What is your criteria for promoting leaders to positions of authority? (116-3)

Wise leaders recognize wisdom, knowledge and passion in individuals and promote those individuals to positions of authority. Read Ezra 7.

Artaxerxes was the fourth king of Persia to interact with the Jewish people who had been exiled to Babylon by the Babylonians prior to the Persian conquest of Babylon. The Persians were a fairly superstitious people which led to one of the Persian’s national defense policies – allowing a portion of the exiled population of each people group under Babylonian captivity to return to their homeland and establish a national presence and re-establish worship of their god in their homeland. This policy gave the Persians the good will of those returning to their homeland and those from that people group staying in Persian territory, and it gave them physical allies on the perimeter of their nation and the favor of the gods of the people living in these regions.

One of the potential problems with this strategy to the Persians, a superstitious people, came if the people that returned to their homeland stopped pleasing their god and actually angered the god of the land. If this happened the king and his sons would not have protection from that deity but may even suffer the anger of that god. The spiritual health of the returned exiles was so important to the king that he kept knowledgeable, trusted religious leaders from each returned people group as part of his advisory team to help monitor if the gods were being pleased.

It had been over 50 years since the temple in Jerusalem had been completed and worship of the one true God re-established in Judea when word started to filter back to Persia that the Jews were not observing the laws that pleased their God. This got Artaxerxes’ attention. One of his concerns is expressed in 7:23, “Whatever the God of heaven has prescribed, let it be done with diligence for the temple of the God of heaven. Why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and of his sons.” Artaxerxes needed to select a knowledgeable, trustworthy leader to send back to Judea to fix this situation and there was urgency.

When it was critical to choose the best leader to complete a task, Artaxerxes demonstrated wisdom in his selection process. Artaxerxes identified Ezra as “…a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, The God of Israel, had given” (v 6) and he knew that Ezra “…devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel” (v 10). Artaxerxes chose a man with a good reputation and who had demonstrated passion for the Laws of God and to teach the Laws of God over a long period of time. Wise leaders will learn from Artaxerxes’ leadership example.

Do you have a criterion that includes performance over time when promoting leaders to positions of authority? Are you observant to see which of your team goes the extra mile to become a better, more knowledgeable leader?