Jethro’s advice (Exod 18:13-27)

A church I was involved in my teenage years went through a period of revival when a number of folk from different age groups came to faith. One of those was a middle-aged woman who was very controlling of her adult married daughter, often manipulating her to attend to her needs and prioritise her over her own family. As a young Christian and a little naïve myself, I was shocked to see such behaviour in one who turned her life over to Christ. Only much later did I realise that, while I was growing into the Christian faith at the same time as I was growing up, this woman’s personality and behaviour have long been established, so that undoing harmful patterns of living was going to take a longer time.

The deliverance from Egypt is frequently seen by Christians as the climax of the Book of Exodus, but the truth is that redemption is not the culmination but only the beginning of a life with God. In the opening of our reading, we see Moses daily dealing with issues of justice among the people, which highlights the need for Israel to become a just and godly society. Freedom from slavery, however, does not automatically make the people godly; they must understand His will and requirements for their lives, hence the law-giving that will follow. In the meantime, Moses is acting as a one-man-band mediating God’s will in individual cases and wearing himself and the people out in the process (Exod 18:13-14).

It speaks volumes of the relationship between Jethro and Moses that the latter takes advice from an outsider in a matter so weighty as Israel’s judicial system. So often, as Christians we consider ourselves wiser than non-Christians on the basis that we have God’s Spirit in us and indeed, there are occasions when discernment from God may look foolishness to those who do not believe. At the same time, it is helpful to be open to advice even if it comes from non-Christians. Family members, for instance, may know us better than we know ourselves and point out flaws in our thinking; outsiders with professional expertise in an area could bring observations to the table that we have not considered.

Jethro’s advice proves to be sound and there is nothing in it that clashes with Israel’s understanding of God. Moses is to continue to mediate God’s will but delegate smaller tasks to trustworthy people with integrity (Exod 18:21-22) – the latter an essential principle in any large organisation. Most importantly though, the people have to be taught God’s will so that they know how to live godly lives (Exod 18:20). When I visit churches, I am always saddened when the Bible is not opened or taught or when I encounter Christians who are confused about what God requires of them. Church leaders have a duty to help believers grow in maturity, but all of us, as Christians have a responsibility to work on our lives and character. This is in no way an attempt to earn salvation; we have been saved by the grace of God alone. Nevertheless, we are to walk in a way worthy of our calling as people belonging to the Lord (Eph 4:1). In effect, we work out the implications of our salvation and we do so in co-operation with the Lord who is at work in us (Phil 2:12-13).

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