“Go, and gather the elders of Israel together,
and say unto them,
YEHOVEH, God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
appeared unto me, saying,
I have surely visited you,
and seen that which is done to you in Egypt”
.-Exodus 3:16
Recall post E1-1 when I talked about the societal structure of Israel.
I mentioned that the nation of Israel was broken down into tribes, clans, and households in that order.
I also mentioned that each tribe was ruled by a prince, each clan was ruled by a chief, and each household was ruled by a head.
Again here’s a breakdown of this structure:
NATION=all of Israel
12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL ruled by PRINCES
CLANS ruled by CHIEFS
HOUSEHOLDS ruled by HEADS
MAN-BY-MAN=nuclear family
These princes, chiefs and heads together formed a hereditary aristocracy, so to speak.
There was nothing democratic about how these positions were assigned.
It was all in the family.
Although there may have been and exception or two, unless the person in question was a total scoundrel, becoming a prince, chief, or head was just a matter of being born into that position.
It had nothing to do with merit.
However, operating in parallel to this hereditary aristocracy was another class of leaders that served as the representatives of the common folk.
In the Bible, this class of leaders are called the “Elders and Officers“.
Incidentally, the word “Scribe” is sometimes substituted for the word “Elder”.
Now contrary to the hereditary ruling class, the election of elders and officers (or scribes) was a democratic process and if a given elder or officer abused his authority or was deemed unsuitable for his position, he could be removed.
It were these elders whom God commanded Moses to go to inform them that the deliverance of Israel would soon be at hand.
The point is God sent Moses to the common peoples’ representatives, not to the upper ruling authorities.
And the same thing happened with Yeshua.
He didn’t go to the institutional religious elite.
He went to the people.
In fact, his first 12 representatives were common fishermen.
I don’t believe things have changed today folks.
Don’t think that God restricts his communications to only “officially appointed” pastors, teachers or leaders.
They are NOT mediators between God and the people.
They are simply appointed organizers assigned to carry out certain tasks and needed functions.
There is NO ONE between the Father and you except Yeshua.
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