Living in the Image of God M05S18
We discuss Samuel’s address at the inauguration of the first king of Israel and Paul’s farewell address to Ephesian elders: to understand the source of leadership authority and power, and the rights and responsibilities of the people regarding their leadership. Because the authority of government is mandated by God and belongs to the people, the power of leadership based on the authority is exercised on behalf of the people. Samuel gave account of his state leadership and called on the people of Israel to evaluate his performance regarding the state functions. He highlights the individual responsibility to hold government leadership accountable and evaluate the leadership individually and collectively, in the practice of democracy according to God mandate. Paul extended the principle to non-governmental leadership through his address to church elders in Ephesus. He recognized that the authority and power of leadership of a religious organization belong to the members, the same way that government authority and power belong to the people. Like Samuel, Paul highlights the individual responsibility to hold leadership accountable and evaluate leadership performance for the practice of democracy according to God mandate.
In this bible study, we discuss two events from the bible to understand the source of leadership authority and power. Also, we discuss the rights and responsibilities of the people regarding their leadership. First, we discuss Prophet Samuel’s address at the inauguration of Saul as the first king of Israel. Second, we discuss Apostle Paul’s farewell address to Ephesian elders as he prepared to depart from Ephesus.
Prophet Samuel’s address at the inauguration of King Saul leads to the following understanding.
The authority of government is mandated by God and belongs to the people. The power of state leadership is based on the authority of government. Potential abuse of power could consist of an unfair application of power against the people; which could manifest as corruption, extortion, or bribery.
In his transfer of state authority and functions to Saul at the first separation of state and worship, Samuel called on the people of Israel to evaluate his performance regarding state leadership [1 Samuel 12:3]: “Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.” Through the interaction, Samuel highlights the individual responsibility to hold state leadership accountable regarding possible abuse of power.
Apostle Paul’s farewell address in Ephesus extends the principle to non-governmental leadership. He called on the church elders to assess his leadership, based on understanding that leadership authority and power belong to the church membership and are exercised on their behalf. Like Samuel’s earlier address to the people of Israel, Paul’s address to the church elders highlights the individual responsibility to hold leadership accountable against possible abuse of power.
The two events recognize the rights and responsibilities of a people regarding their leadership. The authority and power of leadership belong to the people and are exercised on their behalf. Through the interactions, Samuel and Paul highlight the individual responsibility to hold leadership accountable, evaluate leadership performance, and apply the information toward a collective assessment to determine subsequent actions in the practice of democracy according to God mandate.
Samuel Declares Principle of Leadership Accountability
In his address at the inauguration of King Saul, Prophet Samuel reminded the people of Israel that God was both God and government to them before they asked for a king. That is, before the people of Israel asked for a king, God related to them directly regarding state and worship. He managed their needs regarding state and worship through leaders that he appointed for the people. Prophet Samuel was the last of such leaders [1 Samuel 12:10–11]: “They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ Then the Lord sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.”
Samuel recounted the history of Israel from their sojourn in Egypt through their conquer by various nations after they settled in Canaan: “But they forgot the Lord their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them” [1 Samuel 12:9]. He recounted the history to explain to them that having separate leadership for state functions is different from the combined leadership for state and worship that they enjoyed under God in their prior history.
He explained that God separated their state leadership from the combined leadership because they demanded the separation: “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king” [1 Samuel 12:12]. Therefore, the inauguration of King Saul began the period of separation of state and worship. Samuel remained the religious leader and Saul became the king (that is, head of government). Samuel transferred the state authority and leadership functions to Saul.
At the transfer, he gave account to the people regarding his performance of the state functions. Also, he called on the people to evaluate his performance of the state function prior to handing over state leadership and functions to their new king. He called on the people to bear witness against him regarding any abuse of state power: such as unfair application of state power against any person; through corruption, extortion, or bribery [1 Samuel 12:3]: “Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”
Individual Responsibility Based on Samuel Address
Additionally, Samuel’s address declares the individual responsibility to hold the state leadership accountable. God grants to government the authority to manage state functions on behalf of the people. Therefore, the authority of the state belongs to the people, and the state leadership is accountable to them.
Samuel’s address highlights the responsibility of every person (i.e., individual responsibility) to hold government leadership accountable: for the performance of the responsibilities of government, to ensure there is no unfair application of state power against any person; and no corruption, extortion, or bribery. The individual evaluations of government leadership are collated to form the collective evaluations by society. This process defines the practice of democracy based on God mandate.
Paul Extends Principle of Leadership Accountability
Apostle Paul extended the principle of leadership accountability to include non-governmental leadership. His address to Ephesian elders recognized that leadership authority and power for a religious organization belong to the membership. He called on the elders of the Ephesian church to evaluate his leadership based on the principle [Acts 20:33–35]: “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Paul called on the Ephesian elders to bear witness to his performance as their religious leader, that he did not engage in corruption, extortion, or bribery. Instead, he worked hard to support his living. His address highlights the individual responsibility to hold leadership accountable, the same way that Samuel called on the people of Israel to evaluate his leadership regarding performance of state functions.
Summary of What We Learned
The study discusses Samuel’s address at the inauguration of the first king of Israel and Paul’s farewell address to Ephesian elders: to understand the source of leadership authority and power, and the rights and responsibilities of the people regarding their leadership. Because the authority of government is mandated by God and belongs to the people, the power of leadership based on the authority is exercised on behalf of the people.
Samuel gave account of his state leadership and called on the people of Israel to evaluate his performance regarding the state functions. He highlights the individual responsibility to hold government leadership accountable and evaluate the leadership individually and collectively, in the practice of democracy according to God mandate.
Paul extended the principle to non-governmental leadership through his address to church elders in Ephesus. He recognized that the authority and power of leadership of a religious organization belong to the membership, the same way that government authority and power belong to the people. Like Samuel, Paul highlights the individual responsibility to hold leadership accountable and evaluate leadership performance for the practice of democracy according to God mandate.