Biblical Leaders: A comparison of the leadership traits of Joseph, Judah and Moses
While Joseph and Judah are, in many respects, effective leaders, neither of them is as powerful a voice for their people as is Moses. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss the traits which make Joseph and Judah particularly effective leaders. I will then discuss their failings. Following this, I will compare Moses’s failings and great leadership qualities with that of his predecessors. I will conclude by explaining why, even though Moses may have more faults than some of his processors, he is, nevertheless, a more powerful leader.
First, I will examine the qualities that make Joseph an effective leader. Perhaps the main reason that Joseph’s leadership stands out is that he is almost unfailing obedient to God. When God issues a command, he is faithful to follow it and to give God credit for what he does. He is also a good manager of all he is put in charge of. God makes his hand prosper in each endeavor. Therefore, he sees success, under Potiphar, in prison and in his stewardship of Pharaoh’s lands. He is also good leader because respects those he works for and does not take advantage of them. Similarly, deals fairly with those who are beneath him.
Next, I will examine some of Joseph’s failings. Although he is obedient, he is not always tactful or considerate. He invites hatred by proclaiming his dreams in front of his family members. He brings evil reports of his brothers to his father. This sews discord within his family. Later, when he leads Egypt, he plays games with his brothers, demanding that they bring his brother Benjamin to see him, even though it hurts his father’s heart to be separated from him. Nevertheless, Joseph remains an overwhelming positive leader, who helps both Egypt and his own people thrive during a time of famine.
Next, I will examine Judah’s positive and negative leadership qualities. Judah is less faithful and obedient than Joseph. Although he is supposed to give Tamar his youngest son as a husband in a levirate marriage, he fails to do so because his first two sons who married her displeased God and were put to death because of it. He engages prostitutes, making use of their services, but condemns the women of his tribe for playing the harlot. Because of this, he sleeps with his own daughter-in-law and is forced to acknowledge that he is the father of her child. Nevertheless, he has many good traits, which make him well suited for a leadership role.
He is merciful and keeps Joseph from being killed by the other brothers by suggesting that they sell him instead. When Joseph will not let Benjamin return to his home, Judah is the one who pleas for Benjamin’s return and the one who submits himself for punishment. He is a good leader because he takes responsibility for the actions of those he sojourns with. In most ways, he is true to his word. He cares about the feelings of others, particularly his father. He acknowledges his sins. He is also a good leader because when his tribe is starving, he is able to convince Jacob to let him bring Benjamin to Egypt to plead for food, even when doing so is difficult.
Moses is less obedient than Joseph. His disobedience is so great that it leads God to keep him out of the promised land. He is reluctant to do much of what God commands him to do, provoking God’s anger from time to time with his excuses. Yet, in spite of his failings the Israelites could hardly ask for a better leader. With God’s help, he stands up to Pharaoh, the leader of Egypt, strong, enough to keep their whole tribe in bondage and he pleads for their freedom. He leads them across the wilderness, interceding for them time and time again when they displease God, helping them to navigate both geographical hazards and moral dilemmas.
He is consistently compassionate. Even before God calls him, when his is living as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, he feels compassion, which causes him to slay Egyptian who beating a Hebrew. He has compassion for the downtrodden again when he meets women from his wife’s family and chases away shepherds who harass them as they draw water. He draws their water for them and acts as a protector.
Indeed, Moses is so committed to protecting his people, that even when God, himself says to Moses, “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation,” Moses intercedes for them (Exodus 32:10 King James Version). Moses debates with God, arguing that if God kills his people after taking them out of Egypt, the Egyptians will see it and they will ask, “For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?” He pleads with God not to destroy them and to remember his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to make their descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and to give them the promised land forever. His argument is a good one. He succeeds in changing God’s mind. The writer of Exodus says, “And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.”
Joseph, Judah and Moses each have qualities that are desirable in a leader. Joseph is obedient, faithful and a good steward. Judah is ambitious, moderate and influential. Yet Moses alone had the compassion to stand between the Israelites and God and to make a case against the destruction of his people to the creator of the universe. This is what makes Moses a greater leader.
- Exodus 32:10. King James Version
