But do thou provide among all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place [them] over them, chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens,
Moses had spent a whole day judging a nation's disputes alone, and his father-in-law Jethro told him it could not last. The advice that follows — pick able men and share the load — raises two questions: what makes a man fit to judge, and whether Moses was right to take advice he never brought to God.
One writer reads these marks as traits any believer should want, not just judges in a camp.
Exodus 18:20-21 also gives us the features of faithful men. They were to be taught in the word of God. They had to know how to walk, and how to work. They had to be able men, fearing God, men of truth, hating covetousness. They had to be men who could bring peace to the people by righteous judgments. God wrote this Scripture to instruct and encourage us, so there is a word here for us as well. These are the traits we should want.
Hating covetousness — what this verse calls hating a bribe — matters because of the pressure that comes with authority over other people's disputes.
Covetousness is a sin that men in charge are especially exposed to... Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, describes the character of the men to be chosen "to judge the people at all times": "Able men," he says, "such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness" (Ex. 18:21). Samuel met all these conditions. He also had the virtues of gentleness and loving sympathy. He was indeed the ideal judge.
Thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens: one writer admires the design itself.
What an admirable arrangement! If it really had to be made, nothing could keep order better than this graded scale of authority. It ran from the captain of ten up to the captain of a thousand. Moses, the lawgiver, stood at the head of them all, in direct contact with the Lord God of Israel.
When Moses retells the story near the end of his life, the account shifts. One commentator notices what he leaves out.
Again, what can be more simple and appropriate than that Moses at the close should omit the name and counsel of Jethro, and bring the people into greater prominence than himself in the choice of rulers? This he had fully shown in the history. Now he dwells chiefly on their part in the matter, confessing his own inability to cope with their great increase.
Commentators differ here. One calls the arrangement admirable. Another catches a telling detail in the way Jethro worded his offer.
Jethro said, "I will give you counsel, and God will be with you" (v. 19). Would it not be better to say, "God will give you counsel, and I will be with you?" He was so sure of his own counsel that he did not advise Moses to ask counsel of God. Moses himself should have been concerned to ask God's counsel first. If God meant Moses to do all the work himself, He would be sure to give him strength for it. Another principle is seen here too. By this division of authority the people would have less direct contact with the supreme ruler. Do we today not need to take all our difficult matters straight to the Lord Jesus?
The advice came from a family member, and one writer sees a special danger in that.
It is always very dangerous to listen to the advice of a relative in the things of God... Relatives look at things through their own claims on us, or through their natural affection. Their eye is divided, so they cannot judge rightly in the presence of God.
Sharing a load can look like modesty. One writer argues the opposite.
Leaving a post God has appointed is never the fruit of humility. The deepest humility does the opposite: it stays there in simple dependence on God. When we shrink back from service because we feel unable, that is sure proof we are taken up with ourselves. God does not call us to service on the ground of our ability, but of His own.
Whatever we make of Moses' decision, one writer sees this arrangement pointing forward.
In the men appointed as rulers under Moses we see a picture of those who will reign with Christ in the day of the kingdom... The men who took authority under Moses were to be "able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness." This reminds us that Christ will give the places of authority in His coming kingdom to those who have proved themselves worthy during the present time of responsibility here.
- Character. The judges had to be able men who fear God, men of truth who hate a bribe. Greed is the sin that traps anyone who handles other people's affairs.
- Counsel. Jethro promised God would be with Moses if Moses took his advice. Commentators differ over whether Moses should have asked God first.
- Affection. Advice from a relative is hard to weigh. Natural love blurs the view of what God has given you to do.
- Post. Stepping back from a God-given burden can look like humility. In truth it shows we are taken up with ourselves.
- Kingdom. The graded rule under one head pictures the coming reign of Christ, who gives authority to those proved faithful now.
that they may judge the people at all times; and it shall be [that] they shall bring to thee every great matter, and that they shall judge every small matter, and they shall lighten [the task] on thee, and they shall bear [it] with thee.
Moses is judging Israel on his own, and his father-in-law Jethro warns that the work will wear him out. This verse holds Jethro's remedy, and commentators still ask whether Moses did well to accept it.
Jethro's plan splits the work. Capable men handle the everyday disputes. The hard cases still travel up to Moses.
Jethro had a simple solution which had evidently not occurred to Moses. He tells Moses that this constant labour would wear him out, and the people too. Why not concentrate on representing God by teaching God's statutes in public? At the same time, Moses could delegate authority to "able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain." They could judge minor disputes among the people, and bring the major matters to Moses (v. 22).
