Leadership
For forty years Moses learnt leadership in the Egyptian desert. Today, the Bedouin are Arabic-speaking nomadic peoples of the Middle Eastern deserts. Most are camel, goat and sheep herding nomads. In Old Testament times they were engaged in pastoral pursuits, caravan trading, and banditry. They were descended from Midian, son of Abraham.
Jethro, priest-leader of the Midianites was the father-in-law of Moses. Jethro taught Moses about Yahweh, the lord of the Midianites. Yahweh was revealed as the God of the Hebrews. The Midianites before the Jews practiced circumcision. I have sat down with Bedouin leaders in their black goat hair tents. Bruce Barton reported his conversation with them in an earlier meeting, “We beheld a string of five camels that belonged to one caravan, and they were tethered everyone to the camel in front of him. But the foremost of the camels had on a halter that was tied to a saddle of a donkey. I spoke unto the man of Arabia who had the camels and enquired how he managed them. He said: “Each camel followeth the one in front, and I come after and prod up the last camel.” I said: “Doth not the first camel consider there is no other in front of him but only an ass?”
He answered, “Nay, for the first camel is blind, and knoweth only that there is a pull at his halter. Every other camel followeth as he is led and I prod up the hindermost one.” I inquired, “How about the donkey?” And he said: “The donkey is too stupid to do anything but keep straight on and hath been often over the road.”
“Behold, a picture of human life. For there are few men who ask other than how the next in front is going and they blindly follow, each in the track of those who have gone before.” And Keturah said; “But how about the leader?” And I said: “That is the profound secret; for often the leader is the only one who stands on a rock and sees where they are going, and the leader is really behind the whole procession.” William B Barton
The art of leadership requires a vision of where the people should go, an ability to prod, and the capacity to inspire confidence in the one who travels immediately ahead of the rest. With those qualities a crowd will follow their leader.