Page 39 - The Bible On Leadership

26 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP

for dear life in the face of physical calamity and psychological doubt. Of
course, it helped to have manna from heaven when the food was about
to run out. But still the people questioned the wisdom of their course
and actively rebelled: ‘‘All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and
Aaron [Moses’ brother], and . . . said, ‘If only we had died in Egypt! Or
in this desert! . . . We should choose a new leader and go back to
Egypt!’ Moses and Aaron fell face down in front of the people and
Joshua tore his clothes.’’ To these dramatic nonverbal communications,
they added some strong verbals: ‘‘The land we passed through is ex-
ceedingly good.’’ The loyal assembly’s reaction? ‘‘The whole assembly
talked about stoning them.’’ (Num. 14)
The executive triumvirate of Moses, Aaron, and Joshua was able to
turn the situation around, but only with a strong appeal to a higher
power and a reminder of their purpose. And Moses died there in the
desert. Steve Jobs may have been sent into exile, but at least he got a
second chance (‘‘Next’’ indeed, and then more Apples!)
After Joshua had led the Israelites into the Promised Land and ac-
complished his purpose of settling it, he resoundingly reminded the
nation of the continuity of its purpose and the need to carry that pur-
pose to its next stage of development. He urged them to be strong, to
obey all that was written in the Book of the Law of Moses, and not to
intermarry with other nations or to form too close an alliance with any
nation, since that would threaten their identity and, ultimately, their
sense of purpose.
A few centuries later, King David’s purpose was to consolidate the
power of Israel and strengthen it ideologically. In a sense, he was the
great builder of corporate culture for the new nation. A renaissance man
equally at home with a sword and a harp, he made certain that the
kingdom was strong culturally, monetarily, and militarily.
His son, Solomon, further built on that sense of purpose, the mani-
festation of which was the first temple in Jerusalem. It took seven years
to build (presumably longer than any of today’s corporate headquarters),
but the process of building it was just as important to the nation as the
actual completion. The mobilization of people and resources was just as
galvanizing as the launch of a landmark new product like the Boeing
707.