Numbers 12 – 14
Numbers 12:1 Then
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had
married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
2 So they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through
Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?" And the LORD heard it.
We
start out chapter 12 with Miriam and Aaron speaking against Moses because of
his wife. Now there are differing opinions on who this wife of Moses is. Some
believe that this is referring to Moses 1st wife Zipporah and that
Miriam and Aaron are just calling her an Ethiopian to be mean. Others believe
that Moses first wife died and then he took this second wife who probably one
of the many strangers that came along with the children of
Numbers 12: 3
(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on
the face of the earth.) 4
Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "Come out, you three,
to the tabernacle of meeting!" So the three came out. 5 Then the LORD came down in the
pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called
Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward.
6 Then He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a
prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I
speak to him in a dream. 7
Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. 8 I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the LORD. Why
then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?" 9 So the anger of the LORD was
aroused against them, and He departed.
One thing Moses is noted
for is being humble. Being humble is a characteristic that God wants all his
people to have. You Moses wasn’t trying to proclaim that he was better than any
one else and because the God dealt with Moses in a special way face to face as
you would speak to a friend. Not God wants Miriam and Aaron to know that Moses
is different and he points that out by telling them how he speaks to the
prophets through vision or dreams but he speaks to Moses directly and how Moses
has even seen God form with his own eyes. God wants to know why they were not
afraid to speak against Moses. Here we see God intervening for Moses.
Numbers 12:10 And
when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous,
as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a
leper.
God takes vengeance upon
Miriam for the sin they were involved in. You notice that Miriam was mentioned
first which indicates that she started this talking bad about Moses and Aaron
joined in. So Miriam came down instantly made leprous. When thought about what
happened here it reminded me of what Paul wrote in,
Romans 12: 19
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is
written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. 20 Therefore "If your enemy
is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you
will heap coals of fire on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Isn’t this what Moses
did? He didn’t try to retaliate against his brother and sister but God sure
did. That a good lesson for us to learn today because the world teaches you
that revenge is sweet but, the Word of God tells us that we should not take
revenge instead we should show our enemy kindness and love and let God take
care vengeances because it belongs to him.
Numbers 12: 11
So Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on
us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. 12 "Please do not let her be
as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's
womb!"
Here we see Aaron
pleading for his sister that she not have to bear this sin and remain a leper. He
even admits that what they were doing was wrong. Basically he was asking for
forgiveness and Moses was ready to give it.
Numbers 12:13 So
Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "Please heal her, O God, I
pray!"
Moses doesn’t hesitate or
doubt the sincerity of his brother and he immediately prays to God for her to
be healed. But notice God response.
Numbers 12: 14
Then the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face,
would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days,
and afterward she may be received again." 15 So Miriam was shut out of the
camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again. 16 And afterward the people moved
from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.
God hears Moses prayer
and he is going to heal Miriam but first she must face the consequences of her
sin. She has to spend 7 days outside the camp with the rest of lepers so that
she will have time to reflect upon the sin she has committed. I can see how this relates to us today. You see we
can sin today and when we sin if we ask for forgiven we can be forgiven but we
still have to live with consequences that the sin created. For instance if we
started doing drugs or drinking alcohol we do great damage to our bodies that
cannot be reversed and yes we can be forgiven for the damage we do but the
damage will be there for the rest of our lives. Miriam actually got of pretty
easy since all she had to do was suffer for 7 days. Another thing I found
interesting about these scriptures was when God said that if a father spits in
his daughters face that she would be
shamed for 7 days. This particular rule as far a could tell in not found
anywhere else but apparently it was a method in which the father could shame
his daughter for 7 days.
Numbers 13:1 And the
LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2
"Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children
of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a
leader among them." 3 So
Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the
LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of
Moses get one man from
each tribe to go spy the land out. Now these men that were chosen are named in
verse 4-16
Numbers 13:17 Then
Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, "Go up
this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, 18 "and see what the land is
like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or
many; 19 "whether the
land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are
like camps or strongholds; 20
"whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests
there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the
land." Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
Moses sends them out to
find out how strong their enemies are and what the lay of land is like. He even
wants them to bring back some the fruits
of the land and this also gives us a
general idea of what time of year this
happened because the season of the first ripe grapes started around late
July or early August.
Numbers
Here learn all the places
that they went and how they cut this clusters of grapes that they carried on a pole between 2 men. Now you might wonder why would it take 2 men to carry a cluster of grapes.
Well, from what I could find the clusters of grape in that area could weigh
anywhere from 10 pounds to 50 pounds and also it suggested that the carried the
grapes that way to preserve them better.
