“A Wise Leader Learns How to Delegate”
Exodus 18:1-27.
Dr. Gary M. Barker
Published in the Paso Robles Press6/1/22
A happy occasion occurred when Moses was reunited with his father-in-law, Jethro, and his wife, Zipporah, and his two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. Moses was camped in the desert near Mt. Sinai. Jethro brought Moses’ family to him. This was a joyous reunion and Moses bowed down before Jethro and kissed him (Exodus 18:1-7). Moses told Jethro all that God had done to deliver Israel from Egyptian slavery and how Pharaoh’s army had been destroyed. Jethro was very delighted to hear all the good news about what the Lord had done for Israel (Exodus 18:8-9). He praised the Lord as the Supreme God who was greater than all other false gods and displayed his worship of the Lord. Jethro was a priest of Midian who believed that the Lord Jehovah was the one and only true God just as Moses did. Both Jethro and Moses enjoyed worshipping the Lord together and eating bread in the presence of God (Exodus 18:10-12). This reunion and fellowship together were a great source of praise and joy. Jethro then had the opportunity to give his son-in-law some very wise counsel. He observed that Moses was acting as a needed judge of the people from morning until evening. Moses had this new responsibility as the leader of several million people. As a leader, Moses became a wise problem-solver for the Israelites. Jethro observed a serious problem that Moses was creating for himself. He was the only person who was acting as a judge. Jethro told Moses that this responsibility was far greater than he could handle by himself and he needed to choose godly and capable men who could help him solve the problems that arose among the people. Moses would handle the most difficult problems. This was very wise counsel about the necessity to delegate and share the responsibility of caring for a very large group of people. Jethro told Moses that the ministry of delegation would enable him to become a much more effective leader. Delegation would enable Moses to last much longer under the strain of leadership (Exodus 18:13-23). Moses listened to the good counsel of Jethro and delegated the responsibility of judging to officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. This counsel was a great help to Moses as Israel’s leader (Exodus 18:24-26). After this, Jethro returned to his own country
Lessons to Be Learned
- Problems will arise in a group of any size and need to be solved by godly capable people.
- A leader needs to BE AN EFFICIENT PROBLEM SOLVER.
- All Effective Leaders learn and know how to delegate responsibilities to other reliable and qualified people.
Successful Leaders always have capable and efficient people working under and