Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.
(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. 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, 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. But this is not true of my servant Moses;he is faithful in all my house.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?” The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.
When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”
So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”
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.” So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back. (Numbers 12:1-15 NIV)
A few months ago, I talked with a man who was more excited about Christianity than anyone I have ever met. For the first time, he was learning the true message of the Bible. It was changing his life. So I asked him, “What’s an example of something you’re learning for the first time?” I expected him to say, “Grace,” or “Forgiveness,” or “Eternal Life.” But do you know what he said? “Humility. For the very first time, I’m learning about humility, and it’s changing my life.”
That man is on to something! Humility. Do you know what’s completely missing as we go through this pandemic? Humility. Instead, everyone’s an expert, right? Do you know what you don’t see in politics today? Humility. Instead, own the other side! Do you know what Christians often lack when we look down at people around us? Humility. But did you hear what Jesus said today? “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35). That’s humility! On the flip side, Jesus’ own brother James added: “Where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” (James 3:16). Sound familiar?
That’s what we find in our lesson today: A family feud based on envy and selfish ambition. “Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. ‘Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?’ they asked. ‘Hasn’t he also spoken through us?’” Have you heard of Moses? Good. When did he live? About 1500 B.C. Who were Miriam and Aaron? Moses’ older sister and brother. As Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, his own sister and brother began to talk against him. Why? Well, Moses’ wife wasn’t an Israelite. But that wasn’t the real reason: “Why does Moses get all the credit? What about us?”
And their complaint made sense, at least to them. Did you catch who I said was older—Moses or his siblings? Moses was the youngest. Aaron was in the middle. Miriam was the oldest. I bet there are some older sisters here today. How many older sisters like having their little brothers boss them around? I didn’t think so! In fact, most older sisters consider it their calling in life to put their little brothers in their place, right? You can imagine exactly what was going through Miriam’s mind. “Who does Moses think he is? I could do the job just as well as he can!”
I bet you think those very same thoughts. Who is it for you? Whose job should you have? Whose position should you be in? What people should be listening to you? Of course, the short answer is everyone! Everyone should be listening to you, right? But who in particular? That boss? What is she thinking? The president? What is he doing in that position? “If people would just listen to me, everything would go well! If God would just listen to me, life would be so much better!”
Someone was listening to Miriam and Aaron. Did you hear who it was? “And the LORD heard this.” When Miriam and Aaron proudly and selfishly spoke against Moses, who heard? God. But why would God care? Why would God get involved in a little family feud? Well, who made Moses the leader of the Israelites? God did. Just like bosses and presidents. So when Miriam and Aaron complained, whom were they complaining against? God. When Miriam and Aaron proudly boasted, whom were they trampling beneath their feet? God. “The LORD heard this.”
And God wasted no time in dealing with this sin of pride. “At once” God called a meeting with Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Then “the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud.” How do you think Aaron and Miriam felt when they saw the LORD? “Oh boy.” Pride disappears when you stand in God’s presence! And God said, “Listen up! When there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. 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?”
There was something different about Moses. God spoke to other prophets—even to Aaron and Miriam too—in visions and dreams. But how did God speak with Moses? “Face to face.” Moses spent weeks with God at the top of Mt. Sinai. When Moses came out of God’s presence, his face glowed so brightly that he had to cover his face for people to look at him. Was this all because Moses was so great? No! Moses didn’t even want to be the leader. Moses gave God eight excuses why he shouldn’t lead the Israelites. But God raised Moses up. God equipped Moses for his work. God in his grace used Moses to do and say unbelievable things. It wasn’t Moses. It was all God through Moses. People talk about a “self-made” man. Moses was a “God-made” man.
So when Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, God was angry. People today might say, “No way. God doesn’t get angry! He just smiles at everything, right?” No! When people fight against him, how does God feel? Angry. “The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them. When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous—it became as white as snow.” Pride is not okay. Selfish ambition is not okay. When Aaron saw his sister suddenly white with leprosy, it hit him like a train. They had sinned. Big time. So Aaron said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.”
