ESOCS Devotional 13 June 2024 – Raise and Delegate
MEMORY VERSE: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.” Numbers 11:16-17
TEXT: NUMBERS 11:16-30
So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18 Then you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” ’ ”
21 And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”
23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.
26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!”
29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” 30 And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
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Effective leadership is saddled with two responsibilities. First, is to lead people and show the way forward. He has the vision and the people follow. The second is to raise and train others.
Today’s devotional will dwell on the second part of leadership responsibility. The Man of God, Moses, earlier in this chapter had complained to God that he was no longer able to bear all the people of Israel alone because they were heavy for him. In this complaint, he actually reported his incapacity. His father-in-law had counselled him on the need to delegate duties (Exodus 18:13-26). However, a leader should possess certain characteristics to be an effective leader.
- The leader should be effective: Moses knew his job well. He was very effective. But at a point, his responsibilities grew and expanded, and he couldn’t cope anymore. He needed help. God approved the appointment of some leaders to whom the work was to be delegated. Leaders who do it all alone often wear out their strength after a while and begin to become ineffective because they begin to have diminishing returns. God said to Moses in verse 17 “… and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee.”
- Every leader should have something in him to offer: The Man of God, Moses, had something in him to impart to others. Every leader should develop himself to be skilful and be proficient on his job, think ahead of others, show expertise in different areas and be able to replicate his skills or proficiency in others. Moses imparted to Joshua leadership skills and Joshua did exceedingly well. He made the sun to stand still and not set, until Israel routed and destroyed their enemies. David developed himself in leadership and made Israel a strong nation. Many commanders of the Israeli army were trained under him.
- Every leader should bring people close to him and delegate duties: He should not work alone. Being close to his followers will enable him to impart knowledge and skills to them (v 16); and then, he will be able to have confidence in them and delegate duties. Sometimes, King David sat at home and the men of war he had trained will not allow him to go to battle with them. They always won such wars.
- Has your life affected another person positively in the work of the Lord?
- Father, thank you for the grace to serve you. Help me by your Spirit to be a positive influence and inspiration to others, in Jesus name. Amen.
Further Reading: John 15:1-17; Numbers 27:12-end; Romans 9:30-end; 10:1-10
ESOCS Devotional 13 June 2024
