Exodus · chapter 18 of 40
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Exodus 18 tells how Jethro, priest of Midian and Moses' father-in-law, comes to the camp with Zipporah and Moses' two sons. He rejoices at what the Lord did for Israel and offers sacrifices. Seeing Moses judge the people from morning to evening, he advises him to teach the law and appoint capable leaders to help him, and Moses does so.
After the war with Amalek, Exodus 18 presents a quieter moment: Moses' reunion with his family and his father-in-law. But it is also a key chapter on leadership, before Israel reaches Sinai to receive the law. It shows that God can speak through wise counsel, even from someone who is not part of Israel.
Jethro, priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, and set out with Zipporah, Moses' wife, whom Moses had sent back, and her two sons: Gershom and Eliezer, whose name recalls that the God of his father was his help and delivered him from the sword of Pharaoh. They came to the camp at the mountain of God. Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, kissed him and they went into the tent.
Moses told him all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and Egypt for Israel, the hardships on the way and how the Lord delivered them. Jethro rejoiced and said blessed be the Lord, who delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians, and now he knew that the Lord is greater than all gods. He offered a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat with him before God.
The next day, Moses sat to judge the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. Jethro asked why he did this alone. Moses said that the people came to inquire of God and that he decided between one person and another and taught them God's statutes and laws. Jethro told him that what he was doing was not good, for he would wear himself out and the people too, since the task was too heavy for him alone.
He advised that Moses represent the people before God and teach them the laws and the way they should walk, and that he choose capable men from the people, who feared God, were trustworthy and hated a bribe, and set them as leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. They would judge at all times, and bring the great cases to Moses. If God commanded this, he would be able to endure, and the people would go to their place in peace. Moses listened and did it. Then he sent his father-in-law away, and he went to his own land.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jethro declares that now he knows the Lord is greater than all gods, because he acted against those who dealt arrogantly with Israel. A priest of Midian acknowledges the greatness of Israel's God.
Jethro warns Moses that he will wear out both himself and the people, because the task is too heavy for one person. It is a clear lesson about the limits of personal leadership.
Jethro advises choosing capable men who fear God, are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and setting them as leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Character matters as much as ability.
Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all he said. The great leader accepted a relative's counsel and shared authority instead of clinging to it.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Jethro, his father-in-law, with Zipporah and Moses' two sons. — Exodus 18:5-6
Answer: Gershom and Eliezer. — Exodus 18:3-4
Answer: That the Lord is greater than all gods. — Exodus 18:10-11
Answer: From morning until evening. — Exodus 18:13
Answer: They were to be capable, fear God, be trustworthy and hate a bribe. — Exodus 18:21
Answer: He listened and chose capable leaders to judge the people. — Exodus 18:24-26
Exodus 18 is a chapter for those who serve and lead. Moses, a man who spoke with God, needed his father-in-law's counsel. If today we carry a load alone, at church or in the family, this passage invites us to share it and to train others, without seeing that as weakness.
It also highlights the standard for choosing helpers: character as well as ability. In a small group you can ask what tasks we could share and whom we should train. And the story reminds us that we can learn from people outside our circle, like Jethro.
Exodus 18 ends with Jethro back in his land and a structure of judges that will help Moses. In Exodus 19 Israel arrives at Mount Sinai, where God will speak to his people and establish his covenant.
He was a priest of Midian and Moses' father-in-law, the one who took him in when he fled from Egypt. In Exodus 2 he is called Reuel. Here he acknowledges that the Lord is greater than all gods and offers sacrifices, and the text does not explain his faith in more detail.
The text says Moses had sent her back and that Jethro brought her with the sons. It does not explain why. Some connect this with what happened on the way to Egypt in Exodus 4, but the passage does not say.
It was Jethro's counsel, which he himself made conditional on God's approval, and Moses applied it. It shows that God can use a person's practical wisdom to organize his people.