Meet Me at the Well

Women of Faith: Miriam

JOY IN THE CAMP

Joy had left the camp. And it was Miriam's fault.

It was not easy being the oldest in the family. Miriam was given extra chores to do and
more responsibility, especially where her younger brother Moses was concerned.

It started when he was a baby. She had been given the task of watching him from the tall grasses along the Nile River. It had seemed that death was certain for him
in his tiny boat that day, just as it had seemed that death was certain for
the Hebrew nation as they stood on the shores of the Red Sea. The rapidly moving waters prevented them from moving forward. With the Egpytian army quickly closing in from behind, it all seemed hopeless. But God was good and sovereign. In both cases he brought salvation and deliverance.

However today there might not be any miracle.Today she had blown it--big
time!

She let pride and arrogance overtake her. It started out as just a
little case of sisterly jealousy. After all, she was the oldest. She was a
prophetess. She was a leader, too! Hadn't she been the one to lead the
women in praise and worship after they were delivered from the chariots and
horses of Pharaoh?

Her jealousy grew--like some horrible disease--until her own envy was like
rotteness in her bones. In arrogance she cried out against her brother...and
God heard.

Why would God place Moses -- her own little brother-- to
be leader over her? Surely she and Aaron were just as qualified for the job!
And God spoke.

When a prophet of the Lord is among you I reveal myself to him in visions
and I speak to him in dreams but this is not true of my servant Moses, he is
faithful in all my house so with him I speak face to face...why then were you
NOT afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
(Numbers 12:6-8)

And God acted. His anger burned against them. The cloud which represented
His presence lifted from above the Tent revealing Miriam--with skin white and
rotting from leprosy.

Leprosy --a symbol of God's opinion about sin. In this case, the sin was
pride.
What is God's opinion of pride? It rots. It spreads. It contaminates the other
parts of the body. It causes other members to become diseased and fall away.
It just plain stinks! It needs to be sent away!

As the cloud lifted, Miriam's inward condition of her heart was revealed in
the outward disease of her body. As he saw how God punished his sister,
Moses revealed his own heart. Contrary to that of Miriam's, his heart was one of
compassion and humility. God's word says it best.

"Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face
of the earth."

And he pled with God to restore her.

The LORD replied, "If her father had spit in her face would she not have
been in disgrace for seven days?"

So Miriam was removed. Sent away from the camp for seven days. Then by God's grace she was made whole, restored and able to return.

To God, pride and arrogance is like a spit in the face. It needs to be sent
away. We need to remove it from our camps before it spreads.

I John 1:9 gives us the remedy for our infirmities. Confess the sin...turn
from it...send it away...and He will be faithful and just to cleanse us.
Only by God's mercy and grace do we no longer have to cry out *unclean!* and
can return to fellowship. Only when we see ourselves from God's perspective will He see in us what was revealed in Moses: A heart of true humility.

Only then can there be joy in our camp.

Bible Study on Miriam