Two things are striking in this verse of scripture. Firstly, the indisputable role of leadership either in moving forward or in retrogression. Is it not curious that when the children of Israel wanted to go back to Egypt, they still needed a leader to actualize that? Secondly, we notice the progressive nature of sin. Sin works like yeast. Put a little yeast in the dough, and you have the whole lump affected. That is why the best guarantee against full scale sin is to deal with it at its conception. What began as emotional low generated complaints among the Israelites, led to outright rebellion. The rebellion of the people is two-fold. By deciding to make a captain for themselves, they were indirectly rejecting those divinely ordained. And by opting to return to Egypt they chose to travel in opposite direction of where God was going. Offering to go anywhere other than where God has earmarked for you is a subtle way of rebelling against Him.

We need to be reminded that both murmuring and rebellion have untoward consequences. Reading the Book of Numbers further reveals that these sins had twin effect. They used forty years to do what could have been done in a few days! They could not make it to the promised land in record time. Worse still, the generation that complained all died in the wilderness. Avoiding their acts is winning wisdom to avoid their fate. Finally, a good parameter to assess the leader over you is to find out if he is moving you closer or farther away from God and what He is doing. Good leaders move you closer to the ways of God.