The Old Testament Review | Teen Ink

The Old Testament Review

May 6, 2018
By CrystalW BRONZE, Wilmington, Delaware
CrystalW BRONZE, Wilmington, Delaware
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

In the Old Testament of the Bible, Yahweh represents the symbol of God, and he assigns different leaders as representations of himself to other humans. Furthermore, he chooses his them according to certain standards of qualities. For example, those such as Noah, Abraham and Moses are seen as good leaders under Yahweh’s requirement for they believe Yahweh is always right. These three leaders share the same attributes that attract Yahweh to selecting them as his symbols. More specifically, Yahweh believes that all his leaders should be honest and benevolent figures and should have a sense of respect and admiration for him. These men all lead Israel and Yahweh’s believers to obeying and respecting him as their only God.


Noah, the first human leader assigned by Yahweh, performs his role with honesty and blamelessness. Yahweh sends the Flood to the Earth to punish other human due to their evil thoughts. However, he chooses to save Noah and assigns him as the new leader of all humans from the Flood, because he cherishes Noah’s quality of not being disposed to cheating. He asks Noah to build an ark of wood with room inside to carry his family, the food they need, and the males and females of each animal species. Noah, consequently, follows Yahweh’s commands without hesitation. Moreover, Noah stays in the ark for hundreds of days patiently without complaining and questioning. When Yahweh calls him to come out from the ark, Noah does as commanded immediately without considering whether the land is fully dried or not after the Flood. These actions show that Noah wholeheartedly believes in Yahweh and is willing to do anything God asks him to do. Even though Yahweh kills Noah’s people, Noah is not angry about this decision. Instead, he appreciates Yahweh for saving his life. Furthermore, Noah builds an altar to Yahweh after his family leaves the ark and sacrifices beasts to thank Yahweh. No matter what Yahweh decides to do, Noah follows his commands honestly without doubts, and that is the reason why Yahweh picks him to be the leader.


Abraham, as the second significant leader assigned by Yahweh, is seen as a respectful and zealous human. He respects all of the decisions from Yahweh and follows everything asked of him. Firstly, Abraham moves out from his hometown to Canaan by the command from Yahweh. He obeys what Yahweh expects him to do straight away, even as far to leave the place where he inhabited before for no reason. In addition, Abraham intends to sacrifice the only son he has with Sarah on the altar, because Yahweh orders him to do so. Even though Abraham eventually touches Yahweh’s heart with his honesty that makes Yahweh release his son, Abraham’s action represents his respect for Yahweh. Furthermore, Abraham’s action of pleading for the innocent people of Sodom and Gomorrah represents his benevolence. Yahweh wants to burn down Sodom and Gomorrah, because the people there are lazy and evil; however, Abraham stops him as they speak like friends sitting on the mountaintop before the attack. He persuades Yahweh as hard as he can to save the innocents remaining in Sodom and Gomorrah. Due to his effort, he saves Lot and his family from the disaster. Thus, it can be seen that Yahweh cherishes leaders such as Abraham for the fact that he respects Yahweh and is benevolent to people.


Lastly, Moses is also presented as a kind leader who follows Yahweh wholeheartedly. Moses is the only prophet in Israel that has the chance to talk to Yahweh face to face; he receives the command from Yahweh to save his people from Egypt in the scene of burning bushes. Without a single complaint, Moses accepts this tough task from Yahweh and accomplishes it sincerely. Despite several refusals from the Pharaoh, Moses continuously tries to persuade the Pharaoh to release Yahweh’s people without giving up. Throughout the course of events, Moses follows every single direction that Yahweh assigns to him; he never doubts Yahweh’s decision after he accepts his mission. Eventually, Moses uses 40 years to lead Yahweh’s people to Israel from Egypt, crossing the Red Sea and the desert; he dedicates his entire life to Yahweh and his people. In addition, Moses begs for Yahweh’s people when they sin by worshiping the Golden Calf built by Aaron, because he does not wants to see anyone get punished. This shows Moses’ compassion for Yahweh’s people. However, Yahweh does become unhappy with him due to the sins of the people and forbids Moses from going to the land of Moab. Even in spite of being barred from where he always wanted to go before his death, Moses still does not have any complaints for Yahweh. Overall, Moses uses his actions throughout his entire life to represent honesty and kindness, which are important qualities that Yahweh seeks in a leader.


Yahweh chooses his leaders by the standard that they hold ultimate respect and admiration for him as the only god. He also requires them to perform kind and benevolent services towards his people. All the qualities Yahweh seeks for leaders’ affect how they, in turn, help others honor Yahweh as the only God.


The author's comments:

What qualities does Yahweh seek the most in his leaders?  Why do you think this is true? 


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