singing and Aaron seems to be there most of the time and Moses is going to be 40 days on the mountain and everybody's going to turn their back on him. He's going to be confronted by his little sister Miriam, his big sister Miriam at some point. She's going to be standing opposition against him. Up until this point, the most help that we've seen him receive are Aaron and her holding his arms up as the battle with Amalek raged in the valley below. But here we see Moses getting some unsolicited help advice from Jethro from his father-in-law not one of the people of Israel but certainly one of God's servants as his position as priest of Midian is recognized even by the children of Israel here in chapter 18 as as it comes to verse 12 that Jethro took the burnt offering and sacrifices for God and Aaron and the elders of the clan all come and have this sacrificial meal with him. There was a burnt offering and a peace offering, and the peace offering was used as a meal, effectively. And what we saw is this worshipful expression in verses 8 through 12. But then he's going to offer Moses some advice. Now, for some of us, advice is hard to take. And for many people in positions of leadership, whether in positions of management in a business, many men in my position in leadership in a church, We tend to want to wear our ego on our sleeve. That is why I tell you with regularity that you need to have people in your life that can tell you no. You need to have someone to whom you answer for what you do and how you conduct yourself. You need to have someone that you go to for advice and someone who you're willing to listen to. Some people go to others for advice and what they're really looking for is is someone to give them to justify what they already want to do. They're not really looking for advice. They're looking for support. Well, I've got this conundrum, and I wonder what you think I should do. Should I do this or should I do that? Should I do this or that? And you really don't want to do the that. You want to do the this. And if you don't get the advice that you want, then you choose to go and do whatever it is that you intended to do. You're looking more for validation than you're looking for someone to give you instruction and that is Part and parcel to this flesh and that we are incarcerated in the flesh always wants to have its way And the flesh will even go to the lengths of taking the Word of God and turning the Word of God Into a weapon that it wields to to get its own way and to excuse its own poor choices and Moses is here not necessarily looking for advice, but Moses is in this situation, and he takes some advice. We see a great level of humility in Moses' life, and if Moses was the world's best-trained leader, and you could easily make the case that he indeed was, if Moses was the most capable, best-trained leader in the world, and he needed advice, where does that put the rest of us? And having this plurality of leadership is something that we see in the church, expected of the church. It is really codified here. It is set as an example here. And as we'll see, even some of our own operations in the judicial system of the United States Those operations are taken from here. It's not a coincidence that we have lower courts and higher courts in the Supreme Court that start in local courts, in civil courts, and work their way up. That is not man's idea, that is coming straight from the word of God, and it comes from Jethro, the priest of Midian, in advice to Moses. And it becomes great profit for Him and profit for their people and profit for us today. Let's read chapter 18 here. We really could pick up in verse 13, but it's just 12 verses prior to that. Let's get the entire situation, all of the circumstances here. Let's catch this entire scene and have it fresh in our mind. Exodus chapter 18 says, Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, his people, how Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt. And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Moses' wife Zipporah after he had sent her away, and her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom, for Moses said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land. And the other was named Eleazar, for he said, the God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was camped, at the Mount of God. And he sent word to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to see you, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her. Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. And Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had befallen them on their journey and how Yahweh had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, that he had delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians. So Jethro said, Blessed be Yahweh, who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered this people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods, for in this matter they acted presumptuously against the people. Ben Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses' father-in-law before God. Now it happened the next day that Moses sat to judge the people. And the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. And Moses' father-in-law saw all that was going on, saw all that he was doing for the people. So he said, what is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening? And Moses said to his father-in-law, because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a matter, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and make known the statutes of God and his laws. And Moses' father-in-law said to him, the thing that you are doing is not good. You will surely wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you. You cannot do it alone. Now listen to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people's representative before God, and you bring the matters to God. Then warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way they shall go and the work they shall do. But you shall select excellent men out of all the people, those who fear God, men of truth, Those who hate greedy gain, you shall place these men over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and tens, and they shall judge the people at all times. And it will be that every major matter they will bring to you, but every minor matter they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure and all these people also will go to their place in peace. So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. And Moses chose excellent men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times. The difficult matter they would bring to Moses, but every minor matter they themselves would judge. Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land. I look at this, and as I think I told you last week, I look at this and almost wonder why this is placed here. There are times that you read sections of the scripture and you wonder, why is this here? This seems to be something that maybe isn't as important as the things that are around it. But there were a lot of things that Moses could have written. There are many more things that he did not write than there are things that he did write. There are 40 years of Israeli history that are recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, especially in Numbers and Exodus. So the things that are here need to be seen as important. And how this country was, how this nation was going to be governed, how it was going to be led, Was really constructed in the very beginning this these these are still the beginning days of israel. They're about 45 days between 45 days and three months into the the exodus from the time that they've crossed the red sea because It takes them three months to get to the mount of god and that is where it says that they are. So Chapter 18 does not necessarily fall in immediate proximity to the defeat of amalek or of water from the rock, it takes them forty-five days, and if the priest of Midian came to Moses when they were at the Mount of God, then they are three months in. And I told you there is some debate in scholarly circles as to whether this happened before or after the the giving of the law and this one-year period that they are at Mount Sinai, building the ark, building the tabernacle, building all of these things, receiving the law, receiving instruction, and constructing all of these things. Whether it happened before or after is not of a lot of concern. I tend to think it happened before, but we're going to look at some things tonight that really lend themselves to say that it happened after. As I said, that is a, in the vernacular, that's a small alligator. See, a welcome entourage in verses one through four that this portion of the chapter that ends in Yahweh's praise, this welcome entourage arrives. Jethro comes with Zipporah, the two sons. Moses has not seen them in months. Moses and Moses had the promise of God that he would be back to Mount Horeb with the people of God, but he had a wife that was not real, real flattered by the fact that her husband had been called to serve this God. She wasn't overly enthusiastic about circumcision as we've already seen. She is brought back to him. She wasn't sure that she would see him again. This must have been a very warm Reunion as Jethro comes with the family. There's a warm exchange in verses five through seven. They they he sends He sends word ahead that he's coming, then Moses goes out to meet him and he bowed down and kissed him. We see this, you understand that this Middle Eastern, it's not this European romantic idea of kissing. They grab one another and kiss each side of the head and do it repeatedly to make sure that the gesture is seen as warmly as is possible. In verse 8, beginning in verse 8, Moses recounts to him all that Pharaoh, all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. You just imagine what that conversation must have been like. And it ends in verse 12. In verse 11, he says, now I know Yahweh is greater than all the gods. Now this is the priest of Midian. He is the priest of his tribe, effectively, the Midianite people. And whether the tribe had been split, there's a body of water that some of the Midianites were on one side, some were on the other. He is the priest of Midian, at least the priest of his tribe, that has been holding on to the truths that they received from Abraham. The chosen people of God, they are not the people that were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are the descendants of Abraham. They know of Elohim. They don't know of Yahweh. He's been introduced to Yahweh, and he says, now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods. Then verse 12, Jethro's father-in-law took a burnt offering and sacrificed this for God. This is an interesting portion because the only sacrificing that we see in Exodus outside of this, the sacrificing that we see is done by Aaron and the Aaronic priesthood. We don't see any of them here. We don't see Aaron named as priest. The only priest that we see is the priest of Midian who is Jethro, Moses' father-in-law. Notice how many times Jethro But Moses' father-in-law, that is the expression that is used over and over and over again. Moses had much affection for this man and much respect for him. As we see both in his reaction that is recorded and the way that he records him, he refers to him over and over again in these very glowing and loving terms. He takes a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. It would technically be burnt offerings and a peace offering, the sacrifices for God. The second expression, sacrifices for God, would have become the meal that they share. Aaron and the elders of Israel come and eat a meal with Moses' father-in-law before God. The idea that as the sacrifice is going on, as the altar is burning the