PROCLAMATION
“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 shall show 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; place
such over them, to be rulers of thousands, 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.” Exodus
18:19-22 (KJV)
EXPLANATION
These are
the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God. After the defeat of the Amalekites, Jethro
the father-in-law of Moses came to visit him.
He brought with him Zipporah, the wife of Moses, and their two sons
Gershom and Eliezer. (Exodus 18:1-6) Moses
told Jethro all that The Lord God had done unto Pharaoh and how He had
delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
Jethro rejoiced for all of the goodness of The Lord. Then he offered a sacrifice unto God. (Exodus
18:7-12) The next day, Moses sat and
judged the people from morning until evening.
Jethro saw this and told Moses that this was not good. Then he gave Moses some advice on how he
ought to change the way the people were judged. (Exodus 18:17-22) Moses listened to his father-in-law and took
his advice. (Exodus 18:23-27)
APPLICATION
All of us
should listen to good advice. Even those
leaders who are in charge should listen to the advice of wise counsel. Leaders should surround themselves with wise
people and then listen to their suggestions.
Sometimes the old traditional ways that we have always done things needs
to change to a more efficient way of doing things. However, when we give advice, or correct, or
offer constructive criticism, we should do so in private. We should choose our words carefully in order
to help people and build them up, not to embarrass them or tear them down.
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