Can You Relinquish Control?
Self-respect and respect for the Lord wither as a root of bitterness grows out of the fear of man.
As his mother nursed Moses, she spun words together out of love for Jehovah. She spoke of Moses’ destiny and of the day he would be taken from her to learn to be a great leader. Torn from his home, he clung to a simple faith in Jehovah, inspired by his mother’s belief one day he would rescue his people. His mistake was to lean on his own understanding, and angered by cruelty, he slew a man.
The Lord took him to the back side of the desert, where Moses slowly learned the difference between fear of man and the fear of the Lord. Broken, he learned to relinquish control and trust the Lord for his daily life.
God's Hand Was On Him
In the wilderness, when Israel was ungrateful for the manna, and wept in their desire for meat, overwhelmed, Moses said, “These people are too much to bear. The burden You placed on me, Lord, is too heavy to bear. Lord, just kill me so I don’t have to see my wretchedness.”
The Lord immediately appeared in a visible cloud to answer Moses. The Lord did not take from Himself, He took from the anointing of the Spirit resting on Moses, to anoint 70 men, called elders, who then prophesied. (Numbers 11:15-17).
“Moses, I will provide meat until it would becomes loathsome to the people.”
“But, Lord! There are 600,000 footmen! That is just the soldiers. How can there be enough herds or fish of the sea to feed so many people for a whole month?”
God replied, “Moses, has the LORD’s arm been shortened that He cannot do this?”
Quail was provided for the people to eat for a month. Greedy, rather than grateful, Israel was judged and many had died. This happened prior to Miriam and Aaron grumbling against Moses; they had not learned the Lord knows everything and judges the greedy and disrespectful.
They forgot God chose Moses as His mouthpiece to Israel and to Pharaoh. Only when Moses protested, did the Lord choose Aaron. Adding insult to injury, Aaron was not God’s mouthpiece, he was the mouthpiece for Moses.
Judgment & Disrespect
The Lord highly respected Moses, one of the greatest men who ever lived, who knew and reverenced Him. In every dispute against Moses, God demonstrated Moses acted under His authority and He worked to vindicate Moses in the eyes of the people. When Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, they demonstrated disrespect for Jehovah God who had appointed and anointed Moses as leader and deliverer of His people.
“Moses had the audacity to marry an Ethiopian instead of a good Hebrew girl!”
“Yes?”
“He should be disqualified!”
“That’s true, Miriam.”
“In any case, God has spoken to all three of us; we should equally lead Israel. You need to be more assertive, Aaron.” (Numbers 12:1-2 Paraphrased).
Intent To Destroy
In Scripture, the first person named in a passage, is normally where the emphasis is placed. There was unity between Miriam and Aaron, but Miriam initiated and led in speech against Moses. Together, they came into unity and voiced their feelings against Moses’ marriage. Dabar is an interesting wordwith the idea of “setting in a row, ranging in order”; words spoken with intent to bring order or to subdue.
Like their mother’s words, they may be positive, but Dabar also carries the connotation of laying snares, to plot against another with intent to destroy.[1] Words are powerful. Speech may be used to build up, and bring order, or it may be used to destroy. In light of God’s response to their discussion, we may safely believe their speech was a plot against Moses. Guile was present, especially in the heart of Miriam.
They made statements, progressed to comparisons, then a conclusion was formed out of a bitter root of judgment. Together, they said,
“Does God only speak by Moses? Does He not also speak by us?”
Gesenius explains the significance of 'amar, or “to say” is to bring something into the light; before words are verbalized, they were thoughts and feelings. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks to bring hidden thoughts into the light – either to command, promise, tell, or boast.[2] Miriam and Aaron presumed to speak on the Lord’s behalf. He was not invited into their conversation, but they welcomed and embraced pride.
They should have held Moses in high esteem and supported him before the people. Their disrespect was evidence they believed they were entitled to a greater role in leadership, while Moses deserved a lesser role. In rebelling against Moses, God’s chosen vessel, they moved onto dangerous ground. Their words against Moses were rebellion against the Lord, who they judged had faulty perception.
Is it possible you believe a lie about the person in authority over you?
Do you submit with an undercurrent of resentment? Grit your teeth, or bite your tongue, when you would rather be free to speak angry, accusatory words?
Do you ever arrange words to accuse or to question another’s authority, feeling you have just as much right to speak, especially about spiritual matters?
The antidote? “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Ps 19:14, NIV).
[1]Spake: H1696 - dabar דָּבַר verb – p.r. The root has the concept of “setting in a row, ranging in order”, to lead or guide with the purpose of bringing order or subduing. It also denotes laying snares or plotting against with the intent of destruction. Ibid.
[2]And they said; H559 אָמַר 'amar verb – p.r. To say, speak, utter: (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend; (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called; (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly; (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch. Accessed 16 Feb 15.