burnt sacrifice, that the presence of God is there and they're having this praise banquet, if you want to use that expression, before God and celebration of what what all Moses has told Jethro, and Jethro being in this priestly function, even with Moses and Aaron before the establishment of the Aaronic priesthood. That's what leads me to believe that this is earlier rather than later. Again, not overly relevant, but there it is. But Yahweh's praise is followed by Jethro's advice in verses 13 to 23. This is the next day. He comes in, the entourage comes, who knows who all came with him. It wasn't just the four of them that traveled there. They come in, they have this warm greeting. Moses no doubt had to introduce his wife to his sister and other ladies and the kids are getting to know one another. It would have been a lot of excitement. You know how your kids are when somebody comes to visit and you have company and the kids get excited about it. It would have been a lot of very festive time. Just like I tell my wife, I said, you know, all of this is going on in our life, but Sunday's coming for me. For most of us, we work during the week, we come to Friday, everybody's looking for Friday, because in our culture, the weekend is there. But you know, when you get off Friday, you don't want to think about it, but Monday's coming. All of that day that Jethro arrives, all of the festivities, this praise meal that they have together in verse 12, the next day arrives, the next morning dawns, and it's back to the grind for Moses. In verses 13 to 16, we see Jethro's amazement death row is going to see what is going on he's been told what all you always done for them to get them there but he's gonna see the daily workings in the life of moses in the life of these people that happen on the next day that moses had to judge the people pop quiz how many people are there remember six hundred thousand men and their families and a great multitude of foreigners. Let's just stick with 600,000 because it is a good round number to hold on to. It wouldn't have varied a lot more than that from the men. He sat down to judge the people. Can you imagine how many disputes and concerns and problems these people would have had with one another? The one thing that they have in common is that they were thrown out of Egypt and they are, to varying degrees, either satisfied or dissatisfied with that reality. And they all have their families. A good exercise in watching how people deal with one another, with their children and their families, is to go to a baseball park on a baseball weekend where there's a tournament being held and just watch how the parents act toward their kids and toward one another in response to their kids. Everybody's kid is a superstar out there. Kid's got two club feet, two left hands, and doesn't know which end of the bat to hold, but he's the best player out there and he should be out there all the time. That's how every mom sees her kid. I don't know of a woman in here that had a child that looked at him and said, man, thank you Lord, but did it have to be this ugly? Nobody's ever said that. Everybody sees their kid in the most glowing of terms. You may think that about your spouse sometimes, ladies, but not about your children. That's just not how it works. And that's okay. But imagine 600,000 people who now find themselves with very little to do by comparison to what they've had their entire life. They're not even having to work for food. Remember the tin flocks, but they go out every day and they pile up manna off the ground that won't even get dirty when they scrape it off the ground and they bring it in, and that's their daily sustenance. They're not having to strain for that. Now they've got time to really have petty problems. But when the petty problems arise, they get into an argument And the process that has been established here by this point is that they go to Moses. It says that Moses sat to judge the people. And in these Middle Eastern cultures, the judge or whoever the magistrate is over a town or a group of people will go out to the most public area and sit down and the people come and present their case before him. Moses is going to sit down to judge the people. And the people stood about Moses from morning until evening. But that's the easiest thing to believe here. The easiest thing to understand is that from morning to night, all of these problems, all of these people said, you know what? We don't have Gordon McKernan, we're going to Moses. Rode through Alexandria the other night. We went to visit Samuel at school for, I don't even remember what. And as we drove home, I counted the billboards. It's a little stretch of interstate between Alexandria proper until you get out into the, just the interstate, you get out into the wilderness, if you will. There are nine billboards. Seven of them are personal injury attorneys. You've got the usual suspects, Morris Bart, up there, Brian Kubrow. You've got Gordon McKernan, Louisiana's big truck lawyer. I still don't know if that is for or against the big truck. I'm not sure how that works, but the one in Baton Rouge has him standing on the hood of the big truck with his arms crossed. Right now, he's got a LSU football helmet on the guy on that billboard. He spends a lot of money on them, which means he makes a lot of money with them. Then you have the others. Call whatever her name is, make them pay. Someone's wrong, you make them pay. That's not a new mentality. It's just a new expression in our day and age that people are making multi-million dollar lifestyles by suing one person for another because of a mistake that was made. And people don't just want to be reimbursed, they want to take a pound of flesh with them. I'll get all that I can. I'm going to call this guy because he has no scruples and he will lie, cheat, and steal to get me every dime possible for whatever it's worth and anything else that