Commentators differ. Some point out that Moses took the advice as coming from God, and never criticises it when he retells the story.
Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, advised him to get help in administering justice. He was to provide able men: chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. … Moses followed this advice, taking it as from God (Ex. 18:23). In Deuteronomy 1:9-18 he recalls the incident without adding any negative comment.
Others read the same scene as a loss. Their objection is not the workload. Moses asked Jethro rather than God, and the new layer of officials left the people further from the top.
Jethro said, "I will give you counsel, and God will be with you" (v. 19). Would it not be better to say, "God will give you counsel, and I will be with you"? He was so sure of his own counsel that he did not advise Moses to ask counsel of God. … By this division of authority the people would have less direct contact with the supreme ruler. Do we today not need to take all of our trying matters directly to the Lord Jesus?
The verse promises that others "will bear the burden with you." One writer answers that the burden never rested on Moses at all.
In all this we see Moses clearly stepping back from a post of honour. If it pleased God to make him the sole instrument in managing the assembly, that only gave him more dignity and privilege. True, the responsibility was immense. But faith would recognise that God was more than enough for it. Here, however, the heart of Moses failed him. Blessed servant as he was, he says, "I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me." But he was not asked to carry them alone, for God was with him. They were not too heavy for God. It was He who was carrying them; Moses was only the instrument. He might just as well have said that his staff was carrying the people; for what was he but an instrument in God's hand, as the staff was in his?
Jethro's words did not stay in that conversation. They come back later out of Moses' own mouth in Numbers 11.
When once a word of distrust or complaint is admitted into our hearts, it is not easily driven out. As we have seen from Numbers 11, Moses uses the very words in his complaint that were suggested by Jethro. It is exactly here that Satan is so successful. There may be only a half-formed thought, a mere hint, in our minds. At once he comes, puts it into words, and presents it to our souls. Take an example. We feel weary in service, and perhaps low because of the weariness. How often will Satan suggest that we are doing too much, going beyond our strength!
The tiers of judges also sketch a government still to come.
Clearly, this arrangement for judging the people pictures the order of government which the Messiah will set up when He takes His kingdom. As the Psalmist says, "May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness!" (Ps. 72:2-3.)
The men chosen stand for those who will share that rule.
In the men appointed as rulers under Moses we see a picture of those who will reign with Christ in the day of the kingdom. … The men who took authority under Moses were to be "able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness." This reminds us that the places of authority in the coming kingdom of Christ will go to those who have proved themselves worthy in this present time of responsibility.
- Burden — Moses said the people were too heavy for him to carry alone. One writer answers that he never carried them at all: God bore them, and Moses was only the instrument.
- Counsel — Jethro said, "I will give you counsel, and God will be with you." He never told Moses to ask God first.
- Cost — the new tier of judges eased the load, but left the people further from the one at the top.
- Character — the men chosen had to be capable, God-fearing, truthful and free of greed. That test still marks out those fit to rule with Christ.
- Consummation — beyond the question of Moses' failure, the ranks of judges picture the government the Messiah will set up. His own will share that rule.
If thou do this thing, and God command thee [so], thou wilt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
Jethro's plan ends with a promise: relief for Moses and peace for the people. Older translations make it conditional — "and God command you so" — and that wording drives the question below: when is sensible advice also God's will?
Jethro does not present his plan as settled. One writer treats that condition as the hinge of the whole plan. He reads the scene that follows as a preview of a coming order.
In our chapter Moses selects the heads of the people, as Jethro counselled under God; for Jethro only advised it if "God command you so." So it seems that here we have a little sample of the coming kingdom. Moses is king. The people are under him. And a non-Israelite, Jethro, comes to rejoice with him and his people.
One writer traces both promises — Moses lasting the course, the people going home content — back to what moved Jethro to speak.
The pleas Jethro advanced looked right on the surface, and they were subtle. They rested on his anxiety for the welfare of his son-in-law… If Moses would only do as he advised, then he said, "So it will be easier for yourself," and again, "you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace."
The same writer follows the story forward, to the day Moses made Jethro's argument his own.
The Lord taught Moses this lesson later, in the book of Numbers. Moses complained to Him in the very words Jethro had put into his mind: "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me" (Num. 11:14). The Lord heard his complaint and told him to take seventy men to help him in the work. He granted the desire, yet added no fresh strength for the government of Israel. Moses now had to share with the seventy the Spirit he already had.
