Numbers 12 Amplified Bible (AMP)
1 Now Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses [their brother] because of his a]” Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite woman.
2 And they said, Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.
3 Now the man Moses was very meek (gentle, kind, and humble) orabove all the men on the face of the earth.
4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting. And the three of them came out.
5 The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the Tent door and called Aaron and Miriam, and they came forward.
6 And He said, Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make Myself known to him in a vision and speak to him in a dream.
7 But not so with My servant Moses; he is entrusted and faithful in all My house.
8 With him I speak mouth to mouth [directly], clearly and not in dark speeches; and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?
9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and He departed.
10 And when the cloud departed from over the Tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous!
11 And Aaron said to Moses, Oh, my lord, I plead with you, lay not the sin upon us in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.
12 Let her not be as one dead, already half decomposed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.
13 And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech You!
14 And the Lord said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp for seven days, and after that let her be brought in again.
15 So Miriam was shut up without the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought in again.
16 Afterward [they] removed from Hazeroth and encamped in the Wilderness of Paran.
Reflection :
Is there a growing issue in your heart that is causing you to find fault with others? An issue of pride, envy or jealousy that you choose not to deal with on a deeper level, will cause you to speak out against others because you will not admit what is in your own heart. You allow this seed of sin to fester in your heart and in turn speak out against others and sink deeper into sin. God was unhappy about Aaron and Miriam speaking against Moses and the wife that he had chosen. They could not find fault in Moses leadership because he was led by God, so instead they decided to criticize his wife because she was an Ethiopian woman. I think in doing so they were unknowingly also criticizing God’s leadership.
When you face situations such as this, stop and ask yourself first, is it me. Is there something in my heart that has caused me to criticize another. And if so what is the real issue I need to deal with and how long have I had this issue. Then go to God in prayer and ask Him for help in delivering you from the issue and healing you of whatever hurt caused you to become that way in the first place. Let God take you back to where it first began, believe me He knows even when you don’t. Let Him break that chain of bondage that holds you and be set free.
This post was originally created for this blog on 7/17/2013
Originally posted on August 23, 2016 @ 10:18 AM
Woman of God on a mission to spread love most of all, kindness and the truth about the Savior. I thank Him daily for saving and keeping me, bringing me into the knowledge of Him and steadily making intercession for me on behalf of the Father. Every lesson that I give goes to me first. I speak not as though I am different but that I am the same as any other follower of Christ, seeking wisdom and understanding from God and depending on Him fully to provide everything that I need in this life.