“The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai, on the first day of the second month of the second year after Israel’s departure from the land of Egypt: “Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of every male one by one…….A man from each tribe is to be with you, each one the head of his ancestral family. These are the names of the men who are to assist you: Elizur son of Shedeur from Reuben;” Numbers 1:1-2, 4-5 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/num.1.1-5.CSB
God chose the leaders He wanted to assist Moses with specificity. Moses didn’t look around for those with leadership capacity. God told him by name whom He wanted to help Moses as a leadership team. How wonderful to be chosen by God as a leader. How privileged would it be to be named by God Himself as one He wanted to serve with Moses? What criteria did God use to choose His men? The text does not say. No doubt they were men like Abraham selected because he would obey God by living according to His commands and teach them to his family (Gen. 18.19). Having a passion for God personally and a willingness to teach that passion to our progeny are the essential elements of Biblical leadership. Paul reiterates these things in his list of qualifications for church leaders. They are men who follow God and whose families respect them. This respect comes from living lives of integrity and teaching God’s ways to their families. The criteria are not complex, but few men embrace them, whether or not they seek to be godly leaders. If we have any desire to be a man God chooses for His work, particularly the work of leading others spiritually, we must know God because we seek God diligently and teach God’s ways to our family and friends consistently.
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