We spend a lot of time celebrating the inspired leadership of Moses as he fought for the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian tyranny and then led them for many years on their arduous journey to a new land. For all his God-accompanied, Spirit-centred leadership the full humanity of Moses shines through those stories. We often get glimpses of this congregational leader figuring out how to deal with the next crisis and learning from his experiences.

This is never clearer than in the 18^thchapter of Exodus where the whole chapter is given over to the visit of Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, and to Jethro's mentoring of Moses', the overwhelmed and overworked judge.

Chapter 18 begins by giving background as to how Jethro, the priest of Midian, came to be visiting Moses at the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness. When Jethro arrives, he and Moses greet one another. They then spend time catching up on family news. Jethro is keen to know how his son-in-law is faring in this great adventure of liberation. Moses is only too pleased to give Zipporah's father all the amazing details of the deliverance from Pharaoh and of the subsequent desert journey. Jethro is awed by what God has done in freeing and accompanying the people. He leads the celebration for all that has been achieved through God's power.

At that point Jethro might have returned home, but he stays on in the encampment and spends time observing Moses at work as judge for the people. It doesn't take long for Jethro to see a major flaw in the process of the administration of justice. Moses is trying to do it all! Clearly Jethro is as concerned for Moses ,as he is for the effective dispensation of justice: “You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.” He then proceeds to describe a system of training, education, delegation, and supervision which would save Moses from overwork and result in greater satisfaction and 'peace' for the people. Moses institutes the system suggested by Jethro and it works! The chapter ends by telling us that “Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went off to his own country.”