The Israelites in the Wilderness: Part II

Numbers 12

The Israelites kept on walking toward the land which God was giving them. As the cloud moved, the people also moved.

But not all of the people were happy. Moses had a brother, Aaron, and a sister, Miriam, who were angry with him. They were angry at him because he had married a woman they did not like. You remember that in those days men would have many wives, not just one like today, and one of Moses’ wives was from Ethiopia. People from Ethiopia had dark skin. One day Miriam and Aaron spoke sharply to Moses.

“Why do you think you’re so special?” they complained. “You think God only tells YOU what He wants the people to do, but that’s not true! God also speaks through us! You’re not the only one He talks to!”

How would YOU feel if someone said mean things like that about you? You would feel hurt inside. You might cry. You might even get angry.

But Moses didn’t. Moses was a meek man. That means he knew he wasn’t a very good person. Most of us are very proud of who we are — we get angry if anyone says anything awful about us. But Moses was meek, just like Jesus was when He came to the earth years later. When we realize what we are before a holy God, then we become very meek, too.

Moses just listened quietly to what Miriam and Aaron were saying. But God heard what they said, and He became angry.

God called Moses, Miriam, and Aaron to the tabernacle, or church. Then He told Miriam and Aaron that MOSES was the man He had chosen to speak through, and that they should not complain against him. Sometimes we are scared when our father or mother, the teacher, or the principal sits us down on a chair and scolds us, but how terrified we would be to have the great God of heaven and earth speak to us!

After God had finished speaking, He left. And when He left, the cloud also left.

Maybe Miriam and Aaron thought their punishment was over. Maybe they were relieved that God had gone.

But then something happened. A very terrible thing happened. Miriam began to change! Suddenly her hands, feet, and face turned white!

Aaron saw Miriam, and he knew just what was happening. Miriam had a sickness, which was called leprosy. Leprosy was such an awful disease that people who had it were shut out of the camp. They couldn’t live with healthy people. Lepers had to stay away and if anyone came near them, they had to warn them, “Unclean! Unclean!” which means, “Dirty! Dirty!” so that the healthy people moved out of the way.

Aaron did not get leprosy. We are not told why. As soon as he saw Miriam’s sickness, he begged Moses, “Oh please, pray to God to cure her! Please forgive this awful sin which we have done! Ask God to heal her!”

So Moses prayed to God, but God said that Miriam would have to stay out of the camp and away from everyone for seven days because of her sickness. After that, she would be well enough to come back.

So for seven days, or one week, Miriam stayed outside the camp with the other leprous people. The children of Israel stopped walking, too, for those seven days. But then Miriam was able to join them! And then they could move on again.

What does this story tell us? Is it just a story about a woman who became sick? No, it tells us that we should not complain about God’s servants. Some of them are ministers, or elders, or deacons, and God has put them in the church to do a job. We have to remember that they are men, just like us, but they are special, because they are sent by God. And we must never say bad things about them or one day God will punish US just as He did Miriam.

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