Oppostion to appointed leaders - common but wicked

Text Numbers 12 Time 10/06/12 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We come next to Numbers 12. This chapter describes what happens next as God's people continue to travel through the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land. What happens in this chapter is that Moses leadership is challenged by his brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam. God very clearly vindicates his servant by dealing with Miriam, though he shows her mercy too.

What we learn in this chapter is something about opposition to God appointed leaders, which, though common, is clearly a wicked thing. We want to say three things.

1. Expect opposition against God appointed leaders to arise from among God's people

1. Opposition to God appointed leaders can be prompted by all sorts of things

We read in verse 1 that Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. This is one of those tantalisingly brief verses that we sometimes find in Scripture that fill us with curiosity but that we can do little to delve into. Moses was married to Zipporah of Midian and had children by her. Whether she had died or not is not stated. Moses had taken a new wife, however, and Miriam and Aaron's problem was not with him having taken his wife but with the wife he had taken. This woman was a Cushite, a Nubian, who had no doubt come out of Egypt with others who joined the Israelites. The problem was possibly the colour of her skin. She was no doubt dark and African in appearance not Egyptian or middle eastern. More likely it was simply the fact that she was not an Israelite.

We don't need to spend too much time on this as it was clearly a pretext, an excuse for attacking Moses. People will complain against leaders for all sorts of reasons – his choice of wife, his taste in clothes, the care he drives, the sound of his voice, his pattern of life, the way his children are. Although sometimes this is backed up with some sort of biblical argument, more often than not such things are merely a pretext for something else.

2. Opposition to God appointed leaders usually finds its source in envy and jealousy

Verse 2 says Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? they asked. Hasn't he also spoken through us? The two verses don't really follow on from one another. What they reveal is that whereas Miriam and Aaron were ostensibly complaining about Moses marrying a Cushite woman, the real issue was whether Moses was a unique leader or not. The claim, they say, is that the LORD only speaks through Moses, which is not a claim ever made in fact. Their argument is that God has spoken through them too, which was true. They too were used by God. The way they have twisted it though is to say that Moses is too big for his boots and needs to realise that there are others on the same level as he is. He is not unique. This argument is clearly driven by envy and jealousy for, as we shall see, although God did speak through these others, he spoke through Moses in a unique way.

3. Opposition to God appointed leaders is always known to the Lord

Thirdly we have that ominous And the LORD heard this. When you express an opinion about a God appointed leader, it is good to remember who is listening. God himself knows exactly what you are saying and thinking. Never forget it. We should remember that they are God's appointments not ours, they are his servants not ours and he is listening to see what we say.

4. Opposition to God appointed leaders will not be prevented by humility on the part of leaders

In verse 3 we get a little note that says (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) This verse, whoever actually wrote it, is there just in case we misjudge the situation and assume that Moses was in the habit of throwing his weight around and this is what had upset Miriam and Aaron and caused them to attack him. Quite the opposite. Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth. This reminds leaders who may be tempted to think that if they are humble enough then there is no possibility of their being criticised or denigrated. No, even someone who was as humble as Moses could not prevent his brother and sister attacking him and decrying him and saying that he had a wrong attitude and ought to give someone else a chance.

2. Recognise that God can use opposition to God appointed leaders to clarify issues

In verses 4-8 we read that 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.

It is a little like a court scene. God the Judge has the two of them before him. He then proceeds to explain something important to them. He says When there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But he says this is not true of my servant Moses; no, it is different with him 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. Now these statements serve both to clarify things and also to delineate the unique relationship between Moses and God. The words are quite carefully arranged in an almost poetic way.

At the heart of it is this this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. He is like Joseph in Potiphar's house – the one who deals with it all. Unlike the prophets who are given dreams and visions God speaks to Moses face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. With Moses God speaks with clarity, like I am speaking to you now.

Thus for Miriam and Aaron to say there was no difference between Moses and them was arrant nonsense. That was not the case.

It is those words that God spoke to Moses that we have preserved for us here in the Bible, in the first five books.

And so although it would have been better if Miriam and Aaron had not rebelled in the way that they did at least this incident served to clarify the unique position of Moses. Sometimes when leaders are attacked this happens and important truths are clarified. This is not to condone Miriam and Aaron in any way or anyone else either, of course.

3. See that it is a wicked thing to engage in opposition to God appointed leaders

There are four more things to say.

1. Opposition to God appointed leaders is a frightening thing

Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? Here is a man whom God speaks to face to face and yet here are these people complaining against him. What a fearful thing to do. I've told you before about that time when an older boy told myself and a friend off for doing something and we decided we were not going to take any notice of him and told him so. Then suddenly as we walked along there was the boy's father at his garden gate. “I told him to speak to you about it” he said, nearly frightening the life out of me. So be careful. If you speak against a preacher, a man of God. Do bear in mind that he is the Lord's anointed. If you ever dare to speak a word against the Son of God it can be forgiven but remember who he is. To rebel against the Bible itself, which is the Word of God is a dangerous thing indeed.

2. Opposition to God appointed leaders provokes the anger of God

It goes on in verse 9 The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them. We should be in no doubt about God's attitude when the leaders he appoints are attacked. It arouses his anger. He is slow to be angry but angry he will be when people oppose his leaders. That is one reason why in the New Testament we are told (1 Timothy 5:19) Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. It goes on to say that elders who sin must be reproved before everyone, so that the others may take warning but clearly we must be very careful before we begin to bring an accusation against a God appointed leader.

3. Opposition to God appointed leaders deserves punishment

In this case we are told that 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 leprosy (or whatever severe skin disease it was). It is not stated why it was Miriam who suffered and not Aaron. She seems to have taken the lead in this and Aaron followed. No doubt it was almost as tough for him to see his sister a leper and he being partly to blame as it was for her to have leprosy.

Straight away Aaron the High Priest pleads for Miriam (11, 12) 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. In the face of this, all rebellion against Moses, who Aaron calls Lord, is at an end. They both know who is the true leader.

4. Opposition to God appointed leaders ought to be dealt with in a merciful way

Moses holds no malice against his brother and sister. 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. After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.

It is a wicked thing to rebel against God appointed leaders and sometimes a punishment will be appropriate. What one longs for, however, is reconciliation and restoration as soon as possible. The sooner the better. Sometimes a period of exclusion will be necessary but it must not be longer than is needed. The leniency is seen in that Miriam should really have been excluded from the camp for 14 days but one week is seen to be enough.

Don't miss either that progress through the desert was delayed by a week because of the conduct of Miriam and Aaron. It is bound to slow us up if we rebel against elders God himself has appointed.