Moses - Part 31
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
From chapter 17, Moses just got done building an alter after a great battle with Amalek...
Now chapter 18...
Let’s consider the passage:
So Jethro has heard about what God has done for Israel...
So he, Zipporah (Moses’ wife) and their children (Gershom and Eliezer) go to Moses as he and Israel camp at the base of Sinai
Moses and Jethro talk about the goodness of God and communed together
Jethro watches all that Moses had to do and tells him he will burn out if he keeps it up
Jethro offers a plan to put other godly men in charge underneath Moses for help
Moses follows the instruction
Finally after fighting armies, walking great distances, being thirsty and hungry and scared...
Moses and the Israelites are FINALLY able to rest...
But life still goes on whether in the busy time or the down time...
Managing the Matters of Daily Life:
1. General Hospitality
1. General Hospitality
1 When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt; 2 Then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, 3 And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land: 4 And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh: 5 And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God: 6 And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her. 7 And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent. 8 And Moses told his father in law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them.
Moses went out to meet his family
They made “obeisance”, which means a bow or act of reverence
He kissed him
They spoke of their welfare
9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
But then they do something that’s necessary...
They speak of how good God has been to them...
Not of:
The dangers
The Egyptians
The lack of food and water
The weariness
The complainers
But they speak of how good God has been...
In times of rest, it’s important to maintain hospitality, but speak about the goodness of God...
2. There are no shortage of problems
2. There are no shortage of problems
13 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.
As a leader, there will never be a shortage of problems...
But there could be a shortness of life if those problems don’t get handled appropriately...
7 Yet man is born unto trouble,
As the sparks fly upward.
Think about with this congregation:
There is problems if they grow (Acts 6 - need of Deacons)
There are problems if they don’t grow
Fast forward in the story of Moses to Numbers 11....
13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. 14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. 15 And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.
Then Moses recounts this moment later:
9 And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: 10 The Lord your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. 11 (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!) 12 How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? 13 Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. 14 And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. 15 So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. 17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it. 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.
3. Know your limits
3. Know your limits
14 And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? 15 And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God: 16 When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. 17 And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. 18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.
Most don’t want to admit we can’t carry the world on our shoulders...
Yet the truth is we can’t...
The problems, burdens and troubles in our lives don’t have to be handled alone...
4. Delegate
4. Delegate
19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: 20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.
22 And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
D.L. Moody said, “It is better to set ten men to work than to do the work of ten men.”
Oswald Sanders, “The world’s concept of leadership is the ability to do great things. God’s concept is the ability to build others who will do great things.”
5. Find godly leaders and utilize them
5. Find godly leaders and utilize them
21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
The suggestion here was “pass-through leadership”...
Moses was still leading...
He was just doing it through men who could allow that to happen...
Moses would not be able to do step # 4 (Delegate) as Jethro suggests if he does not have these type of men to select for leadership...
6. Make endurance your goal (as long as the Lord would allow)
6. Make endurance your goal (as long as the Lord would allow)
23 If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
What’s the end goal? For the people to make it where God intended for them to make it… the Promised Land...
Yet, is what you are doing sustainable?
7. Be counselable
7. Be counselable
24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. 25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
