(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
““‘“Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood. In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow. You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths. Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood. In you they have eaten on the mountains. They have committed lewdness among you. In you have they uncovered their fathers’ nakedness. In you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity. One has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife, and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. Another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter. In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me,” says the Lord Yahweh. “‘“Behold, therefore I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at the blood which has been shed within you. Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I will deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it. I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries. I will purge your filthiness out of you. You will be profaned in yourself in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”’””
(Ezekiel 22:6-16)
“Give ear to my words, Yahweh.
Consider my meditation.
Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God,
for I pray to you.
Yahweh, in the morning you will hear my voice.
In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly.
For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness.
Evil can’t live with you.
The arrogant will not stand in your sight.
You hate all workers of iniquity.
You will destroy those who speak lies.
Yahweh abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
But as for me, in the abundance of your loving kindness I will come into your house.
I will bow toward your holy temple in reverence of you.
Lead me, Yahweh, in your righteousness because of my enemies.
Make your way straight before my face.”
(Psalm 5:1-8)
“As I urged you when I was going into Macedonia, stay at Ephesus that you might command certain men not to teach a different doctrine, and not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than God’s stewardship, which is in faith. But the goal of this command is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith, from which things some, having missed the mark, have turned away to vain talking, desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say nor about what they strongly affirm. But we know that the law is good if a person uses it lawfully, as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine, according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.”
(1 Timothy 1:3-11)
No one was guiltless. Everyone had engaged in the breaking of the covenant. What was worse is that the chances for the average person to repent were much lower because their spiritual and political leadership were actively engaged in lying to them. Perhaps only because they were themselves deceived, but it is hard to believe that when we see multiple prophets speaking out truth that was in total accord with the scriptures in the hearing of these men. They were choosing to embrace lies. They were choosing to engage in ungodly behaviour. And they were choosing to tell the people that not only was everything fine, but that God was going to deliver them. They were helping to tie millstones around the necks of the people after willingly tying them to themselves. It was so bad that God could not find one person willing to intercede for the people. Not one.
God does not care who you are. Every human being is held to the same standard. It is a standard that without His help we have no chance to uphold – which is why He has always directed us to rely on Him. To seek Him. To choose Him. So that He can succeed where we would fail. So that we would be saved. All it takes is seeking Him. Directing our prayers to Him. Relying on Him. Listening to Him and obeying what we hear. Not out of duress or fear, but because we love Him and want to please Him. Because we can see the benefits of following Him and the detriment that it is to rebel against Him. A loving relationship. Submitting to our Lord and relying on Him to do what He has called us to do.
The standard for leadership has also not changed. Leaders are to look to righteous behaviour and righteous standards. They are to teach them. Model them whenever they can (we are all human and will miss it here and there) and repent where they cannot. To lead the people by example in seeking the Lord. To continually draw people’s eyes toward Jesus. To proclaim the Good News. To preach the Gospel. And to praise the Lord. To do anything else is to run the risk of missing it. Not only missing it personally, but teaching something that will help others miss it. No. Leaders are to lead by the Word. For His Glory. To speak the Truth and live it as best they can. So that together we strive for the glory of the Lord in our lives and in the lives of all those around us.
Summary
In a way, we are all leaders. We are all examples to the world around us. We don’t need to concern ourselves with perfection. Perfection doesn’t save us and won’t save anyone else. We need to concern ourselves with Jesus. With what God is telling us to do. Admit when we fail, repent, get our thinking in line with God’s, and move toward Him. To not give in to pleasure just because it’s pleasure. To think of the motivations beyond it. To think of the situation beyond it. To work to emulate Jesus and align with His moral character. To obey the Word and believe what it says. To trust in Jesus. To lean into Him every day. To strive for more of Him in our lives than we had yesterday. Starting at the beginning and not letting go until the end. Believe Him. Trust Him. Rely on Him.
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