Exodus 18:21-23

"Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: and let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge themselves: 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 also shall go to their place in peace."

The tact and graciousness of Jethro are visible here. Note that he did not suggest that Moses take any of his advice, except upon the proviso that God would approve of it and command it. Moses, of course, would personally handle all the "Big Decisions!" It was only the "small things" that would be delegated to others.

Note also the qualifications for the judges. It would be difficult, even today, to draw up a list of qualifications needed in such positions which would in any manner rival these for applicability and importance.

1. Able men. Incompetent persons should never be trusted with authority. Even a wicked man who is competent makes a better governor than a righteous incompetent. The N.T. examples of Felix and Festus illustrate this perfectly. Felix was notoriously wicked, and Festus was hailed as "the best" man of a generation in the post of governor, but his incompetence, vacillation, blindness to realities, and other elements of incompetence would have resulted in the murder of the apostle Paul had it not been for Paul's appeal to Caesar.
2. Such men as fear God. What an important quality this is! Profane and irreligious persons are always unsuitable in any place of authority, especially in the judiciary.
3. Men of truth. Truth is the cornerstone of trust and justice. Lying judges were the "evening wolves" referred to in the prophets.
4. Hating unjust gain. In other words, men who could not be bribed! In fact, some of the versions render this, "Choose men ... who hate a bribe." "Bribery is common in the courts of many countries, and the Bible condemns both those who take bribes and those who offer them (Psalms 26:10; Job 15:34)."[29] For Christians it is significant to remember that the apostle remained in prison for two years after the governor (Felix) had declared him to be innocent, and the only thing it would have taken to get Paul's freedom would have been for the Christians to have satiated Felix's lust to receive a bribe.

When the judiciary of a state has been corrupted through the appointment of immoral, dishonest, greedy and unjust judges, such a nation cannot long endure. The corruption of the judiciary soon communicates the rottenness of a society to the entire corpus of it, hastening the destruction of it. The minor prophets poured out the wrath of God against unjust judges, and by Jesus' use of a parable concerning an "unjust judge," he demonstrated that such a character was universally known to the people of his times. The Lord spoke of an unjust judge who "feared not God, and regarded not man" (Luke 18:2). In about forty years, that whole nation which supplied Jesus with such a subject perished from the face of the earth.

Jethro promised great benefits provided Moses agreed (with God's approval) to put Jethro's advice in operation. He said: "If you do this, all this people shall go to their own place in peace" (Exodus 18:23). This is almost always recognized as meaning "the land of Canaan" as "their own place." This recognition on Jethro's part that Canaan was the rightful place of Israel indicates his knowledge of the promises of God to the patriarchs. Jethro himself being a descendant of Abraham, and all of this adds weight to the identification of Jethro as a legitimate priest of the one true God.