Read Numbers 12
Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses
12 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lordheard this.
3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
4 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 went out. 5 Then the Lordcame down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words:
“When there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
I speak to them in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8 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?”
9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”
13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”
14 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.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
16 After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.
Go Deeper
If you’ve ever had a cold, you know that this sickness produces a variety of symptoms, with a runny nose being one of the most common. If you only ever treated the runny nose, you would never get better. A year’s worth of Kleenex would not help you get closer back to full health! The root of the issue must be addressed for health to be restored to the body. We see this play out in our reading today where Miriam uses her prejudice against Moses’ wife to shroud her sense of entitlement regarding the spiritual leadership of God’s people. Although Miriam’s prejudice cannot be excused, we see here that God addresses the root issue that influences her actions.
In the previous chapter, while Moses was in the mountain with the Lord, God’s presence rested upon the elders of the people of Israel and those same elders began to prophesy. From what we can see in scripture, neither Aaron nor Miriam was a part of those who prophesied. Disappointed with this outcome, they approach Moses to air their grievances.
Instead of approaching Moses with humility, they approach him with a sense of entitlement. Oxford defines entitlement as “the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.” Entitlement is one of those sins that can be hard to spot in ourselves because it is so self-focused. Ultimately it stems from pride, which God hates. (Prov 16:5)
At the end of the day anything good that we receive in life is a result of God’s kindness towards us. Recognizing this should lead us to choose a posture of gratitude and humility. Moses could have acted entitled when he was approached by Miriam and Aaron. He could have pointed out that he was the appointed spiritual leader of the Israelites and that they had no right to attack and accuse him. But instead of flexing his position, Moses exercises humility. God sees this and honors this by fighting Moses’ battle for him and bringing justice to the situation.
Due to Miriam’s sin, the entire camp is made to stay in one place for eight days. This is important to note because it shows us that no one sins in a vacuum. Our sin can affect others that we didn’t consider when we decided to sin. The next time you’re tempted to act in an entitled manner, take a moment to pause and ask yourself What would a humility-filled response look like instead? Then, consider an aspect in the situation that you can be grateful for. Let God fight for you!
Questions
- Can you think of an area in your life where entitlement has crept in? What can you do to remove that sense of entitlement?
- What is something in your life that distracts from the actual root problem?
- What does it look like for you to operate in humility when being wrongly accused?
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4 thoughts on “Numbers 12”
Reading this passage stirred conviction in my heart. How often do I slip into selfishness, entitlement and become accusatory of others? Truth be told it’s my default mode. The very place these behaviors scream the loudest is in the home with family. We tend to treat our spouse and children with disrespect and not think twice about it. God wired us with a conscience to filter our thoughts through, and most importantly the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us into truth. When ugly thoughts surface why not ask God what the root of them are? Sin lurks at our door and wants control over us. We are to take every thought captive unto the obedience of Christ which requires humility. Create in me a clean heart, oh God!
Pride, envy, jealousy, have reared its ugly head. They (Aaron and Miriam, but perhaps just Miriam was doing the majority and Aaron the listening but went along with her) were fussing about Moses wife but when in truth it was about not getting to “talk to God”, they only got dreams. This is not just anyone this is family. Vs 2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this. Well, yes, but they wanted more. But instead of asking, seeking for more they murmured. She got the sin in her heart brought out onto her flesh. She was exposed. What would that look like for you and me? That is a very ugly thought. BUT GOD and His grace gave her 7 days of this and the entire group waited. Then she was welcomed back into the group, another act of grace. Miriam went through a refining. Rather than letting sin take hold it would have been a great thing to discuss. If we can identify when those thoughts start swirling then perhaps we can turn them into good. 2 Cor 5:17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
God I am so thankful for how You reveal Yourself to me daily through Your Word. Thank You for guiding me to see when those dark thoughts come creeping in. God I cannot do this on my own, I need/want You. God I want to be an awed fruity tree for You!! Thank You for the pruning in my life. God I am so grateful to grow in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!
The leader of these millions of people, the person to whom God was speaking directly was “ “was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.“
Wow!
I too feel the conviction of accusations towards others. What is my motive? Better yet, what is my stinking thinking? Father, forgive me for my prideful behavior and thank you for the correction from Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen.