In the account of God’s work forming and filling creation, we come to Genesis 2:18 where, for the first time, we read God’s assessment that something is not good.
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him” (Genesis 2:18).
After finding no corresponding helper in all of creation, God provides for the man the woman. For the mandate to be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue, and rule (steward the blessing), Adam’s corresponding helper was Eve.
Fast forward through time and we again find a pronouncement of “not good.” In Exodus 18:13-27, Jethro observes how Moses spends his time when Israel is not on the move. Moses sits down to judge the people, essentially serving as their sole arbiter, from sun-up until sundown. Notice specifically what Jethro identifies as “not good” about this arrangement:
When Moses’s father-in-law saw everything he was doing for them he asked, “What is this you’re doing for the people? Why are you alone sitting as judge…?” (Exodus 18:14, emphasis mine).
Once again, the pronouncement is rightly made: it is not good for the man to be alone. And, if we’re not careful, we’ll skip to the details of Jethro’s solution without rightly understanding the problem. The problem is not a multitude of people requiring a leader. The problem is not the position of leadership. The problem is not Moses’s abilities or even his calling to lead. The problem is simply that he has taken on the mandate to steward the people of God ALONE. Moses needs a corresponding helper. The helper corresponding to Moses’s need is not in the form of a wife, but in a multitude of capable leaders who will divide the weight of responsibility for God’s treasured possession.
Moses receives Jethro’s advice with gladness. And what of us? Will we receive the admonition throughout the pages of Scripture that it is not good for us to be alone? In the walk of faith before us, will we hear the warning: this thing is too heavy for you, you need a corresponding helper? We need a community of faith—a church family—within which we can experience the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit distributed by God to each one “as He wills” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).
“In this way you will lighten your load, and they will bear it with you. If you do this … you will be able to endure…” (Exodus 18:22-23
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