“After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. Then al the people responded together, ‘We will do all that the Lord has spoken.’ So Moses brought the people’s words back to the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Sometimes it’s hard to fully appreciate how something works until you’ve seen it working a different way. When we want to engage with our heavenly Father today, all we have to do is talk to Him. Because of the presence of the Holy Spirit, He’s always near, and because of Jesus’ constant intercession before Him, He’s always ready to hear. It’s incredible if you think about it. But familiarity can breed contempt, so let’s take a quick glance at how things used to work. Spoiler alert: it’s not the same.
“Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain: ‘This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.” These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)
If you are married, I suspect that you are pretty willing to do the things your spouse asks you to do. Now, I’m assuming on a relatively healthy relationship here, and not one riddled with contempt or else where there is not the presumption of inferiority in one direction or another. Absent that, you are willing to do what each other asks. But this didn’t come out of nowhere. A strong marriage doesn’t come out of nowhere. It takes work, and it starts with both of your making overtures of your commitment to one another. This is how all healthy relationships get started. God wanted a healthy relationship with the people of Israel. He’s made some overtures toward them, and now He’s inviting them into more. Let’s talk about what’s going on here in this foundational passage for our understanding who God is.
“In the third month from the very day the Israelites left the land of Egypt, they came to the Sinai Wilderness. They traveled from Rephidim, came to the Sinai Wilderness, and camped in the wilderness. Israel camped there in front of the mountain.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Here we come at last to a new leg of our journey through Exodus. Everything we have so far encountered has been leading here. No, we are not yet to the Promised Land (and we won’t actually get there on this journey; as far as distance from Egypt goes, this is as far as we’ll get), but we are at the next place where God will reveal Himself to the people in a significant way. More importantly than that, God finally lets the people in on what He is planning with them, on why He did all of this in the first place. We will walk through all of this in the days and weeks ahead of us, but here at the start we encounter something important that I wanted to make sure we didn’t miss. God reveals His character here in a way that mattered to Israel, but which matters even more to us. Let me tell you why.
“Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. So Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them leaders over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They judged the people at all times; they would bring the hard cases to Moses, but they would judge every minor case themselves. Moses let his father-in-law go, and he journeyed to his own land.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
How do you react when someone gives you advice? Do you take it gladly, or are you one of those people who would much prefer to figure everything out on your own? I suspect it depends in large part on what your position is and who the person giving the advice is. Moses got some advice from his father-in-law. His father-in-law was not tasked with leading a whole nation. If you or I were in his sandals, I suspect there’s a decent chance we would have handled the whole situation differently. Let’s talk about what Moses did when he got some advice, and why this is a pretty good example to follow.
“Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and God be with you. You be the one to represent the people before God and bring their cases to him. Instruct them about the statutes and laws, and teach them the way to live and what they must do. But you should select from all the people able men, God-fearing, trustworthy, and hating dishonest profit. Place them over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They should judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you every major case but judge every minor case themselves. In this way you will lighten your load, and they will bear it with you. If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
The commands of the Old Testament aren’t for us who follow Jesus today. I’ve been making that point nearly every chance I get for a couple of years now. The idea isn’t original to me by any stretch, but it is one I’ve been confirmed in thinking a number of times, most notably from the author of Hebrews. One prominent pastor makes the same point using the now infamous argument that we need to “unhitch” our faith from the Old Testament. He’s pretty widely and wildly misunderstood in this, causing him, I suspect, no small amount of grief, but the point is nonetheless valid. Yet while the Old Testament doesn’t offer direct application for our lives, it does offer plenty of wisdom worth heeding. What we see here is one of those times. Let’s talk about the advice Moses got when he was wearing himself out trying to lead Israel all on his own, and what it might mean for us.
The Nexus 