Images of Leadership in the Hebrew Bible

Images of leadership in the biblical texts vary greatly between books and oftentimes within books. The first two books of the Bible, with focus on different time frames and different figures, can illustrate the differing of leadership figures we find within the text. Abraham, in the Book of Genesis, is willing to abuse and manipulate his wife and his concubine in order to get what he wants. His concerns as a leader are his homeland and his lineage. While Abraham is chosen by God to be patriarch, it is clear that he is incomplete and must transform in order to fill out his role. These themes repeat in Genesis as the patriarchs manipulate others and seek to continue their lineage and people. Moses, in contrast, reluctantly and violently begins his story. Moses acts as mediator between YHVH and the Hebrews through many divine encounters. He follows YHVH’s instructions and is able to liberate his people from oppression and deliver to them a legal system to form their society, but falls short of bringing them back to their promised land. While Abraham uses people in order to accomplish his goals, Moses liberates and defends his people.


When Abram, the apparent “father” of the Hebrew Nation is introduced, he is chosen by God, as the story tells us: YHVH promises Abram that YHVH “will bless [him], and make [his] name great,” further promising to bring fortune upon him and misfortune upon his enemies.(1) Abram goes to Egypt to avoid starvation, bringing his wife, Sarai, and uses her to gain better treatment. Sarai, a beautiful woman, is presented as Abram’s sister and the Pharaoh “took her for [his] wife.”(2) Calling back to this ancient people and their customs, we can recognize that Sarai, as Abram’s wife, would have been considered his property. He abuses his power society gives him over her and essentially trafficks her to the Egyptian ruler for personal gain. While we see little of how Sarai reacts to this affair and little explanation of how Pharaoh comes to learn of this deception, Abram and his wife are expelled with their wealth, offering a view of Abram and his family as nomadic herders. As Abram settles in Canaan, YHVH promises to give Abram and his lineage an expanse of land in that region (“for all the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever”).(3) Sarai, however, appears barren.


Perhaps we can see in the themes of barrenness present in the patriarch stories (Sarah, Rebekah) as a very real fear of a nomadic people. A wandering, herding people concerned with In-Group markers may feel that infertility threatens their people: the theme, arising in Genesis multiple times, likely marks a concern of the authoring people. However, as with the other figures who struggle with barrenness, Abram does have children and continues (or in his case, begins) the people. This begins, again, with an abuse of power (though not considered such at the time), this time by both Abram and Sarai. Sarai offers her servant, Hagar, (also considered property) to bear children for her husband. Hagar has a son, Ishmael, but in a story that may reflect origins with another tribe or histories of conflict between tribes, Ishmael, like other biblical figures, loses his claim when he (and his mother) are betrayed.


In later chapters, we see that when Abram and Sarai are chosen, they are incomplete– they are childless and must be transformed in order to have children. God gives them each an additional letter (Hebrew hei), renaming them and perhaps in this way, brings them under God’s “umbrella.” As we see in the earlier chapters of Genesis, predominantly in the “E” narratives, speech and naming is a prominent theme in creation. In naming Abraham and Sarah, God brings them under God’s care and claims them. This passage changes from referring to God as YHVH and progresses into usage of “God” (more often a translation of “Elohim” as opposed to YHVH). As the passage then reverts to the YHVH, anthropomorphic God who eats with Abraham and promises him a son by his wife, Sarah. In chapter 21, when Isaac is born, Sarah almost immediately calls for Ishmael and Hagar to be banished, which indeed they are.(4) Again Abraham, the leader of the tribe, abuses his power and sends of Hagar and his son, presumably because he now has a “better option.”


Abraham, the first of the Jewish patriarchs, begins the form for those that follow. Abraham needs to be transformed by God by naming (as does Jacob/Israel). He is portrayed as a nomadic herder, wealthy, as are those who follow. Abraham is deceptive, using and abusing others for his (and, presumably, his lineage’s) gain. He uses his wife in Egypt, uses Hagar, and then casts both Hagar and Ishmael aside. Similarly, Jacob will coerce Esau for power and his favorite wife, Rachel, will be barren (like Sarah) until she finally conceives. Perhaps in a turning from this story line, Joseph is coerced by his brothers because he is Jacob’s favorite. His brothers sell him into servitude and he no longer dwells in the family of his ancestors, but in Egypt, setting the stage for the Exodus storyline/s. Abraham is a manipulative leader, clearly willing to hurt others for his own gain and displaying ideas of people as property (as they were considered in the times these texts were written). His concerns, like those of the men who will continue his lineage, are for his tribe and their success and continuance as a people. As the stories of Genesis unfold and lead us back to Egypt, where Joseph dies with hope of his people returning to the land promised to them by God.


