Introduction: The nation of Israel stayed at Mt. Sinai for about a year. During that time, they entered into covenant relationship with God, they bound themselves to obey the Law which God revealed through Moses, and they built the Tabernacle which was the focus of their national worship. The time at Mt. Sinai reconfirmed the Israelites as God’s chosen people and transformed them into a nation.
Now it was time to move on. The emphasis shifts from organization to fulfilling the promise which God had given to bring them into the land of Canaan (Palestine). The immediate goal after leaving Egypt had been to arrive at Sinai. Now, the goal is to reach their permanent home in the Promised Land.
Though it is a relatively short distance from Sinai to the Land of Canaan, the journey was to prove a severe test of leadership. By studying what happened, we can learn some principles of leadership which are still valid today in the church.
I. Ministry Of Intercession (Numbers 11:1-3)
The people had only traveled for three days (see Numbers 10:33) when the complaints started.
What was the reason for the complaints? (Numbers 11:1)
The people complained about the hardships they were experiencing.
Lesson: Whenever we start concentrating on the journey and the hardships involved, rather than the goal and the blessings which God has promised, our situation will appear to be far worse than it actually is. We will begin to doubt the goodness of God and forget all the blessings He has already provided.
What did the people do when they began to reap the consequences of their grumbling? (Numbers 11:2)
They appealed to Moses, who then prayed to the Lord on their behalf. One of the characteristics of a true leader is that he has a genuine concern for the people under his care. He serves them. He looks out for their interests. Jesus said, “...You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28 NIV)
Application: Moses could have told the people that they were getting what they deserved. But he didn’t do that. Instead, he prayed for them. In the same way, prayer is one of the responsibilities of leaders in the church. For example, the Apostles delegated benevolence to others so that they could spend time in prayer (Acts 6:1-6). Intercessory prayer is also one of the responsibilities of Elders (James 5:13-20).
II. You Can’t Do It Alone (Numbers 11:4-35)
The grumbling in verse 1 was not specific. It was about the hardships in general. But now Moses was faced with something much more serious. Not only was there a specific complaint, it soon spread to the whole camp.
Who were the people who started the complaint? (Numbers 11:4)
It was the rabble, or mixed crowd, who had come with the Israelites when they left Egypt (See Exodus 12:38). These people apparently were not descendants of Abraham and, presumably, did not enter into the covenant with God at Mt. Sinai.
Lesson: We need to be careful who we associate with. God’s people are to be separate from the surrounding culture. If we take up with ungodly people, or allow them to take up with us, there is a danger that we will adopt their values (See 1 Corinthians 15:33). In this case, the complaint started with the alien rabble but soon spread to every family among the Israelites (Numbers 11:10).
What was the basis of the complaint?
It was that the food God had provided wasn’t good enough. They wanted meat. They missed the fish, vegetables and melons they had eaten in Egypt. Notice how they romanticized their life in Egypt: We ate this stuff for free! (Numbers 11:5) In reality the life that these people had back in Egypt was not nearly as wonderful as they made it out to be. If life was so good, why had they left? They must have been looking for something better than what they had in Egypt.
Lesson: When we compare the “good old days” to the present what we are really doing is idealizing the past or, at best, comparing the best of the past to the worst of the present.
1) It’s okay to ask questions.
It’s obvious that Moses was deeply discouraged and depressed by this situation. He vented his frustration in a series of questions. Notice that God did not become angry with Moses for voicing his discouragement and frustration. But it’s extremely important to notice to whom Moses took his frustrations. Moses brought his frustrations to the Lord (Numbers 11:11). We see the same kind of thing in many of the Psalms. Where we get into trouble is when we vent to people rather than taking our troubles to God.
2) The burden is too heavy for one person.
Moses felt that the problem was far too big for him to handle (Numbers 11:14). The task of leadership is not easy. Part of leadership is administrative decision making. This in itself can be a huge responsibility. Then there is arbitration and problem solving. Remember that people brought their cases to Moses for him to decide. But more than anything, if you care about the people for whom you are responsible, leadership exacts a huge emotional and spiritual toll. If you don’t have some way to refresh or restore your own spiritual reservoirs, the burden can break you. Burnout in ministry is a real possibility. You get so involved in tending to the needs of others and finding solutions to problems that there is no time or opportunity to tend to your own needs. Moses had reached the end of his spiritual and emotional tether. He asked God to either fix the situation or to kill him. For things to remain as they were was unbearable.
3) The principle of multiple leaders (Numbers 11:16-17).
