EXODUS 18:17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good.

Moses received a loving rebuke from his father-in-law, followed by wise and God-centered counsel. Though Moses’ intentions were noble, his method of leadership was unsustainable. Through this correction, God taught Moses the importance of humility, shared leadership, and leading with wisdom rather than attempting to do everything by himself.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father,

Teach us to lead with humility and not rely merely on our own strength and understanding. Guard us from pride that causes us to carry burdens You never intended us to bear alone. Open our eyes to recognize the people, gifts, and resources You have already placed around us. Give us wisdom to delegate responsibly, courage to receive correction, and discernment to focus on the calling You have entrusted to us. May we lead in a way that honors You, serves others well, and brings peace rather than exhaustion.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

EXODUS 18

1 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 the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah, after he had sent her away, 3 and her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” 4 The other was named Eliezer, for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.” 5 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. 6 He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.” 7 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. 8 Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had befallen them on the journey, and how the Lord had delivered them.

Jethro was the priest of Midian, a land surrounded by pagan worship and many deities. Yet God used this Midianite priest as part of Moses’ spiritual journey. Moses had fled to Midian as a fugitive after killing the Egyptian. What seemed like failure and banishment became the very place where God deepened Moses’ communion with Him.

Moses’ sons reflect the emotional journey of his life. Gershom means “sojourner” or “banishment,” reminding us of Moses’ separation from Egypt, from his family, and from the royal life he once knew. Moses understood rejection and isolation. Yet the name Eliezer, meaning “God is my help,” reveals a transformed perspective. What Moses once considered loss, he eventually saw as God’s providence and protection.

During those hidden years in Midian, God was preparing Moses. Solitude became training. Exile became formation. What appeared bad was intended by God for good.

When Jethro arrived, Moses simply testified. He recounted what the Lord had done in Egypt and through the wilderness journey. Witnessing was not complicated theology or polished persuasion. Moses simply told the truth about God’s faithfulness. Biblical witnessing is often simple storytelling about the works of God.

9 Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, in delivering them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10 So Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; indeed, it was proven when they dealt proudly against the people.” 12 Then 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.

The testimony of Moses produced worship in Jethro. A pagan priest acknowledged the supremacy of the Lord because he heard what God had done. Moses’ stories became instruments of revelation.

This passage shows the power of testimony. God often uses ordinary storytelling to bring people to faith. Moses did not pressure Jethro with arguments; he declared the goodness and deliverance of God. The result was worship, sacrifice, and fellowship before the Lord.

This should relieve believers from the burden of thinking they must become trained evangelists before speaking of Christ. God uses honest testimony.

13 It came about the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. 14 Now when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, 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?” 15 Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws.”

The next day, Jethro observed Moses carrying the entire burden of leadership alone, judging every dispute personally from morning until evening. Moses’ intentions were noble because he genuinely desired to help the people and teach them God’s laws. However, noble intentions without wisdom can eventually become harmful. Jethro immediately recognized that Moses was overworked, overextended, and carrying more than one man was designed to bear. At the same time, the people were not being served effectively because everything depended on Moses alone. He also saw that Moses had failed to recognize the capable men and resources God had already placed around him. This remains a common danger in leadership today. Leaders sometimes begin to think they are indispensable, but when one person attempts to carry every responsibility alone, both the leader and the people eventually suffer.

17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. 18 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. 19 Now listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, 20 then teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do.

This is a remarkable rebuke. Moses, the great deliverer of Israel, was corrected by his father-in-law. God used an outsider to expose a weakness in Moses’ leadership.

Jethro warned Moses that his current method was unsustainable. He would eventually wear out, and the people would also become frustrated. The issue was not Moses’ sincerity but his inability to endure in the long run.

Jethro then redirected Moses toward his higher calling. Moses was not meant merely to settle every dispute. His primary responsibility was spiritual leadership:

• to represent the people before God,

• to bring matters before the Lord,

• to teach God’s statutes,

• and to guide the people in the way they should walk.

Leadership becomes unhealthy when secondary responsibilities consume the primary calling.

True discernment comes only when “God be with you.” Without God opening our eyes, we fail to perceive what He has truly entrusted to us.

MARK 10:51 …Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”… And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!”

Spiritually, this is also the cry that is needed in leadership and ministry. We need God to open our eyes so that we may recognize our true calling, see the people He has already provided around us, and discern which responsibilities we are meant to carry personally and which responsibilities should be shared with others. Without God-given sight and wisdom, we may continue laboring inefficiently, exhausting ourselves while failing to recognize the provision and help that God has already placed before us.

