Moses Achievement

I was struck by a commenter saying the there is not much about governing nations in the New Testament. It made me wonder why we ignore the Old Testament teaching on how to govern a nation.

God gave a complete system of laws and government to Moses. The Israelites did not need a system of government while they were slaves, but once they went into the new land, they did. God gave them what they needed, yet we ignore it. Ok, its hidden amongst some other stuff, but it there for those who look. The only problem is that most don’t bother.

It feels like arrogance. We are much smarter than the primitive people that Moses led into the promised land, so we can develop a system of government for ourselves. We don’t need the one that God gave them.

I think Moses was amazing. Not only did he defeat the leading world emperor of his time and bring his people into a new land (with God’s help), he listened to God and recorded a full description of the tabernacle and its operation, guidance for economic life, as well as a complete system of laws and government. I have been following Jesus for forty years, and during that time I have tried to hear the voice of God, distinguishing his word from my thoughts. It is not easy. So hearing and receiving all this wisdom from God is an amazing achievement.

Moses did not have the Holy Spirit within him, as we do. He seemed to have to go up a mountain or into a tent of meeting to hear God speak. Yet with these disadvantages, he was able to hear God and record a complete set of laws for the functioning of a society and describe a system of judges for applying them. He also developed a system of temporary military leaders to protect the people from external attack. That is an amazing achievement, albeit with help from God.

I am not too proud to learn from all that God taught Moses. Yet many people believe that they can do better without God. They think that they can develop their own system of government and write their own laws. That is arrogance, so it is no wonder these efforts have failed.