Old Testament Biblical Leadership Theme Report PDF

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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY

Old Testament Biblical Leadership Theme Report

Submitted to Dr. Rod Earls, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course

LEAD 510 Biblical Foundations of Leadership

by

Anissa Chambers February 3, 2019

Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................................................2 Leadership Theme: Relationship with God.................................................................................2 Leadership Theme: Persistence....................................................................................................4 Leadership Theme: Servant’s Heart and Attitude......................................................................5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..……………6 Bibliography....................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction The Old Testament was full of men who grew into amazing leaders. They were ordinary people who were given larger than life jobs to lead God’s people. Benjamin Forrest and Chet Roden explained that the concept of leadership is more than just the term “leader” throughout the Bible1, but is character and qualities that were developed in people like Moses, Solomon, Joshua, Debra, David, Nehemiah, Gideon and Joseph. God empowered men to be leaders and to guide and steward the earth according to Genesis 1:28, “God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”2 God never does anything without purpose you can see this in the world in which we live. God is the ultimate leader and has the absolute rule and sovereignty over all the earth and His directives are to be followed.3 A leader has a challenging job. One of the greatest ways to learn about leadership is to study those who have been leaders before in the Bible and how they accomplished the plan of God in their time. The purpose of this paper is to examine three major leadership themes and show how it is important for today’s leaders. Leadership Theme: Relationship with God The leaders in the Old Testament followed God’s vision and direction with unquestionable obedience and loyalty because of their relationship with God. A Godly leader

1 Benjamin K. Forrest and Chet Roden, Biblical Leadership: Theology for the Everyday Leader (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2017), 30. 2 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New American Standard Bible (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2008). 3 Forrest and Roden (2017), 30.

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must have a personal and real relationship with God.4 Many of the leaders had powerful encounters with God that influenced and helped this relationship. They did not have what we have today with being able to ask Jesus in our hearts and to be in His presence on a regular basis. Joshua learned and was mentored by Moses. He took a group of people from wondering in the desert to conquering a new land so they could be home. David was a man after God’s own heart because he enjoyed seeking God out. If these leaders had not had a relationship with God, they would not have known where to go, what to do or the vision that they each had to lead their people. We live in a world today that wants other gods to rule their lives. Everything from electronics to false religions. There are a lot of churches that are watering down the gospel to be politically correct and others who want to deny the existence of hell because they claim a loving God would not truly judge people. Joshua faced lands with all kinds of gods and had to bring judgement on some that chose wrongly. Joseph lived righteously in a pagan nation with opportunities to no follow God. In the midst of all of this they remained on their course and stayed true to the one they were in relationship with, Yahweh. True leadership for us today is to have a strong relationship with God. We must encounter Him every day by spending time with Him and knowing His heart so that we can lead and guide His people. The only way to lead others to the truth of Jesus is to know Jesus ourselves. “If God is the source of salvation, then obedience to his word is the only real option.”5 If we as Godly leaders do not have this foundation then we are building on sand and it will fall. To know God’s direction, we must know God and have a real relationship with Him. Leadership Theme: Persistence 4 Aubrey Malphurs, Being Leaders: The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2003), 15. 5 Forrest and Roden (2017), 135.

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Elmer L. Towns says, “Followers will never go farther than their leaders”6 In the Old Testament this is shown to be true through the persistence and perseverance of the leaders. The jobs they were called to do were always bigger than they were. Moses faced Pharaoh with power from God and later took the Israelites across the Red Sea on dry land these were unsurmountable odds that could not have been done in his own power. Joshua marched around the city of Jericho and saw the walls fell with a shout. Gideon leads a small army against ridiculous odds and saw the enemy confused and destroy themselves. These leaders faced obstacles that looked impossible to the normal eye, but with the vision of God they were able to face them, overcome and claim victory. Joshua a great leader who when looked at seems courage’s beyond belief needed to trust God as he took the reigns after the death of Moses. Moses was a great leader and now Joshua had to take the Jewish people into the next season of their history. Howell, says it this way “The fact that God says to Joshua “Be strong and courageous’ three times to one who already possessed a resume o courage underscores the daunting scope of the task before him and the vacuum that Joshua felt without Moses’ strong presence.”7 Joshua need God to speak and comfort his heart as he walked ahead as the new leader for the Jewish after Moses. It took persistence to walk that path. Today leaders face giants that look at us and say you will not win. Giants of political correctness, giants of false religions, giants of an apathetic church or a social justice church. People that believe right is wrong and wrong is right from sexual orientation to the overreach of woman to control the world and not walking in their purpose. The church is under attach from without and within trying to marginalize the Word of God. The leaders of today must preserver 6 Elmer L. Towns, Biblical Models for Leadership (Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2011), 45. 7 D.N. Howell, Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 20030, 43.

