The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 2 — Section 93

apparently oblivious, 1md furnished him, moreover, with the suggestion of a remedy. The greatest minds are in this way often dependent on the humblest, and are, by the ~ependence, taught humility and respect for the gifts of others. 'l'here is no one who 1s not his neighbour's superior in some matter-none from whom hiR neighbour may not learn something. The college-bred man may learn from the rustic or mechanic, the merchant from his clerk, the statesman from the humblest official in his depart- ment, the doctor of dh•inity from the country minister, studious men generally, from those engaged in practical callings. Let no man, therefore, despise another. Jethro could teach Moses; and the plainest man, drawing on the stores with which experience he.s furnished him, need not despair of being of like service to those above him. It is for our own good that God binds us together in these relations of dependence, and we should be thankful that he does so. "The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: nor, H.,,<T&in, the head to the feet, I have no need of thee," etc. (1 Cor. xii. 14-31). Observe-- . I. MosEs' ERROR (ver. 13). He took upon himself the whole burden of the congrega- tion. Re sat from morning till evening to hear their causes. We nat.urally wonder that the suggestion of appointing judges was left to come from Jethro-that so obvious an expedient for getting rid of the difficulty did not occur to Moses himself. It is astonishing, however, how wise a 'ffian may be in great things, and yet miss some little btt of sense which is right before his vision, and which is picked up at once by another and possibly a more ordinary mind. It is of Sir Isaac Newton the story is told, that being troubled by the visits of a cat and kitten, he fell on the expedient of making two holes in his study door to admit of their entrance and exit-a large hole for the cat, and a sma!,l hole for the kitten! Moses' error, we may be sure, did not arise from that which i8 a snare to so many in responsible positions-an exaggerated idea of his own import- ance. He would not fancy that everything must be managed by himself, because no one else was able to do it so welL But :-1. The burden which now pressed upon him had probably grown from small beginnings. It is proverbially easier to set a system in operation, than to get rid of it again, when it presses and becomes inconvenient. 2. Moses probably accepted the position of judge and arbiter, as inseparable from the peculiar relation in which he stood to the people. 1'hey naturally looked to him, God's delegate, and in some sense their spiritual father, as the proper person to hear their causes, and settle their disputes. He felt the burden, but submitted to it as inevitable. 3. It was a further difficulty in the situation that no code of laws had as yet been formed; he was rrw,king the law as well as deciding cases. This may have seemed a bar in the way of the appointment of deputies. 4. The method by which the reform could be accomplished was not obvious. Jethro's scheme exactly met the case; but it had not as yet been suggested. Even had it occurred to Moses, he might have shrunk from entertaining it. There is always a hesitancy felt in entering on reforms which neces- sitate a large recasting of the frame-work of society, which involve new and untried arrangements. Difficulties might have been anticipated in finding the requisite number of men, in imparting to them the requisi~ amount of instruction, in making the scheme popular among the people, etc. It is useful to observe that when the scheme was actually set on foot, these difficulties did not prove to be insuperable. Nor, when Jethro made his proposal, do the difficulties seem to have been much thought of. Moses saw the wisdom of the p!An, and readily adopted it. We are often thus kept back from useful undertakings by the ghosts of our own fears. II. JETHBO's EXPOSTULATION (vers. 14-19). If Moses did not see the mistake he was committinu, Jethro did. To his clearer vision, the evils of the system in vogue were abundantly apparent. He saw :-1. That Moses was taking upon .himself a task to which his strength was quite unequal (ver. 18). 2. That, notwithstai:ding his exer- tions, the work was not being done. 3. That the time and energy which Moses was expending in these labours could be bestowed to infinitely better purpose (ver. 20). 4. Above all, that this expenditure of strength on subordinate tasks was unnecessary, seeing that there were men in the camp as capable as Moses himselfof doing a large part of the work (ver. 21). Un these grounds he based his expostulation. 'fhe lessons taught are of great importance. (1) The neglect of division of labour in Christian work lead,; t,o serious evils. The work is not overtaken, the strength of tho~ti engaged in it is greatly overtaxed, while energy is bestowed on inferior tasks which might be applied to nr. xvrn. 13-27.] 'l'IIE IlOOK OF EXODUS. 9i