SCRIPTURE: NUMBERS 12
IMPORTANT VERSES:
“Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t the also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.”(Numbers 12:1-2)
“Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3)
“”Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.” So Moses caried out to the Lord, “O God, please heal her!” (Numbers 12:12-13)
MIRIAM AND AARON OPPOSE MOSES (vs. 1-16)
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.
(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them came out. Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, he said, “Listen to my words: “When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
Then anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.
When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam – leprous, like snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy; and he said to Moses, “Please, my Lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”
Sol Moses cried out to the Lord, “O God, please heal her!”
The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.
THOUGHTS; (From Life Application Study Bible)
Moses did not have a Jewish wife because he lived with the Egyptians the first 40 years of his life and he was in the wilderness the next 40 years. He got a Cushite, an Ethiopian, as his wife. Both Miriam and Aaron had objected to this woman and criticized Moses. But the real issue was their growing jealousy of Moses’ position and influence. Instead of facing the problem squarely by dealing with their envy and pride, they chose to create a diversion from the real issue. If you have a disagreement, be sure that you are arguing over the real issue instead of attaching someone’s character. If you are unjustly criticized, remember that your critics may be afraid to face the real problem. Don’t take the type of criticism personally. Ask God to help you identify the real issue and deal with it.
God punished Miriam for her smug attitude not only toward Moses’ authority but also God’s. He struck her with leprosy, then ordered her out of the camp for a week. This had delayed the march of the nation for a whole week. The sin of criticism is far more serious than most people realize.