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The Life of Moses

THE DANGER OF GOSSIP NUMBERS 12 & MICAH 6:4 & OTHERS

Text: Micah 6:4 Micah 6:4 4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Introduction: As we have seen many times over the last several weeks the children of Israel on their way to Canaan had mastered murmuring. In our passage today the cycle of murmuring continues, however it now leads to gossiping. Note what we read in Leviticus: Leviticus 19:16 16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. The criticism of Moses was a continual problem but the most painful of the criticism occurred shortly after

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Israel left Sinai. This criticism and its result is the subject of this chapter. Notice:

The Source of the Criticism and Gossip The source of this criticism was a surprising source. So often the critical often reveals the faults of the one who is criticism more than the faults of the criticized one. Those who were involved in this was Miriam and Aaron. Numbers 12:1 1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. Miriam and Aaron were the older sister and older brother of Moses. Moses was the baby of the family. Miriam was the leader of this criticism and gossip. Several things let us know this.

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First – she is mentioned first.

Secondly – the verb “spake” in our text is a feminine verb

Thirdly – she was the one who was punished the

most for the criticism and gossip. It is Miriam that we will focus on this morning as we will consider in more detail Aaron in the future. Criticism always hurts when strangers criticizes us, however it’s never as painful as when those close to us criticize, especially our own family. Note how Miriam began well but ended poorly:

1. HER WATCHING BY THE RIVER (EXODUS

2:1-4) Exodus 2:1-4 1 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

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Notice At the very beginning of Moses’ life the Lord used his older sister, Miriam, in a specific way to watch over him and bring him safely back home. In her willingness to bravely approach Pharaoh’s daughter, Miriam played a strategic role in her baby brother’s return to his family. She was emboldened by the faith she had seen in her parents. Moreover in watching the Lord rescue Moses from the Nile River, Miriam herself was being prepared for the day when she would see God deliver her people from their bondage. What Lessons Can We Learn?:

We too should allow the Lord to use us.

As parents we should display strong faith in God.

We can be emboldened by faith in God.

We too should be aware of the opportunities that God gives us.

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Realize the Lord is often preparing us for greater things in the future in the present.

Notice not only Her Watching By the River but also:

2. HER WAITING FOR DELIVERANCE Moses now lives in the palace for 40 years. The Bible doesn’t tell us much about what Moses did during his days as an Egyptian prince. All we really know we read in Acts 7: Acts 7:22 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. But even as a prince, he never forgot where he came from. He continued to identify with the Hebrew people. Note: Exodus 2:11-14 11 And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of

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the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? 14 And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. We read in Acts 7:25 his motivation behind what seemed to be a reckless action. Acts 7:25 25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. Apparently he was eager to deliver Israel, but it was not yet God’s time. When Pharaoh heard what Moses had done he sought to kill him. Through all of this Miriam was waiting for her brother to be made ready by God to be used as a deliverer. Moses was forty years old when he left Egypt, and he spent another 40 years in Midian being prepared by God meaning that he was now 80 years old when he finally returned.

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Exodus 7:7 7 And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh. For 8 decades Miriam had waited. She had always known that Moses was man that God could use to deliver them from their bondage, but she didn’t know when that deliverance would begin. What Lessons Can We Learn?

We are not to grow impatient with God.

Remember that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.

We should never try to work things out on our

own without God’s leading like Moses did. Notice not only Her Watching By the River and Her Waiting For Deliverance but also:

3. HER WORSHIPPING ON THE SHORE Following the great miracle at the Red sea where the children of Israel crossed on dry ground and then the Egyptian army was drowned the Bible records for us what then happened in Exodus 15.

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Exodus 15:1-21 1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. 3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name. 4 Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. 5 The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. 6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. 7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. 8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. 10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. 11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. 13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast

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guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. 14 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. 15 Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. 16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. 17 Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. 18 The LORD shall reign for ever and ever. 19 For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. 20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. In response to Moses’ hymn Miriam led the women of Israel in a joyous song of praise. These brief comments give us several insights into the woman Miriam had become.

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First she is referred to as a prophetess – which meant one to whom God revealed messages for the people.

She was the first woman in the Bible to be given that rare privilege.

Second her mention in Exodus 15 over any other person suggests that she played a strategic role in the events of the exodus.

Her prominence is again noted in the passage we read in Micah. Micah 6:4 4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

Third and perhaps most important these verses gives us a glimpse into Miriam’s soul.

She was one who wholeheartedly worshipped the Lord. Her song centered on the power and glory of God. Eighty years earlier, Miriam had watched the Lord deliver Moses from the waters of the Nile River and now she experience once again God’s hand of

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deliverance as He rescued His people from the waters of the Red Sea. In both cases God demonstrated His unsurpassed power and unfailing faithfulness to His people and His promise. Notice not only Her Watching By the River, Her Waiting For Deliverance and Her Worshipping On the Shore but also:

4. HER WEAKNESS IN THE WILDERNESS When they arrived at Marah they began to grumble because the only water they could find was bitter. As members of Moses’ family Miriam and Aaron would have been exposed to the complaints of the people. Evidently those complaints began to have a poisonous effect on their thinking. Even though they had witnessed God goodness but also God judgment against those who grumbled Miriam joined in the dissention and became a burden to her brother. In Numbers 12 the story of Miriam turns ugly.

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Resentful of their younger brother, Miriam and Aaron criticized him for marrying a non-Jewish woman. Numbers 12:1-2 1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. Verse 2 reveals her motive of bitterness – it was jealousy. The Lord’s response came swiftly. Having summoned Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to the tent, the Lord said to them: Numbers 12:6-8 6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

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If there had been any question about Moses position as God’s appointed spokesman and leader it vanished in that instant. Miriam then became a leper. Numbers 12:10 10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. Sadly the lady Miriam who had started well is ending poorly. Close: I close with a few words about her legacy. As a young slave girl she had watched over her baby brother when he floated in the Nile. As a wife and mother she had waited in Egypt for deliverance to come. As an elderly woman probably in her nineties she had seen the power of God at the Red Sea and she led the women of Israel in a joyful celebration. Sadly she didn’t finish like she began.

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The challenge is clear today and the lessons are valuable. Let’s determine not only to begin right but just as important let’s determine to finish right.