Exodus 18:20

_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._ On the morrow ... Moses ... We are here presented with a specimen of his daily morning occupations; and among the multifarious duties his divine legation imposed, it must be considered only a small portion of his official employments He appears in this attitude as a type of Christ in his legislative and judicial characters. PEOPLE STOOD ... - governors in the East seat themselves at the most public gate of their palace or the city, and there, amid a crowd of applicants, hear causes, receive petitions, redress grievances, and adjust the claims of contending parties. In Egypt the Hebrews had been governed by the patriarchal rule of their elders. But the divine legation of Moses having invested him with the character and authority of a sovereign, the ju...

13-27 Here is the great zeal and the toil of Moses as a magistrate. Having been employed to redeem Israel out of the house of bondage, he is a further type of Christ, that he is employed as a lawgiver and a judge among them. If the people were as quarrelsome one with another as they were with God, no doubt Moses had many causes brought before him. This business Moses was called to; it appears that he did it with great care and kindness. The meanest Israelite was welcome to bring his cause before him. Moses kept to his business from morning to night. Jethro thought it was too much for him to undertake alone; also it would make the administration of justice tiresome to the people. There may be over-doing even in well-doing. Wisdom is profitable to direct, that we may neither content ourselves with less than our duty, nor task ourselves beyond our strength. Jethro advised Moses to a better...

Verse Exodus 18:20. _THOU SHALT TEACH THEM ORDINANCES_] חקים _chukkim_, all such _precepts_ as relate to the _ceremonies of religion_ and _political economy_. _And laws_, התורת hattoroth, the instructions relative to the whole system of _morality_. _AND SHALT SHOW THEM THE WAY_] אה הדרך _eth hadderech_, THAT _very_ WAY, that _only_ way, which God himself has revealed, and in which they should walk in order to please him, and get their souls everlastingly saved. _AND THE WORK THAT THEY MUST DO._] For it was not sufficient that they should _know_ their duty both to God and man, but they must DO it too; יעשון _yaasun_, they must do it _diligently, fervently_, _effectually_; for the _paragogic_ _nun deepens_ and _extends_ the meaning of the verb....

TEACH THEM - The Hebrew word is emphatic, and signifies “enlightenment.” The text gives four distinct points: (a) the “ordinances,” or specific enactments, (b) “the laws,” or general regulations, (c) “the way,” the general course of duty, (d) “the works,” each specific act....

EXPOSITION JETHRO'S ADVICE TO MOSES, AND ITS ADOPTION. The office of ruler in ancient times, whether exercised by a king, a prince, or a mere chieftain, was always understood to include within it the office of judge. In the Greek ideal of the origin of kingly government (Herod. 1.96), the able discharge of judicial functions marks the individual out for sovereignty. The successors of Moses, like the chief rulers of Carthage, bore the title of "Judges" (_shophetim, suffetes_). Moses, it appears, had from the time when he was accepted as leader by the people (Exodus 4:29-2), regarded himself as bound to hear and decide all the causes and complaints which arose among the entire Israelite people. He had net delegated his authority to any o

AND THOU SHALT TEACH THEM ORDINANCES AND LAWS,.... Both with respect to things civil and religious, which he should receive from God: AND SHALT SHOW THEM THE WAY WHEREIN THEY MUST WALK; the path of faith and duty, the way of truth, holiness, and righteousness: AND THE WORK THAT THEY MUST DO; both with respect to God, and one another, the various duties and exercises of religion, everything relating to their moral, religious, and civil conduct....

CHAPTER 18 MOSES AND JETHRO _ 1. The coming of Jethro (Exodus 18:1)_ 2. Moses' and Jethro's communion (Exodus 18:6) 3. Jethro's advice (Exodus 18:13) 4. Moses' action (Exodus 18:24) This chapter concludes the first section of the second part of Exodus. We have in it a beautiful dispensational foreshadowing of things to come. God had redeemed Israel, delivered them from Pharaoh's host, manifested His power and had given them victory. The priest of Midian, a Gentile, now comes, having heard all that Jehovah had done for Moses and for Israel, his people. Zipporah, Moses' wife, and his two sons are with

MOSES AS JUDGES EXODUS 18:13 (should begin a new paragraph) J, Exodus 18:14 a E, Exodus 18:14 b J, Exodus 18:15 E, Exodus 18:16 a (neighbour) J, Exodus 18:16 bf. E, Exodus 18:18 a J, Exodus 18:18 b - Exodus 18:19 a (voice) E,

ORDINANCES AND LAWS. Hebrew "the Ordinances and (or, even) the Laws"....

_EXODUS 18:19_.— _Be thou for the people to God-ward_] i.e. "Do thou continue still as the mediator between God and the people, going between them: bringing the causes of the people, or their affairs of consequence, before GOD, and receiving from him those _statutes_ and _ordinances,_ those declarations and decisions, which he shall make known to thee; and which thou, in consequence, shalt notify to them, _shewing them the way wherein they must walk, and the work which they must do."_ For the rest, leaving the decision of smaller matters, as is advised in the next verse....