Jethro's diagnosis of the workload was accurate. What one writer questions is whether that was the right thing to measure.
On the hill he had learnt his own weakness, but also the sustaining power of God. Here he only remembers his weakness, and listens to the counsel of Jethro. The real question was not whether the thing was too heavy for him (v. 18), but, is not God able to strengthen him to bear it all? It may have been humility in Moses to appoint men to share the burden of judging the people. But it was humility at the expense of faith.
Jethro's condition makes God's command the test, yet nobody in the chapter asks Him. One writer catches this in the way Jethro words his offer. He then asks what an in-between authority does to ordinary people.
Jethro said, "I will give you counsel, and God will be with you" (v. 19). Would it not be better to say, "God will give you counsel, and I will be with you?" Jethro was so sure of his own counsel that he never advised Moses to ask God for counsel. Moreover, Moses himself ought to have had concern to first ask God's counsel. If God intended Moses to do all the work himself, He would give him strength for it… To bring in an authority in between is the very principle of legalism. It lets people stay content at a distance from the Lord.
Not everyone reads the episode as a slip. One writer points to how Moses himself took the advice, and to how he told the story years later.
Moses followed this advice, taking it as from God (Ex. 18:23). In Deuteronomy 1:9-18 he recalls the incident without adding any negative comment.
Others hold both things at once. The outcome served Israel well. The way Moses got there was not the way of dependence.
God in grace overruled everything that passed between Moses and Jethro about judging the people, and turned it to the people's good. Even so, Moses was not acting in strict conformity to the mind of God. God has seen fit to leave this incident on record in His precious word, inspired by Him, for our profit and warning.
The qualities Jethro asked for in these judges point forward.
The men who took authority under Moses were to be "able men who fear God, men of truth, hating greed." This reminds us who will hold places of authority in the coming kingdom of Christ: those who have proved themselves worthy during the present time of responsibility here.
- Condition — Jethro tied his plan to God commanding it, yet no one in the chapter put it to that test.
- Counsel — Jethro offered his own counsel and assumed God's presence. He never told Moses to ask God first.
- Confidence — Moses measured his own weakness, not God's power to hold him up. Sharing the load looked like humility, but it cost faith — and it added no fresh strength.
- Contest — Commentators differ. One notes that Moses took the advice as from God and later retold it without criticism. Others say God in grace overruled a step that did not match His mind.
- Coming kingdom — Judges who fear God, love truth and hate greed picture those who will hold authority under Christ. Authority then answers to faithfulness now.
And Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said.
Jethro's plan sounded sensible: share the load, appoint judges, keep only the hard cases for yourself. Moses agreed to every word of it. Commentators ask whether that was wisdom, or the moment a great servant stopped leaning on God.
One writer points to what is missing from Jethro's opening words:
Moses no doubt thought this was logical and wise, and acted on Jethro's advice. Jethro said, "I will give you advice, and God be with you!" (v. 19). Would it not have been better to say, "God will give you counsel, and I will be with you"? He was so sure of his own advice that he never told Moses to ask counsel of God. And Moses himself should have been concerned to ask God's counsel first. If God meant Moses to do all the work himself, He would certainly have given him strength for it.
The same writer traces a further effect of splitting the work:
By this division of authority the people would have less direct contact with the supreme ruler. Do we today not need to take all our trying matters directly to the Lord Jesus? To bring in an in-between authority is the very principle of law, which lets people settle for staying at a distance from the Lord. This gives a moral reason for the introduction of law, beginning with Exodus 19.
Another writer sets the lesson Moses had just learned on the hill beside his decision here:
Moses does not rise to the height of God's power and goodness. On the hill he had learned his own weakness, but also the sustaining power of God. Here he only remembers his weakness, and listens to the counsel of Jethro. The real question was not whether the task was too heavy for him (v. 18). It was this: is God not able to strengthen him to bear it all? It may have been humility on Moses' part to appoint men to share the burden of judging the people. But it was humility at the expense of faith. It was the fruit of Jethro's careful wisdom, who looked not at the power of God, but at the weakness of Moses.
If stepping back from the work was not humility, what is? One writer answers that true humility stays put:
It is never the fruit of humility to leave a post God has appointed. On the contrary, the deepest humility will show itself by staying there in simple dependence on God. It is a sure sign that we are occupied with ourselves when we shrink from service on the ground of inability. God does not call us to serve on the ground of our ability, but of His own.
