I have given the Levites as a gift to Aharon and to his sons from among the children of Yisra'el, to do the service of the children of Yisra'el in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Yisra'el; that there be no plague among the children of Yisra'el, when the children of Yisra'el come near to the sanctuary.

Num. 8:19 HNV

How are leaders seen in the Kingdom of Heaven?

The leaders that HaShem has instituted are gifts to the others. In this case the Levites were gifts to their superiors, the priests. The leaders, that the Messiah Yeshua places in his assembly are gifts, as it's written in Ephesians 4:7-12, "But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Messiah. Therefore he says, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.' Now this, He ascended,' what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. He gave some to be messengers; and some, prophets; and some, preachers of good news; and some, shepherds and teachers; for the perfecting of the sanctified ones, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Messiah." (HNV revised)

This text speaks about the five ministry gifts that the Messiah has given man. Each one of them makes up one part of the complete ministry of the Messiah, verse 7. None of the leaders have the entire ministry of the Messiah, but only a part. Together, however, they form the Messiah as ministry gifts. Each ministry is a gift that has been given to the people and each and every one of them has a part of the Messiah’s ministry according to the grace that they have been given. Yeshua has everything, but none of us has been as equipped as he. We only have a part of him.

The ministry gifts are given to make the consecrated ones complete so that they can perform their ministry and build up the body of the Messiah. Notice that it is the consecrated ones who do the work, guided and completed by the five ministry gifts.

The ministry gifts are given to the people, but none of them will be able to perform their functions if he's not received and accepted by the people first. That's the way leadership works; the Eternal gives and the people acknowledge, the Eternal places and the people submit to that.

There are no dictatorships in the Kingdom of Heaven; leaders cannot force anyone to submit and obey. But even though submission is voluntary, the consequences of rebellion against the ministry gifts are severe, producing lack of direction and blessing which in turn produces malfunctioning of the body.

May the Eternal, through His Messiah, choose, lift up, consecrate and deliver good leaders to the Messiah's congregation, and may He pour down His grace so that the people may receive them and submit to them, and in this way the body of the Messiah is built up, perfected and fully cleansed before his coming in glory.

Blessings,

Ketriel