Life seems to be a flurry of activity sometimes. So many parents have said that they blinked and their children were grown. Or their own life had been spent. Sometimes it is good to remember what God told Moses after he had become the leader of a travelling nation. The man had so many responsibilities that his father-in-law persuaded him to delegate some of his authority. Exodus 18:13,17-24:
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. ... And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. 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. 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.
Ironically, the first Bible study course that I was a part of condemned Moses for this. The claim was that Moses had been granted enough of God’s spirit to persevere in all of this work. The text does not really bear out that argument since Jethro was sure to say “and God command thee so”—“if God says the same.”
This model was even how the government of these united States was configured. Local government was instituted to most directly affect the lives of those under them, while larger government (eg. state) was to sift through issues that were too large for smaller government (eg. city or county).
Moses was still swamped with things to do after this, and when God called him up onto Mount Sinai, this is what He said (Exodus 24:12):
And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
The phrases “come up” and “be there” might seem redundant at first glance, but repeated phrases in Hebrew display a special emphasis on ideas. Moses was to put aside other cares for a time. He was to be physically and mentally atop the mountain, with God.
He was there for six days, in God’s presence, before God spoke to him (Exodus 24:15-18):
And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
We lack that kind of patience all too often.
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