Series E -- God’s Laws

Lesson 13

JEALOUSY REBUKED

THE MEEKEST MAN ON EARTH

From Numbers 12

“Aaron and Miriam, Moses’ brother and sister, was talking about Moses one day. They were angry with Moses and criticized him because of his Cushite wife. Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? They complained. Has He not spoken through us also? The Lord heard this criticism and summoned the three of them, Moses, Aaron and Miriam, to the tabernacle. Now Moses was a very meek man, in fact the meekest man on earth. Come to the tent of meeting, the Lord commanded the three. When the three arrived at the tabernacle, the Lord came in the cloud and stood at the doorway. Then the Lord ordered Miriam and Aaron to step forward and they did. Listen to Me, the Lord said. If there was any other as great as a prophet among you, I would speak to him only through visions and dreams. But I speak face to face with My servant Moses, for he is entrusted completely with My house. He alone shall see the very form of God. That being so, why was you not afraid to speak out against him? The Lord’s anger against Miriam and Aaron grew more intense. When He left in the cloud above the tabernacle, Miriam became white with leprosy. Aaron cried out in anguish as he looked at Miriam and saw what had happened to her. Oh, my lord, Aaron pleaded with Moses, do not punish us because of this foolish sin. Do not let Miriam live as a dead person, as a person whose flesh is half rotted at birth. Then Moses cried out to the Lord. Lord, please heal her, I beg You. But the Lord answered Moses, even if her father had spit on her, she would be confined outside the camp for seven days. So now let her be confined for seven days outside the camp for this sin; then she may return. So for seven days Miriam was banished from the camp. The people did not travel until she was restored to the congregation. Then they left Hazeroth and set up camp in the Wilderness of Paran.”

COMMENTARY

THE MYSTERY OF MOSES’ FAMILY

When Moses was forty years old, he fled Egypt for Midian. There he married a Midianite woman named Zipporah. By the time he was eighty, he was the father of two sons. His wife did not like the Hebrew custom of circumcision and on the way to Egypt she exclaimed to him: “You are a bloody husband!” Nothing more is mentioned of Zipporah until she rejoins Moses in the desert, after having been sent home to Midian. Later, Miriam and Aaron criticize Moses for marrying a Cushite. It is possible that “Cush” meant Ethiopia, and Moses’ new wife was black. On the other hand, if “Cush” was the name for Midian, the woman was Zipporah and Miriam may have been angry because Moses’ wife was not a Hebrew.

TEST YOURSELF

1.) What were Moses’ brother and sister angry with him about?

            A) His loud snoring

            B) His long nose

            C) His choice of cloak colour

            D) Hid Cushite wife

2.) What punishment was visited upon Aaron?

            A) He was turned into a pillar of salt

            B) Ingrown toenails

            C) Leprosy

            D) His hair fell out

            E) None of these are correct

3.) What punishment was visited upon Miriam?

            A) Ingrown toenails

            B) Her hair fell out

            C) Leprosy

            D) She was turned into a pillar of salt

            E) None of these are correct

4.) For how many days was Miriam expelled from the camp?

            A) Three

            B) Two

            C) Forty

            D) One

            E) Seven

5.) How many children did Moses have at the age of eighty?

            A) Twelve

            B) Two

            C) None

            D) Seventy-two