Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.
Marrying outside if Israel was frowned upon. This would actually be the second time Moses did this, if you remember his wife and kid from Exodus.
2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.
They are jealous.
3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
4 At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.
God is absolutely going to sort this out.
” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words:
“When there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
I speak to them in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?”
9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.
Setting them straight for sure.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous—it became as white as snow.
Immediate consequence.
Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.
All sins have consequences. Everything you do has a consequence. We just don’t notice the good ones as much.
12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”
Aaron has seen this before.
13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”
14 The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
The Lord had planned all along to bring Miriam back
16 After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.
Scripture Discussed: Numbers 12
IIWAC: Grumble Brother And Sister
Marrying outside if Israel was frowned upon. This would actually be the second time Moses did this, if you remember his wife and kid from Exodus.
2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.
They are jealous.
3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
4 At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.
God is absolutely going to sort this out.
” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words:
“When there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
I speak to them in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?”
9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.
Setting them straight for sure.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous[a]—it became as white as snow.
Immediate consequence.
Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.
All sins have consequences. Everything you do has a consequence. We just don’t notice the good ones as much.
12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”
Aaron has seen this before.
13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”
14 The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
The Lord had planned all along to bring Miriam back
16 After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.
Scripture Discussed: Numbers 12