Numbers 12:1-16 NKJV
12 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)
4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!” So the three came out. 5 Then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward. 6 Then He said,
“Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak to him in a dream.
7 Not so with My servant Moses;
He is faithful in all My house.
8 I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;
And he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
To speak against My servant Moses?”
9 So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. 10 And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. 11 So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. 12 Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb!”
13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Please heal her, O God, I pray!”
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again.” 15 So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again. 16 And afterward the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.
“Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (3). It is tempting to read Moses’ words about himself as self-praise and unbecoming of the man called to the high office of lawgiver for God’s people. But it is precisely because of His high calling that the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to write this about himself. He was humble in that he had not sought this office. He was humble also in that when he was attacked, reviled, and rejected by Israel, he waited on the Lord and wanted peace. The word translated “humble” here is also translated as “meek” in Psalm Ps 37, “Those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. . . The meek shall inherit the earth And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (9, 11). To be humble (meek) is to wait on the Lord for His deliverance so that one doesn’t seek out unnecessary conflict with others.
Moses shows this meekness when his brother—whom God had called to be high priest—and sister—whom God honored with the title “prophetess”—speak against him. Not content with the vocations God had given them, they speak against Moses, using the fact that he had married an Ethiopian woman as a pretext for their real complaint, “Has He not spoken through us also?” They wanted to share Moses’ office. God comes to Moses’ aid and punishes Miriam with leprosy. (Aaron would be barred from his high priestly duties if he was punished with leprosy). Though Miriam had spoken against Moses, he still cares for her and prays for her. God relents and punishes her seven days to teach her—and all Israel—that Moses is His called servant whom they are to hear and believe.
In the New Testament Church there are pastors and hearers. God does not call every Christian to be a minister, but only certain men who are to teach, preach, and administer the sacraments. Pastors and their hearers should both strive for the humility of Moses, so that they wait on the Lord and do not seek out unnecessary conflict.
Let us pray: Increase our humility, O Lord, that regardless of our calling from You, we may bear insults and slights with grace and pray for those who persecute us.