In 18:13-27 we have a picture of the authority and order of the kingdom. Christ, signified by Moses, is the Head of authority, and under the headship of Christ is the order of authority.
Some Bible teachers say that Jethro’s proposal to Moses was according to the human way of organization. C. I. Scofield says that this organizational way was rejected by God in Numbers 11:11-17, 24-30. However, if we study carefully Exodus 18, Deuteronomy 1, and Numbers 11, we shall see that these portions of the Word are concerned with two different events and that the latter does not abolish the former. On the contrary, it strengthens the former. Whereas Numbers 11 speaks of seventy elders, there is no mention of elders in Exodus 18 or Deuteronomy 1. Instead, in these chapters we read of captains. Since the children of Israel must have been at least two million in number, the captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens must have numbered in the thousands. These captains are to be distinguished from the seventy elders.
If we compare Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1 with Numbers 11, we shall see that Numbers 11 covers a different subject from that covered in Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1. In these two chapters we read of the people’s weariness, burden, and strife. But Numbers 11 describes the people’s rebellion against God. Because of this rebellion, Moses complained to the Lord: “I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me” (Num. 11:14). Then the Lord told Moses to gather seventy men of the elders of Israel (v. 16). The rebellion in Numbers 11 is very different from the weariness, burdens, and strife referred to in Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1. The purpose of the record of Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1 is to maintain a good order among God’s people in His kingdom, whereas that in Numbers 11 is to take care of the relationship between God’s people and God. Daily perhaps hundreds of problems were brought to Moses. This caused Jethro to propose that Moses appoint captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens to help him. The problems dealt with in Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1 were relatively minor, but Numbers 11 deals with the serious issue of our proper relationship with God. This was the reason that the Spirit of God came upon the seventy elders who became prophets. These seventy did not replace the captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
My purpose in pointing out this matter is to help us see that Jethro’s proposal was very positive. It depicts the order under divine authority in the kingdom of God. It helps us to see that in God’s kingdom there is no disorder. Rather, under the headship of Christ, represented by Moses, everything is orderly. Under Christ’s headship everything and everyone is in order.
If in a local church all matters, great and small, are referred to the elders, that church is weak. It is not the kingdom of God in a practical way. If a local church is truly the kingdom of God, there will be not only the elders, but also the captains. We have seen that in the picture in Exodus 18 Zipporah represents the church. What then do the captains represent? They represent the keeping of things in good order. Just as there was no need for everything to be referred to Moses, so there is no need in the church today for everything to be referred to the elders. Instead, there should be captains in the church life who, under Christ’s headship, work out problems and maintain order.
Suppose two brothers have a problem with each other. If there is the need to call in the elders, the kingdom of God is not present in the church in a practical way. There is a definite lack of life and authority. Even among a small number of brothers and sisters, there should be a captain, someone who can remind others about the Spirit and the cross. If there is a captain to do this, the problem between the brothers will be solved, and the order will be maintained. The presence of the captains in the church life is a sign of the kingdom. It is an indication that we have Christ, signified by Moses, as our Head and that we are all under His headship.
In this message we have pointed out repeatedly that Exodus 18 presents a picture of the kingdom. In this chapter we see four aspects of this picture: the defeat of Amalek, the flesh, by God’s people; the coming of the godly Gentiles to seek God; the prevailing of the Gentile church; and the maintaining of a proper order. When these four matters are put together, we have the kingdom of God as the issue of the enjoyment of God’s salvation and provision.
In the first seventeen chapters of Exodus, God’s chosen people enjoyed His salvation and provision. Now in chapter eighteen we have the issue of this enjoyment—the kingdom as the sphere, the environment, where God’s people may receive the vision of the pattern of God’s dwelling and build the tabernacle according to this pattern. Because the kingdom is necessary for the building of God’s dwelling place, Moses, under divine inspiration, inserted an event from Deuteronomy 1 between chapters seventeen and nineteen of Exodus in order to complete the picture of God’s full salvation. According to our experience, we can testify that after we enjoy God’s salvation and provision, we are brought into the kingdom of God, where everything is in order. How we praise the Lord for this! The presence of the kingdom enables us to build the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place.