he can get. And we'll split it and everybody will be happy. Little do they know, the only one that's happy at the end of the day is the trial attorney. That's not a new problem. It was a problem then. And the only recourse that these people had was to go to Moses, who you can imagine, there must have been no end in sight to the line of people. And you know how people are. Hey, I want this spot tomorrow. We're getting in line. I don't know if that's where they developed the little roll of numbers, take a number and get in line, bring your number back tomorrow. We're going to count. I don't know. But these people complained every chance that they got. You can believe that they were piled around Moses from morning to night. Jethro sees this and it blows his mind. Verse 14, Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people and he said, what is this thing that you are doing for the people? What am I looking at? What are you doing? Moses, have you lost your mind? Boy, I taught you better than this. What are you doing? Please explain. Why do you alone sit as judge? See, the problem is not that the people need someone to judge for them. It's not the problem that these people are excessively unruly. The problem is the process that Moses is going through. Why do you sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening? Look at Moses' response in verse 15. Moses said to his father-in-law, because the people come to me to inquire of God. Moses takes his role seriously. He says, because they need someone to go before God for them. They want to inquire, what does God say about this? Now, some of this would be Moses receiving these concerns, and he might have to tell some of them, listen, I really don't have an answer. I'm going to have to go to the Lord and find out. I'll come back with an answer tomorrow, the next day. Because he hasn't been given all of the law and all of the capacity to give answers to all of the people for all of the concerns that they have. Not at this point. Or you could take the perspective that he has already received the law, but he's the one that has it and he's trying to deal with it. He's trying to teach the law of God to the people and he's having to do it on an individual basis, one problem at a time. Can you imagine how slow that was? And they come in and they say, well, this, this, and this happened. And then he makes a decision. And the one that didn't win the case is going to argue with him. Well, why do we have to do it that way? And he has to take the time to explain to these people. The process must have been immense. But Moses said it is. is not going to cause me to complain because the people come to me to inquire of god and and i have this affection for these people and this responsibility to the lord and i'm to go but i'm the one that stands between the two i don't know what else to do what else am i going to do they need to know what the lord has to say they need to hear what the lord has to say lord needs to communicate to them they need to receive from him verse sixteen this is still an answer to the question what are you doing When they have a matter, it comes to me. I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and his laws." Now, this was the redeeming factor in all that Moses was doing. This is how Moses sees this. Well, I'm helping them discern these problems, and at the same time, I'm teaching them the statutes and the laws of God. So this is part of my leadership role to the people. Now, he'd been doing this. This was not new. This is what he had been doing. All that he was doing for the people. This had been his regular pastime from morning until evening. Now, he's just been confronted with another part of his life that's going to demand his time. His wife and his kids are back. This had been going on and it was enough of a strain to him then, but when you bring the responsibility of the wife and the kids in, the leader of God's people cannot tell his family, listen, I have a more important responsibility to the church than to you. You're just going to have to take a back seat. Now, there are times when that is the case, but there are just some times that I have to put things off. I've got to study or I have time, I have to go There there's some counseling that has to be done. There are certain things that have to be Typically it's extra sleep that gets pushed aside, but there are times that I have to tell my family, you're just going to have to wait. But not often, because my first responsibility, and Moses' first responsibility, is to the family that God has given him. The wife and the children that I have are my first area of responsibility. I'm going to stand before the Lord and answer for my life. And one of the first things on that docket is going to be my wife, and the very next thing on that docket will be my children. And somewhere down the line from there will be the church. will be the pulpit. It will be there, and I take it as seriously as I can. And Moses did as well, but now he has this extra responsibility that in the past several months he has developed a habit of not having to deal with that. Now it's his responsibility again, so there's some added pressure to him that Jethro is recognizing as well and is confronting here. Was it a pressing need in Moses' life and in the life of Israel for him to judge between a man and his neighbor and to make known the statutes and the laws of God? Absolutely it was. But it needs to be a tempered response and it needs to be a measured response. Jethro is amazed by that, his amazement. Verses 17 to 20, we see his assessment. This is a very astute man that the Lord has sent to Moses at a very necessary time in his life. This was not a chance meeting. This didn't just so happen. This was a man that is sent by God. Moses needs some help that he doesn't know that he needs at this point, doesn't even recognize his need for it. Must have been