The verse names whose voice Moses listened to. One writer treats that relationship as the danger itself:
It is always very dangerous to listen to the advice of a relative in the things of God. Our blessed Lord and His disciples were so busy with His ministry "that they could not even eat." Then His relatives "went out to seize Him, for they were saying, 'He is out of His mind.'" They gave no thought to the claims of God... Relatives look through the lens of their own claims, or of natural affection. Because their sight is divided, they cannot judge rightly in the presence of God.
The same writer adds that the failure is only half of what is here:
Two things must be kept apart — the failure of Moses, and what the appointment of rulers over the people pictures. Take the second first. This arrangement for judging the people pictures the order of government which the Messiah will set up when He takes His kingdom. As the Psalmist says, "May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness." (Ps. 72:2-3.) ... But while God intended this, the failure of Moses in listening to Jethro must not be hidden. If it were, we would lose some most valuable instruction.
Not everyone reads Moses' agreement as a failure. Another writer notes how Moses himself later retold it:
Moses followed this advice, taking it as from God (Ex. 18:23). In Deuteronomy 1:9-18 he recalls the incident without adding any negative comment.
That same writer draws a present-day application in the opposite direction from the warnings above — that one man carrying everything is not the pattern God intends, since the decision of Acts 15 "was not reached by one apostle, however prominent, but by the apostles and the elders, with the concurrence of the whole assembly."
- Counsel. Jethro gave his own advice and wished God's blessing on it. He never sent Moses to God for counsel first.
- Consent. Moses did all that Jethro said, when he should have asked God's counsel first.
- Cost. Shrinking from a heavy post looks like humility, but it can be faith giving way. God calls us on the ground of His ability, not ours.
- Caution. Natural affection clouds a relative's sight, so their advice in the things of God is dangerous.
- Christ. Above the failure, the ranks of righteous judges picture the government Messiah will set up when He takes His kingdom.
And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens.
Moses judged Israel's disputes alone, from morning to evening, until his father-in-law Jethro told him to share the load. Commentators read what followed in two ways: as a picture of the coming kingdom, and as a step taken without asking God.
This scene of settled government closes the opening section of Exodus. One writer sees the ranks of judges as a sketch of how the Messiah will rule.
This arrangement for judging the people is clearly a picture. It shows the order of government which the Messiah will set up when He takes His kingdom. As the Psalmist says, "May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness." (Psalm 72:2-3.) That is why this section closes with this account.
Moses chose "able men out of all Israel." Jethro had already listed what made a man able. One writer names the danger those qualities guard against.
Covetousness is a sin that especially endangers administrators… Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, describes the character of the men to choose "to judge the people at all times." They are to be "able men," he says, "who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe" (Ex. 18:21).
Moses thought the plan wise and acted on it. One writer looks closely at how Jethro framed his offer.
Jethro said, "I will give you advice, and God be with you" (v. 19). Would it not be better to say, "God will give you advice, and I will be with you"? He was so sure of his own counsel that he did not advise Moses to ask counsel of God. What is more, Moses himself should have been concerned to ask God's counsel first. If God intended Moses to do all the work himself, He would certainly give him strength for it.
Commentators differ. Another writer reads the appointment as approved, because Jethro tied his advice to God's command.
In our chapter we see the heads of the people being chosen, just as Jethro advised under God. He only advised it if God commanded it.
Jethro's argument was that the work was too heavy for one man. One writer replies that the weight never rested on Moses at all. Stepping back from it can look like humility.
He was not asked to bear them alone; for God was with him. They were not too heavy for God. It was He who was bearing them. Moses was only the instrument… This is where the servants of Christ constantly fail. The failure is all the more dangerous because it looks like humility. To shrink from heavy responsibility seems like distrust of self and deep lowliness of spirit. But all we need to ask is this: has God laid that responsibility on me? If so, He will certainly be with me in carrying it.
One writer follows the story forward into the book of Numbers.
Moses later complained to the Lord. He used the very words Jethro had put into his mind: "I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me." (Num. 11:14.) The Lord told him to join seventy men with himself. The Lord granted his desire, but there was no extra supply of strength for governing Israel. Moses now had to share with the seventy the Spirit he already had.
The system of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens looks efficient. One writer takes that neatness as the warning of the passage.
To human eyes the system of government Jethro advised was very orderly and beautiful. It looked far more likely to secure justice among the people. Man always thinks he can improve on the order of God… The safety of the Lord's people lies in holding firmly to the word of God. They must refuse all counsel and advice that man gives apart from it.
Exodus says Moses chose the men. When he retells the event in Deuteronomy, he says he told the tribes to pick them. One writer shows how both are true.
