LEADERSHIP:  Put God First * Character * Obedience

 LEADERSHIP:  Put God First * Character * Obedience

Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning, God ..”

Genesis 3-10 –Adam & Eve fell through disobedience. Noah saved himself and his family through obedience AND a hundred years of hard work building that Ark.

Genesis 12-25 – Abraham believed in God’s promises, and the Lord accounted it to him for righteousness. (15:6) In Genesis 14, when his nephew Lot is taken captive, Abraham takes swift action, gathers 318 armed men from his own household, and rescues Lot. In Genesis 18, “three men” (God & two Angels) appear to Abraham by the terebinth trees of Mamre. He “ran” to meet them, “hurried” into his tent to tell Sarah to “quickly” make three cakes, and then “ran” to the herd to choose a tender calf to be prepared for his guests.

1 Samuel 8-15 recounts Saul’s rapid rise to fame and glory as the first king of Israel, as well as his rapid fall from grace. His character and actions contrast sharply with David in 1 Samuel 16-31 and 2 Samuel. David faces the Philistine giant Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:45-47 with utmost confidence, proclaiming that “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied .. for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.” (See also Jahaziel to King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:15-17.) Furthermore, David almost always consults with the Lord before going into battle.

2 Kings 18-20 & 2 Chronicles 29-32 recount the story of King Hezekiah of Judah who faces the huge army of King Sennacherib of Assyria coming against Jerusalem. Now God is not stupid! He knows the problem, but what’s important to understand here is that God does not act until Hezekiah prays for deliverance in 2 Kings 19:15-19, 2 Chronicles 32:20-22, and Isaiah 36-37. After Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah pray to the Lord, God sends an angel to slaughter 185,000 Assyrian troops overnight.

2 Chronicles 33 tells the sad story of King Manasseh in Judah. Whereas his father Hezekiah did almost everything right, Manasseh did everything wrong “according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out.” He rebuilt the high places, raised up altars for the Baals, made wooden images, worshipped all the host of heaven (Sun, Moon, and stars), built altars for idols in Solomon’s Temple, sacrificed some of his own children to Molech, practiced soothsaying, witchcraft, and sorcery, consulted mediums and spiritists. It was only late in his 55-year reign that he repented and was restored.

Many Old Testament characters did nothing (or almost nothing) wrong and serve as excellent models of leadership -- Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph in Genesis; Moses; Joshua; Gideon, Deborah, and Jael in Judges; Samuel (read his farewell speech in 1 Samuel 12); King Josiah of Judah in 2 Chronicles 34-35; Ezra; Nehemiah; Queen Esther & her Uncle Mordecai; Job; the prophets. The keys to their success are always the same: putting God first, serving the people, character, and obedience to the Word and Will of God.