Knowing which alliances to make and which to stay away from will have a tremendous impact on a leader’s success. Read John 7:14-32.

Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the religious feasts held each year to commemorate a great work of God. As Jesus was teaching in the temple the religious leaders were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” Jesus’ answer indicated He received His knowledge from God and that set off a firestorm that ended with people trying to seize Him and arrest Him. Jesus knew which alliances to build and which to oppose. He consistently gathered around Him sinners whose hearts were ready to change and consistently stood against the legalistic practices of the religious leaders.

A leader’s preparation plus God’s leading and blessing will equal a successful long-range plan. Read Isaiah 30:1-5.

Isaiah was prophesying in a time when Israel was not the military power it had been under David and Solomon’s rule. Assyria was the dominate military power and they had already captured several fortified cities in Israel and Judah. Eventually, in 722 BC Israel, the northern kingdom made up of ten of the 12 tribes of Jacob, fell to Assyria. The Jewish leaders had a choice to make. Either they would trust God to save them from military defeat by His power or they would make alliances with powerful neighbors who held Assyria as a common enemy.

An essential role in leadership is encouraging and developing strengths in others. Read Isaiah 7:1-9.

When Isaiah was writing these words Assyria was the dominating world power. Knowing that no one nation could stand against Assyria, the kings in other countries were making alliances to put up a unified front against the advance of the Assyrian army. Pekah king of Israel, the Northern Kingdom of the nation of Israel made an alliance with Rezin King of Aram, modern day Syria. Both Rezin and Pekah knew that if they could get Judah, the Southern kingdom of Israel, to become part of the alliance they would be much stronger, have a source of food supply from the rich farm land of Judah, control some vital trade routes and have their nations protected from any flanking maneuvers by Assyria.