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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Num. 25
Here it is again. I see two indications in this chapter that Israel’s sin initiated with the leadership. In verse 4 God told Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them”. And in verse 14 we learn that the man who brought a Midianite woman into his tent in broad daylight was a leader among the Simeonites. I’m not so naïve as to think that only leaders sin. However, I do believe that leadership carries extra responsibility because others follow them. Thus, when they go astray, they actively take others with them. And I believe leadership has a strong tendency to corrupt those who possess it.
Should we avoid leadership, then? Not necessarily. But we should be careful about desiring it. We should remember that ALL authority comes from God. So if He grants it to us, we need to remember that it is His and not take advantage of it or use it for our own gain. The New Testament has a lot to say about how authority works in God’s Kingdom. And Jesus Himself was our perfect example.
Num. 26-27
God told Moses to climb a mountain so that he could see the land he was not permitted to enter. God then told him that he would die on that mountain. Moses’ death would, of course, leave the people without a human leader. What would I do in Moses’ shoes? I think I would make the assumption that the man who had been by my side through everything for the past 40 years would step up to take my place. But Moses didn’t do that. Instead, “Moses appealed to the LORD” (Num. 27:15a) to not leave the people without a leader.
God did indeed select the man who had been with Moses, seemingly even at times when God spoke with him face to face. But the point is that Moses didn’t take this for granted. He did not presume to know what God would do or what was best. He appealed to God for a solution, even when the solution was obvious. That is humility. That is how a leader protects himself from putting himself in the place of God. And that is how every one of us, leader or not, makes an intentional effort to keep God first and foremost in our lives. No assumptions; no taking things for granted. Just a constant reliance on God for direction, even when the right answer seems obvious.