9 “I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘I am not able to bear the burden of you alone.10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. 11 May the Lord, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, just as He has [g]promised you!12 How can I alone bear the load and burden of you and your strife? 13 [h]Choose wise and discerning and experienced men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 You answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and [i]appointed them heads over you, leaders of thousands and [j]of hundreds, [k]of fifties and [l]of tens, and officers for your tribes.
16 “Then I charged your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your [m]fellow countrymen, and judge righteously between a man and his [n]fellow countryman, or the alien who is with him. 17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not fear [o]man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.
It had to be a sobering reminder, that there was so much bickering and complaining that Moses couldn’t handle it. To be fair, there were over a million people involved here, way too many for Moses to handle.
And certainly human nature hasn’t changed, but there is something in here that is interesting. That is the instructions to the judges. Be impartial, and do not favor the poor or the rich. Then he says to not be afraid of anyone getting angry, because the decision they made was God’s decision.
Now, you can’t just blindly say, “oh, I made God’s decision, go away!” You actually had to listen to what God was telling you, and that is something we should do daily. In our decisions, listen for God’s voice, his leading, his direction, and let the rest sort itself out.
When you seek him, you don’t have to be afraid of the consequences. Not that there won’t be any, or that the crap might not fly, but it’s not your responsibility, and you can trust God to take care of business.