Exodus 18:13, commentary and pictures

The verse shows Moses sitting alone from morning until evening to judge the people while they stood by him waiting, bearing the heavy responsibility of Israel's leader and magistrate. They came to him to inquire of God, to have matters judged between them, and to be made to know God's statutes and laws, which he handled himself so he could teach them and answer their questions. Doing this work alone was not good, for it was too heavy for one man and would surely wear away both Moses and the people, since God did not design one man to carry it all. The remedy was for Moses to stand for the people toward God, to teach the ordinances and laws and show the way to walk and the work to do, and to place able men who fear God, love truth, and hate covetousness as rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens to judge at all seasons, deciding every small matter themselves and bringing every great and hard matter to Moses, so the burden would be borne together. This establishes order in God's work, where to every man is given his special appointed work with ability suited to it, which he is to cultivate and faithfully perform without leaving it to gather other burdens, while only great matters come to the chief worker.

Moses Judging Alone

On the morrow Moses sat alone to judge the people, and the people stood by him waiting from morning unto the evening while he bore the heavy responsibility of Israel's leader and magistrate. They came to him to inquire of God, to have matters judged between one and another, and to be made to know God's statutes and laws. He handled every case himself so that he could teach them and answer their questions.

Moses was not the lawgiver but served as God's agent to make God's will known and deliver the words of the law, whose authority came from the Lord Jesus Christ. The setting belongs to the account of Jethro, a Gentile chosen by God to reveal heavenly principles. Jethro helped guide Moses toward correct faith.

Moses had been prepared to lead and judge by years as a shepherd that helped him understand himself and be emptied of self, by long mental and moral discipline from God to fit him to lead others, and by removal of false idolatrous ideas left from his training in Egypt. Zipporah saw his exhaustion from this burden when she rejoined him in the wilderness and made her fears known to her father Jethro, which led to Jethro suggesting measures for his relief. Jethro's counsel led to others being appointed to help govern the people, a decision that Aaron and Miriam resented. Miriam blamed Zipporah's influence for Moses no longer taking herself and Aaron into his counsels as formerly, and this belief was the chief reason for Miriam's antipathy to Zipporah.

Distributing Responsibility Wisely

To sit alone from morning to evening hearing every case was not good, for the work was too heavy for one man to perform alone and would surely wear away both the judge and the people who stood waiting. God did not design one man to carry all the responsibilities, and when overtaxed and overwearied by judging every dispute himself Moses was kept from giving Israel the word of the Lord as he should. The people came to inquire of God, to have matters judged between one and another, and to be made to know the statutes and laws, and bearing all that alone created a burden that required others to share the work and its responsibilities.

The remedy was for Moses to be for the people to God-ward to bring causes to God, to teach ordinances and laws, and to show the way to walk and the work to do. He was to provide able men such as fear God, men of truth hating covetousness, and place them as rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens to judge the people at all seasons. Those subordinate judges were to decide every small and ordinary matter themselves and bring only every great and hard matter to Moses, so the burden would be borne together, Moses would be able to endure, and the people would go to their place in peace, which he did by choosing able men out of Israel and making them heads over the people.

This establishes order in God's work with a true position for counsellors and a board, where there is to be no confusion. To every man is given his special appointed work with special ability and knowledge for that line, which he must cultivate and increase, laboring and doing his appointed part where duty calls on the right hand and on the left. He is not to leave it to gather another class of burdens or scheme to enlarge his work, while only great matters come to the chief worker. Responsibility must therefore be placed in carefully chosen hands, for God guides His people to choose people for particular positions. Those choices must be made with discretion to protect sacred trusts, and each case should be brought before God in earnest prayer for His choice, with old men and counsellors needed alongside young men in the different branches of the work.

The counsel to relieve that excessive burden also governs the management of God's work more broadly, showing that no one person or group should hold supreme authority over workers everywhere, because different regions have distinct needs and should be worked accordingly. The account further shows that God's workers need humility and must learn through doing God's will, while still using their highest powers of thought, prayer, hope, and faith.