Beautiful Or Bitter?
The Lord’s Verdict
As Miriam chose to view her cup as half empty instead of half full, she became negative and controlling. She had suffered but instead of becoming beautiful, she became bitter and ungrateful.
According to Levitical law, if a wound oozed, the person was considered unclean. To be spat upon by an unclean person meant you became unclean until evening. Ritual cleansing demanded you wash your clothes and bathe.
Miriam did not become momentarily unclean because of something external, her uncleanness involved her heart and mind.
Outside Grace?
The Lord was clear. Miriam had disgraced herself and would face the consequences. He introduced His plan by drawing a word picture.
If her father, who was clean, spat in her face, it would have been an insult. His intention would be to humiliate Miriam before the community and cause her to experience shame and embarrassment[1] so she would repent and turn from whatever she had been doing. The fact her father would spit in her face, rather than spit at her feet, would carry huge significance and indicate the weightiness of her action. A Hebrew father would never lightly spit in his daughter’s face.
The Father’s Insult
The Lord emphasized the word spit by using it twice. If her father spat in her face, she would experience huge loss of face; the dishonor experienced would close the door to grace – Miriam would be dis-graced within her family and her community.
Miriam’s manipulation and disrespect for Moses indicated inner defilement. She publicly disgraced herself as she chose behavior that harmed the integrity of the family and placed her outside of her father’s grace. To protect the family, the father would need to undermine her position by exposing the dishonor of her action and thereby remove her power to cause harm. The father’s mercy was demonstrated by protecting the family, as he disciplined the daughter, thus bringing the family safely back under godly authority and protection.
If her father spat in her face, rather than his hand of blessing upon her head, her father’s insult would rest on her head in public humiliation. Disgraced, she would need to hide her face in shame for 7 days.
Voice of Rebellion Silenced
The Lord God had adopted Israel; He related in intimacy to them as a father. Now, as Father, He moved to discipline His rebellious daughter. Because of the weightiness of her sin, she would experience humiliation as covered with leprosy, she was excluded from her family, and was sent outside the camp to bear her shame. There she could ponder her act of rebellion, that if undeterred, would have brought humiliation on her heavenly Father and caused great harm to the nation she loved.
As a leper, she was sent outside of the camp, separated from safety, communion, and fellowship, the Lord removed her from the privileged position He had given her. Outside the camp she had no status, no voice, no authority or ability to control others. In that place of silence and isolation, stripped of honor, she could gain clarity and choose genuine repentance.
Consequence
Moses knew the LORD God as slow to wrath and abundant in mercy, but now His face was like flint. By seeking to undermine God-given authority, Miriam embraced an inner uncleanness that could not be addressed by bathing. Her uncleanness was contagious. Her rebellion was a serious assault against God’s authority, against His beloved servant Moses, and against the integrity of the family of Israel.
As a consequence, the Lord moved swiftly to restore order and protection to Israel. And so Miriam would understand the seriousness of her rebellion, He struck her with leprosy and sentenced her to remain outside the camp for seven days.
Miriam chose the path of disgrace and alienation. The Lord did not alienate her; He simply made her uncleanness visible and then sent her outside the camp. Choices bring consequences. Miriam chose ungodly authority, ungodly order, and ungodly control as she moved in treachery against Moses. She chose to alienate herself and place herself outside the safety of her family and the nation whose integrity she had violated.
It is easy to judge the Lord and think He is unkind, but often things are not what they appear. When we consider the undercurrents of Miriam’s blatant disregard for truth, her treachery and rebellion against Moses as she demanded recognition by seeking to emasculate her brother, it makes sense God demonstrated zero tolerance towards her. At first glance it appears as if His mercy and grace were non-existent. But mercy and grace motivated Him as He demonstrated tough love to protect the nation of Israel from gross perversion that would have resulted if Miriam had usurped Moses’ God-given authority.
[1]Ashamed: H3637 kalam verb. To insult, shame, humiliate, blush, be ashamed, be put to shame (dishonored, insulted, disgraced), be reproached, be put to confusion, be humiliated. Accessed 28 Mar 15.
