How to Lead & How to Follow

Chpt. 18 - That ain't right - as mentioned in the previous post, Moses goes through an experience where he can't do it by himself in chapter 17. Now, God's going to bring the point home again through his father-in-law, Jethro. Jethro sees Moses trying to handle all the issues of the Israelites by himself. He point-blank tells Moses in verse 17 - What you are doing is not good. He then lays out a solution (there's another point buried here: don't criticize someone's leadership unless you have the solution and will work towards it) - set up a system where you have just a few direct reports and they only bring to you really big issues. I'm sure Moses thought he was being so faithful to God. It says that he did this by himself from sun up to sun down. Here's another leadership point - we love to be needed, but it's not God's intention for us to have that need met in other people or by performing tasks that please people. God wants us to find our security and identity in Him.

Chpt. 19 - God comes down - verse 20 says that God descended to the top of Mount Sinai. This, along with His instructions for people to not even touch the foot of the mountain or they'll die, is kinda making the point: I'm altogether higher than you. I am so holy, you guys can't handle it. For me, all this does is remind me to have a healthy fear of God and makes me more grateful that Jesus has bridged this huge gap. We do have access to God and don't really have any idea what it was like to have to have your leader talk to God and then come back and tell you what He said.

Chpt. 20 - A Big Misunderstanding - this is where God lays out some of the most famous commands/instructions of all time. Even many non-believers know some of these. Most of our current laws have their root here. God lays out 10 ways for us to interact/live with Him and with others. Here's the big misunderstanding that the average Joe on the street has about the 10 Commandments: (A) people should obey all this so that (B) they'll be good, (C) God will like them, and (D) they can go to Heaven. I, on the other hand, have a different view on these points:

(A) they should be obeyed (that's not different), but they should be obeyed for a different reason

(B) these instructions/commands/laws are given not to make us good, but to show us were are NOT good and need something (Someone) else

(C) God does like us - in fact, He loves us. These instructions were given to His people - a group of people He referred to in chapter 19 as a "treasured possession." They were already in the family. These were family rules - in other words, since you're in the family, here's how our family is going to operate.

(D) there is NO indication anywhere near that if a human obeys all this (which nobody can) that God guarantees them a spot with Him in eternity.