Back in Exodus, chapter 18, at Jethro’s suggestion, God had provided Moses with help with the administrative and judicial aspects of his task. At Sinai, many of the religious duties were delegated to the Levites in their capacity as priests. Now God provides Moses help with the spiritual and emotional part of the job. God gave the Spirit to seventy of Israel’s elders.
Lesson: God does not intend for one person to bear the burdens of leadership alone. This principle is carried into the New Testament as well. Paul appointed, or made provisions for the appointment of Elders (plural) in each church. (For example, see Acts 14:23 and Titus 1:5.) These Elders were not a board of business managers, as is so often the case today. Instead they actively taught the people. They were the spiritual shepherds and overseers of the congregations. The New Testament knows nothing of the one-man ‘Pastor’ system which is so prevalent today. Instead, each congregation had multiple Pastors in their Elders. Perhaps there would be less leadership burnout if we went back to the the early church practice of sharing the task among several people.
4) Recognize the gifts of others (Numbers 11:26-30).
One obstacle to implementing multiple leadership is that leaders are reluctant to recognize the gifts and talents of others. They tend to think that no one can do as good a job as themselves. Or, they may be reluctant to share leadership roles with others because of insecurity – they are afraid that others will prove more talented than themselves and make them look bad. Moses had no such thoughts. He was thrilled that God had granted the gift of prophecy to others. Would that all leaders had the attitude of John the Baptist, “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30 NIV)
Tangent: What is a prophet? The popular definition of prophecy is foretelling the future. While prophecy may involve foretelling, a more accurate concept is forth-telling, or proclaiming what God has said. A prophet is someone who speaks on behalf of God.
One reason for having multiple leaders is that no one has all the gifts and talents the church needs. God has gifted each one of us differently (Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-30). When people with different gifts work together in leadership, their strengths complement each other, and they can help compensate for each other’s weaknesses.
5) Consequences of rejecting what God has provided (Numbers 11:31-34).
One of the burdens of leadership is watching people reap the consequences of their choice to turn away from what is right and/or insisting on having their own way. The people had complained about the manna God gave them for food. They demanded meat. Not only did their complaining discourage Moses, it had an unexpected consequence: God gave them meat, but He also sent a plague with it.
In referring to this incident Psalm 106 says, “In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test. So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them.” (Psalm 106:14-15 NIV)
Lesson: If we complain and pester God to do something long enough, He may eventually grant our request, but we won’t like it when He does. There are always unexpected consequences when we go against God’s will.
III. Jealousy (Numbers 12:1-15)
Becoming a leader automatically makes you a target. Nails that stick up will get hammered! Not only will people dump their problems on you, you also become fair game for criticism. People will not like some of the decisions you make. They will press you to take actions that you think are unwise. When you do act, they will think that you should have done things differently.
But perhaps one of the biggest trials is people who are jealous of you and the ministry God has given you. It especially hurts when these people are among those who are closest to you. In this case, the ones who started to criticize Moses were from his own family. Since Miriam is listed first, it seems like she is the one who initiated the criticism and got Aaron to go along with it and back her up.
1) There will always be people who resent your role.
God selects people to do certain tasks. He gives particular spiritual gifts to one person and not another. The problem comes when we start to compare ourselves with others. This can take two forms:
a) How come he gets to do that (or how come he has that gift) and I don’t?
b) I’m just as talented as he is. I’m involved in the same kind of ministry as he is. Why should he be the leader and not me?
It was the second of these comparisons that Aaron and Miriam made. “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?... Hasn’t he also spoken through us?...” (Numbers 12:2 NIV)
Lesson: The only way to be content is to realize that God has a place and a purpose for each one of us and He has gifted us all accordingly. We need to fulfill our task, not someone else’s. If we force ourselves into a role God intends for someone else, it won’t be a good fit and we won’t be happy.
2) If they can’t criticize your work, they will criticize you and your character.
On what did Miriam and Aaron base their criticism of Moses?
Miriam and Aaron obviously knew that God had chosen Moses. They knew that he was acting in the capacity that God had assigned him. Since they couldn’t criticize Moses for not doing the work God gave him, they went after his character. They complained that he wasn’t fit to lead because of his home life.
God did not agree with their assessment and struck Miriam with leprosy for her attitude and presumption.
Lesson: People will look for ways to criticize and discredit. We should make sure that we don’t give them unnecessary opportunities to do so, particularly in the areas of morality and lifestyle. For example, one of the qualifications of an Elder in the church is that he must be ‘above reproach’ or ‘blameless’ in regard to his family and sexuality (See 1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:6).