April 11, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Crisis of Authority

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Opening Prayer

Faithful God, I trust in You. No problem is too small for Your concern, no perplexity too great to resist Your solution.

Read NUMBERS 12:1-16

[1] 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 toward 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 spit 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 encamped in the Desert of Paran.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

Contrast the response of John the Baptist to the leadership of Jesus with Miriam and Aaron’s response to the leadership of Moses (cf. John 4:30).

Have you ever questioned a leader’s authority? If so, you will have some empathy with Miriam and Aaron. Or was there an occasion when the boot was on the other foot and your authority was questioned? If so, you can readily imagine Moses’ emotions when challenged by his siblings. Spiritual leadership is charismatic as well as positional, so it is sometimes open to challenge.

Miriam seems to have been the instigator of the challenge to her younger brother. The reference to Moses’ “Cushite wife” is enigmatic. This may be Zipporah, daughter of the “priest of Midian,” whom Moses married shortly after fleeing from Egypt (Exod. 2:15-22,25). Cushan was possibly an alternative name for Midian (Hab. 3:7). Earlier, Moses had followed the advice of Zipporah’s father, Jethro (or Reuel), to delegate the administration of justice to “capable men from all Israel” (Exod. 18:13-26). Perhaps Miriam and Aaron felt marginalized by this increase in the leadership team. If so, the recent additional appointment of 70 elders (Num. 11:24-30) must have aggravated any sense of grievance. Possibly the arrival of Hobab, Zipporah’s brother (Num. 10:29-32), reminded Aaron and Miriam that the diminution of their influence was initiated by Zipporah’s family.

Be that as it may, there are lessons for us in the way Moses handled this challenge. He doesn’t bang the table, saying, “I’m God’s man for the job.” He doesn’t attempt to hang on to power at all costs. Rather, he defers judgment to the Lord. His trust is rewarded, for the Lord makes Moses’ unique leadership role crystal clear to his siblings and, indeed, to all Israel (6-8). In this, Moses demonstrates humility (3), which, in fact, is the opposite of weakness! He is also magnanimous, praying for his sister that she might be restored to health and fellowship. Strong spiritual leaders still respond in humility and mercy to those who challenge them.

Apply

Do you like to serve or be served? How can you develop (or increase) a servant heart?

Closing prayer

Gracious Lord, Your life, teaching, and death model serving others. I need an infusion of Your grace to embrace Your example.

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