Daily Scripture Reading Numbers 12:1-16

Ethan had been a church member for 17 years. He showed up early every week to unlock the building. He led the men’s Bible study on Tuesday nights. He had even taught the high school class for two years when no one else would. Yet when the elders needed someone to step into the pulpit while Pastor Dave was on vacation, they chose James.

Ethan gripped the back of the pew in front of him until his knuckles turned white. He asked himself, “Why him? Yes, James has a master’s degree in theology and always knows the right theological words, but he has only been attending for three years. I’ve been here longer. I serve more. I’ve been faithful when it wasn’t convenient.”

Ethan tried to pray it away like he always did, but the bitterness had roots now. It had started small — a comment here, a comparison there. Now it sat heavy in his chest during church, even during the sermon and when he was supposed to be leading prayer requests.

Jealousy is a very strong emotion. There is an example of it in the twelfth chapter of Numbers. This passage illustrates the power of jealousy to cause us to do irrational things.

The tenth and eleventh chapters of Numbers tell us that after spending a year at Mount Sinai building the tabernacle and receiving the law, the Israelites broke camp and began their journey to the promised land.

Num. 12:1 ¶ Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had taken as a wife (for he had taken a Cushite woman);

This verse makes it clear that the complaint against Moses was based on the ethnicity of his wife. We know from other passages that Moses married a Midianite (see Numbers 10:29). This verse says his wife was a Cushite. It is possible that while Moses’ father-in-law was a Midianite, his mother-in-law was a Cushite, making Moses’ wife both a Midianite and a Cushite.

I don’t think the complaint was based on the belief that Cushites were worse than other foreigners. The issue was that his wife was not an Israelite.

Num. 12:2 and they said, “Has Yahweh indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And Yahweh heard it.

This verse indicates the ethnicity of Moses’ wife was not the real problem at all. Instead, Miriam and Aaron complained because they were jealous of their brother. In verse one Miriam is mentioned first, indicating that perhaps she was the leader of the complaint.

Take note that Miriam and Aaron insisted Yahweh was speaking through them as well as Moses. This was an irrational position. The entire story in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers makes it clear that God had chosen Moses to be the leader. This illustrates the power of jealousy.

Num. 12:3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)

Some people believe Moses wrote the book of Numbers. This verse indicates he did not write it. A humble man would not call himself the most humble man on earth.

Num. 12:4 Suddenly Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out.

Num. 12:5 Then Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. And then both came forward,

Num. 12:6 and He said,

“Hear now My words:

If there is a prophet among you,

I, Yahweh, shall make Myself known to him in a vision.

I shall speak with him in a dream.

Num. 12:7 Not so, with My servant Moses,

He is faithful in all My household;

Verse 7 sets up a contrast. Verse 6 is how Yahweh spoke with most prophets. Verse 8 is how Yahweh spoke with Moses. There was a clear difference.

Num. 12:8 With him I speak mouth to mouth,

Indeed clearly, and not in riddles,

And he beholds the form of Yahweh.

Why then were you not afraid

To speak against My servant, against Moses?”

Don’t miss the impact of the question at the end of verse 8. Yahweh wanted to know why Miriam and Aaron were not afraid to speak against Moses.

Num. 12:9 ¶ So the anger of Yahweh burned against them, and He went away.

Num. 12:10 But the cloud withdrew from over the tent, and behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

The fact that Miriam was leprous and Aaron was not indicates Miriam was the ringleader.

Num. 12:11 Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not place this sin on us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned.

Look at the word “foolishly”. Aaron understood their mistake.

Num. 12:12 Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother’s womb!”

Num. 12:13 And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, “O God, heal her, I pray!”

Num. 12:14 But Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her dishonor for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward she may be received again.”

Num. 12:15 So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not set out until Miriam was received again.

Num. 12:16 ¶ Afterward, however, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

Jealousy is a natural human emotion. It is a very powerful emotion. Miriam and Aaron were so jealous of their brother that they persuaded themselves they were equal to Moses even though the entire story of the exodus from Egypt makes it clear Yahweh had chosen Moses to lead.

This teaches us to be on our guard against jealousy, lest we act irrationally, just as Miriam and Aaron acted rashly.

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”