Leaders can take on a dangerous kind of pride when they accept credit for what God is doing. Read Ezekiel 31:1-18.

Ezekiel tells us that on June 21, 587 BC God asked him to write His words about the upcoming fall from power of Egypt. Ezekiel used an allegory comparing Egypt to a cedar tree that had grown more massive (powerful) than all other trees (nations) because it was nourished by the rich soil along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. They were being judged and would fall from power because the Pharaoh took credit for their lofty position and in his pride usurped God’s glory. Egypt was handed over to Babylon who is described in verse 12 as “…the most ruthless of foreign nations.”

Whether leaders do good or evil, God is the one who allows them to have influence and He will either sustain them in that position or remove them from that position. Read Ezekiel 30:20-26.

God had allowed Egypt superpower status for centuries. Egypt had taken in and assisted God’s chosen leader Jacob and his family back in the day but when a Pharaoh came into power that did not know the great leader Joseph, Jacob’s son, they enslaved the tribes of Jacob and kept them that way until God used Moses to lead the people out of Egypt. Even when God removed His people from Egypt and settled them in the land He had promised them, He did not take the superpower status from Egypt. Now, through the prophet Ezekiel, God is sending a message that Egypt will be become helpless before His appointed enforcer the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. Their days of superpower status were finished.

If leaders can’t rule themselves they can’t rule others. Read Ezekiel 19:1-14.

Ezekiel wrote an allegorical lament in chapter 19 concerning the princes of Israel. He pictured them as out of control roaring lions that were eventually caught in a net and taken into captivity. Because none of them had the self-discipline to rule themselves they were removed from leadership and not allowed to rule others.

Leaders abdicate their responsibility as a leader when they declare they are powerless to act and then neglect to do what they can and should do to apply positive leadership. Read Jeremiah 38:1-6.

King Zedekiah had been on the throne in Judah about 9 years when the king of Babylon attacked Jerusalem. Jeremiah had consistently prophesied that Jerusalem would fall to Babylon and it had angered not only the king but also the city and religious leaders. They felt that since they lived in God’s chosen city where His temple was located that they were under His protection no matter their lifestyle. Zedekiah had Jeremiah under house arrest but he was free to come and go as he pleased as long as he did not leave the city.

In God’s economy, Christian leaders bear a special responsibility and accountability. Read Jeremiah 25:33-38.

God’s words delivered through the prophet Jeremiah paint a terrible picture of God’s wrath against the national and religious leaders of the nation of Judah. God will judge the guilty but reserves a special fury for corrupt leaders. Just as in ancient Judah, Christian leaders today will still be held accountable by God for how they use their gifts to administer the trust of leadership He has given to them.