The Need for Able Men

If you got your Bible, turn to Exodus chapter 18. Exodus chapter 18. And today we're going to look at one of the biggest needs of the church: the need for able men.

Way back in Exodus chapter 18, Moses needed a few good men. The Marines have been telling us for years they only need a few good men. And yet, the Bible answers what kind of men we need in the church to lead in the church. The church can't function without great men leading it properly because God has designed the church to be led by godly men. In order that the church will glorify and honor the Lord, Exodus 18 is a chapter that deals with the need. for able men to lead. And let me read it to you, and then we'll make some comments.

It begins in verse number one. Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, his people. How the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt, and Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Moses' wife Zi after he had sent her away. and her two sons, of whom one was named Gersh, for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land, and the other was named Ele. And he said, The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.

Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was camped at the Mount of God. And he sent word to Moses I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, with your wife, and her two sons with her. Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare, and went into the tent. And Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians. for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had befallen them on the journey, and how the LORD had delivered them.

And Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, in delivering them from the hand of the Egyptians. So Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of the Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods. Indeed, it was proven when they dealt proudly against the people. Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron.

came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses his father in law before God. And it came about the next day that Moses sat to judge the people. And the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. Now when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, and all the people stand about you, from morning until evening? And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God when they have a dispute.

It comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and make known the statutes of God and his laws. And Moses' father-in-law said to him, The thing that you are doing is not good. you will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you. You cannot do it alone. Now listen to me. I shall give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people's representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God. Then teach them the statutes. And the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk, and the work they are to do.

Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth. Those who hate dishonest gain. And you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. And let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.

So Moses listened to his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times. The difficult dispute they would bring to Moses, but every minor dispute they themselves would judge. Then Moses bade his father in law farewell, and he went his way into his own land. Point number one centers around the visitation.

And three things I want you to note. The first thing about this visitation is the reason for the visit.

The Bible tells us there's a reason behind Jethro coming to Moses. The main reason is to un. Moses, his wife, and his two boys. Because the Bible says in verse number 2 of Exodus 18 that Moses had sent his wife.

Away. Now, why didn Moses do that? Go back to Exodus chapter 4. In verse number 18 of Exodus chapter 4, Moses tells Jethro, It's time for me to go to Egypt. God has called me to stand before Pharaoh, so that's what I'm going to do. And Jethro bid him farewell. And Moses would take his wife Sipp and his two boys. They would begin to make the long journey to Egypt. Now, when you come to verse number 24, it says: It came about the lodging place on the way. The Lord met him and sought to put him to death.

Who's that? That's Moses. God is in the process of killing his leader. God's going to put him to death. Why? Then Si took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and threw it at Moses' feet, and she said, You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me. So he that is God let Moses alone. At that time, she said, You are a bridegroom of blood because Of the circumcision. In those three verses, there is a lot to understand about leadership. God expects the leader to follow everything He says. When He doesn't, He will be chastised.

He will be dealt with by God Himself because the leader has to provide an example for those He leads. The problem was that. Moses had circumcised his first son, Gershom, but not his second son, Ele.

How do we know that? Because Zipporah knew of the circumcision. How would she know that? Unless Moses had circumcised his firstborn son, Gershem. Well, he didn't do the second one because evidently his wife didn't like that procedure.

After all, it was a covenant between God and Abraham. Circumcision would be the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. And you had to follow it just exactly as God said. And back in Exodus 4, we went into great detail to discuss that whole process. Well, Moses decided: listen, you know what? My wife's a little upset about this law of God, so I'm not going to do this law so I can keep peace in the family. Bad, bad decision. Because it almost cost Moses his life. Okay? So Porah knew that the only way to spare her son was to follow the command of God.

So she circumcised Ele through the foreskin at Moses, and God turned his hand against Moses at that time. We know Exodus 18:2 tells us that Moses sent his wife away. Why? Because his wife wasn't committed to doing the things of God as he himself was committed to doing the things of God. He realized: listen, God is serious about following my commands. And if you don't follow him, Moses, it's going to cost you your life. Moses realized that. His wife was not on board. But listen, gentlemen, that did not keep Moses from fulfilling the call of God in his life.

