[039] Jethro Advised Moses - Activity Worksheets

When Jethro saw how Moses was doing things, he asked him, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?” Moses replied, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws” (Exodus 18:14-16).

Jethro’s appraisal was, “The thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself” (Exodus 18:17,18). Jethro then proceeded to give his advice.

Jethro’s counsel basically amounted to this: Moses, you cannot do all the work by yourself. You need some help. Give some duties to others. Sons- in-law and fathers-in-law are not always keen to accept one another’s counsel, but in this case, Moses bought into Jethro’s suggestions, and things worked well. Let us look at some lessons from the biblical record of Exodus 18.