These are told in the book of Numbers.
For those of you who do not know much about the book of Numbers: it takes place after the nation of Israel leaves Egypt and travels to Mount Sinai, where the Tabernacle is built and the Law is given. The book of Numbers covers a timespan of approximately 38 years, much of which is spent with the people wandering in the wilderness because of their sin.
One major theme in Numbers is rebellion. Rebellion took many forms, such as the people complaining about their lack of food, and their constant unwillingness to accept Moses’ direction. It is in times of rebellion that the first two of our three leadership principles are shown.
In Numbers 11:4, we see the people complaining (again) about food. This time it was not about a lack of food, but the fact that they only had manna to eat. The people began to look back to Egypt where – although they were slaves – they felt that they had better food.
The complaining is heard by Moses, and it is a burden. He is their only leader, and the people are too much for him. When in similar situations, most leaders get angry at people, but not Moses. He takes his frustration to God, and tells God that he cannot lead the people on his own.
This is the first principle about Godly leadership: admit that you cannot do everything on your own, and go to God. Moses does this when the burden becomes too great, and God answers, telling him to appoint 70 elders to aid Moses in leadership. This may be one of the most basic principles in leadership, but for any of us, it is probably one of the hardest to truly live by. I know in my life, I hate asking for help – whether God’s help or the help of others. We live in a society that sees asking for help as weakness, and so few of us in leadership ask for help – until it is too late. We can learn from Moses to go to God first, and to not be afraid to bring others alongside of us to help.
Our second principle comes out later, when Moses truly only had God to lean on. In Numbers 12:1-16, we see that Moses’ fellow leaders: his brother Aaron and his sister Miriam, challenge his right to lead. Moses had married a Cushite woman, and Aaron and Miriam felt this made him unfit for leading. In this case, God steps in by giving Miriam leprosy.
How would you have reacted now if you were Moses, and your leadership had been wrongfully challenged? It would have been tempting to say “I told you so”, and let God’s judgment remain. This may be tempting for us, but I don’t think that it was that big of a temptation for Moses. His first reaction was to plead to God that this punishment not be held against Miriam, but that she be healed.
This is the second principle of Godly leadership we see from Moses’ life: extend grace to others, even when they have wronged you. This is easy to say, but hard to do. It means laying down our rights and forgiving someone who has wronged us. Over and over we see Moses seeking the best for the people, even when they rebel and fight him every step of the way.
Could you imagine serving under a leader like Moses who spoke with God face to face, a man who sought the best for his people (even when they did not deserve it)? Joshua served under Moses, and he is directly linked to the passage we will look at now. The passage is Numbers 27:12-23, in which Moses commissions Joshua as the next leader of the people. The passage begins with God and Moses talking about the coming end of Moses’ leadership. Moses asks God to appoint a leader for after Moses is gone. God chooses Joshua for the task.
Now this task of leading is a large task, but Joshua has been prepared for it. All throughout the time of the Exodus Moses worked with Joshua. Joshua led the army from Exodus 17:8 on, was Moses’ assistant in Exodus 33:11, and was one of the faithful spies in Numbers 13. My point is to illustrate my last idea about Godly leadership from Moses. Early in his leadership, he sought to train up a leader that would replace him. Moses knew that he would not be around forever, and made sure that there was a leader ready to take the responsibility of leadership. Do you think that leaders today do this enough? How often do you hear of a CEO or a pastor really mentoring the next leader who will take over from them? This is what Moses did throughout his life. And we see later that during all of Joshua’s leadership, the people were quite faithful.
To summarize the three points I chose to cover:
(1) admit you can’t do it on your own and look to God,
(2) extend grace to others – even when it is not deserved
(3) train up the next leader to take over for you, for the sake of those you are leading. These are just a few points from the many lessons that can come from studying Moses’ life. I would love to say that I have all these principles present in my life, but I know I do not. I am in process, and I hope in time and with God’s help that someday I will.
What about you? As you think about the leaders around you, do you see these principles present in them? If you are a leader, are they present in your life? If not – how would your ministry change if they were?
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