The Wisdom of Humility: Moses' Teachable Leadership
Ex. 18:24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.
This is truly one of the most beautiful pictures in the Bible of authentic leadership. Up to this point in Moses’ ministry, he had seen God accomplish great and mighty things through his willingness to obey. The Red Sea experience alone set Moses up as one of the greatest leaders in history because of his obedience, his courage, his faith, and most importantly, his close relationship with God. On that note, I want you to think about how great he must have become in the eyes of most of the people of the land. Now, with that in mind, as I read this text, to me, Moses is the biggest character in the story. One would think that a leader of this caliber needs no advice, but only gives it. However, that is not the case at all! As a matter of fact, in Numbers 12:3, the Bible describes Moses as “very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth”. The word meek can be described as “depressed in mind or circumstance, needy, humble, lowly, or poor”. In other words, I believe it could be said that Moses was an Old Testament example of a New Testament commandment found in Romans 12:3, which says, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Simply put, Moses knew his place! He wasn’t too good or too great to remember where he came from, or to learn a few more lessons from others along the way. Furthermore, consider who it was that he received advice from; it was Jethro, Moses’ father in law, who also was a man of God that Moses spent some 40 years in the wilderness serving under and learning by. He had obviously gained Moses’ respect, and no doubt influenced Moses in his leadership capabilities. As a matter of fact, it is probably safe to say that Jethro had just as big an impact on preparing Moses for his ministry as anyone else in his life, and so it is to this reality that we now know why, when Jethro spoke, Moses listened. Let us all learn a humbling lesson from Moses that, no matter how high up we may go in leadership, we should always remember the lessons we learned along the way, as well as who it was that taught them to us!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
This is truly one of the most beautiful pictures in the Bible of authentic leadership. Up to this point in Moses’ ministry, he had seen God accomplish great and mighty things through his willingness to obey. The Red Sea experience alone set Moses up as one of the greatest leaders in history because of his obedience, his courage, his faith, and most importantly, his close relationship with God. On that note, I want you to think about how great he must have become in the eyes of most of the people of the land. Now, with that in mind, as I read this text, to me, Moses is the biggest character in the story. One would think that a leader of this caliber needs no advice, but only gives it. However, that is not the case at all! As a matter of fact, in Numbers 12:3, the Bible describes Moses as “very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth”. The word meek can be described as “depressed in mind or circumstance, needy, humble, lowly, or poor”. In other words, I believe it could be said that Moses was an Old Testament example of a New Testament commandment found in Romans 12:3, which says, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Simply put, Moses knew his place! He wasn’t too good or too great to remember where he came from, or to learn a few more lessons from others along the way. Furthermore, consider who it was that he received advice from; it was Jethro, Moses’ father in law, who also was a man of God that Moses spent some 40 years in the wilderness serving under and learning by. He had obviously gained Moses’ respect, and no doubt influenced Moses in his leadership capabilities. As a matter of fact, it is probably safe to say that Jethro had just as big an impact on preparing Moses for his ministry as anyone else in his life, and so it is to this reality that we now know why, when Jethro spoke, Moses listened. Let us all learn a humbling lesson from Moses that, no matter how high up we may go in leadership, we should always remember the lessons we learned along the way, as well as who it was that taught them to us!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill