Leadership and Responsiblity

Thoughts on Leadership and Responsibility

It is known that the Lord calls who He wants and needs.  We don't always agree with His choices, but He always knows who is best for the job. Often we learn much from what we are called to do. In some cases others learn just as much from watching our journey to live up to our callings. Moses did not see himself as a leader at all, yet he is remembered as a great leader. He argued with the Lord, he insisted that he could not do this and was granted Aaron to help him speak. Moses and Aaron leaned upon the Lord and through His power freed the children of Israel and led them for over 40 years. 

 

How many of us have said "I am not a leader." How many of us have said "I don't want that responsibility" I can't be just me right?  Well, how about we all start with this. Moses's journey started when he stopped an Egyptian from abusing a Hebrew slave.  Let's start by being responsible for ourselves - following the commandments and then lets take the next step being aware of those around us. Doing whatever small actions we can to make life better for those around us. By taking action to help others we are being leaders and obeying the commandment to serve others all at the same time.

Murmuring in the Wilderness

Murmuring in the Wilderness

For my in depth study of this week I chose Exodus 15:23-27, 16-17 on the topic of Murmuring in the Wilderness. I wanted to do this because I really didn’t understand it. I have never understood the constant murmuring of the Children. One thing is for sure the children of Israel did a lot of murmuring. Let’s starting with defining what murmuring is.  Freedictionary.com defines it as “An indistinct, whispered, or confidential complaint; a mutter.” Therefore, this means that the children were complaining and whispering among themselves but none of them were bringing any complaints up to the leadership. Moses, Aaron or from what we can tell praying to the Lord about it either. They were just griping (murmuring) among themselves.

Three days after celebrating the Lord for delivering them from Egypt and crossing the Red Sea, in Exodus 15:24 they are murmuring “What shall we drink?” another miracle was provided and then they came to Elim where there was plenty of water.

After leaving Elim, 2 months and 15 days into the journey we find the whole congregation of the children murmuring against Moses and Aaron (Exodus 16:1-3) accusing that they were brought out of slavery only to be starved to death. The Lord provides another miracle, manna from Heaven with one stipulation every day it will rain the same amount, but on the 6^th day it will rain double for the children are to gather extra that day because nothing will fall on the seventh.  Moses warned them not to try to save any and to trust in the Lord and still they did not listen.

I think my favorite verse is Exodus 16:28 “And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?”

The Lord is providing bread (manna) from Heaven for the children and again when they arrive in Rephidim the children start murmuring again. In Exodus 17:3 “…Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” Moses immediately takes the problem to the Lord “What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me.” In addition, there is the problem with murmuring. If the concern had been addressed earlier the emotion would not have built up, but can you imagine what it must have been like in that camp for Moses to say that to the Lord? The Lord saved them and brought forth water from a rock using Moses and his staff.

Nephi suggests in 1 Nephi 16:1-3 that people murmur against leaders when hard truths are spoken and difficult things are asked of them that they are not ready for, when truth cuts them to the core.  This suggests that many of the children of Israel were in a crisis of faith, not having enough faith in the Lord, Moses and Aaron to keep them safe.  If Moses and Aaron are not able to address and stop the murmuring then the children could fall away from the Lord as Lamen and Lemual did. Nephi suggests in 2 Nephi 27:35 that learning the doctrine is an antidote for murmuring. This is a great suggestion as learning and studying doctrine leads to understanding and increases faith. The children of Israel did not have faith in the Lord even after seeing miracles. Lack of faith and lack of gratitude for what had happened to them was a large part of their problem I believe.

Do not cease to give thanks for what you have. Do not forget to ask for what you need. The Lord will supply all our needs.

Who Am I?

Who Am I?

Exodus 3:11-12 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?

And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

The take away, I believe from this is that it doesn’t matter who we are, it matters who God is and that we are doing as He commands

  

A Preacher once told me that to understand the Bible better (and it certainly applies to all the Scriptures) that we need to remember we are reading about the lives of real people and try to put ourselves in their shoes and understand what their lives are like and what is happening.

