Do you believe God appoints leaders?

Footnotes

[1] 12:10 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
[2] 12:11 Hebrew do not lay sin upon us

Hugh Stephenson

Good morning, Sam. Great devo on leadership and how our pride can get in the way of following our leaders and our Lord. The wake-up call for me began in 2015 when JTJ read the Bible cover-to-cover. When I hit Romans 13, I was stopped dead in my tracks. Having begun my career in 1983 I had lived through more than 10 CEOs across three firms. My local bosses, also numbering more than 10, were not people I respected. So Romans 13 really got my attention. I became much more attentive to the difficulties and challenges of leadership. The Holy Spirit opened my own eyes to my own failures in leadership. During COVID and Post-COVID I see how it has become even more difficult to lead a large organization. Perspective brings humility. Q1. The primary reason I have doubted leaders is when I think I have developed a sense of their motivation. If their motivation seems self-serving then I have a hard time having confidence in them. In my experience selfless servant-leaders are rare. Q2. This is the Romans 13 wake-up call. Having a better understanding of God’s sovereignty in this regard I can more clearly see how He calls me to know and trust Him. Q3. I have been taught to seek out my leaders and to ask them to tell me how I can help them, (Jeremiah 29:7). Having done so I have gotten some interesting answers. The Gospel Coalition has some edifying thoughts. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/seek-the-welfare-of-the-city-social-ethics-according-to-1-peter/

Hugh Stephenson

As noted, prior, a recent class had us do a leadership study on several different leaders in the Bible to assess their leadership style. Some were a bit easier to do than others. All the studies were very rewarding; especially in assessing my own style and how I needed to change, quickly, so that my model was rightly oriented. For me, the sheer volume of material on Moses made it a more doable task. In Moses, God shows me some very important elements of leadership plus some hard realities. -Know who and whose you are. I am not the boss. I am only His agent, (Genesis 1:26-28). His priorities are to be mine. -Always be aware of what your motives are. -Expect opposition and criticism from others, even from those you lead. -Power and authority are to be used to serve others, never to serve self. With these in mind, I am to seek to have a genuinely humble heart. In this, I am not to seek self-vindication. God knows if I am acting rightly or wrongly. That is to be enough. In Moses, I see all these characteristics . Moreover, I see a representation of Jesus, especially in His obedience and humility.

Hugh Stephenson

Constable’s notes edify- “The purpose of this chapter, then, is to vindicate Moses' divinely given leadership and to brush aside any further suggestion that, because of the establishment of other forms of authority, the type of leadership epitomized in Moses was no longer valid." "Numbers provides a manual on what leaders should and should not do when faced with rebellion in the ranks." “As we read the record of the Israelites' experiences after they left Mt. Sinai, we might ask why God allowed them to experience so much difficulty. There are several reasons: (1) to teach them to accept what He sent as best, (2) to prepare them for hardships in the land, (3) to develop character in them, and (4) to train them to depend on Him. This is often why God allows Christians, as well, to experience so many difficulties (cf. Hebrews 12).”

Michael Sisson

Re: Num 12:1-16 Num 12:1 (NASB) Then >>>Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses<<< because of the >>>Cushite<<< woman whom he had married (for he had married a >>>Cushite<<< woman); See also Num 12:8 >>>“Cushite”<<< Moses’ wife, Zipporah, was NOT a “Cushite” (literally “Ethiopian”); she was from Midian (see Ex 2:16,21). According to Rashi (an 11th century French rabbi and Judaism’s foremost commentator), the description of Zipporah as a Cushite was a euphemistic reference to her great beauty. It is common in Scripture and Talmudic literature to attach a derogatory epithet to a loved one in order to prevent an “evil eye,” (i.e. envy). In Hebrew, the numerical value of “Cushite” is equal to that of “beautiful in appearance.” The term is repeated later in the verse to suggest that her physical beauty was matched by her character. >>>“Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses”<<< “According to Jewish tradition, after the revelation of the Torah to Israel at Sinai, Moses separated from his wife Tzipporah because of his service to the LORD. But Moses' sister Miriam thought he was sinning, and spoke to Aaron about the matter. Miriam not only questioned Moses' decision to leave his wife, but also questioned his unique role as the mediator of the covenant at Sinai.“ — Hebrew For Christians https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Parashah/Summaries/Behaalotkha/behaalotkha.html “Since Moses had to be ready to hear God's word at any moment, he had to be ritually pure at all times, which meant that he had to refrain from marital relations with his wife Zipporah. This intimate matter remained their private affair, until Miriam learned of it from a chance remark by Zipporah. Not realizing that God had instructed Moses to do so, and feeling that it was an unjustifiable affront to Zipporah, Miriam shared the news with Aaron, who agreed with her. They were critical of Moses, contending that since the two of them were also prophets, but were not required to withdraw from normal life, neither was Moses. God Himself appeared to them, to chastise them, and to testify that Moses' prophecy was of a higher order than anyone else's, and therefore he had to remain ritually pure at all times. “God punished Miriam for instigating this criticism of Moses, even though she did it out of a sincere desire to correct what she was convinced was his error, and she spoke out only privately to Aaron who shared her devotion to Moses. Thus her own mistake became an eternal teaching to the Jewish people of the gravity of the sin of slander.” — THE STONE EDITION CHUMASH, ArtScroll, pp 794-795

Amy Lowther

1. Leadership should be questioned when they express their opinions in the workplace/job opportunity more than they express the objectives of the relevant work. 2. I am more patient and understanding of leaders when I use God’s guidance. If God has a divine purpose for certain things, I will do my best to fulfill those responsibilities using God’s guidance and the best efforts I can offer. 3. I can best love and pray for leaders this week if I glorify God, use His values, and leave opinions to the side whether they are mine or those of someone else.

Michael Scaman

A good passage on not mocking people for the color of their skin and feeling some spiritual superiority. Moses and Aaron were concerned Moses married a 'Cushite' whether actual or euphimistically * literally would be Ethiopian ) and part of the penalty was Miriam becoming 'white' (with lepracy), very un-Cushite whether literally or euphemistically. Nine Marks discusses this position https://www.9marks.org/article/did-moses-marry-black-woman/ "In his book From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race, Daniel Hays writes that Cush “is used regularly to refer to the area south of Egypt, and above the cataracts on the Nile, where a Black African civilization flourished for over two thousand years. Thus it is quite clear that Moses marries a Black African woman” '