uh, like many of us are how do you how do you get all these things done? Well, I don't get everything done, but I get done what I can And i'm confronted with a difficulty. I've got another responsibility. I had to deal with what's your plan to deal with it? I don't know i'll get to all that I can and there's just going to be some things that I can't I have to prioritize And moses is is had to do that all this time, but now it is He doesn't he's on the inside looking inside and there's he's missing the forest for the trees as many of us do and here comes Jethro with a clearer perspective from the outside beginning in verse 17 Moses father-in-law said to him. This is his response. This is his assessment now. He's probably watched all day and moses is is enthralled in all that he's doing with these people he's he's dedicated to it is paying attention to what is the task before him and jethro comes in and just watches for a while and he sees how this is taken all day maybe is the whole first day passing in jethro carmen even said hey man what are you doing what why are you doing this there's a better way to do this and by a better way i mean i don't mean Something that gets less work done. There's a way to get more of it done and for you and the people to survive Look at what he says The thing that you were doing is not good now, that's a good thing that he's doing in helping the people but it's not going to be something that can last a long time look at verse eighteen you will surely wear out that's a good translation of that expression you're going to wear out you're gonna come apart at the seams you're gonna wear down to the point that you cannot continue this this is not a long-term solution to the problem that you have you need to reassess this both yourself and these people who are with you you're gonna wear out you and you're gonna wear out the people The task is too heavy for you, you cannot do it alone. I gotta tell you, those were not welcome words to Moses. You remember being a teenager, being younger, maybe even now, someone tells you, someone tells a man he can't do something, you can't do that, what's he gonna go do? Can't? hold this will be back in a minute you want me to do what i closed make it fair you cannot do this month maybe a couple of things were going on maybe moses had really told himself lord i don't know what i don't know what i'm gonna do i i'll do all that i can but i can't do it all i can't continue to do this i don't know what i don't know anything else to do what can i do Maybe he had been petitioning the Lord on that. He realized that this is wearing him out, but he was willing to wear himself out and to be spent for the service of God and the good of his people. I know what that's like. People say, you need to get some rest. Yeah, I'll rest in heaven. That's typically my response. I don't know what else to do. Sometimes I just do what I can do and get all done that I can, and there's some things that I can't. And I just have to be content with that. Moses was like that, but Moses had all of these people looking to him. And he said, you will surely, there is no way out of this. The inevitable outcome of what is going on is that you and these people are going to be worn out. Well, the task is too heavy for you. You cannot do it. What's that last word? Alone. Moses, you need some help. You cannot do it alone. It has to be done, but you cannot do it alone. It's like anything in the church, anything in church ministry. I mean, Moses is not in the church here, but even in the church, there's not one person that does everything here. There are some that do far more than others, but there's not one person that does everything because there's not one person who can do it all. You cannot do it alone. There has to be a delegation of responsibility and something of a structure to it. Verse 19 This is where his assessment comes. This is what I suggest that you do now. Listen to my voice. I will give you counsel Moses has made a point Multiple times in this chapter to remind us that this is his father-in-law telling him this Fellas, how many of you want your father-in-law coming in the door and telling you how to run your house? I Don't see any hands I know what you are thinking, well, it is typically my mother-in-law. That is not the question. How many of you want one of your in-laws coming in and telling you how to run your house? I understand that concern. My oldest daughter is married. I try to give advice to my son-in-law, even when he comes to me for advice, and he does, and I treasure that opportunity, but I still don't try to tell him how to do it. Look, these are the options. These are your opportunities. I mean, this is the situation. You can go this route or this route. This would be better for this reason, and then there's this route. But it's your life. His father-in-law comes in, and he says, listen to what I'm telling you, boy. Listen to my voice in verse 19. I will give you counsel. And God be with you. Now this is great counsel. He says, I'm going to give you some counsel. This is the priest of Midian. This isn't just his relative that just kind of shows up. You've all got a relative like that. They want to come in at family reunions and tell everybody how the world should run. Don't you just love being around people like that? And you say, there's nobody like that in my life. Yeah, welcome. It's you. And you're the only one that likes it. But I'll give you counsel and God be with you. He said, listen, this is, I wanna give you some advice that's gonna honor the Lord. Some advice that God will honor, that will be profitable for you. You, this is where, he said, you will be the representative before God and you bring the matters to God. Then warn them about the statutes and the laws. This really should go with the next point. This is the advice. He's made his assessment, and he's going to tell him what needs to be done. Then the