Friday, June 16, 2023

Exodus 18:19-24 -- On Advice, Delegation, and Unity

"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:
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.
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:
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.
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.
So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said."
Exodus 18:19-24


I like the idea here of delegation and not getting overwhelmed, even for a prophet, and I also think that it is cool that God blessed Moses' father in law to know what to say here. I mean, Moses was a prophet and he could have just told him directly, but the idea of sharing the burden was illustrated in the previous chapter where Aaron and Hur held up Moses' hands when he got tired (Exodus 17:11-12), and also here, where Moses learns that he needs support and advice from others, and the people learn that they can participate in God's kingdom even if they aren't prophets... that there is more for them to do than just ask Moses for everything. Kind of like Nephi and his brothers. Nephi knew that he could learn to know the Lord the way his father knew him, but his older brothers just assumed that they couldn't. The whole working together and participating and learning thing helps us grow and develop our relationship with the Lord.

Today, let's remember that God doesn't want us to be overwhelmed and that he also wants us to work together to come unto him, united. Let's work together for good, and know that it is okay to ask for help.

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