THE CHAIN OF COMMAND
“As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.” Joshua 11:15
We all have heard how God has chosen to work through a chain of command. It is true in the home, on the job, in government, as well as in the church. We see it illustrated in the Scripture. God commanded Moses; Moses directed Joshua; and Joshua carried out the plan. This is a very simple and efficient plan when it is followed.
As we all know, God’s plans are not always followed. This is one of those biblical principles that we all need to understand and apply, or we will have certain problems along the way. There has always been the temptation to resist or disregard God’s chain of command. Satan rebelled against God’s authority because he did not want to follow His directives. Korah refused to follow Moses. Absalom was a traitor against David’s leadership. Of course, each of these incidents ended in great tragedy for the rebels.
Knowing the consequences of rebellion, why then would people rebel? For some, they do not fully realize they are rebelling. They do not agree with their leader on some issue or issues, and naturally they think they are right. In reality, those human instruments God has given us to follow are exactly that; they are human and will make mistakes. However, that is never a reason to rebel.
If we think someone that we are under is leading us in the wrong direction, we have the right to make a sincere and humble appeal to them. If they do not heed our appeal, then we are to leave it in God’s hands. Remember, it is God who allowed them to be in the place of leadership. If they are telling us to do something that clearly contradicts the Word of God, we must obey God. However, most people do not violate God’s chain of command over matters of conscience or doctrine. Rather, it is usually over differences of opinion or personal preferences. We have witnessed many people ignore the Biblical system of authority and take matters into their own hands. Young people rebel against their parents, wives against their husbands, and church members against their pastors. The reasoning is usually similar and the results will be much the same. A wiser and godlier choice would be to trust God to work through the chain of authority.