We have all heard people complain about leadership. About the decisions made or how things are handled. They complain that things promised were overlooked. Things build until it’s being said that the Pastor(s) have missed the mark and question if they even hear from God any more, and if they have, if they are listening.
This leads to the thinking that if I don’t believe he is following God, I shouldn’t follow what he says. This path of thinking leads people down a road that takes them out from under the authority of God. It’s not a blatant walk; it’s a road of deception.
The children of Israel were like this. Many times they felt that Moses wasn’t leading them properly, and even at times they felt he was actually bringing them more harm then good.
They didn’t always feel that way though. When they first heard that Moses was sent to deliver them, they were very happy and worshipped God. Here was their leader who would deliver them out of bondage.
Right after he told them his purpose for being there, and after their great joy and the impending freedom, Moses left to speak to Pharaoh. Moses said to Pharaoh: “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go’.”
Pharaoh said in the verses following, “I do not know the Lord, I will not let Israel go. Why are you taking the people away from their work? You want them all to quit working?” and he was so upset with them for even suggesting to let the Israelites go that he increased their hardship. He made them work harder then he had been working them before.
He told them that instead of someone bringing them straw for the bricks that they would have to work at night to cut and gather their own straw and then make the bricks during the day. He furthermore required that the number of bricks made per day would not lessen.
The people who oversaw the workers were brutal taskmasters. They would whip them and beat them. They would constantly tell them they needed to keep up with the amount of bricks they were making before and yell at them for not being able to.
The people felt as though they had been delivered quite a blow. The work they had to endure was hard enough without being told they had to keep up the same number of bricks. They felt it was unfair. Here they had to keep up the same number while being deprived of one of the vital ingredients they needed in their work.
The foremen asked Pharaoh why he was treating the people as he was. For making them get their own straw and for beating them for not keeping up their numbers when now they had twice as much work.
When they left from speaking with Pharaoh, they saw Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “may the Lord punish you for turning Pharaoh and his officials against us. You have caused them to hate us and to want to kill us.
The people went from being happy with Moses, to being angry with him. Did something change in Moses’ calling? Was he still following God’s direction, even though things were getting worse?
They were starting to think that they were better off before Moses came to “save” them. Scripture says that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The more hardened Pharaoh’s heart became, the worse things got for the Israelites.
Even after they were freed from the bondage of slavery, they were brought to a place where they wandered the desert. There was no water and the food was running out. They had been promised a land flowing with milk and honey, and here they were thirsty, running out of food, and miles and miles of sand.
They were questioning if God really HAD sent them Moses. Some even wanted to go back to their slavery, thinking it was better then where they were. They were freed from slavery, only to die in the desert. They couldn’t see God’s plan through their circumstances.
But their complaining and talking amongst themselves wasn’t hidden and Moses addressed it. Exodus 16:8, “The Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.”
Here they thought they were only speaking against Moses and his leadership. They never dreamed they were speaking against God.
Joshua and Caleb could see beyond the circumstance. They saw the hand of God on Moses and they followed through, keeping themselves submitted to the authority placed on Moses.
Now we may think that we are like Joshua or Caleb. We might have been the ones to see God’s hand upon Moses’ life, and the authority that God placed on him. But we need to be careful assuming we would have seen. The Pharisees insisted that if they were there at that time they would have followed like Joshua and Caleb, yet Jesus said they would have acted the same as their forefathers had.
It’s easy to say that we would agree when we know how the story ended. Not always so easy when you are in the middle of a ‘crisis’, not knowing what the outcome will be.
What separated Joshua from the others was not discernment, but his ability to recognize and submit to true authority, and out of that submission came true discernment. So, what does this mean? I think it means that without true submission to Godly authority, we are lacking true discernment. Discernment wont give you a way out of coming under Godly authority.
Next week
You may question, “What if I discern that my leader is not making a very good choice? Should I still obey him?”