Numbers 12:11-1611And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. 12Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb. 13And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. 14And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again. 15And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. 16And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran. (Numbers 12:11‑16)
THE SIGHT of the Lord’s judgment on Miriam humbles Aaron. When he sees his sister a leper white as snow, he seeks no longer to be equal with Moses, but calls him, “my lord.” “I beseech thee,” he says, “we have done foolishly... we have sinned... Let her not be as one dead.”
Thus far Moses had not uttered one word of rebuke or complaint; he did not even tell the Lord what Miriam and Aaron had said against him. And God says of him here that he was “very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” He gave His devoted servant a place of still greater honor for He allowed him to intercede for the one who had injured him. “And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech Thee.”
God had chosen the meekest man on earth to be the ruler of His people, and how like the blessed One whom he foreshadowed Moses was! We cannot but be reminded here of Him who said: “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls.” Matt. 11:2929Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:29). Again we remember the Apostle’s words, when he would silence the flesh in some, “I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ...” (2 Cor. 10:22But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. (2 Corinthians 10:2)). Well may we take these words to heart, for “The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way.” Psa. 25:99The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. (Psalm 25:9).
God did heal Miriam, but she had to be shut out from the camp seven days, and Israel could not continue their journey until she was brought in again.
Miriam the prophetess and Aaron rising up against Moses foreshadows both prophet and priest in Israel rising up against Christ as King. Israel rejected her gentle monarch when He came in lowly grace and she is now suffering from the hand of God in judgment, shut out from her place of privilege and blessing — but to be restored in the coming day when her seven days are fulfilled.
Moses beseeching God for the one who had wronged him pictures to us the far more wonderful intercession of the Lord Jesus when in the midst of His awful sufferings on the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
The two leaders had spoken against Moses because he had married one of the daughters of a Gentile, whose home was the desert. And Christ has chosen for Himself a Gentile bride. He found her in this desert world, He has espoused her to Himself, and soon He is coming to take her to His heavenly home. The grace that has gone out to poor Gentiles such as we only brought out the jealous hatred of the Jews, the chosen earthly race. They showed themselves to be the avowed enemies of the gospel of the grace of God going out to sinners everywhere. How precious to think of the love “which many waters could not quench and which the floods could not drown” — love that would not turn back but which persevered in spite of all men’s hatred and God’s wrath to have “that pearl of great price” — the Church — for His own glory and delight.
ML-09/09/1973