Numbers 16:11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
The Authority I Undermine is Always My Own
Perhaps you can sympathize with Miriam and Aaron. Numbers 12:1-2 says, “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses and because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married… And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it.” They referenced their sister-in-law but the real problem was that they resented Moses’ authority. Think about it. Miriam had cared for Moses when Moses was just a little baby. Can you blame her for resenting his authority? Aaron was the spokesperson for Moses because Moses couldn’t speak for himself or God as he wished. Can you blame Aaron for the way he felt? Well, God did.
In verse 8 God says, “Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” At the moment when Moses most needed to have his authority bolstered, God didn’t call him a great leader but a servant. Why did God do that? It was because God’s referring to Moses as a servant was actually a statement of Moses’ authority. Moses had authority with others because he was in submission to God.
All authority is delegated authority. The reason Moses had authority with Israel is because Moses was submissive to God. Is it any wonder, then, that when I undermine the authority of someone else, I have hurt my own authority?
In Numbers 16 there was a group of men led by Korah that gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?” Is it any surprise that after Aaron resented Moses’ authority, Korah resented Aaron’s authority?
All authority is delegated authority, and we sin against ourselves when we sin against authority. Authority is not something you own. It is something you steward. Authority is not something over us or beneath us but something that flows through us. I have authority with those that follow me as I accept the authority of those over me. All of us are under authority and probably have some measure of authority. The surest way to have authentic authority in your life is to submit to authority in your life.
In short, the authority I undermine is always my own. If I undercut my wife, I am cutting myself off and hurting my own authority. If I resent the authority of the pastor, police officer, or employer, then why should I be surprised when those who are supposed to follow my lead don’t follow me either? There is only one authority, God. He delegates authority, and I steward it. The authority I submit to is the authority that gives me strength, and the authority I undermine is always my own.