A God Appointed Leader

“These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance”

When I played Little League baseball, I was pretty good so I was always selected in the top few draft picks in the league (thanks to Dad, one of the coaches).  However, in football, I was small until I got to high school so when I played junior high football, I was the booby prize.  I have remembered drafts of pickup games where other names are called and you get down to just you and one other guy.  That is embarrassing.  When I got to high school, I tried out for basketball (before I got into wrestling) and there was no greater discouragement at the time than not seeing your name on the roster when the list as posted.

I am doing my systematic reading through the Old Testament.  It can be real dry at times and sometimes my prayer is that God somehow reveals to me truth so I don’t just gloss over the copious detail in books like Leviticus and Numbers.  So in Numbers 34, something caught my eye.  God appoints leaders by name, one by one.  There it is – God actually names them in talking to Moses.  Interestingly, none of the leaders named in Numbers 34 come from the same family lines as those in Numbers Chapter 1.  These family lines failed in leadership as that generation died in the wilderness.  God appointed new leaders to go into the promised land.  What is it about Bukki and Elidad that made them right for the task?  Bukki didn’t audition for the role.  God knew his capability to lead so well he just named him.  We have a role, a place.  Have you ever considered that God is so in charge of the details of life that he has appointed us for a specific job?  How could anyone read of the details in the Pentateuch and not come away with a belief that God is not into details. 

I want to be on that team.  I don’t want to be cut out of the team.  I really want to be on the leader list somewhere.  Oh it may not be documented forever as in Scripture, but God has in mind something specific for me to do.  He has my name specifically in mind for some task.  If Bukki can make the team, so can you and I.