Deuteronomy Chapter One
Qualifications for Leadership

1. Deuteronomy 1:1-15 These [be] the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red [sea], between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2. ([There are] eleven days' [journey] from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.)
3. And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first [day] of the month, [that] Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;
4. After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei:
5. On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,
6. The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:
7. Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all [the places] nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
8. Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
9. And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: (Governing this people is too much for one man.)
10. The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye [are] this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
11. (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye [are], and bless you, as he hath promised you!)
12. How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?
13. Take you  wise men,  (the people were to select the leaders) and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. (Perhaps Moses administered an oath of office to make that man a ruler.)
14. And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken [is] good [for us] to do. (In a small town the people elect a councilman and the Mayor administers an oath of office. Nationally, the people vote for a president, the Chief Justice administers the oath of office making the successful candidate President.)
15. So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes

In Deuteronomy 1, verses 13,14 and 15 Moses gave instructions on establishing an ordered government. Here is verse 13.

13 Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.

Home page.

First page in this series.

 Previous question.