February 8, Numbers 12:1 - 14:45, Are people mean to you?

People are just downright evil sometimes!

Numbers 12:1-16

Amplified Bible (AMP)

12 Now Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses [their brother] because of his ^[a]Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite woman.

² And they said, Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.

³ Now the man Moses was very meek (gentle, kind, and humble) or above all the men on the face of the earth.

⁴ Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting. And the three of them came out.

⁵ The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the Tent door and called Aaron and Miriam, and they came forward.

⁶ And He said, Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make Myself known to him in a vision and speak to him in a dream.

⁷ But not so with My servant Moses; he is entrusted and faithful in all My house.

⁸ With him I speak mouth to mouth [directly], clearly and not in dark speeches; and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?

⁹ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and He departed.

¹⁰ And when the cloud departed from over the Tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous!

¹¹ And Aaron said to Moses, Oh, my lord, I plead with you, lay not the sin upon us in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.

¹² Let her not be as one dead, already half decomposed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.

¹³ And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech You!

¹⁴ And the Lord said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp for seven days, and after that let her be brought in again.

¹⁵ So Miriam was shut up without the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought in again.

¹⁶ Afterward [they] removed from Hazeroth and encamped in the Wilderness of Paran.

Footnotes:

1. Numbers 12:1 Zipporah, Moses’ wife, seems to have died some time before. Marriage with a Canaanite was forbidden, but not with an Egyptian or Cushite. Joseph’s wife was an Egyptian (Gen. 41:45).

This is so typical of family. They will say what everyone else is thinking. Thinking they are helping you by pointing out your mistake? Something you've already done??? (Cutting on Moses' choice for a wife? Please. A little late for that, Miriam. Why couldn't you simply be nice to the woman and welcome her to the family?)

I'm sure it was a common occurence for Moses to be spoken to in this manner because he was incredibly meek and humble (more than anyone on the face of the earth). This is typical of people in general. Because someone is kind and meek, we feel we can talk down to them; assuming their quietness of spirit means they are not very smart and they need our great wisdom.

Numbers 14:1-45

New King James Version (NKJV)

14 So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.² And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”⁴ So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

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.’^[a] 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 theLord is with us. Do not fear them.”

¹⁰ And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lordappeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? ¹² I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

¹³ And Moses said to the Lord: “Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, ¹⁴ and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people; that You, Lord, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵ Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷ And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, ¹⁸ ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’^[b] 19 Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

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. ²⁵ Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.”

Death Sentence on the Rebels

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²⁷ “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. ²⁸ Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: ²⁹ The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. ³⁰ Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.³¹ But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. ³² But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. ³³ And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. ³⁴ According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. ³⁵ I the Lordhave spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’”

³⁶ Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, ³⁷ those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the Lord. ³⁸ But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.

A Futile Invasion Attempt

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.

Wow. Moses had such a kind heart! He kept pleading for mercy for these awful ungrateful people. They wanted to STONE Aaron and him for heaven's sake.

Seriously, are you going through some stuff? Are there some people in your life being evil to you? And seemingly getting away with it? Just be still! Let God be God do what only He can do.

Psalm 46:10

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁰ Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!

In other words, God is going to take care of these evil people just like He took care of those who wanted to kill Moses, their good hearted leader!

Don't waste time wondering why you are being treated this way! Rejoice! Know God's got your back and he's going to get tired of this and when He does, you will actually feel a bit sorry for your enemies!!!

Dont even try to fix the mess. By doing so, you will just be hurt worse. Oh, and don't be shocked by people's behavior! Read the above account again if you have to.

And remember,

1 Peter 4

The Message (MSG)

Learn to Think Like Him

4 ^1-2 Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.

Glory Just Around the Corner

^12-13 Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

^14-16 If you’re abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It’s the Spirit of God and his glory in you that brought you to the notice of others. If they’re on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that’s a different matter. But if it’s because you’re a Christian, don’t give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!

¹⁹ So if you find life difficult because you’re doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he’s doing, and he’ll keep on doing it.

"Dear Jesus, I am hurting here! Those who I love seem to hate me! They seem to delight in causing me pain! I dont understand this at all. I think my motives are pure, but obviously there's more work You're needing to do in me. Help me not to ask why, but to just praise You through everything and know You went through much worse humiliation and You passed Your test with flying colors!!! You are now reigning over us all! I desire to reign with You so I must pass these tests!!! I give You ALL the glory, for You are worthy! I ask all of this in Your precious name, Jesus, AMEN."