February 13, 2020: Day 12 – Numbers 12

In leadership there are always times when there are those who think that not only could they be doing a better job than you, but they are somewhat indignant that you are even given the position that you have.  We find a really interesting story of a family squabble.  Remember that Aaron and Miriam are the brother and sister of Moses.  So these are three siblings who have incredibly prominent roles within the history of the people of Israel.  Miriam is the one who basically saved Moses’ life by following him along the Nile when he was a baby in a basket and encouraging the daughter of Pharaoh to raise up Moses.  How Aaron escapes death as a boy Hebrew child we are not told.  

We find that all of a sudden it is as if they just realized that the woman to whom Moses is married is a foreigner.  This, in their minds, disqualifies Moses from being the chosen leader that he is.  He should be playing a secondary role because he is not nearly as pure as the rest of them.  They made that decision on their own and began sowing the seeds of discontent.  Moses was not really someone who was willing to buck their decisions so he was about to go along with it.  The Bible says that he was humble, more so than anyone on the face of the earth so he did not want to rock the boat.  They want to lead the people, that’s fine with me.  It wasn’t my idea to begin with.

God had different plans and insists that his plans be followed and not those that we come up with.  He calls Aaron and Miriam before him and punishes Miriam with leprosy because she dared to question God’s decisions.  God’s decision was to put Moses in leadership and that was not good enough for his siblings.  Somewhat similar to Joseph and his brothers, but different.  As a result of her punishment the entire tribe of Israel had to wait until she was healed from her leprosy so that the nation could move forward toward the promised land.  So her and Aaron’s questioning of God’s authority, which was displayed in their questioning of Moses’ authority, developed into a punishment that was only laid upon Miriam, but had an impact upon the entire people in their week long delay.  

God could have been more severe, but in this punishment you hope she and Aaron learned their lesson.  Golden calf anyone?