Moses died at the age of 120 years serving God beginning at the age of 50. He was buried in a somewhat unmarked tomb. No one to this day knows where his tomb was. What is important is that Moses is remembered by the wonderful and mighty acts of God performed through him as prophet, priest, interpreter of God’s will. God’s own spokesperson. God exalted him. Nobody was able to surpass or even match the stature of Moses until Jesus, the Son of God.

According to a commentary:

The greatness of Moses lay not just in his noble character or in his astounding achievements. He, not Abraham or Jacob, was the one who truly made his people a nation. Almost singlehandedly he took a group of self-willed, stiff-necked people, loosely knit together by religion and blood, and wielded them into a nation. With a love for his people which burned like a consuming fire, he was willing to be blotted out for their sakes. This passion won their confidence and solidified them under this leadership.[1]

As another phase in the Israelites’ journey is about to unfold, a new leader emerges from where Moses left off. Signaled by the crossing of the Jordan River, the Israelites are to be led by God through Joshua into an unknown territory. The only thing certain about this daunting place is that it is the land promised to them by God.

Israel’s acquisition of the Promised Land, considered as the fulfillment of God’s promise to their father Abraham, did not mean the end of her struggle. Israel had to wage a continuing struggle, politically, culturally, theologically to maintain her unique identity as Yahweh’s people in the midst of higher culture she found among the natives of Canaan.

To give us an idea of the development of the Israel as a nation: They began as a nomadic tribe under Abraham, they were called Hebrews under Jacob, Jacob was called Israel with his twelve sons, they went to Egypt and their numbers grew forming the twelve tribes. In Egypt they became slaves under Pharaoh, God liberated them through Moses (or the Exodus story). They spent 40 years in the wilderness, Moses’ death, Jordan River crossing and entry into Canaan. Here they become a tribal confederation ruled by judges with Joshua as the first judge, and later on developing into a monarchy or a theocracy ruled by God-appointed kings.

All throughout Israel’s journey as a chosen people, God made sure there will be groups of people and individual men and women who would take up the cudgels of leadership as priests, prophets, judges and kings.

What could have been God’s criteria in choosing individuals who would lead God’s people? How are these people taught and trained? How are their gifts honed and their graces perfected?

Did God have some problems with the persons God chose? I bet God did! How were these persons assessed? The Chronicles had a way of evaluating the kings and this is the short but determinative phrase: He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Bible Gateway Search results[2]:

All (32)

Old Testament (29)

1 Kings (4)

2 Kings (17)

2 Chronicles (7)

Jeremiah (1)

Apocrypha (3)

1 Esdras (3)

In our day and age, we are in dire need of leaders and rulers who are perhaps in the same the league of Moses, Joshua, David and Solomon. Why is it not one has emerged? Or there are leaders but are not recognizable or nor yet acknowledged?

What is a Godly leader? It is hard to define. Sometimes it is easier to define the opposite of a good and Godly leader. And this is perhaps what Jesus was trying to teach by showing a negative example of leaders.

2“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. 6They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.

Jesus ends with these words:

11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

What does it mean that the greatest amongst us will be our servant? Or it is the other way as well: To be great in the Lord’s sight, one must serve? Matthew 20:26 says: It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant.

Tent-maker Paul’s example of servant-leadership:

– laboring and toiling night and day, not burden others while proclaiming the Gospel.

– pure, upright, and blameless conduct witnessed by believers

– deals like a father with his children

– urging and encouraging and pleading to lead a life worthy of God

– constantly thankful for God’s word working in believers

We only have a short stay on this world. Each day is even shorter. Let it be that we as believers, followers and servants and leaders, are in good company of the saints. We may fall short of the requirements to be in the league of Moses, Joshua, and other great leaders, but let it be said by the chroniclers, when we passed on, that we did what was good in the sight of the Lord.

Amen.

[1] The Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes, Volume 2. (New York: Abingdon Press, 1953), pp. 536-7.

[2] Bible Gateway https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=He+did+what+was+evil+in+the+sight+of+the+Lord&qs_version=NRSV(Accessed 27 Oct  2020).