Hartono Oey Blog

God always raises up a leader for the hour - the theme of book of Judges. Whenever suffering grew terrible and the people cried out in despair, God called forth a judge (or deliverer) to throw off the oppressor’s yoke. Sometimes these judges were good and noble men like Gideon or Samuel; at other times erratic and unstable men like Samson rose to the fore.

In any case, the message rings clear: God raises up the weak and unlikely to confound the strong and sensible. Deborah, a woman, led in a time when men were considered the superior gender; Gideon, the runt of the litter in the smallest of the tribes in Israel, rose to greatness in his time; and the strong man Samson ruled for a short while until his inability to control his own appetites led to an impetuous end.

The ultimate lesson here? People need leaders. Jesus echoed this truth when He described the people of Israel as “sheep having no shepherd” (Matt. 9:36). Chaos reigns whenever humankind does whatever is “right in his own eyes.” Civilized life becomes imposible when every man has “his own way.” We always need healthy, spiritual leaders, and this book of Judges illustrates that truth as vividly as any other.

Lessons in Leadership here:

• Leaders who compromise their values eventually compromise their goals.
• It takes strong, spiritual leadership to engineer a turnaround in God’s kingdom.
• Leaders should lead from their area of giftedness and strength.
• The one with the plan and insight is the one with the power and influence.
• Leaders must learn to lead themselves before leading others.
• People first buy in to the leader before they buy in to the cause.
• God will often raise up the most unlikely leader to accomplish His purposes