I think this is the closest I have ever felt to Moses who has always been an imposing figure. Thinking of Moses at this point in his life. He knew he was adopted, he knew his entire life he was different. Moses who committed a murder to defend the Hebrew slaves. He is now commanded to go back and face the Pharaoh and demand the freedom of all the Hebrew slaves. I can certainly understand his question to the Lord “Who am I to do this?” Remembering that when we lean up on the Lord it doesn’t matter who we are as long as we are in His service and obeying Him, it is His power, His words, His greatness not ours.  

Let Go and Let God

Let Go and Let God

The phrase Let Go and Let God used to be a "thing" at least when I was in high school. I have mentioned I am a convert to the church. In high school I was heavily involved in a local Baptist church were I lived.  Let Go and Let God meant you were giving God control of your life. I have got to say that is so much easier to say at 16 than at 42. I don't think Joseph's life turned out how he thought it would (either Joseph - son of Jacob or Joseph Smith Jr. but for now we will stick to Joseph son of Jacob). He was hated by his brothers who were jealous of him and they sold him into slavery then to  protect themselves told their father he was dead. He ended up being the property of the Pharaoh, having to fend of seduction attempts by the Pharaoh's wife and being thrown into jail. It would have been easy to give up. It would have been easy to forget the God of his fathers and worship whoever everyone else was in order to fit in, because you know he did not fit in with the rest of the household.  There was no religious support group there to help him. Joseph did none of these things, he stayed true and in the end was rewarded with a reunited family and the ability to help them when they truly needed help. 

I am not advocating making no decisions and "leaving it all up to God" that is a great way to become homeless. He gave us minds and reasoning abilities for a reason. He expects us to think and reason. However, I think that maybe the step that we might forget sometimes is to ask His opinion on decisions, and not just the big one. I can't imagine a better situation than to eventually be so in tune with the Holy Spirit that I can feel when a decision is wrong and I don't mean an ethical decision, I mean a life decision. I have a mental image of walking down life's path with Jesus guiding us around the turns and corners. He knows the way and what the best route is, we are the ones doing this blind, maybe we should listen to the guy with the map :) 

Patriarchal Blessings

Patriarchal Blessings

In the last two chapters of Genesis we find Jacob (Israel) granting blessings to his grandchildren and children. These blessings are known as Patriarchal Blessings. when Joseph brought forth his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh to be blessed something unusual happened. Jacob blessed the younger (Ephraim) to be greater than the older.  He set Ephraim before Manasseh. Jacob promised Ephraim that his seed would become a multitude of nations. 

Next Jacobs sons come before him. I have tried to summarize most of these.

Reuben: firstborn, beginning of my strength, thou shall not excel

Simeon and Levi:  I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Zebulun: shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.

Issachar: is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels,so that his rider shall fall backward.

Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.  Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.

Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under,blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

We see in Genesis 49:1 that these blessings to theses tribes will be fulfilled in the last days.

When we look specifically at Judah and Joseph's blessing and compare them

The blessings of Judah indicate that the other tribes will bow down to his although he will not be the largest. He will be praised he will dominate his enemies and the “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” (Genesis 46:10) This seems to indicate that Judah will rule until the return.

Joseph’s blessing is a little different.  Joseph will be fruitful and multiple, the visual we are given here is a branch growing by a well that has all the water it needs. The seed (the tribe) will be strong, but also hated.  Yet they will be blessed and aided by God and will prevail against their enemy. 

Keeping in mind that we are now dealing with Tribes or Nations not individual men anymore we have one nation whom other nations will praise and dominate his enemies. The Tribe or Nation of Judah will be the ruler and lawgiver until Christ returns and this nation shall be the gathering place of the people. In contrast the Tribe or Nation of Joseph will be blessed by God to grow and multiple. It will be strong it will be blessed but it will be hated.  I see many nations attempting to fulfill these roles today but the two most predominant are the US and Israel. Traditionally Israel would be the Tribe of Judah which would make the US the Tribe of Joseph which has become fruitful and multiplied. I can't wait to see how this actually works out.

