Passage Read: Exodus 15-18
Meditation Verses: 18:25-26
Thought
This principle continues even into the New Testament. It is the basis for Paul rebuking the Corinthians for going before unbelievers to sue each other. They should have within their congregation men who are capable of making judgments between believers, and they should be appointed to solve disputes within the congregation. Of course, Paul reproves them even more for the fact that they still have lawsuits among themselves! It is a sad thing that the people of Israel also have so many arguments that they need to set up such a system of judges, but they clearly don't know the Lord very well. Yet it seems because of this establishing of greater and lesser judges that Moses was compelled to record all of God's commands and the cases that came to him. And that's a blessing to us, that we can know the Lord and His thoughts and principles as they did.
Application
Behind all this is the need to make judgments about the behavior and treatment of one believer by another, not to condemn, but to rebuke and correct. We have to be willing to submit ourselves to the evaluation and judgment of a brother, if we're going to have conflict one with another. It is better that we cease to love the things that create conflict between believers and learn to love one another over all other things. It is best that we treat one another with genuine love and concern, rather than fight and quarrel over earthly things and positions and pride. But in our immaturity, we still need help learning how to live as God desires and how to navigate relationships between believers. The challenge is that those who are immature and need teaching also need to accept the judgment of those mature believers appointed to so judge. Since it requires a willing submission to a not-legally-binding judge, the whole system falls apart very quickly, and we believers embarrass ourselves before unbelievers, and not just embarrass ourselves, but Christ. I need both to be so humble as to not be offended when wronged by another, but also be so concerned about the other, that I help them see their own mistreatment of me, not to justify myself but to guard the name of Jesus in our treatment of one another and all other people. That takes a whole new level of humility that is easily twisted or misread as pride!