Moses as Ethical and Transformational Leader in the Old Testament

Moses: An Unlikely but Principled Leader

In the Old Testament, Moses emerges as an unlikely leader of the captive Hebrews. Raised by the Egyptians as one of their own, he discovers that he is actually a Hebrew, and his relationship with the God of the Hebrews grows to the point that he is chosen to deliver a message to Pharaoh: God demands that the Hebrews be freed. From the beginning, Moses was an ethical leader who practiced both ethical and transformational leadership skills to bring the Hebrews to the Promised Land. He killed a slave master for cruelly whipping a Hebrew, fled into exile, encountered an angel of God, and ultimately returned to his true people to lead them out of Egypt and through the desert for forty years.

Moses was surrendered by his mother as an infant because the Egyptian ruler feared that the Israelites were growing too powerful and might ally themselves with Egypt's enemies. As a result, the order was given that all Israelite male children should be killed. Moses was discovered by the royal Egyptian family and raised as an Egyptian. When he later killed an Egyptian who was abusing a Hebrew slave, he became a fugitive — but he also became, in that turning point, a true servant of God and listened to the divine voice through the angel in the burning bush. Moses ultimately delivered the Hebrews from slavery, led the Israelites for many years, and gave them their first set of laws: the Ten Commandments.

Moses had to contend not only with the Egyptian ruler, the Pharaoh, but also with rebels among the Israelites who wished to continue worshipping idols. Moses was also not a particularly skilled public speaker and asked God to choose another leader, but God insisted that Moses serve as his messenger to Pharaoh. To assist him, God provided Aaron to serve as what essentially amounted to Moses' public relations spokesman. Aaron was a far more effective orator than Moses, but Moses was the true leader — the one who held the vision and the ethical conviction needed to provide the Israelites with support, guidance, and a clearly defined moral framework (Ben-Hur & Jonsen, 2012).

Confronting Pharaoh: Conviction Under Pressure

The first major challenge Moses faced was witnessing the Israelites being cruelly subjected to slavery by the Egyptians. Moses was a man of integrity and honesty, and when he killed the Egyptian in order to defend a Hebrew slave, he demonstrated his principles and valor. He fled to save his life, but he returned because he obeyed his God, who commanded him to go back and tell Pharaoh that God wanted the Hebrews freed. Moses demonstrated his honor once again and did as he was instructed.

In dealing with Pharaoh, however, Moses was confronting a man who refused to listen, negotiate, or heed the warnings delivered to him. Even after the successive plagues, it took the Angel of Death visiting the house of Pharaoh before the order to free the Hebrews was finally given. And even then, the Israelites were pursued, and Moses had to demonstrate his absolute faith and trust in God by parting the Red Sea and shepherding the Israelites out of danger through miraculous intervention. Moses was a man of great conviction, and his faith wavered only once — when he struck the rock twice instead of once, in a moment of doubt at God's instruction to strike the rock only once to bring forth water. Moses accepted his punishment: he would never see the Promised Land, though the other Israelites would.

Conclusion: Moses as a Model of Ethical Leadership

Moses was a leader who commanded respect because of his ethical principles, his integrity, and his honor. He was devoted to fairness and to God, which is why he returned to a land where he was wanted for killing an Egyptian. His faith in God served as a demonstration for the Hebrews of how a true Israelite should act. He gave them a vision of how they in turn should behave ethically and with principle. The Ten Commandments, given by God to Moses and then to the Hebrews, provided a framework by which the Jewish people could transform themselves into sons of God.

Moses did not always possess the right tools for leadership. He was a poor public speaker, and for that reason he relied on Aaron as his voice. He once doubted the promise of God — regarding the striking of the rock to obtain water — and as a consequence was told that he would not see the Promised Land, though his followers would. Moses accepted this consequence because he recognized it as just, and in doing so he once again demonstrated his ethical leadership: taking blame and accepting responsibility when it was his to bear.

Because of his devotion to the vision given to him by God and his commitment to strong ethical principles, Moses is remembered as one of the greatest leaders of the Old Testament.

References

Ben-Hur, S., & Jonsen, K. (2012). Ethical leadership: Lessons from Moses. Journal of Management Development, 31(9), 962–973.

Herskovitz, P. J., & Klein, E. E. (1999). The biblical story of Moses: Lessons in leadership for business. Journal of Leadership Studies, 6(3–4), 84–95.