As men who lead in your family, you should never, ever let your wife come between you and God. If you do, it will hinder your leadership at home, your leadership in the church, and your relationship with the living God of the universe. God doesn't want anybody to come between you and Him, your wife, your children, your husband, your work, anything. He has got to be number one.

Has to be. And Moses learned the lesson the hard way. But Moses was going to go on and do his work. And Zipporah, she missed out on all the blessings of how God moved in the plagues of Egypt. She missed the division of the Red Sea. She missed how God would take the bitter water and make it sweet. She missed how Moses, when he struck the rock and water would gush out. She missed all that. Ladies, listen, you miss the blessing of God when you don't follow your husband's leadership. You miss it. She missed it.

She had heard what had taken place. It's one thing to hear it, it's another thing to experience it and to see it. And she missed it all. And now, Jethro, having heard all that's taken place, is going to come now and bring Zipporah, his two boys. To Moses. There's going to be a reunion of sorts. And that's a good thing because she needs to be with her husband. It's been just about a year since Moses left her back in Exodus chapter 4. And now they are reuniting together, and God was going to do a great and mighty work.

It's interesting to note that there is no interchange between Moses and Zipporah in Exodus chapter 18. The interchange is between the father-in-law and Moses. Now, that doesn't mean it didn't happen. I'm sure Moses was excited about seeing his wife, at least I hope he was. And I'm sure she was excited about seeing him. But the Bible's silent concerning their relationship at that time. Now, before I move on, you know what? The boys' names: Gershom and Eleaz. You know, when people named their boys in ancient days, or their girls, they named them because of something God had done in their lives.

They named them after a family name. They named them because they would anticipate what God would do in their lives. Names are important. I wish I could go into all the different aspects about those names, but Gershon means a stranger. When Moses went to Midian, he was a stranger, right? He had left his hometown, his home place, Egypt, and went to Midian. He was a stranger. He was a sojourner in the land. And it speaks to you and me about our lives. Listen to this. Because the nickname Ele means God is my hel.

Now, just a little insight here: unless you see your. As a sojourner, an alien, a stranger in this land, you will never see God as your helper in this land. That's important. And to understand those names is to understand our identity in Christ: that He is our helper, He is our guide. He is our protector. But you will note that we never see God as our helper unless we see ourselves as strangers and aliens in this land. If we see ourselves as comfortable in this land, if we see ourselves As this is all there is, and this is our home, we have no need to look to God as our hel.

And I look at your life, and I look at my life, and I think, you what? We 're just like Moses. We go to church and we leave. Oh, yeah, God's my helper. God's my protector. God is so good. And we leave, and turmoil happens, then what happens? We fall apart. We fall apart and we live as if God doesn't even exist in our lives. And do you, and don't think for one moment that the anger of the Lord doesn't burn against us when we deny his existence in our lives. That's just a little insight. That was extra.

That didn't cost you anything extra this morning. That's free of charge. Okay, we need to move from the reason to the rejoicing. Look what it says in verse number seven. Moses met him and kissed him. Verse number 8, Moses didn't talk about his trouble, but he talked about his triumphs. I like this. Moses doesn't say, oh, Jethro man, you ought to see what I've been through. These Jews are such moaners. That's not what he said. He talked about the glorious triumph of God and all that God was doing in their lives.

Very positive. You ever met people where you talked to them? Hey, how you doing? Well, you know, it's been a rough week. Moses could have done that. But he didn't, did he? And it caused Jethro to rejoice, right? Jethro was like, man, this is great, man. He was excited about God now.

He was on fire about God. So much so, it led to his response, and which was what? To sacrifice, a burnt offering to worship. God. See, Jethro was a Midian priest, but I do believe that he believed in the great God Jehovah. And honor that God with Moses, with Aaron, and with the elders of that camp. And that's the visitation. The second thing I want you to notice is the observation.