At the end of Genesis 50 there are further prophecies most specifically in the Joseph Smith Translation Genesis 50:24-36. I am still pondering those and seeking the revelation of understanding.

Making Choices in Life

Abraham and Lot are a study in choices. When we look at them in Genesis we are reminded of our daily choices. We have a tendency to put Abraham on a pedestal but while he was a man of great faith and obedience he did make mistakes as well. Overall, his choices led him closer to God which is what we all want.

Abraham repeatedly introduced Sarah as his sister instead of his wife, but when the chips were down was willing to sacrifice his only son because God said to. 

Lot chose to "pitch his tent toward Sodom" and eventually moved there. He offered his daughters virtue to protect his guests. While that is hard to understand in this day and age a study of middle eastern guest right will help you understand the truly awful position the man was in. I really see Abraham as a man who was intentionally trying to grow closer to God while Lot was what today would be considered the "everyman". He believes, he know God exists but he's not really making much of an effort. We don't see that effort until the destruction of Sodom when he prays to God for the salvation of all in the name of 10 righteous men. 

Where are we in the world? What choices are we making? Are we trying to be closer to God or are we moseying along with the world?

The Abrahamic Convenants

The Covenants of Abraham

Last week I described a covenant as a promise, the Bible Dictionary describes it as an agreement sometimes between persons but more often between God and man. While a covenant between two people may be on equal terms a covenant between God and man is not the same, God makes the terms and man accepts. 

When we review the agreements made between Abraham and the Lord they are found in many areas of Genesis.

What Abraham Promised to Do What the Lord Promised Abraham

Move to the land of Canaan  

• Genesis 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:  
• Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
• Genesis 13:15 and 16 I will give you all the land you see around you, I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth

Believe in the Lord

• Genesis 15:4-7 Heirs as numerous as the stars

Walk before me and be thou perfect; all males over the age of 8 circumcised

• Genesis 17:1-10 thou will be a father of nations; 

Sarai become Sarah

• Genesis 17:15-19 Sarah will bear a son; Ishmael will be a father of nations also

He and his children and household will keep the way of the Lord, do justice and judgment

• Genesis 18 Sarah will have a son; Abraham will be a great and mighty nation

On the surface the Abrahamic covenant is a promise to grant Abraham lands and a heritage in return for his obedience. When you look deep you see more however.  

The Abrahamic covenant was a promise to Abraham that not only he but all of his posterity would be entitled to the covenant of salvation (baptism), the priesthood and the covenant of exaltation (celestial marriage) on top of the promise of eternal increase of his line. Every individual who is baptized or receives a celestial marriage renews the covenant and that is also how people of non-Israelite linage (Gentiles) are adopted into the covenant.

We fulfill our side of the covenant by being obedient & by spreading the gospel, in return we share in all the promises of the covenant. We can be reunited with our Heavenly Father. We can have eternal life. We can live with our families forever.

One of the parts of Abrahams story that some people get confused about is the involvement of Hagar, we shouldn't be. Hagar and her son not only formed an important part of the story. Ishmael was the father of a nation as well. However beyond that we should not over look the culture of the time.

In Genesis 16:1-3 We found that Sarai had still not conceived the child that the Lord had promised and decided to take things into her own hands.  She gave her maid Hagar to Abram to be his wife to bear children with.

In D&C 132: 34 & 65 Joseph Smith clarifies what happens here. Multiple wives were not uncommon in the time and that the union of Abram and Hagar was commanded by the Lord. 

The very names of Abraham and Sarah show the change.

Abraham: Father of a multitude

Abram :exalted father

Sarah: Princess

Sarai: contentions

The changes in both names reflect Abraham and Sarahs new status as the parents of a nation.