Exodus 18:25 speaks of Moses choosing these men. Yet here in Deuteronomy 1:13 Moses says he asked the tribes to choose "wise, understanding, and experienced men." So he graciously took them into his confidence. When they presented the men, he confirmed them as his choice.
- Order — The ranks of rulers picture the government the Messiah will set up, when He judges the poor with justice.
- Character — The men chosen had to be able, God-fearing, trustworthy and free of any love of a bribe. Covetousness is the standing danger of those in office.
- Counsel — Jethro put his own advice first and God's presence second. He never told Moses to ask God, and Moses never asked. Commentators differ over how far this was failure.
- Courage — Shrinking from a God-given load can look like humility. God was carrying it all along, and He stays with the servant He appoints.
- Caution — Man's arrangements can look neater than God's. Safety lies in holding to His word and refusing advice offered apart from it.
And they judged the people at all times the hard matters they brought to Moses, but every small matter they judged.
The judges are now at work: they settle the people's everyday disputes, and the hard cases go up to Moses. Commentators read it two ways — as a wise and workable order, and as a step Moses took on his father-in-law Jethro's advice instead of God's.
One writer admires the design, while hinting that it may never have been needed.
An admirable arrangement! If it really had to be made, nothing could keep order better than this graded scale of authority. It runs from the captain of ten up to the captain of a thousand. At the head of all is the lawgiver himself, in direct communication with the Lord God of Israel.
The plan came from Jethro. Moses acted on it without asking God first. One writer weighs the exact words Jethro used.
Moses no doubt thought this logical and wise, and acted on Jethro's advice. But let us weigh the whole matter carefully. Jethro said, "I will give you counsel, and God will be with you" (v. 19). Would it not have been better to say, "God will give you counsel, and I will be with you"? He was so sure of his own counsel that he did not advise Moses to ask counsel of God. And Moses himself should have been concerned to ask God's counsel first. If God meant Moses to do all the work himself, He would certainly have given him strength for it.
Moses had complained that the work was too heavy for one man. One writer answers that the weight was never on Moses at all.
Here the heart of Moses failed him (blessed servant as he was). He says, "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me." But he was not asked to bear them alone. God was with him. They were not too heavy for God. It was He who was bearing them; Moses was only the instrument. He might as well have spoken of his rod as bearing the people. This is where the servants of Christ constantly fail, and the failure is all the more dangerous because it looks like humility.
Moses did not only set up the ranks. He told the judges how to judge, and one writer carries that over to believers today.
Moses gave firm orders to these rulers to judge righteously in any cases that arose between the people. They had to avoid partiality carefully, showing the same respect to the small as to the great. Cases too hard to decide were to be brought to Moses. In the Church too, older believers can decide many things, but if anything is too hard, these must be brought to the Lord in humble, dependent prayer.
There is a cost in splitting the work up.
By this division of authority the people would have less direct contact with the supreme ruler. Do we not need to take all our difficult matters straight to the Lord Jesus today? To bring in an in-between authority is the very principle of legalism, which lets people stay content at a distance from the Lord. This gives a moral reason for the law being brought in, starting at Exodus 19.
One writer draws a wider lesson. A scheme can be neat and sensible and still not be what God asked for.
Finally, it lies on the surface that man's order in no way represents the mind of God. To human eyes the system of government Jethro advised was very orderly and beautiful, and far more likely to secure justice among the people. Man always thinks he can improve on the order of God. This has been the secret of the ruin of the church. Instead of holding to the Scriptures, which reveal the divine mind, man has brought in ideas, plans and systems of his own.
Yet the same writer says the scene is not only a warning. This layered court also pictures something still future.
We must separate two things here: the failure of Moses, and what the appointment of the rulers over the people stands for. Take the second first. This arrangement for judging the people pictures the order of government that the Messiah will set up when He takes His kingdom.
- Order — A graded chain of judges ran from tens up to thousands, with the lawgiver at the top and in direct touch with God.
- Counsel — The plan came from Jethro, who offered his own counsel instead of sending Moses to God for it.
- Burden — Moses said the load was too heavy for him. God was the one carrying the people, and shrinking from a God-given post can look like humility.
- Division — Judges settled small matters and sent hard cases up to Moses. But every layer in between leaves people less in touch with the Lord, so take hard matters straight to Him.
- Kingdom — Man's tidy systems never replace God's revealed mind. Yet this one pictures the government the Messiah will set up in His kingdom.