When Leaders Make Mistakes

Now what do you do?

Judah and Joseph – Judah was not the oldest of Jacob’s twelve sons, but his personal charisma allowed him to take on the leadership role. We first see this in Genesis 37. The ten oldest brothers are jealous of Joseph, their father’s favorite, and trap him in a well. Judah suggests selling him to some passing merchants. The others agree, and Joseph is shipped off as a slave to Egypt. Jacob is heartbroken over the supposed death of his son, and begins to cling closer to Joseph‘s younger brother, Benjamin. The other brothers, meanwhile, blame Judah for convincing them to sell Joseph in the first place, and over the years Judah grows repentant. The situation finally comes to a head when the eleven remaining brothers go to buy food in Egypt. Benjamin is falsely accused of stealing a goblet from the Egyptian vizier, who insists on keeping the young man as a slave as punishment. Judah sees the parallels between what he did to Joseph and asks the vizier to take him as a slave instead. It is only at this point the vizier reveals himself to be Joseph, testing to see if his brothers felt sorry for their earlier actions.

Now what do you do?

Judah and Tamar – This was not Judah’s first experience confessing a sin, however. Another incident occurred during the years between Joseph’s sale and reconciliation with his brothers, and seems to have taught Judah the importance of repentance. Judah had two sons, Er and Onan, who each married a woman named Tamar and died soon after. According to the laws of levirate marriage Judah should have married Tamar to another man in the family, but tried to weasel his way out of the arrangement. Tamar took matters into her own hands and disguised herself as a prostitute. She and Judah were intimate without him knowing her identity, and she became pregnant. Though Judah did not intend to marry Tamar back into the family, he was still indignant that she had “cheated” with another man while supposedly engaged. He ordered Tamar to be put to death. Before he could go through with it, however, Tamar secretly told him what had actually happened. This forced Judah to confront his own sins, and he publicly confessed to having wronged Tamar.

Now what do you do?

Saul, David and Bathsheba – On his deathbed, Jacob announced that Judah would be the ancestor of the future Kings of Israel (Genesis 49:8-10). Sure enough one of his descendents was King David, who imitated his ancestor in significant ways. The first King of Israel was Saul (who was not descended from Judah), but he displeased God, Who had David anointed to replace him. Realizing this, Saul continually drove David away and sought to kill him. This is an interesting portion of the Bible because on more than one occasion, Saul realizes that David is not actually planning to betray him and apologizes. But the next thing we know, Saul is suddenly pursuing David again! What’s going on?

Now what do you do?

Saul was chosen as king because of his noble character. But his fatal flaw was a lack of real repentance. Continually he realized his sins and felt sorry about them…only to repeat them again, and often on a greater scale. This forms an interesting contrast with David. Perhaps his most famous sin is the incident with Bathsheba. He spots the beautiful married woman, is intimate with her and then arranges her husband’s death so that the two can get married. He is confronted by the prophet Nathan, who describes a parable based on David’s own actions. The moral lapse, followed by a coded call to repentance, make the parallels between David and Judah clear. And, like his ancestor, David instantly repents when confronted with the seriousness of his actions. Indeed, his are some of the most poignant words on the subject: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and let a noble spirit support me…The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; O God, You will not despise a broken and crushed heart” (Psalm 51:14-19).

Now what do you do?

Judah and David were both great leaders in their own rights, and the ancestors of future kings. Were they perfect? Not at all, and the Bible does not hesitate to ascribe grave sins to them. But they are ultimately praised because, unlike Saul, they truly repented and, in the case of Judah with Joseph, tried to make what practical amends he could. This is the trait that marked them out as great leaders. So the next time a politician or a CEO tries to get out of responsibility, remember Judah’s self-sacrifice for Benjamin and David’s psalm of remorse. And when you try to achieve something great, remember that admitting mistakes will not detract from that goal. Instead, it will show what a great person you really are.