So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. v.2
Read chapter 12
Have you ever been jealous of your sibling? We all have (unless your an only child) and it usually is because we play the fairness game. Here we see Moses' siblings, Miriam and Aaron, complain about wanting to be seen and used on equal ground in front of all of Israel. This jealousy could have been because Moses was the younger of the three and usually the firstborn was head of the family. Also we see they didn't agree with Moses' marriage to an Ethiopian woman. God had been communicating with all three of them, so why should Moses dominate over all? This pride and questioning of Moses' leadership led to Miriam's shame by God (she being seen as the leader of this rebellion). Her punishment is leprosy and being shut outside the camp seven days. "It seems outrageous that someone like Miriam should engage in gossip. She, who cared so much about Moses (even before he existed!) and about the welfare of the Jewish people, who was involved in teaching and leading the women to have courage and faith in the Almighty, should stoop to negative speech about the greatest prophet who ever lived, whom she undoubtedly respected and appreciated more than anyone else!" (www.aish.com). Miriam was projecting her plan to a situation that was beyond her.
Has "spiritual greatness" caused conflict in any of your relationships? How can you guard against it?
No comments:
Post a Comment