Moses Needed to Delegate

Moses Needed to Delegate

Well Known Stories of Moses:

The story of God sending Moses to Egypt to free his chosen people from slavery and the parting of the Red Sea is well known.

After People Freed from Egypt Slavery:

But Moses wasn’t done after that.  He actually judged and led the people in God’s laws for the rest of his life.   Moses spoke to God in person and God told him all the commandments that the people were to follow.  God didn’t speak to anyone else that way.  Only Moses knew all the laws and everything fell on him.

Everything Fell on Moses:

It was up to Moses to make sure the laws were enforced by the people.  And we’re not just talking about a few people.  Moses brought 600,000 men not including women  and children (Scriptures 1 –  600,000 Men plus Women and Children – Exodus 12:36-38) out of Egypt.  So if there were as many women as men and each man had three children, that would be 3 million people.  That is a lot of people for one man to manage.  Moses was judging and teaching day and night.

Whenever there was a dispute, people would go to Moses to settle the matter and to teach them God’s laws in that situation.  People were lined up to go before Moses all day and all night long.

Father-in-law’s Help:

Thankfully, God saw what was going on and sent someone to help.  Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, came for a visit.  When Jethro saw what was happening, he had a talk with Moses (Scriptures 2 –  Father-in-law’s Advice – Exodus 18:13-27).  He explained to Moses that he couldn’t keep going on like this.  He needed to delegate.  Moses needed to teach all the people the laws so they could live accordingly.  He should also select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.  If there is a difficult case, they can bring it to Moses.  But all other cases should be judged by these selected men. 

Moses did as his father-in-law suggested.   That must have made Moses’ life so much easier.  Not that his life was ever easy, but it must have taken away a lot of unnecessary stress.

Conclusion:

Moses was so busy trying to obey God and do everything right, that he couldn’t see what a mess it was turning into.    It took an outsider to show him what was happening.  Why God didn’t just tell Moses to teach the people God’s laws and select men to be judges is puzzling.  But that’s God.   God uses ordinary people like Jethro (and you and me) to help each other and further his kingdom.

PDF: Moses Needed to Delegate

Worksheet: Moses Needed to Delegate Bible Study Worksheet

See: Part 4 #2 The Life of Moses

See: Part 3 #2 A Prayer for Rest

Also See: Free Bible Study Worksheets

Also See: Part 3 – List of Prayers

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