How God Deals with Rebels

How God Deals with Rebels

June 16, 2016

Numbers 12:1-16

When people criticize the pastor or leader, and I don’t mean constructive criticism, it is a form of rebellion. It is rebellion because what they say with their mouth is not what is on their mind. By this, I mean that what they say is wrong is not what they really think is wrong.

WHAT YOU SAY IS NOT WHAT YOU REALLY MEAN

In this case, Miriam and Aaron critique Moses. The reason (or what is really wrong) is they didn’t like his wife (Numbers 12:1). They had a problem that he didn’t marry a Hebrew woman. They did not like that Moses didn’t follow the cultural norms. He didn’t do what Hebrew families normally did back then.

The reason they stated was completely different. They said that God shouldn’t exclusively speak through prophets. God should speak through everyone (Numbers 12:2). Why is this line of questioning a form of rebellion?

First, they didn’t tell Moses the truth. Miriam and Aaron didn’t say what was really on their mind. Second, they blamed God for the problem, when in fact it was only a cultural preference that bothered them.

We know this is a form of rebellion because the Bible says that Moses was a humble man (Numbers 12:3). God sensed this personal betrayal and suddenly called the three for a meeting (Numbers 12:4-5).

God summons Aaron and Miriam. His answer addresses their question and their implied problem. First, God answers their question they addressed to Moses. God says that Moses is a prophet and that God makes Himself to prophets among the people (Numbers 12:6). By stating this, God is making it clear that Moses is the prophet. God makes Himself known to “him” and speaks with “him.” God speaks to prophets – male prophets. But with Moses, God has a special relationship (Numbers 12:7). God doesn’t speak in visions to Moses. God has face-to-face conversations (Numbers 12:8).

Then God addresses their unspoken question. God says that they should be afraid to speak against God’s servant Moses (Numbers 12:8). His answer means that whatever problem they had with Moses, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because God is using him. God has Moses’ back.

GOD WILL JUDGE REBELLION

To prove this, when God moves away, Miriam is inflicted with a disease (Numbers 12:10). The reason that Miriam was affected is probably that it was her idea. I suspect this is true because Aaron steps in to apologize and ask God to stop (Numbers 12:11-12). Aaron should have shown spiritual leadership in squashing the rebellious spirit in his sister. Instead, he was complicit in it. Aaron wasn’t actively involved in the rebellion. Instead, he allowed it to happen. He didn’t stop it.

Aaron was an accessory to the rebellion led by Miriam. This is why he is listed second in the rebellion (Numbers 12:1). It takes Moses, in the role of the prophet, to have God heal Miriam (Numbers 12:13).

God says that even if a father insults his daughter by spitting on her (Numbers 12:14), the daughter is unclean for seven days. God is prescribing that Miriam be isolated from the people for a time. This “cooling off” period would give her time to think about how she has acted.

God doesn’t take rebellion lightly. He wants His people to take the words of His prophets seriously. God will personally deal with personal rebellious attacks against His prophets.

Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash