If Moses is going to allow proxy judges to take charge in his stead (and especially after he’s gone), then they need to be the right guys.
According to Deuteronomy 1:13, those men need to be “wise and discerning and experienced.” Those are the qualifications if you wanted to be a judge over one of the tens, fifties, hundreds, or thousands that Jethro advises Moses to install back in Exodus 18.
Those qualities are different than the ones that Jethro actually laid out, though. In Exodus 18:21, he told Moses to select men that fear God, were “men of truth,” and who “hate dishonest gain.” Did Moses deviate from the original plan?
Not exactly. When you consider the actual job description of these men—laid out in Deuteronomy 1:16-18—the main job description is to be fair, both to Jew and gentile alike. There was to be no partiality in the judgements these guys handed down.
This command was so entrenched in them that carrying it required the utmost of humility. If someone came to you with a question, and you were unsure, then you took it to the person above you. You didn’t “wing it” by simply guessing at the right answer.
Justice reigned supreme. If you don’t know, ask someone who does. That went all the way up to Moses, and if he didn’t know, he would take it to God personally, like he did with the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27:5). There was always someone higher to ask. You just had to have the humility to admit you didn’t know.
Placing the commands in Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1 shows that the main issue was to not let the personal interests of the judge get in the way of making the right call.
Exodus 18 adjures those who serve to not be men who would take bribes. Deuteronomy 1 says to hear “great and small alike,” not just those with higher status. Justice would be fair to both the Jew and the alien that dwelt among them. God’s people were not above the law.
If you read the rest of the Old Testament, you can see the breakdown of this judicial system. People skew justice one way or the other, and before you know it, everything breaks down.
And eventually, as Deuteronomy 4:6 says, those people don’t marvel at the wisdom and the understanding of God’s people. They’re not unique anymore—not holy. They’re just like every other nation on earth.
How do the leaders in your local church stack up against these commands? I know that the qualities of Deacons and Elders are different than the ones for these judges (1 Timothy 3), but at the core is a central appeal to ensuring God’s laws are kept.
Do your elders maintain objectivity in dealing with the members?
Do your deacons let personal attitudes get in the way of service (Acts 6)?
Wisdom isn’t a superpower; anyone can ask God for more (James 1:5-8). But the dispensing of that wisdom in real time is the test.
That’s where the “experienced” part of Moses’ commands come into play. Paul calls for elders to “not be a novice” for the exact same reason—you don’t know what you don’t know until you’ve been put in situations that test your judgment. The last thing you want is a guy that’s never been there speaking about things they don’t understand.
Deuteronomy 1:13 gives us the formula, then: They have to establish their morals from God, have the courage to dispense them to others, and have the wisdom that only comes over time.
Does that describe your local leadership?