Anticipation
Oh boy! We get to have several great chapters right
in a row! First we have God bestowing a
disease on Miriam, then we get the spies into Canaan (round 1, at least), and
then we see the true rebellion of the people.
This is a most historic part of Numbers to which we are coming!
Why Is Only Miriam Leprous?
Today we get to focus
on Miriam. First things first. The Bible is quite clear that Aaron and
Miriam both spoke out against Moses. I
don’t know why God only punishes Miriam.
I really don’t – and the Bible isn’t clear on the reason. Here are some possibilities:
· More than likely it revolved
around Aaron’s special duties in the tabernacle.
· Some people argue
that Aaron makes a confession of guilt and Miriam doesn’t, but in truth Aaron’s
confession comes after Miriam is already made leprous. So, I don’t buy that Aaron is spared because
of his confession in Numbers 12:11-12.
· Some people want to
lift this up as evidence of chauvinism in the Bible, but clearly in other
places God has no problem cursing men with leprosy, so I don’t buy that,
either.
· The verb translated
as “spoke” in Numbers 12:1 is feminine singular, implying that Miriam was the
instigator and Aaron simply followed her.
While this is accurate to the Hebrew and it does explain why Miriam was
punished, it doesn’t necessarily explain why Aaron is spared. After all, in other places God has punished
not only the instigators but all who were involved. However, it is fair from a linguistic
perspective to say that Miriam and Aaron are not equal co-conspirators. Combining this reason and the first reason
may explain the text the best.
I’m acknowledging up
front that this part of the text still puzzles me. The truth is that the real answer for why
only Miriam was cursed with disease is likely some combination of the above
reasons and probably a few other things that God knows and I am not privileged
to know. That’s okay. I don’t have to understand everything for my
faith in God to hold true.
Backing Up a Few Steps
What I would like to
talk about is the actual “problem” in this text. Notice that his chapter begins with the fact
that Aaron and Miriam were making trouble for Moses because he had married a
woman who was not a Hebrew. Now, we can
talk about that if we want. But if we
do, we’ll actually be missing the point.
Notice that the real
problem is stated in verse 2. Miriam and
Aaron were jealous of Moses’ power. They
knew God had spoken through them and they wanted recognition instead of Moses
getting it all. They bury the real issue
under something that they can get more people to rally around!
This is the way of
humanity. There is some root problem
within a person, but usually that root problem is too “difficult” to
confess. It may be difficult because the
person knows they are in the wrong, or it might cause too much trouble in the
relationship, or it might lead to direct confrontation, or whatever. But for whatever the reason, the true problem
often gets buried. Humanity cannot deal
with buried issues; they boil out in other ways always. So although Miriam’s and Aaron’s problem is
in their jealousy, they begin to focus on something they can talk about in
public: Moses’ wife.
Again, notice what
happens here. Miriam and Aaron know
their initial problem with Moses is not something likely to have any
importance. In fact, they might likely
know that how they are feeling is downright wrong. So they focus on something within Moses that
they can safely use against Him. This is
the way of humanity. Whenever someone
comes with a problem, chances are that the problem being spoken about is not
actually the true problem in the depth of the person’s soul.
The Perceptiveness of God
Here’s the great
thing, though. God cannot be
fooled. Notice that when the three
gather before God that the topic of Moses’ wife isn’t even mentioned? God goes straight to the point. In spite of what they might like to think,
Moses is different. God uses prophets
all over the place. In fact, last
chapter alone we see 70 new prophets come about out of the spirit that God had
originally given fully to Moses! But even
when God uses other people, Moses is still different. Moses speaks face to face with God, not in
dreams and visions.
Life’s Not Fair
Miriam and Aaron have
no right to be jealous of Moses. They
should accept the place that God has chosen for them and not be jealous of how
God has chosen to work through any other person. But how easy is that to do? How many of us truly like playing second
fiddle?
Let’s not ignore the
fact that both Aaron and Moses appeal to God with pleas. Aaron’s plea is a confession after he sees
the consequence of his action. Moses’
plea is a pained leader watching as yet again sin has affected his
community. I like how Aaron is not too
proud to confess – if even after the fact.
I like how Moses does not hold a grudge.
True faithful
leadership does the right thing and intercedes between people and God
regardless of the past between them.
After all, in the end it is not so much “who is right” that is important
but rather that “as many people as possible are right with God.” True leadership understands this and can let
go of grudges as easily as they come.
Mercy and Egalitarianism
Notice also that God
has mercy. There is a consequence for
her sin, and she is shut out of the camp.
But the camp doesn’t move until she is allowed back into the camp. It is as though God is telling her that He
will not move the camp while she cannot participate in leading the people along
that move. God allows the people to stay
put until Miriam is allowed back into leadership.
Let’s return to the
third bullet in the list above. If God
was truly interested in chauvinism, do you think that He would have cared about
Miriam’s position when considering the timing for moving the camp? No. A chauvinistic
God would have likely moved the camp while Miriam was cast out in order to
drive the point home. The reality is
that God cares as much for the women in leadership as for the men. This is evidenced here in this passage.
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