Numbers 12:1-101And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. 3(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) 4And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. 5And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. 6And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. 7My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. 8With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? 9And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed. 10And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. (Numbers 12:1‑10)
IN THE last chapter God had taken of His Spirit and put it upon the seventy elders, but He never spoke to them as He spoke to Moses who, He says, was faithful in all His house (v. 7). Now an occasion comes, in which the Lord showed that He would honor the one who had honored Him.
God knows all that is in our hearts. If evil and unbelief be there unjudged, it is His way to bring it out so that we might judge it in His presence and separate from it.
“Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married.” Miriam, who had watched over and cared for her little brother long before when he was a tiny babe, had been honored by the Lord and she is called a prophetess in Exodus 15:2020And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. (Exodus 15:20). It was she who led the women in that wonderful song of praise to Jehovah on the banks of the Red Sea when Israel saw all their enemies dead on the seashore. But now in a spirit of self-exaltation she fails and drags her brother Aaron down with her. They said, “Hath the Lord spoken only by Moses? hath He not spoken also by us?” How far removed this was from the lovely spirit of Moses who just a little while before had said, “Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets.” But decline had set in and it is evident that Miriam and Aaron in their pride would make themselves equal with Moses, which thing could only take from him that pre-eminent place of leadership God had given him.
The fact that Moses had taken a Gentile wife was in their eyes a lowering of his dignity. He was no higher than they, perhaps lower, and so they no longer looked up to him or recognized his God-given place.
It seems that Miriam was the leader in this uprising, though Aaron ought to have been the one to check her evil thought; but he did not. She was not subject to the Lord whose ways of grace she did not understand. God has said, “Do My prophets no harm” (Psa. 105:1515Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. (Psalm 105:15)), so this occasion is a solemn warning to us of how God hears every word of reproach or unkindness against any of His servants and He will surely judge it.
“And the Lord heard it.” Moses never said a word, for had he undertaken his own defense it would only have hindered God’s coming in and dealing with Aaron and Miriam. What a lesson for us here! Moses is silent, God takes up the case for His servant; and “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:3131What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).)
God commanded the three to come out to the tabernacle and then He came down and stood in the door of the tabernacle. Then He said unto Aaron and Miriam: “If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all Mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth,... and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall He behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
God was angry with them and when He departed, behold, Miriam was a leper, white as snow. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Heb. 10:3131It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:31).
ML-09/02/1973