I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 16-18.

Sometime shortly after the defeat the Israelites suffered when they tried to enter the Promised Land after initially refusing to do so, several prominent men formed a group to replace Moses. This appears to have been a response to Moses’ decision (as directed by God) to lead the people back into the wilderness. The story of this rebellion has always troubled me because the rebels basic argument is one which resonates with me; shouldn’t the leader be answerable to the people? I do believe that the leaders of the Church should be accountable to the members. On the other hand, we need to carefully seek God’s guidance before we seek to remove those whom He has placed in a leadership position.

That brings us to the reason this group thought that Moses should be replaced. They felt that he had failed to fulfill his promises to the people. Leaving aside the failure of the people to do their part, this is a good starting point for replacing a leader. However, it is an insufficient basis for putting oneself forward as the replacement. These rebels failed to lay out their own alternative course of action to the one chosen by Moses. Further some of the leaders of the rebellion refused to come before God and the people to make their case for leadership change. Which brings us to how Moses dealt with this challenge to his leadership. He laid the matter before God for God to make His will clear about who should lead the people.