As Exodus begins, it illustrates that the Israelites have remained in Egypt, but are oppressed by a new Pharaoh who “did not know Joseph.”(5) In Chapter 2, we are introduced to Moses, who becomes the new leader and liberationist for the Hebrew people. Moses, although having an Egyptian name, is said to have been born of Levite lineage, qualifying him to be part of the Israelite tribe. The Egyptian king, then-ruler over the Hebrew people, is painted horribly as a ruler who not only enslaves the Israelites but then demands the murder of baby boys. When Moses reaches adulthood, he clearly has a concern for the wellbeing of his fellow Hebrew people, despite having been raised in the wealthy Egyptian family of the Pharaoh. He murders an Egyptian who is beating a Hebrew man and thereafter flees. Moses appears to be a reluctant leader who cannot help but follow the call of God. He must resist the suffering of the Hebrew people, even to the point of murder, which we might not advocate in our modern Western society, removed as it is from the death and disease that was more pervasive and on-the-surface of the ancient world. In self-exile, Moses takes on the role of shepherd, like the generations of Hebrews before. In Midian, he encounters YHVH (in the first of many divine encounters that mark his leadership) and is informed that he is to lead the Hebrews out of enslavement. Moses’ leadership involves a series of miracles/plagues, unlike the leaders who came before him. Through these miracles, done in concert with YHVH, Moses and the Hebrews escape from Egypt. Moses leads his people in their encampment, though the people are demanding of him in a way that Genesis leaders did not seem to face. He acts as mediator with YHVH, petitioning for them when they are thirsty,(6) warning them not to look at YHVH,(7) giving them God’s law,(8) and defending them after they formed a golden calf (whether as another god or a throne to their god).(9) Moses, the leader of the Israelites in Exodus, is liberator and mediator.


Moses begins his journey hesitantly and violently, killing a man in defense of a people he seemed never to publicly claim kinship with. After self-exile and an encounter with YHVH, he returns to Egypt to free the Hebrew slaves from an oppressive ruler. While Moses accomplishes this task and is able to keep the Hebrew people together in encampments for the next 40 years by acting as mediator between the people and YHVH and delivering the Law for the Hebrews to follow in order to live into their covenant; He does not ultimately bring them back to their homeland.


Abraham, the model patriarch, and Moses, the liberator of the Hebrews, show changing views of leadership between Genesis and Exodus. Abraham, concerned with building and preserving a lineage in covenant, uses those beneath him, often abusively so, in order to accomplish his goal of building his people and populating the promised land. His lineage will use other forms of manipulation and struggle with barrenness/threat to their people. When Genesis closes, this formerly shepherd/nomadic people arrive in Egypt to survive. As Exodus begins, Moses is reluctant to embrace his heritage but does so in violent defense of another Hebrew man. He flees until a divine encounter. Henceforth Moses acts as mediator between YHVH and the Hebrews, defending them at times from YHVH’s wrath and informing them of YHVH’s will. With miraculous powers, Moses and YHVH help the Hebrew people escape oppression and come into their own identity. Moses delivers the covenant law (perhaps a new way to guard their lineage and tibe) and continues to defend the Hebrews when YHVH becomes angry with them. While both leadership models are strongly rooted in an ethnic identity and its formation and protection, Abraham seems to abuse those beneath him (“making the hard decisions”) in order to walk his path, while Moses liberates his people from an abusive power and protects them both from government and, at times, YHVH.



1. Wayne A. Meeks, The Harpercollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version, with the Apocryphal/deuterocanonical Books (New York, NY: HarperOne, 1993), 20.
2. Wayne A. Meeks, The Harpercollins Study Bible, 21.
3. Wayne A. Meeks, The Harpercollins Study Bible, 21.
4. Wayne A. Meeks, The HarperCollins Study Bible, 31.
5. Wayne A. Meeks, The HarperCollins Study Bible, 79.
6. Wayne A. Meeks, The HarperCollins Study Bible, 110.
7. Wayne A. Meeks, The HarperCollins Study Bible, 115.
8. Wayne A. Meeks, The HarperCollins Study Bible, 115-135.
9. Wayne A. Meeks, The HarperCollins Study Bible, 138.












Works Cited

Meeks, Wayne A. The Harpercollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version, with the Apocryphal/deuterocanonical Books. New York, NY: HarperOne, 1993.