EXODUS 18:21 Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. 22 Let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 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.”

Jethro introduced the principle of selection and delegation.

Moses was instructed to appoint qualified men over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. This would distribute responsibility and create sustainable leadership.

The qualifications are deeply important.

Godly leadership is not merely about talent; it is about character.

Able Men

These are capable people with the right gifts and skill sets. God distributes different capacities among His people. Not everyone has the same function, but each person has a role within God’s design.

Men Who Fear God

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Without reverence for God, leadership eventually becomes worldly and corrupted.

PSALM 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.

A person without the fear of God ultimately becomes spiritually corrupt. Human wisdom detached from God cannot produce righteous leadership. Jethro understood that leadership must first be rooted in reverence for God before ability alone.

Men of Truth

Leaders must possess integrity and firmness. They must stand for truth even when pressured by the majority.

Men Who Hate Dishonest Gain.

They must also reject bribery and dishonest gain. Corruption destroys justice and weakens the community of God’s people.

1 CORINTHIANS 12:12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ... 27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

The principle of delegation reflects God’s design for the body of Christ. No single person carries every function. The church is composed of many members with different roles, gifts, and responsibilities.

Moses’ mistake was attempting to function as the entire body himself. Jethro’s counsel restored the biblical pattern of shared responsibility.

EXODUS 18:24 So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. 26 They judged the people at all times; the difficult dispute they would bring to Moses, but every minor dispute they themselves would judge.

Moses demonstrated humility by accepting correction. This was crucial. Had Moses refused counsel, the burden would have destroyed both him and the people.

Only after receiving the rebuke did Moses recognize that the solution had been in front of him all along. God had already provided capable men within Israel.

Humility allows leaders to see resources they previously overlooked.

ACTS 6:2 So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”... 7 The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

The apostles later applied the same principle in the early church. Administrative responsibilities had become so overwhelming that the apostles were being distracted from prayer and the ministry of the Word.

Their solution was not abandonment of ministry but delegation to qualified individuals filled with wisdom and the Spirit.

Even serving tables required high-character men. Stephen, one of those selected, later became a powerful witness for Christ. In God’s kingdom, no task is insignificant.

As responsibilities were properly distributed, “the word of God kept on spreading.” Healthy delegation strengthened the mission rather than weakening it.

Jesus Himself selected disciples and delegated ministry responsibilities to them. Delegation is not weakness; it is part of God’s design for multiplication.

EXODUS 18:27 Then Moses bade his father-in-law farewell, and he went his way into his own land.

Jethro eventually returned to his own land. Yet Moses did not reject him or drive him away. Later, Moses invited his Midianite relatives to continue journeying with Israel toward the Promised Land.

This reveals Moses’ affection and gratitude toward the family that sheltered him during his years of exile. God had used people outside Israel to preserve and counsel His servant.

Jethro was not originally part of covenant Israel, yet God used him to impart wisdom that preserved Moses’ ministry and strengthened the nation.

God sometimes sends correction, wisdom, and encouragement through unexpected people.

NUMBERS 10:29 Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you’; come with us and we will do you good, for the Lord has promised good concerning Israel.” 30 But he said to him, “I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives.”

Reuel was another name for Jethro, and Hobab was Moses’ brother-in-law. This passage reveals that Moses did not drive his Midianite relatives away after their time together in the wilderness. Instead, Moses warmly invited them to continue with Israel on the journey to the Promised Land. Moses recognized the kindness, wisdom, and help that had come through his relationship with Jethro and his family. Even though they were not originally part of Israel, God had used them in significant ways during Moses’ life. This shows that God can use unexpected people to encourage, guide, and strengthen His servants according to His purposes.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for reminding us that true leadership must be guided by Your wisdom. Teach us to walk in humility, to receive correction with grace, and to recognize that we are not meant to carry every burden alone. Help us to trust the people You have placed around us and to lead with discernment, integrity, and the fear of the Lord. Give us eyes to see our true calling and hearts that remain faithful to Your purpose. May everything we do bring glory to Your name and blessing to the people we serve. Strengthen us to endure for the long journey ahead, always depending on Your presence and guidance.

In Jesus’ name we pray,

Amen.

The content of this article is adapted from the source below:

Exodus - Trust God: He Enables and Equips

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