Numbers 12

CHAPTER 12THEME: Jealousy of Miriam and Aaron; judgment of MiriamThe Bible tells us very little about the home life of Moses. But from what we do know, I can’t believe it could have been very happy. The incident recorded in this chapter is a family matter which occurred during the march from Sinai to Kadesh-barnea. In this chapter we will find rebellion in high places, among the leaders of the children of Israel.

Numbers 12:1

JEALOUSY OF MIRIAM AND AARONI do not think this wife was Zipporah, the daughter of the priest of Midianshe would be a Midianite. The last we heard of Zipporah is when her father brought her to Moses at Mount Sinai (Exo_18:2). Did she return home with her father? Was she dead? Who is this Ethiopian or Cushite wife? Scripture is silent. All we can say is that this appears to be a second wife. The point here is that Miriam used this marriage as a pretext to protest the authority of Moses.

Numbers 12:2

This is big sister talking. Miriam could say, “Who does this boy Moses think he is? Why, I can remember when he was a little baby in an ark and I watched over him. If I hadn’t watched over him, where would he be today?” And Aaron, the high priest, Moses’ big brother, joins in.

Numbers 12:3

It is stated of Moses and of our Lord Jesus that they were meek. Remember that meekness is not weakness. Meekness is being obedient to God and doing His will.

Numbers 12:4

This is a family affair, you see.

Numbers 12:6

God is saying that He chooses the prophets. Also He says that Moses is greater than the othershe is faithful in all My house. God says that He deals differently with him than with any other prophet: He speaks with Moses directly. I think we find this to be true as we study the Old Testament. I cannot find that He dealt with any other prophet as He dealt with Moses. God appeared in dreams to Abraham. He appeared in dreams to Joseph. But God dealt with Moses face to face. Moses is different from all the others. Later on we will see that God says, “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him” (Deu_18:18). That Prophet who would be like unto Moses is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Numbers 12:10

JUDGMENT OF MIRIAMThey had been very foolish in what they had said. Miriam became leprous which was God’s severe judgment on her. Moses prayed to the Lord for herhow forgiving and gracious Moses was! Although God healed her, she had to be shut out from the camp for seven days, and the people could not journey while she was shut out of the camp. She held up the march for a whole week.

Numbers 12:15

Why wasn’t Aaron struck with the leprosy? Because Aaron was God’s high priest. If he were a leper he could not serve in that capacity; Israel would have had no intercessor to stand between them and God. So God didn’t use this family affair to judge Aaron at this time. It was Aaron who pleaded with Moses, “…Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned” (Num_12:11). The judgment was caused by the jealousy in both of them, but Miriam was the leader in it.

Her name is mentioned first, and the verb spake in verse Num_12:1 is in the feminine"she spoke." Aaron was not a leader; he was a follower. He was weak and pliable, a characteristic we see in Exodus 32 regarding the making of the golden calf. The sins of jealousy and envy were nurtured in Miriam’s heart, and God rightly judged her.