On the very next day, Jethro, the father-in-law, begins to observe Moses and all of his doings. And all these people were coming to Moses. About their disputes. And he sat there, and all day, all he did was listen to the disputes of the people, some two million Jews, all day from the early morning to late at night. And Jethro asks, Two questions. Number one, what are you doing?

And why are you doing it alone? What's going on here, Moses? Now, maybe he's thinking about his daughter and his grandsons and thinking, you know, if you're going to spend all day at the office from sunup to sund, when are you going to have time for your wife and for your kids, Moses? He was going to wear out, he said. And you're going to also tax the people. People can't handle that. They're going to be discouraged because their disputes are not being answered and they're not going to get to see you, Moses.

And that just. That just can't happen. And so Moses listens to his father-in-law because he gives some suggestions. It's one thing to observe, it's one thing to make comments, but you got to have suggestions. And point number three deals with the suggestions.

And they fall into two categories. The first one was: listen, there needs to be inter before instruction, and there needs to be a selection and then a delegation.

Let 's look at what it says. Listen to me. I shall give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people's representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God. Then teach them the statutes and the laws and make them known to them and the way in which they are to walk. Do you hear that? Because you see, going to God Expresses your dependence upon God to open their hearts to cultivate the soil so that when you speak the word of God to them, they're ready to hear it. That's important, isn't it?

That's wise counsel. That's important. Because proper intercession leads to proper instruction, which ends up leading to proper illumination and inspiration. P are able to see what God's doing and hear what God says.

That's why it's important to understand Jethro's counsel to his son-in-law, Moses. And then he says, number two, there needs to be a selection of certain kinds of men and then a delegation of authority to those men.

That's the second aspect of his counsel: a selection and a delegation. You've got to select certain men, and then you put them over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens. And let them deal with the disputes, Moses. Let them handle the issues and they'll bring them to you so you know how better how to pray. And the major ones you'll deal with, but they'll handle everything else. That's wise counsel. Let me tell you something: that's the only way to do it.

You can't do it yourself, especially two million Jews. So, you've got to have help. But what kind of help do you need? You've got to have able men. These are the kind of men who can lead God's people. And you've got to ask yourself: am I this kind of man? You know, we look for men in the church to lead. We look for these kinds of men. We're looking for men that are described in Exodus chapter 18 because it's all-encompassing as to what the Bible says about leadership in the church or leadership of God's people.

And so he says, you've got to select certain kinds of men. They need to be strong men. They need to be spiritually stable men. And how do you know those kind of men? Number one, they fear God.

Number two, they're men of truth. And number three, they hate dishonest gain. But these men need to be consumed with spiritual accountability. They recognize the supremacy of God, they recognize the sovereignty of God, and they submit to His authority in their lives. Proverbs 28, 18 says, Blessed is the man who fears always. That's where we get the phrase, consum with. Their spiritual accountability. Why? Because they fear God not just once a week, but always. Are you that kind of person? Are you consumed with your spiritual accountability before God Himself?

Number two, you choose men who are characterized by personal honesty. Who are characterized by personal honesty. They are men of truth. Wow, man, this is a mouthful. The Bible says over in Psalm 15, O Lord, who may abide in thy tent?

Who may dwell on thy holy hill? He walks with integrity and works righteousness and speaks truth in his heart. You need men of truth, men who are characterized by personal honesty because God is looking for people who speak truth. Why? Because he's the God of truth. Is that the kind of man you are? Are you a man of truth? To be a man who leads in the church of God, who oversees the people of God, you must operate the church in the realm of truth. You've got to have men, Moses, who are committed to the truth.

Who will speak honestly, live honestly? These are the kind of men that lead in the church. These are the kind of men, Moses, you need to have lead. Men who are consumed with their spiritual accountability, men who are characterized. By personal honesty, they love the truth, they live the truth, they long for the truth because they know they serve the Lord of truth. Number three.

