Exodus 18 · Delegate Authority
Moses and Jethro
A leader who carried every decision, and the outsider who told him to stop.
The story
Israel is out of Egypt and camped in the wilderness. Moses sits down to settle disputes, and the people stand around him from morning until evening (Exod. 18:13). Every question, large or small, waits for one man.
His father-in-law, Jethro, is visiting. Jethro watches for a day and asks a plain question: why do you sit alone while everyone stands and waits? Moses gives the answer every overloaded leader gives. The people come to me.
“What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.”Exodus 18:17–18
Jethro then offers a plan. Teach the people the standards, so they know the way to walk. Choose capable people of proven character. Set them over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. Let them decide the ordinary matters, and bring only the hard cases to Moses. Moses listens and does everything Jethro said (Exod. 18:24).
What the story teaches
Being needed is not the same as leading. Moses was faithful, busy, and failing. The line of people was proof of his importance and proof of the problem. Jethro saw that the leader and the people were both wearing out.
Jethro handed over authority, not errands. The new leaders did not carry messages back to Moses. They decided. “Any small matter they shall decide themselves” (Exod. 18:22). The decision moved to the person closest to the question.
Character came before skill. The people chosen were to be able, to fear God, to be trustworthy, and to hate a bribe (Exod. 18:21). Three of the four tests concern who a person is.
Teaching came before release. Moses was first told to teach the statutes and the way to walk (Exod. 18:20). People can only decide well when they know what the leader is trying to do.
Moses took correction from outside. Jethro was not an Israelite leader. He was a guest with clear eyes. Moses listened anyway.
Try this week
- List every decision you made in the last five working days.
- Mark each one that someone closer to the work could have made.
- Choose one. Tell one person the purpose, the limits, and that the decision now belongs to that person.
- Keep the hard cases. Stop keeping the small ones.
Read the ROAR issue on this passage: The best advice Moses ever got. See where this step sits in the LEADS System.
Sources
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001.
Passages studied: Exodus 18:13–27.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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