Numbers 13:25And they
returned from spying out the land after forty days. 26 Now they departed and came back
to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the
Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the
congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
These men were gone for 40 days spying out the land and
they bring there report as we continue to read in
Numbers 13:27 Then
they told him, and said: "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly
flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 "Nevertheless the people
who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and
very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 "The Amalekites dwell in
the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in
the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the
Jordan." 30 Then Caleb
quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take
possession, for we are well able to overcome it." 31 But the men who had gone up
with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are
stronger than we." 32
And they gave the children of
Well guess what the spies
find out exactly what God has said along that the promise land is flowing with
milk and honey. But the chosen spies did have the faith in God that they should had and because of their lack of faith
they begin to talk about how strong the people were and how there is no way
they could defeat them. Most of know that only 2 of the spies had the right
kind of faith in God with Caleb being one of them. He tells the people lets go
right now and take their possessions because we can do it. Caleb understood
that it didn’t matter how big the enemies were with God on their side they
could take them all down. But, these other spies convince the children of
Numbers 14:1 So all
the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that
night. 2 And all the children
of
These 10 men caused all
these problems because of their lack of
faith and their news spread like cancer infecting all the children of
Numbers 14: 6
But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among
those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the
congregation of the children of Israel, saying: "The land we passed
through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 "If the LORD delights in
us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, 'a land which flows
with milk and honey.' 9
"Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for
they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the
LORD is with us. Do not fear them."
10 And all the congregation said to stone them with stones.
Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the
children of Israel.
These guys tried their best to get the children of Israel to
listen to reason and to put their faith
in God but they were so messed up in the heads and convinced they were doomed
that they wanted to silence Caleb and Joshua forever by stoning them to death.
But God appears to them and keeps this from happening. What we have looked at so far serves a good example for us
today. We need to understand that if God
is on our side everything will work out just as suppose to. Paul says,
Romans
We
need to realize this as Christians that God is on our side and that we should
not fear other men nor should we allow ourselves to follow after the majority.
Matthew
There
a lot of changes going on the Lords church here in the United States and they
are not good changes because people are starting to go beyond what is
authorized in the word of God and are starting a trend to appease the masses
and friends that is simply wrong. You see what they are doing is fearing man
more than God. Good Christians are allowing false doctrines creep into their
congregations because they afraid to take a stand and before long the majority
rules even though the majority is very wrong. We need to make sure as
Christians that we don’t allow ourselves to do this and
become like the children of
Numbers
It is from verses like
this that shows without a doubt that God
isn’t playing games. He is a God who demands an obedient faith and if you are
not being faithful to him he certainly is not going spare you from his wrath.
He is a just God and justice will be served. Here in our text he is ready to
wipe out the children of
Numbers
Once again Moses saves
the day by asking God to forgive them. We should learn from this to never under
estimate the power of prayer and forgiveness because truly God is longsuffering
and abundant in his mercy and no matter where we have been or what we have done
if we are sincere in our repentance and was ask God for forgiveness we can rest
assured that he will forgives us. Now
God forgave the children of
Numbers 14:20 Then
the LORD said: "I have pardoned, according to your word; 21 "but truly, as I live, all
the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD -- 22 "because all these men who
have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness,
and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My
voice, 23 "they
certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall
any of those who rejected Me see it. 24
"But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has
followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his
descendants shall inherit it.
All of the children of
Mark 9:42 " But whoever causes one of these little
ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone
were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
With
this in mind we need to make sure that we are trying our best not to lead
people in the wrong direction or to cause someone to stumble. We must do our
best to be shining examples for Christ.
Numbers 14: 39
Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people
mourned greatly. 40 And they
rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying,
"Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised,
for we have sinned!" 41
And Moses said, "Now why do you transgress the command of the LORD? For
this will not succeed. 42
"Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the LORD is not
among you. 43 "For the
Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall
by the sword; because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be
with you." 44 But they
presumed to go up to the mountaintop; nevertheless, neither the ark of the
covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the
Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove
them back as far as Hormah.
When Moses tells them the
news that they will have to wonder in the wilderness for 40 years they weep and
they weep. But, when morning came they go upon the mountain and decide they are
going to go ahead and enter the promise land thinking surely God will go ahead
and give to if he sees that we now have the courage to go into the land. Moses
tries to warn then not to go, but as usually they did not listen. Their enemy
easily defeated them and ran them off because God was not helping them and
besides this he had made his judgment that they would wander for 40 years in
the wilderness. I can just imagine how down the children of