Seven Deacons
61
of truth, hating covetousness.” They were to “judge the people at all
seasons,” thus relieving Moses of the wearing responsibility of giving
consideration to many minor matters that could be dealt with wisely
by consecrated helpers.
The time and strength of those who in the providence of God have
been placed in leading positions of responsibility in the church, should
be spent in dealing with the weightier matters demanding special
wisdom and largeness of heart. It is not in the order of God that such
men should be appealed to for the adjustment of minor matters that
others are well qualified to handle. “Every great matter they shall bring
unto thee,” Jethro proposed to Moses, “but every small matter they
shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the
burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee
so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go
to their place in peace.”
In harmony with this plan, “Moses chose able men out of all Israel,
and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of
hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the
[94]
people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but
every small matter they judged themselves.”
Exodus 18:19-26
.
Later, when choosing seventy elders to share with him the respon-
sibilities of leadership, Moses was careful to select, as his helpers, men
possessing dignity, sound judgment, and experience. In his charge to
these elders at the time of their ordination, he outlined some of the
qualifications that fit a man to be a wise ruler in the church. “Hear the
causes between your brethren,” said Moses, “and judge righteously
between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small
as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the
judgment is God’s.”
Deuteronomy 1:16, 17
.
King David, toward the close of his reign, delivered a solemn
charge to those bearing the burden of the work of God in his day.
Summoning to Jerusalem “all the princes of Israel, the princes of the
tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king
by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the
hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the
king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and
with all the valiant men,” the aged king solemnly charged them, “in