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in unsurmountable odds that look impossible to the normal eye. When the leader’s preserver they are looking through the vision of God and seeing the power and miracles that will happen when the follow through and trust God. Greatness comes from the persistence of the leaders to succeed even through the odds are difficult and bigger than they are. God is calling leaders to be persistence so as they lead, people will learn persistence in their everyday lives of following God. Through this they will lead more people to Jesus and see the kingdom of God grow in power and strength. Leadership Theme: Servant’s Heart and Attitude One of the greatest examples of a servant leader is Nehemiah. He was in service as a cupbearer to the king,8 but he knew and understood the condition of his people. It was because of his servant’s heart and attitude that he was allowed put things right for his people and securing their city. God has a way of putting a servant in a place of influence. Joseph was another example of a servant who was put into a place of influence and leadership. Malphurs says that leaders who are servants are committed to influencing people in a direction that is a God ordained goal.9 They not only know how to motivate people but to mobilize them for works of service for the plan of God. Great leaders now how to serve from the servant’s perspective and heart. They give unselfishly to the vision that God has given them. They march with the people and are able to motivate and influence them with Kingdom plans. A Godly leader today is one that can work hand in hand with the people, laugh with them and cry with them. A servant leader is one that is relational, and it is through this relationship they have influence and can mobilize their people. A servant knows the people they serve. A 8 Nehemiah 1:11 9 Aubrey Malphurs, Being Leaders: The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003), Kindle Edition.

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servant leader knows God, knows how to share His message to motivate the people because he knows the people too. A servant leader will server both God and the people that God has entrusted to him. Today, leaders must develop a relationship with God and their people so that they have influence. This does not mean they do what the people say, it means they influence the people to do what God says. Conclusion Throughout time leadership has never been easy it always includes obstacles that are larger than the leader and need God. These leaders know how to adjust and sometimes go back to the basics for the team, so everyone understands. They help build strong foundations and sometimes they step aside for another leader that can take them through the next season. Building the Kingdom of God takes a relationship with God, persistence to see it through and being a servant in heart and deed to accomplish the plans of God. Glad that God never makes a leader do it alone he said in John 14:16, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;” A leader has the Holy Spirit to help us walk out the plans and purpose of God. 2 Corinthians 10 14-16 says, “For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you, for we were the first to come even as far as you in the gospel of Christ; not boasting beyond our measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but with the hope that as your faith grows, we will be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by you, so as to preach the gospel even to the regions beyond you, and not to boast in what has been accomplished in the sphere of another.” As we walk out our leadership calls in a Godly manner let us see that the kingdom of God is enlarged, not to credit ourselves but to bring glory to Jesus. Rejoice when we get it right, repent

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when we get it wrong but always keep our relationship on track with Jesus, stay persistent in the walk and serve those whom God has entrusted to us as leaders. This is the way we are going to impact our world today as Godly leaders.

Bibliography Forest, Benjamin K., and Chet Roden. Biblical Leadership: Theology for the Everyday Leader. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2017.

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Howell, D.N. Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership. Eugene OR: Wipf and Stock, 2003. Malphurs, Aubrey. Being Leaders: The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership. Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2003. Kindle Edition. Towns, Elmer L. Biblical Models for Leadership. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2011.

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