Ex. 18:13-23, Moses the Leader

Moses was God’s choice to lead Israel.  God never ceased to be at work in Moses’ life that he might be a better leader, a true “shepherd” of Israel.  Every story in Moses’ life reveals this work of God.  The story from today’s passage is a “typical” leadership story.  Moses was spending so much time with the day-to-day details of the lives of the Israelites that he was unable to actually lead the nation. 

His solution was not to “drop the job” but to train others.  I have heard some that believe this was a “work of the flesh” approach to leadership.  The reason, they say, is that God did not tell Moses to do this but rather it came from Moses’ father-in-law, the priest of Midian.  I reject this idea for several reasons.  First, Jethro was a priest in the pre-Exodus sense, as in the case of Abraham and Melchizedek (Gen. 14), and seemed to have a knowledge and appreciation of Yahweh.  Second, this was not the only time God used “Gentiles” to encourage His people.  Again, there was Melchizedek; the sons of Heth who sold Abraham the burial cave (Gen. 23); Pharaoh (Gen. 12), Abimelech (Gen. 26), Laban (Gen. 31), and the Egyptians (Ex. 12) who helped make the Patriarchs and the Israelites quite wealthy, and so forth.  Third, Jethro said to Moses, “If you do this thing, and God so commands you” (18:23), acknowledging the need for God’s approval.  Fourth, the qualifications for leadership were spiritually correct (to fear God and be trustworthy); they were not the worldly qualities (Harvard grad, made significant contributions to the right political party, etc.).  And fifth, what Jethro suggested was later incorporated in the Law for Israel when they entered the land (Deut. 1:18-20).

It is interesting that later in Israel, while the Davidic kings were supposed to abide by the Law given to Moses, they also got their title by simply being born into the right family.  I want to list some of those kings, who were good leaders who illustrated valuable principles, but who also had significant shortcomings that ruined their leadership.  This is for meditation purposes, all from 2 Chronicles.

·       Joash: was a good leader as long as the priest Jehoiada lived (24:2) but who strayed after the priest died (24:17). Principle: have good advisors.

·       Amaziah: listened to the prophets (25:10) but later brought back idols.  Principle: live by the word of the LORD.

·       Uzziah: sought the LORD (26:5), but after he became powerful he turned away.  Principle: prayer, seeking the LORD in making decisions.

·       Jotham: walked steadfastly before the LORD (27:6).  Principle: obedience.

·       Hezekiah: in some ways he brought the best of all the kings together.  But also, he worked wholeheartedly (31:21).  Yet later, pride was found in him (35:21f).  Principle: apply yourself completely to the work.

·       Josiah: He sought the LORD, humbling himself (34:3,27).  Later, he disregarded the LORD’s word through Pharaoh (35:21f).  Principle: humility.