That’s a lot different from how things started, isn’t it? From, “hasn’t God also spoken through us?” to “Do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.” Even today, sickness teaches humility. For Miriam, it was leprosy. For others, it’s cancer. Or COVID. Or even the flu or a cold. When we feel good, we waltz through life thinking we’ve got things under control. But all it takes it one little bug to lay us on our backs. No we don’t. We don’t have anything under our control. Are we learning our lesson? Are we repenting like Aaron? Our hearts are so hard, aren’t they? We deserve the anger of God for our pride. Sickness is a great teacher of humility.
And that’s what God values: Humility. We skipped over perhaps the greatest compliment in the entire Bible. Did you catch it? “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” Here’s what’s ironic: Do you know who wrote that? Moses. Moses wrote the book of Numbers. As God was telling Moses what to write, I bet he didn’t want to put that in there. “Come on, God. I don’t want to write that!” “Moses, you have to. Write it.” “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” So Moses wrote it, because here’s another thing about Moses: “He is faithful in all my house.” Moses was full of faith. That’s what God looks for: A humble heart filled with faith in him.
But I bet there’s a little voice inside you that raises an objection: “Doesn’t that make us weak? Does God really want us to be weak, humble people who get pushed around everywhere?” Hold on! I don’t think we understand humility. Moses was humble. Was Moses weak? Moses walked into Pharaoh’s palace and said, “Let my people go!” He didn’t even say, “Please.” Is that weak? The Israelites were trapped. The Red Sea was on one side. Pharaoh’s army was closing in on the other. The Israelites freaked out. But Moses stood strong and said, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Is that weak? After getting the Ten Commandments, Moses saw the Israelites worshipping a golden calf. He threw those stone tablets down so hard that they shattered, and he took that golden calf, ground it up, and made the people drink it. Is that weak?
There is nobody in the Bible who showed the strength that Moses showed over and over again. Humility doesn’t mean weakness! Why? Because true humility is finding your strength not in yourself, but in God. How strong is God? The Almighty! Moses learned to find all his strength in God, and that made Moses the humblest and the strongest person in the world. Can you see that?
Someone once said, “Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself. Humility is thinking of yourself less.” Can you see the difference? Humility isn’t denying your God-given gifts and talents. It’s using them to their fullest, without thinking about you. Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself. Humility is thinking of yourself less. Here’s another way to put it: When we feel inferior, we try to act superior. That’s pride. That’s boasting. Jesus was different. Jesus was superior. So what did Jesus do? He acted inferior. He gave up heaven. He died on the cross for you and me. Was Jesus humble? Yes! Was Jesus weak? No way. He was so strong, he could put himself last.
Here’s one of the most powerful ways to do that: Pray for your enemies. Did you notice that Moses doesn’t say much in this lesson? He didn’t even try to defend himself. Who defended him? God did! So what was the first thing Moses said? “Moses cried out to the LORD, ‘Please, God, heal her!’” Moses’ sister had just rebelled against him in front of everyone, so what did Moses do? Get revenge? No. He prayed to God to forgive her. That’s humility. That’s strength!
Does that remind you of someone? As Jesus’ disciples argued about who was the greatest, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise” (Mark 9:31). As Jesus hung on the cross, what did he say? “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). He prayed for his enemies. He prayed for you and me as he died to save us from our sins like pride. That changes you. Pride puts me on a mountaintop and says, “Everyone should look at me. I’ve got the truth!” Humility points up to Jesus on the cross and says, “Everyone should look to Jesus for salvation.”
I talked with a humble man this week. This past Tuesday, our new member Mark Smith was in a serious car accident. When paramedics arrived at the scene, they found Mark unconscious and not breathing. They started CPR, and by God’s grace, Mark started breathing again. They took him by ambulance to the hospital, and by God’s grace, he had no injuries other than cracked ribs from the CPR. When I saw Mark in the hospital, do you think he said, “Look at how strong I am!” No way. He had a sense of awe about him. Without that paramedic, he wouldn’t be here. Without God, he wouldn’t be here. He said, “Pastor, everything, everything comes from God.”
You don’t need a car accident or a terminal illness to learn that. This is what happens when you grow as a Christian. You learn humility. People don’t need to know what I think. In fact, there’s a good chance that what I think is wrong! People need to know what Jesus thinks! People don’t need to know what I can do. People need to know what Jesus has done! I pray that God give us the same excitement of that man who couldn’t get enough of humility. It’s all God. It’s all God.
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