The book of Exodus heralds the birth of a new nation, God’s “treasured possession among all peoples” (Exodus 19:5). Like the creation, and the renewal after the flood, the formation of this new nation is the result of God’s initiative. Humanity has no say in the matter. Indeed, God’s actions against Egypt and other nations are judgments against human sin. God’s will, as revealed in the law of Moses, opposes human culture when it is wrong. God is making a nation very different from the other nations (Deuteronomy 12:30; 18:9-14; 26:18-19; 28:1 cf. Ezra 10:11).
You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow My rules and keep My statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 18:3-4).
You shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them (Leviticus 20:23).
In the law of Moses, God is creating a culture suitable to this stage in His grand plan. This new, earthly nation is to be a theocracy. (Theo means God and cracy refers to rule, hence a society ordered and governed by God Himself.) Here is an opportunity for God to re-assign roles as may be needed. With that in mind, we survey leadership as it develops in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.