Corruption (Vigilant Eyes)
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข What comes to mind when you hear the word โintegrityโ? How do you know if a person has integrity or not?
โข Who is the most honest person you know? Why do you think honesty is important?ย
โข Why is it important to select people in positions of leadership who will uphold impartiality, equity, and integrity?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
"๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โ ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ด-๐ฎ๐ฌ
Moses reminded the Israelites that it was God who was the giver of land and inheritance to each tribe. It was the job of the appointed judges and officers to act justly, so that the tribe could continue to live in the land and pass it on to the next generations. The people should take justice and the choosing of their leaders seriously. The land itself, and the inheritance of the next generation, depended on following Godโs justice. What kind of leaders should we choose? What kind of leaders should we be?
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ.ย
โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ. . . .โย ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ต
To pervert something is to change the direction of something away from its original goal. Leaders have power, position, and often wealth in order to uphold justice, to give each person what they are due. Changing this in any way, by a little or a lot, perverts justice and prevents fair treatment of everyone involved. Have you seen or experienced a perversion of justice? What was that like for you?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐.
โ. . . ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ . . .โ ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ต
To be partial is to show favoritism to one person over another, no matter what is actually due to them. However, God requires righteous leaders to justly treat every person according to their due. In these decisions, they should only fear God and His authority to correct injustice. What does Psalm 98:9 say about how God is as a judge?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐.ย
โ. . . ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด.โ ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ต
To subvert is to do something that weakens a righteous cause. In this case, subverting means taking payment of any kind to change an outcome from a just one to an unjust one. A wrong outcome that is paid for is not justice at all. It increases the vulnerability of the vulnerable and lessens trust or belief in the leadership. Have you seen or experienced a similar situation? What was the outcome? How did you respond?ย
Anyone who has the authority to make a decision about another person, or the influence to affect decisions about other people, is in a position of leadership. This includes us, even for seemingly small decisions that involve others.ย
We should practice righteous leadership no matter where we are or who we are leading. We should uphold justice, show no favoritism, accept no bribes, and fear only God in our decision-making. In fact, we can choose and raise leaders who demonstrate these godly qualities. When we do this, God promises us continued blessing and a lasting inheritance.ย
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข What instructions did God give to the people through Moses about governance, power, and justice? What were these instructions for? How does this apply to you today?
โข What specific qualities are we asked to look for when choosing leaders? What qualities should leaders practice? How can you practice this when choosing the right leaders to appoint?ย
โข Leadership is practiced no matter where we are and who surrounds us. How can you practice the qualities of righteous leaders this week?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for those who are currently in government office and positions of leadership, trusting God's purpose for their lives and roles.ย
โข Pray and ask God for leaders who fear Him and resist any temptation to pervert justice, show favoritism, or receive bribes.ย
โข Ask God for our governing authorities to ensure we live ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ฆ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ (1 Timothy 2:2).ย