"THE thing that thou doest is not good." If asked by whom and to whom these words were spoken, many of us would need to think over our store of Biblical history before answering that they were addressed to Moses by his father-in-law Jethro. Yet this speech is at least noteworthy. The twenty-seven verses of the eighteenth chapter of Exodus are devoted to an episode in the life of the great Hebrew leader, a visit to the wilderness which Jethro was led to pay because he had "heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people."
From this story all points not essential to the heart of the narrative are eliminated, and it is a striking example of the vivid, picturesque style in which so many of the eastern people wrote, and in which the stories of patriarchs and prophets have been handed down to us. We are told that Jethro was accompanied by Zipporah, Moses' wife, and by his two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, but of the relation of these three to the incident no detail is given. In regard to Jethro it is otherwise, and we read: "Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare." Then it would seem that the remainder of the day was given to the relation of God's loving-kindness to His people, and to a friendly meeting arranged for Jethro with Aaron and the elders of Israel. The following day found Moses sitting in judgment over the people, from the morning into the evening, settling their matters and teaching them to know God, which would seem to be commendable in the highest degree. But what says Jethro? "The thing that thou doest is not good." Observe that it is the thing. The spirit was above reproach, but Jethro perceived that the results were bound to be incommensurate with the labor involved. He therefore advised that Moses should appoint righteous men as rulers and judges over thousands and hundreds, and even tens of the people, reserving only for his own arbitration such cases as it should be beyond their power to decide. In this way it would be easier for Moses and the rulers and judges would bear the burden with him.
And now we have a proof that is most striking of meekness and humility on the part of the heaven-appointed leader. We read that he "hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said." There was no reluctance to delegate authority, no fear of encouraging an assumption of authority equaling or outdistancing his own, no fear either lest others should be unequal to the task assigned them; instead there was an immediate admission that the advice was good, followed by prompt action based upon it. It is noticeable that in tendering his advice Jethro inserted these words: "If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so," thereby recognizing his own inability to give sure advice and deprecating any wish to act as counselor in his own right.
