Exodus 18: Jethro Visits Moses and Counsels Him to Appoint Judges Over Israel
I was in the garage last Saturday, trying to flatten a walnut board that had other ideas. The board was eight feet long and maybe twelve inches wide. It had a twist in it that I had not seen until I put it on the bench. I spent an hour with a hand plane, working the high spots, checking with a straightedge, working again. My son came out and asked if he could help. I told him I had it.
I did not have it.
An hour later the board was flatter but I was tired and the light was fading and I had not even started the joinery. My son had gone back inside. I stood there with the plane in my hand and thought about Moses.
Lessons from Jethro and Moses on Delegation
Exodus 18 is one of those chapters that does not get a lot of attention. It sits between the battle with Amalek in Exodus 17 and the giving of the law at Sinai. It is mostly a conversation between Moses and his father-in-law. But it contains one of the most practical pieces of leadership advice in scripture.
Jethro shows up at the camp of Israel with Moses' wife Zipporah and their two sons. It is a family reunion. They go into the tent and Moses tells Jethro everything the Lord has done. Jethro rejoices and offers a sacrifice. That part is warm and good, and then Jethro watches Moses work the next day.
Moses sits from morning to evening while the people stand in line to bring their disputes to him. Jethro watches this and says something that must have been hard to hear.
And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. (Exodus 18:17)
Not good, not evil, not wrong in intention. Just not good, and the method was broken.
How to Avoid Burnout in Church Callings
Jethro tells Moses he will wear away. The King James Version says it plainly. Moses was going to burn out, and the people would burn out with him. The work was too heavy for one man. I have seen this in church callings, a bishop who tries to do everything himself. A Relief Society president who answers every text at midnight. A Sunday School teacher who spends eight hours preparing a thirty-minute lesson. The intentions are good. The result is exhaustion, and Jethro proposes a system. Moses stays as the intercessor for the great matters. He represents the people before God. But for the smaller disputes, Moses appoints judges over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. The judges handle the routine cases and only the hard ones come to Moses. It is a tiered system and also a trust system. Moses had to let go of the idea that he was the only one who could do it right.
What Are the Qualifications for Leadership in Exodus 18
Jethro does not tell Moses to pick the most popular people or the ones with the most impressive resumes. He gives four criteria. Able men, meaning competent people who can actually do the work.
Such as fear God, meaning spiritually grounded people who take their accountability seriously. Men of truth. Honest people who do not shade the facts to make themselves look better.
Hating covetousness. People who cannot be bought. A judge who takes bribes is worse than no judge at all.
I think about those criteria when I am asked to serve in a calling or when I am asked to recommend someone. The list is short and it is hard, but ability, integrity, spiritual alignment, and incorruptibility is a high bar.
How to Implement a Delegation System in the Family
The same principle works at home. I am not the only person in my house who can load the dishwasher. I am not the only one who can help with homework. When I try to do everything, I get short with the kids and my wife has to remind me that I am not the bishop of the Whitaker family.
Delegation in a family looks like giving a teenager responsibility for dinner one night a week. It looks like letting a younger child set the table even if the forks are upside down. It looks like trusting your spouse to handle something without checking in.
The point is not efficiency. The point is that other people grow when you let them carry weight. Moses' judges learned to judge. The people learned to trust the judges. The system worked because Moses was willing to share the load.
I thought about this while I was flattening that walnut board. I called my son back out to the garage. I handed him the plane and showed him where the high spots were. He worked on it for twenty minutes. He did not get it perfectly flat. But he got it close enough that I could finish it in half the time I would have spent alone.
Meaning of the Phrase Wear Away in Exodus 18
The Hebrew word that gets translated as wear away carries the sense of fading, withering, or dropping off. It is the same word used for leaves falling from a tree. Jethro was telling Moses that he would eventually just fall apart if he kept going the way he was going.
I have seen good people fall apart. Good bishops, good elders quorum presidents, good parents. They run on adrenaline and duty until there is nothing left. And then they wonder why they feel empty.
The chapter does not condemn Moses for working hard. It condemns the system that made hard work unsustainable. Jethro was not telling Moses to do less. He was telling him to do differently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Jethro tell Moses that what he was doing was not good if Moses was actually helping people?
Because the method was unsustainable. Moses was creating a bottleneck that delayed justice for the people and exhausted him. Good intentions do not justify a system that leads to burnout. Jethro saw the problem because he was outside the system.
What are the specific qualities Jethro looked for in the leaders Moses appointed?
Four traits. They had to be able, meaning competent, and they had to fear God, meaning spiritually aligned. They had to be men of truth, meaning honest, and they had to hate covetousness, meaning they could not be corrupted by bribes or greed.
How does the story of Jethro and Moses apply to modern church organization?
It establishes the principle of tiered leadership and delegated authority. The Lord's work is meant to be shared among qualified leaders. This prevents any one person from being overwhelmed and allows others to grow in their stewardship.
What does the phrase wear away mean in Exodus 18?
It comes from a Hebrew word that means to fade or wither like a leaf falling from a tree. Jethro was warning Moses that he would eventually collapse under the weight of the work if he did not change his approach.
How can I apply the delegation principles from Exodus 18 in my own life?
Start by identifying the tasks that only you can do. Delegate everything else to capable people. Give them clear authority and trust them to do the work. Check in on the hard cases but let the routine ones go.
I finished the walnut board the next morning. My son came out and looked at it. He asked if he could help with the next one. I said yes.
-- D.