“There is no place for a weak spine in the ministry of a leader.  Men who stand up for the truth, who bow down to only God, who praise only godliness and rebuke all unrighteousness; these are the men we need.  Men who will not snap under the pressure of rebellion from their people, who will not give in to the mass plea for iniquity, who will not aid the devil in making the people fall; these are the men we need.  We need men like Moses who, though being angered with the iniquity of his people, felt such great compassion on them that he begged for mercy instead of fire and brimstone.  Even at the expense of his own soul, Moses was prepared to shepherd his people toward God’s loving hand.  Aaron, on the other hand, was prepared to give the people’s souls over to Satan, in order that all but God and Moses would approve of him.”

This is an excerpt from a student’s response to my message “Shepherding a Rebellious People” which examines Moses and Aaron as examples (positive and negative) for leading God’s people in the golden calf incident in Exodus.