Day 3 of Immersion: Last Day in Jordan and Crossing to Palestine

Our next day began with a drive to Madaba to see a church built on the remains of a mosaic floor:


6th Century mosaic on the floor of St. George Mosaic Map Church in Madaba.

Above: St. Georges Mosaic Map Church Madaba, an Orthodox Church in Jordan.

After visiting the church in Madaba, we headed to Mount Nebo.  Along the way, we passed many Bedouin homes.

Above: Bedouin dwellings in Jordan. 

Mt. Nebo also has a 6th century mosaic and is said to be the spot from which Moses viewed the Holy Land.  The views are, of course, spectacular.  The idea of approaching the mountain top and seeing below it a piece of fertile land that a wandering tribe could possibly call their own... the hope was real.  The hope in my own heart felt real as I glimpsed it from a distance and longed for the coming moment when I would walk on that ground with my own feet.

Above: Mt. Nebo, where Moses is said to have viewed the Promised Land.

I thought about Moses.  Our stories suggest that Moses never made it to the Promised Land.  I imagined him looking at the Holy Land with longing, like many Palestinians do.  Maybe he saw that place and knew in his bones a sense of belonging, yet also knew he would never be able to touch it with his own hands.  I imagine Palestinian children today, looking at a wall that blocks their view of the land they have heard their parents talk about... I imagine that key to a house that an Israeli family lives in today being passed from hand to hand as the house is described from memory.  

That sense of longing is real, too.  Perhaps like the Jews of the Exodus, many of the Palestinian people are landless.  While they don't quite wander through the desert, since their movement is so restricted, I imagine their longing for the home they know from memory or from a parent's story.  It must be terrible to live in a refugee camp, knowing that only 50 miles away, your home is there-- so close and so far.

The sense of belonging and longing for the Holy Land is felt by many people... I often think, however, that folks have trouble imagining the longing of others.

Perhaps I am getting side-tracked, though.  

After Mt. Nebo, we went to the Jordan River.  We first visited the site of a 3rd century monastery built at the spot believed to be John the Baptist's cave:

Below is the cave (and the monastery built around it):

The site of John's cave was had water access (a spring is nearby) and is surrounded by reeds that make a beautiful sound.  There is also wild honey and locusts.  The spot felt very intense for me and I had a spiritual experience at the site that I prefer not to share (at least not yet).

Above: Remains of a 3rd Century monastery at the site that may have been the cave John the Baptist lived in. There were locusts, honey, and the Jordan near the cave.

(at Jesus Baptism Site, Jordan River)

• Spot thought to be where Jesus was baptized. Remains of the church around it are from the 3rd Century.

Oh, hello. (at Jesus Baptism Site, Jordan River)

 (at Jesus Baptism Site, Jordan River)

Above: Jesus Baptism Site, Jordan River

Metaphors.

My experience at the Jordan River was intense.  It left me questioning the universe and reality in a way that I cannot explain.  Sometimes you feel in your bones a truth that is more true than other truths.  

Maybe you know what I mean.

Above:  Feet in the Jordan River. I can’t even… (at Jesus Baptism Site, Jordan River)

The Evangelical Lutheran Church at the Jordan River in Jordan gave us our tour at the Jordan.  It was lovely.  The pastor was wonderful in his descriptions and the sense of spirituality he brought to our time.  He gave us lovely blessings in the water and had a great energy and commitment to justice.  After our tour, he invited us back to the church for coffee... of course he did!  Everyone in Jordan has a fantastic sense of hospitality.

Above: Lutheran Church at the Jordan River. (at Jesus Baptism Site, Jordan River)

I found the witness and spiritual work of the Lutheran churches in the Holy Land to be quite impressive.

Above: Altar art inside the Lutheran Church. Stunning.

Above:  Feels after crossing the border into the West Bank. It took 4 hours and was a terribly dehumanizing experience– one that Palestinians go through regularly in their own country. It’s now nearly 2:00 a.m., but we are in Nazareth and will rise early for more. 

We went through a Palestinian border crossing.  Israelis and other groups (like our own) can go through another one, but we went through this crossing, one Palestinians must use, so that we would see what few visiting do: how dehumanizing the experience is for Palestinians who are simply trying to enter their own country.  

There were about 7 different checkpoints our vehicle had to pass through, then about 7 different lines we had to get in to get through the border.  Baggage and Passport.  Passport.  Baggage.  Passport and questions.  More passport and questions.  Baggage.

