Good Leaders Rule With Justice (Isaiah 32:1-8)

Isaiah 32-33 (32:1-8; 9-20; 33:1-16; 17-24)

"See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice" (Isa 32:1, NIV).

• Isaiah 28-29 spoke of false leaders.
• Isaiah 30-31 spoke of false counsel.
• Isaiah 32-33 speak of the true leader and the characteristics of his reign. This section can be divided into:
1. The nature of true leadership (32:1-8). His reign is characterized by righteousness and justice (Isa 32:1).
2. The Spirit as being necessary for true leadership (32:9-20).
3. The necessity of divine intervention on Judah's behalf explained (33:1-16).
4. A graphic illustration of the rule of the King (33:17-24).

Bad Leaders Produce Unacceptable Worship (Isaiah 29)

Isaiah 29 (1-8, 9-14, 15-24)

"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught'" (Isa 29:13, NIV).

Isaiah 28-33 continues the discourse (which begun in Isaiah 7) of the foolishness of trusting the nations instead of the Lord, by dealing particularly with the specific political situation in Judah: Would Judah trust God or not? The same approach was seen in ch. 13-27 where particular nations were addressed (13-23) before addressing the world as a whole (24-27).

The Removal of Male Leaders (Isaiah 3:1-15)

Outline:

1. The problem: Childish, Immature Leaders (3:1-7).
2. The judgment: According To Your Deeds (3:8-11).
3. The indictment: Oppressing Others (3:12-15).

Leadership failure. 3:1-15 addresses the questionable character of leaders. It is closely related to 2:6-22 for Isaiah is addressing the people of "Judah and Jerusalem" (Isa 2:1). The leaders were proud. They trusted in their human accomplishments and in human security. Isaiah 2 emphasizes the demise of mankind in general, but Isaiah 3 considers the specific removal of the leaders (3:1-15) as well as the proud and vain women (3:16-4:1).

What Every Good Leader Knows

The Naked Now, Richard Rohr, 2009. Chap. 29

Here are some insights into what every good, nondual leader knows and practices, whether in the workplace, at home, or in the classroom. Good leaders:

• See alternatives.

• Influence and inspire people more than by ordering or demanding.

• Know ahead of time that every one-sided solution is doomed to failure. It is never a final solution but only a postponement of the problem.

• Learn to study, discern and search together with their people for solutions.

• Know that total dilemmas are very few. We create many dilemmas because we are internally stuck, attached, fearful, overidentified with our position, needy of winning the case, or unable to entertain even the partial truth that the otheer opinion might be offering.

• Work for win/win situations by searching for a middle ground where the most people can find meaning. (This is hard to do if you assume you are the higher, the more responsible, the in-charge, the senior, the more competent -- or once you have made a harsh judgment about the other.)

Christian Leadership Assessment

The leader always sets the trail for others to follow. The leader does not intimidate but inspires others.

1. What is your understanding about being a leader?
2. Other than Jesus, Paul and Moses, what might your ideal model leader look like?
3. Do you perceive that God has called you to be a leader? In what way?
4. How might you serve God as a leader of his church?
5. What are your strengths? Your weaknesses? How self-aware do you think you are?
6. Are you led by the Spirit? How so?
7. How is your life of prayer, silence, solitude, contemplation, meditation?
8. How much or how often do you read the Bible? Read books?
9. Are you self-controlled? Reactive? Easily angered?
10. How well do you take criticism? Being challenged? Over-ruled?
11. If you are a leader, do people follow you because they want to, or because they have to?
    

Leadership (Dt 1:9-18; 3:21-29)

Questions:

1. Do you agree that "you don't need a title to be a leader"? Why or why not?
2. How well do you deal with pressure and stress (Dt 1:12; Num 11:14; Ex 18:18)
3. What is your understanding of delegation (Dt 1:13-15)? From your leader (cf. Mt 20:25; Mk 10:42; Lk 22:25)? To your subordinates? Explain the difference between "gopher delegation" and "stewardship delegation."
4. Have you experienced justice from your leader(s) (Dt 1:16-17; 16:20; 32:4; Ps 9:8; Isa 42:1; Mt 12:18)? Reflect on this quote by Martin Luther King Jr: "It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people."
5. Reflect on Charles Spurgeon's quote regarding the best man ("leader") in the church: “Do not desire to be the principal man in the church. Be lowly. Be humble. The best man in the church is the one who is willing to be a doormat for all to wipe their boots on, the brother who does not mind what happens to him at all, so long as God is glorified.” How might this relate to Jesus as our Leader (Jn 13:14)?

Directives For A Young Servant of Christ (1 Timothy 4:11-16)

1. Command and teach these things (1 Tim 4:11), perhaps the gospel and it's implications (1 Cor 15:1-2).
2. Don't let paternalism or hierarchy discourage you (1 Tim 4:12).
3. Your personal integrity before God is of utmost importance (1 Tim 4:12). Questions for self-evaluation:
1. How does your speech affect others? (Prov 25:15; Ps 19:14; Eph 4:15, 5:19; Col 3:16; Matt 12:34, 15:18; Luke 6:45)
2. How is your conduct? (Phil 1:27; Rom 12:18; Heb 12:14; 1 Thes 5:13)
3. How are you loving God? Loving others? (Matt 22:37-40)
4. How is your faith expressed? (Luke 8:25)
5. How pure is your heart? (Matt 5:8; 1 Thes 2:13)
4. Your devotion should be to the reading and teaching of the Bible (1 Tim 4:13).
5. Live out your unique personal gifting from God (1 Tim 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6), which may be leadership in Timothy's case.
6. Practice, persevere, press on, show progress and persist (1 Tim 4:15-16); there are no short cuts in life, there are no short cuts for a Christian; there are no short cuts for salvation, even though it is only by grace alone (Eph 2:8,9).

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The Difference Between God's Rule and Man's Rule (Isaiah 31,32)

Stop Trusting Man, Return To God (Isaiah 31:1-9)

Isaiah repeatedly exposes Judah's (God's people) futility in trusting Egypt (man), rather than God (Isa 31:1), the only source of true security (Isa 31:5). God would frustrate them (Isa 31:2-4), until they repent and turn back to God (Isa 31:6-9).

The Rule of God and Godly Leaders (Isaiah 32:1-20)

People are happy according to how their leaders rule/lead them. Bad leaders make their people trust them and their secret plans (Isa 28:15; 29:15). But God's Messiah (king) and godly leaders (prince) "will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land" (Isa 32:1,2; Ps 46:1; 1 Pe 5:1-4). Godly leadership brings receptive hearts (Isa 32:3,4), no false appraisals of leadership qualities (Isa 32:5), and nobly caring for the disenfranchised (Isa 32:6-8). Isaiah also warns and threatens lazy women with impending disaster for their bad influence (Isa 32:9-20).

Glorious hope: A king reigns in righteousness, rulers rule with justice (Isa 32:1).

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