To Each His Own
Good Morning,
Rebellion rarely starts out in matters of sin or issues that are clearly right and wrong. For example, Aaron and Miriam and their attitude toward Moses.
Numbers 12:1 “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.”
vs. 2 “And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it.”
vs. 3 “(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)”
vs. 4 "And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.”
God identifies the issue right up front, Aaron and Miriam did not like something Moses did, but the problem seemed too carnal to bring up so they brought up something else. Basically, they told Moses that God spoke to others too, not just him. Nothing unbiblical or corrupt was going on, but they were frustrated with Moses' leadership. This problem is a common problem at home, at school, on the job, or at church. The trouble was rebellion, not the issues they discussed. The matter was not of sin or right, they simply did not like how Moses led folks.
As we continue to read the story, we find Aaron and Mariam in trouble and they needed Moses’ help to get out of it.
In verse three, we see that Moses did not respond; he was “meek” and would not return the fight. God stepped in and solved the problem.
Later on, this same issue arose again:
Numbers 16:3 “And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?"
These men simply did not want Moses to be in charge.
Satan hates leadership and authority, unless he is the authority. I marvel at the men who do not like authority but are ogres in their own homes. Good leaders will lead; it is up to people to follow or not. We must understand this: rebellion is not of God. Finding passages about leadership and authority is abundant throughout the Scriptures: prophets or kings, Apostles or pastors, parents or government – leaders are everywhere.
Mankind simply wants to do things his own way. We all know that opinions are many and differences among us are countless. Someone has to make the decision between whole milk and skim, or between brands of ketchup or peanut butter. Someone has to pick the type of car and set up the family budget. It can be shared, but usually, one person ends up making the final call.
One person is the head coach, another is the offensive or defensive coach; in baseball, someone is a batting coach. All of these leaders have been put into their positions, and that is how success happens. We are not talking about following a leader to wrong, but much rebellion is present before anyone mentions wrong.
I have been publicly criticized about a person from whom I sought advice. When I face a ministry decision, I may ask a builder, or a pastor, or the CHP bus inspector for advice (whoever might seem to have the best information on the subject). To find that someone did not agree with who I asked about my decision was not at all shocking. None of us will always have the same perspective on a subject or decision. Who would have guessed that two people might not agree on the same decision?
Romans 14:4 “Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.”
Wisdom will guide us to leave each person to their own area of leadership. We each have our own responsibilities. Simply taking care of our own jobs is not that difficult to do.
Pastor