Slices
Being colour-blind
Give thanks for the spread of the gospel throughout the world – people of every nation, tribe and tongue gathered up in God’s new family.
Bible passage
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 Lord heard 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 Lord came 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 towards 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 spat 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 camped in the Desert of Paran.
Explore
More rebellion within God’s people, but for Moses this time it’s closer to home. The passage contains issues that still cause grief and pain today – sibling rivalry, leadership tensions and the issue of racism. Moses’ wife was an outsider from Cush, modern-day Ethiopia.
The Lord chastises Aaron and Miriam for speaking against their brother. As important as their roles as priest and prophetess, Moses’ task is unique – he is the one to whom God speaks direct (v 8). Criticising him is like criticising God himself. Miriam’s judgement seems fitting. If skin colour is a problem, then let that be for her as well (v 10). If Moses’ wife is to be socially excluded, then let Miriam experience exclusion herself (v 15).
This is a challenging passage. For the early Christians, the issue was incorporating the Gentiles into a predominantly Jewish church (Acts 15; Romans 9–11). God’s kingdom was not about exclusion but the inclusion of all – even those who seem different and strange. As Paul declared, ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3:28). What does this mean for your own church community? Are there barriers to be broken?
Respond
Consider those you spend time with at your church. Are they mostly like you? In what ways can you reach out to the ‘different’ ones around you?
Deeper Bible study
Give thanks to God for your physical and spiritual siblings.
Complaining is infectious. Now Moses’ brother and sister attack him. Many Western commentators see a complaint about the racial background of an unknown new wife of Moses. Rabbinic writers note instead a concern about Moses’ treatment of Zipporah and a fear that such marital neglect will be copied by the seventy just appointed.1 This leads to a questioning of Moses’ prophetic uniqueness. Is this sibling jealousy, of which there have been many examples already in Scripture, or a genuine concern that wrongly questioned God’s chosen actions? Whichever interpretation we prefer, there is a clear warning against unwise and judgemental comments on others, especially God’s servants, even if they are close relatives.
Moses is declared to be a very humble man (v 3). Not the Uriah Heep2 type of humility, but that of a man under God’s command who does not defend his personal dignity. He receives the accusations in silence. It is God who responds on his behalf. And what a vindication it is! Moses is unique because the Lord speaks to him face to face and not through dreams, visions or riddles. Moses’ faithfulness is noted also in Hebrews 3, where his role as a servant in God’s house is compared with that of Jesus as the son of the builder of the house. Jesus is the prophet like Moses3 and is also noted for his humility.4
Miriam seems to have been the leader in this questioning of Moses’ role and it is she who bears the punishment of a disfiguring skin disease. Moses’ special relationship with God is recognised by Aaron as he asks him to pray for her. This event seems to have stuck in the memory of the Israelites and Moses refers to it as a warning about obedience.5 Sin has a long tail!
Consider whether there are judgements of others of which you need to repent.
1 Num 11:24; J Sacks, Covenant and Conversation, 2017, p148–9 2 See Charles Dickens, David Copperfield 3 Deut 18:15 4 Matt 11:29 5 Deut 24:9
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Exodus 15,16; Psalms 15,16
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for Cornelia Wright, Major Donor Fundraiser, asking that she will be able to effectively convey the vision and needs of Scripture Union with our partners in our mission to share the gospel with children and young people.
