“Moses sat as judge for the people, while the people stood around him from morning till evening” (Exodus 18:13). Then as now, there were all kinds of disputes: whose children were too rowdy, which ox injured the other one, was that agreement a promise and a contract, or just two people talking. Sometimes people just can’t resolve such issues without an impartial third party. It took all day, every day, for Moses to sort through the problems of the Israelites, helping them to find the will of God in all the confrontations of everyday life (18:16).

Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, saw what Moses was doing, and offered the subtle comment, “What you are doing is not good” (18:17). It might not have been tactful, but it did get directly to the point. Jethro went on to explain that Moses’ present system would wear out the people and himself: “the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone” (18:18).

Moses’ job, his father-in-law insisted, ought to be primarily religious rather than judicial. He should be representing the people to God, laying their cases before God (18:19). And he ought to be teaching them the law and showing them how to live (18:20). His major task, then, should be praying and preaching. To handle the judicial matters, Moses needed to appoint capable and devout individuals who would “sit as judges for the people at all times” (18:21-22). Jethro said, “If you do this … all these people will go to their home in peace” (18:23).

As priest of Midian (3:1, 18:1), Jethro would have been an outsider to the faith of Israel. Yet he took on a significant religious role here: admonishing Moses with the rubric “God be with you” (18:19), and expressing this advice with the thought that it might be God’s command (18:23). To Moses’ credit, he did what his father-in-law proposed.

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Ah Lord God! Again and again we suppose we should bear the whole burden ourselves; we are slow to recruit others to share in decision-making. We especially hesitate to think our main job might be prayer. Teach us to rely on you, O God; to share the burden; and to pray.