advice comes. He's going to tell him how to do it. You be the representative, people's representative before God. You bring the matters to God. Then warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they shall go and the work that they shall do. OK. Continue doing what you're doing, but you're gonna come back and you're gonna tell the people you're gonna make a public. It's not just private. It's not that You're sitting in the front John and Don come to me. They're having some spout some spat I'm not gonna go across the aisle because I know that you're already having a head-butting contest with Muscovites over here I know I understand Come to me having this concern. Okay, I'm going to go to the Lord. I'm going to seek the counsel from the Lord what to do in this situation. Come back, and not to embarrass the people that are having the discussion, but let's say that there are 15 other couples within earshot that are having the same concern. I'm going to come back, and this is how Yahweh says to deal with this. Part of what's going to happen is that the people in the back are going to hear what the judgment is here. They can make the application and go home. But what he's going to come and tell them is these are the principles, these are the statutes, these are the laws that you apply to the circumstances in your life, and then you begin to counsel yourselves in certain things in life. I've told preachers this in the past, look, if the sheep are fed right, they can counsel themselves in most areas of life. And there are a lot of preachers that say, well, they can't do that. You better hope they can do that, because that's your role. Now, that's not to say that don't come to me with your problems. I'm not telling you that. there are things that happen in life you you you need to seek some counsel and that's what we're here for but in very many aspects of life i'm not trying to have spiritual cripples in the church i want to have vibrant people that are with the sheep that are well fed well-taught able to to discern in in in their own lives and not have to to come to me for every little thing and to have some some freedom and some maturity in christ and that is part of what he's telling moses to do you come back and you tell the people the thing that god has said then warned them about the statutes and the laws and make known to them the way that they should go and what they should do that this is the assessment this is what you need to do and here's my advice on how you do it beginning in verse twenty one this is just rose advice you still going to do all that you're doing you still going to hear all of the concerns are still going to go to the lord you're going to be the one that goes Be the people's representative before god and you bring the matters to him and then you come back and give the assessment from god to them but You shall select excellent men out of all the people Then he gives a bit of a description Of the excellent man out of all the people and it sounds much like paul's description of what the leaders in the church in the new testament ought to be A little shorter list, but you see it here. Those who fear God, there is no greater qualification for a man of God than a man who has a healthy fear of God. Men of truth, men who are trustworthy, men who can be trusted by the Church. We need trustworthy men in the church, those who hate greedy gain, men that cannot be bribed, men that are more concerned with the principle than they are with being able to gain what Peter would call filthy lucre in the New Testament. And you shall place these men over them as leaders of thousands of hundreds of fifties and tens. Now, whether these numbers were hard and fast numbers, there's thousands, and hundreds and fifties and tens, or whether these are expressions that have to do with a tribe and a family down to the smaller units of the family where you have a leader in this part of the family and a leader over the whole clan, then you have a leader over a tribe of people, this would be the leader of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens. Whether that is the case or whether he actually had them break them up in a military sense into numbers of people, there are 600,000 Men. You're going to have 600 judges over thousands. You're going to have 6,000 judges under them over the hundreds, 12,000 judges under them over the 50s, and 60,000 judges under them over the 10s. So you're looking at a number of almost 80,000, 78,600 judges that are under Moses that are going out to help him. You imagine the amount of stress that's going to be taken off of this man's shoulders if you send that many people out. This didn't happen overnight either, by the way. You can imagine. You're going to train 78,000 men. This is the process we're going to start, but they're still in the beginning of this thing. But they're setting the stage for what's going to be in the future. And eventually, they're going to have this Sanhedrin that we're going to see in the New Testament is the outflowing of this. This is the leader of the elders of the people. You remember that Jesus is confronted in the New Testament. Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? The elders are the men that are represented in this 78,600 judges that would have been numerically represented here if we're just doing some rough math with 600,000 people. But it would have been a very large number of people that Jethro was talking about handing this down to a tremendous... And then what he says, it's in verse 23, It's in verse 22. They will judge the people at all times. Verse 22, they will judge the people at all times. So you're going to have this group of leaders, this group of judges out all the time dealing with the people. little spat here, little spat there. They are coming to this, when it is something that is small, and I will explain to you what the small and larger are in a moment. Something that is small, the leader of 10 will deal with. But if it is something beyond his jurisdiction or beyond his ability to deal with, he would be the least mature of the judges. It goes to the next one, a leader of 50s. And if it is one of those men that can't handle it, it moves up the chain to the leader of 100. He has seen more. He has had more opportunity. He has had to To discern over or bigger concerns and you get to those that are the 600 that are over the thousands They're dealing with the people all the time and it will be that in every major matter they will bring it to you So moses, you're only going to get the biggest of the concerns and not have people around you all day long all the time Every minor matter they will judge for themselves. So it will be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you. Remember, you can't do it alone. These men will come and help you bear the burden together. We see that in the church. The people in the church don't always come to me first. They'll go to Chad, they go to Herman, they go to Andre. You go to one another and eventually things get to me if they need to, but most things don't have to come to me because it's sorted out in other circumstances with other people. You're helping one another, going to the elders. A lot of things do wind up coming to me, but that's how it should be. You can feel free to come to me with anything. I don't mean to push that off. I know that there is one well-known preacher that talks about in in the church that he is in he's not actually pastor of the church but he speaks at a lot of conferences and he says if you go to one of the elders and tell them that there's a mechanical need in the church they'll rebuke you because we have deacons for that and I just think that that's backward yeah we have you've got some mechanical things we've got people here that are in charge of maintenance you can go to Joe you can go to Caden go to Gary go and and and you can go to Herman you go to Herman with anything in fact I suggest you go to Herman with everything We just call him Moses, Herman Moses, almost. No, you can come to me with anything, but it doesn't always come to me first, and that's okay. That's how this works out for the people of Israel. It's how it works out here, and it's okay. But he says the minor matters and the major matters. Verse 24, it says the difficult matter they bring to Moses, the minor matter they themselves would judge. The minor matters would be something that is already had an established way of dealing with it. There's already an established law, an established statute that we already understand. We're going to apply to this situation. That's a minor matter. It's already been established. People are having this disagreement, this problem. They come to the judge that says, okay, this is how we handle this. Well, if it's something that I'm not sure how to handle that someone else has been better taught better understands the law better than I do you go to the next judge and if it's more than they can you go to the next one and it becomes a more of a major matter as it passes from one one court to the next to the next and it eventually goes to Moses who would be the Supreme Court that's how our court system is built and it is built that way because this was the established pattern biblically look at verse 23 again He's going to give Moses some... In verse 19, I will give you counsel and God be with you. Verse 23, if you do this thing and God commands you. Moses doesn't just take the advice of Jethro. Okay, well this man is a man of authority and it sounds good to me, this is what we're gonna do. No, he's got, God has sent Jethro, Yahweh has sent Jethro to be this instrument of help to Moses Moses takes the advice it is advised that the he goes before the Lord and Not for the people this time. He inquires of God verse 15 for himself And this is what God commands you then you will be able to endure Look at the end of verse 23 And all these people also will go to their place in peace. Now, you know what happens when people are hot-headed, people are irritated by a situation, and they can't get relief fast enough. What do they do? They take matters into their own hands. And he says, Moses, if you will do this, you'll have less people leaving this line and going off behind the bushes to settle it for themselves. because they're not going to be satisfied to remain in this in in this tense situation where both of them or are developing a desire for a pound of flesh from the other they're going to take matters into their own hands and then chaos will ensue so that there is there's a need for this for you and for the people you're gonna wear out and the people are going to turn on one another and this is going to go haywire almost seemingly overnight if something isn't done here You will do this, and God so commands you. So he's giving him advice, but he's telling him, look, this is godly advice. This is advice that honors the Lord and benefits you. Jethro's advice, beginning in verse 24, we see Moses' relief. Moses' relief. Moses' deference in verse 24. This is a big thing. This is a big deal. Because if you want to know something from the Lord, even Jethro, the priest of Midian, doesn't have the opportunity that Moses has because it says that only Moses knew God face to face like a man knows his friend. And Moses has taken this advice, getting this advice from Jethro, who would technically seem to be a lesser Elevated servant of the Lord says Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said to him Moses said okay, that's better than the plan I have Exercise some of this humility that he's so famous for he deferred Let's try that okay Moses didn't say, you know, I've been thinking about that and I've got a plan I'm gonna try mine first. I think I've got a handle on it. You're right This is more than we can have but I'll handle it You get that from