People in our group were stopped and harassed at various points, but faced only a fraction of the discrimination that Palestinians face… GOING INTO PALESTINE.  It took 4 hours, but likely would have taken more on a different day at a different time, and surely would have been worse if we were Palestinian.  The process treated us like animals.  The atmosphere is strange.  People squish through, simply trying to get home amidst chaos and never-ending lines.  Despite the chaos, one must keep smiling if one doesn’t want to be harassed by Israeli security.  

Happy cows come from…

wait.

Peter observed a young man trying to speak to a member of the Israeli security.  He spoke in Arabic.  “This is Israel.  Learn to speak Hebrew,” said the man.

It was Palestine, not Israel, and even in Israel, one of the national languages is Arabic.

A 15-year-old boy stood next to one of my peers in line.  “Do you see what they’re doing to us?” he asked.

“I do,” he said.

We see it.  We will not be silent.

...

After crossing the border, we had a late dinner in Jericho before heading to our hotel in Nazareth.

Here are a couple of videos that may help you better see and hear what is going on in these lands:

Life in a refugee camp.

The Road to Character: Moses, the Reluctant Leader

Penny's sermon on Sunday was challenging.  I feel so blessed to be interning at a wonderful church led by gifted, deeply spiritual people.  Our current sermon series on The Road to Character by David Brooks is challenging and meaningful in a way that I can feel deeply.

Sunday's scripture used was Exodus 3:1-5.

Penny's sermon, "Moses, The Reluctant Leader," was preached at the Congregational Church of San Mateo on October 18, 2015.  An audio version of the sermon is available on the church website here.

Here is my response:

As I listened to Penny’s sermon, “Moses, the Reluctant Leader,” I thought about her metaphor of the mirage-- a distortion. “The Road to Character,” in many ways, is a response to the distorted individualism that seems to dominate many aspects of our culture. Bonnie’s children’s moment also spoke to this reality. As the “selfie” dominates many of our social media feeds, we see that sometimes self-acceptance and self-love can tip over a line into a kind of self-involvement that may be unhealthy. I scrolled through my own Instagram feed to compare the number of images that were of me with the number of images that were “worldies”-- pictures of other people or the world around me. I found it a healthy exercise. I had to ask myself if I was using my voice to celebrate myself (which is sometimes earned and deserved, certainly), or to celebrate others or share thoughts, joys, and/or concerns that weren’t so centered around ME. Was my Instagram feed beginning and ending with self(ies)?

This kind of self-examination and honest look at how we move in the world is what David Brooks calls us back to again and again throughout his book. I think that Penny’s use of Moses to illustrate this offers a very interesting counterpoint. As I move back to the metaphor of mirage and how our sense of reality might be distorted, I have to unpack it some. Our senses of reality can sometimes, admittedly, be distorted in ways that perhaps celebrate ourselves more than is healthy or deserved. Is my Instagram account full of pictures of my face, or does it display my world in a way that is more balanced? What does it say about my priorities, how I spend my time, or what my values are? When I think about how to divide my time, are all of the ways I spend it essentially self-serving? Is my sense of reality distorted in a way that allows me to think of myself as more value-centered than I am? These are such hard questions to ask myself, but I think they are very important.

On the other side of that coin, as I think about Moses and his reluctance, I also have to ask: is my sense of reality distorted in a way that DEvalues myself? Am I reluctant to post a selfie, because I never feel worthy? Am I reluctant to post or say things about “hard” topics like political issues, critiques of consumerism, racism (or any other issue of justice) because I feel unequal to the task or unqualified? Do I shy away from participation in activism, like a letter-writing campaign, canvassing, or protests? Am I reluctant to speak up when someone uses an ugly word or bring up “serious” topics because I don’t feel powerful enough to take them on?

As is evidenced by the number of question marks above, Penny’s sermon was challenging and asked me to try to be objective and honest about my ways of being in the world. When I think about my values, I have to ask myself if I am bravely living them into the world or keeping them swirling around in my head, where they cannot create change. I have to ask myself what my actions, words, and Facebook feed say about my values.

I am reminded of words of two great figures in history, who call us to value ourselves without distortion and plant ourselves deeply in the world so that we can respond to its needs:

“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” -- John F. Kennedy. We can insert “God” or “the world” or “the people of God” for country, too.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” -- Marianne Williamson

Like Moses, many of us are reluctant to rise to the world’s challenges and meet them with the best of our strengths. Our senses of distortion can inflate or deflate our senses of self. Meeting ourselves with honesty allows us to improve, to love ourselves in ways that bring that love into the world, and to rise to God’s call and find where we are needed in the world.

How am I summoned in the world?  Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.