I’ve never seen a leadership book on Moses, which is odd, considering his place in history and the formation of Judaism and Christianity.  Perhaps it’s because Moses leadership was often so lethal.

It started with the Egyptian he murdered and buried in the desert.  Then there was the whole ten plagues thing.  But Moses really hits his leadership stride while wandering the desert in the book of Numbers.  First Moses is called about by his own brother and sister.  God sends leprosy on Miriam to show that Moses is his man.  Then there’s the rebellion that ends with the ground swallowing up thousands of dissidents.  It seems like almost every other paragraph there is a plague against those who disagree with Moses.

Moses leadership is marked by the failure and death of all those who disagree with him.  But Moses himself, with the exception of the mistake he made in his youth, has no desire to see these people suffer and die.  It is simply a consequence of going up against God’s chosen leader.

Leadership is a sacred responsibility, and we should not take lightly those who God places there.  It could end bad.