And this gets really good. Of course, it's all good in my mind, but it gets really good. They are committed to financial and rel integrity. They are committed to financial and relational integrity. They hate dishonest gain. They are not coveters. They don't covet what others have. Now, listen to me. This is so important. Does anybody know what the 10th comm is? We're going to study the 10 comm here in a couple of weeks. Anyone know what the 10th comm is? Thank you. Do not covet. You only got nine more to learn.

You're on your way. Good. You ever ask yourself why that's the last commandment given and not the first commandment given?

Well, that's because that's the order God gave them in. That's right. Thou shalt not covet. That's command number 10. And you know why it's the last one? Because the other nine deal with the deeds of man, and the last one deals with the desire of a man. So in Romans chapter 7, Paul says, You know what? I went down the list of commandments, I kept them all until I came to number 10. Thou shalt not covet. Because Paul could say, I did these things or I didn't do those things. But he couldn't say that he didn't desire to do those things.

See that? And that's why it's number 10. Because you can go through the list and, well, I don't lie. I don't murder. I don't steal. I don't commit adultery. I honor God. I don't take His name in vain. But I can never say that I didn't want to do those things. And Paul says, that's how I knew I was a sinner because down deep in my heart, I wanted to commit adultery. I wanted to lie. I wanted to cheat. I wanted to steal. I wanted to murder. I wanted to do all those things. And God's spirit convicted me.

That I was a sinner. Covetousness, of course, according to Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3, is idolatry. Covetousness is wanting something so bad, you'll do whatever you have to do to get it, you'll defraud your brother. You defraud your sister. You live a dishonest life. Jethro says you can't have men who want things to make them happy. You can't have men who want to play with toys all their life, that they put all their money into those things. You can't have those kind of men, Moses. You got to have men.

Who are not consumed with having everything that comes down the pike? Can't have men committed to materialism. And I talk about the fact that the point being is that you've got to be committed to financial as well as relational integrity because, see, you can covet someone else, you can covet your neighbor's wife, right? And you've got to have men, Moses, who are freed from those kinds of things, who are seeking to honor their God. These are able men. These are men who can lead. These are men who can lead by example.

And these are the kind of guys you gotta have, Moses. And then what's he saying? In conclusion, if this happens.

Two things will be evident. One, you will persevere, and two, there'll be peace in the camp. What's he saying? He says, in verse number 22, toward the end, he says, So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do these things, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure or persevere, and all these people also will go to their place in peace. Now listen there. Do you hear what he's saying? Moses, listen.

You're going to die on the vine if you don't delegate your responsibility to somebody else. You're not the end-all-be leadership, Moses. You got to delegate some of that authority and that responsibility to other people. If you do that, having chosen the right men, you'll be able to endure. You'll be able to persevere to the end. And having chosen the right kind of men to lead, it produces peace in the lives of the people. Isn't that good? Boy, I tell you, that is just so rich. Because God says, look, this is the way you lead people.

People's disputes will be handled if you have the right men handling them. If you the wrong guys handling him, you going to have problems. But if you've got the right kind of guys handling him, you're going have peace in the camp. And Moses, you're going to be able to persevere. The need for able men. I wonder today if you're that kind of man. I wonder if you're a man who is consumed with your spiritual accountability. You know that everything you say and everything you do is under God's microscope.

And you fear him more than you fear anyone else. And that you are a man of truth. You're characterized by personal honesty. How you deal with people in the church, outside the church, is all about truth. You want to study the truth, you want to celebrate the truth, you want to articulate the truth. It's all about what you are. It's the truth, and nothing else matters. It's just the truth. And you're a man who truly and honestly does not want to covet anything or anyone else. You're a man who truly sets aside those rulely desires, who hates dishonest games.

Those are the kind of men we need. And those kinds of men promote peace in the church because they know they're being led by men who are committed to God and His Word to honor Him. Let's pray.