young men that are put into positions of leadership far too early. They've always got the answer. Moses here isn't suffering from that malady at this point in his life. You see Moses' delegation in verses 25 and 26. Moses chooses excellent men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. There's an assignment of responsibility that Moses gives. He recounts this and remembers this in Deuteronomy chapter 1. Gives us a little bit of a clearer look into what he has done here. We see that he has chosen men and made them heads over the people, an excellent man out of Israel. Chapter 1 of Deuteronomy in verse 12, Moses is recounting to these people, remembering this, Verse 11, he says, may Yahweh, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousandfold more than you are and bless you just as he has promised you. Now in his mind, they've already achieved what God has promised Abraham, that he would have children like the stars. He says, behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. They're about to multiply infinitely beyond that. So they still haven't reached that point yet. But he's looking at them and saying, listen, God has been faithful. He is providing what he has promised to you through Abraham. In verse 12, how can I alone bear the load and burden of you and your strife? God is going to bless you more than he already has, just as he has promised. How can I bear this strife? Choose wise... In verse 9, he's referring back to what we've, this time in Exodus 18, and this is what he said. How can I alone bear the burden of your strife? Choose wise and understanding and experienced men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads. So Moses didn't go around hand-picking these people. Moses called for the people to find the men, and this is the responsibility you have, find these men, bring them to me. When I approve, I will appoint them as your heads. Then you answered me and said, The things which you have said is good. So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and gave them as heads over you, leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and officers for your tribes. Then I commanded your judges at that time, Hear the cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, or the sojourner who is with him. You shall not show partiality in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not fear men, for the judgment is God's judgment. The case that is too hard for you, you will bring to me and I will hear it. I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do. So Moses has these men chosen. moses gives these men he delegates responsibility to them he assigns them with responsibility they judge between the people at all times the difficult matters they would bring to moses but every minor matter they themselves would judge and we see relief for moses if the number is right that it was seventy eight thousand or so of these men that were assisting him this was a great relief for moses moses remembers this time with great fondness and it becomes a It becomes a pattern to be set and to be followed, a very profitable pattern even in our own court system today. Now, it is hard to find judges that won't take a bribe and judge cases based on the law. Oddly enough, our Supreme Court in recent The last couple of years have handed down some very, very accurate constitutional judgments, which is odd, because some of them had to throw out all that they believe about how the world should be run and make a very judicious judgment. But that's what judges are called to do, and that is what these judges in Israel were called to do, and they set a standard in that day. Then we see Jethro's departure in verse 27. Then Moses led his father-in-law to depart. and he went his way into his own land. The then probably indicates that Jethro stayed and helped Moses set all of this up. That after all of these judges were appointed and after all of this process had been accomplished, then Jethro departed and went his way into his own land. This is a little interlude in Moses' life that he records, but I have no doubt with great fondness and wants to give credit where credit is due. The Lord sent this man, Jethro, into his life and provided great relief to Moses and a great pattern of how the judicial system can work in a profitable way and how it has been handed down to the church that we see that there's still that expectation of not necessarily a hierarchy but a process of coming to the minor things to the difficult to the more difficult matters are to be handled you could let this out and we wouldn't have known how israel was being handled in every leader in every church could say well moses handled it all himself and i'll handle it all myself and i'll tell you that that is a recipe for disaster for one man to have too much control over anything certainly in the church it's not my church is the lord's church i'm the under shepherd of the great shepherd and he has put other men here with me to lead and feed his flock for his glory and friends we do not always have all of the answers in any one of us but together we lead the lord's flock and hope that we are guiding it his way we pursue him and his will all the time to direct this church so that he is honored and so that your best is the outcome and all we do here and moses set the stage and set the pattern for that many moons ago father thank you for your word thank you for these records of moses' life Thank you for the example of humility that this man is. And thank you, Lord, for the instruction that you sent Jethro with that was so beneficial for Moses and is still a great and tremendous prophet for us as your people, as we follow much of this pattern, even in the church today. And pray that you will be honored in this place, honored in the lives of your people, and that your word will have its way in every heart. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.