Tragedy At The Tabernacle: Miriam’s Punishment Series

Tragedy at the Tabernacle: Miriam’s Punishment

Introduction: The Tabernacle was also known as the “tent of meeting” and the place of worship for Israel during the Old Testament era. The Israelites also came there to present their various offerings to the LORD. Yet there was another side to the Tabernacle: there were a number of times when judgments took place resulting in tragedy for one or more of the people. The incident in this passage shows how a relatively minor issue led to something very tragic indeed.

1 The Accusation from Miriam and Aaron

Text, Numbers 12:1-3, KJV: 1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

Miriam was probably the oldest of Amram and Jochebed’s children—at least we don’t have any written records of any others. Some believe she was three years older than Aaron and thus six when Moses was born. Many first-grade children (average age: 6) do have a good amount of charm and/or winsomeness so it was easy for Pharaoh’s daughter to see Miriam as just a little girl rather than a threat or anything else when Moses took his first river cruise! Other than that, there isn’t much said about Miriam until this passage.

We do know more about Aaron, how that he (somehow) survived the infanticide decreed by Pharaoh, and that he followed the LORD’s command to find Moses. Aaron was 83 and Moses 80 when they stood together to represent the True God in front of Pharaoh and the various idols or false gods of Egypt.

Aaron had also been selected and consecrated to be Israel’s first high priest. He had the promise from the Lord that there would be no other legitimate high priest, or any priest, who could not trace his ancestry back to Aaron. Hundreds of years after this,. Ezra was able to prove he was a direct descendant from Aaron (Ezra 7:1-5) but a group of others, claiming to be priests, were excluded because they could not prove that ancestry (Nehemiah 7).

Both of them were believers in the LORD, both had experienced the crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground, and how the LORD had taken care of everything: up to this point. As incredible as it sounds, these two chose this time to criticize Moses for, of all things, his wife!

Without losing a lot of time here, we know Zipporah was Moses’ first wife. She was the daughter of Jethro;/Reuel, who was the priest of Midian, and she was the mother of Moses’ two sons. She’s only mentioned a few times, and not always in a pleasant light (e,g,. calling Moses a “bloody husband (Exodus 4)” and seemingly aloof when Jethro/Reuel brought her along to visit Moses (see Exodus 18).

Verse 1, though, says that Moses had married an “Ethiopian” woman. There’s some debate over this among the commentators but to me it seems either “Ethiopia” meant more territory than the present day country by that name (of note, Josephus mentions that Moses was a powerful general over Egypt’s army and one of the conquered territories was Ethiopia; available online at https://ccel.org/ccel/josephus/complete/complete.ii.iii.x.html or Antiquities, 2, x). One could make a four-point sermon on Moses as a leader of, by turn, soldiers, sheep, slaves, and settlers!

Others believe Zipporah had died and Moses had remarried. At any rate, this seems to me to be a very small thing. My wife and I were raised in different parts of the USA but we’ve never gone to throwing mud about where she’s from versus where I’m from. Hey, she’s kept me for almost 30 years so I’m not gonna complain!

But it was a big deal for Aaron and Miriam and, for whatever reason, they “spoke against” Moses because of his wife. To be honest, I’ve checked a few commentaries and there doesn’t seem to be a clear definition as to what “spoke against” means. Whatever they said to Moses, it wasn’t kind and it wasn’t necessary. Miriam, especially, would find this out soon.

Now the sister and brother drop the mask, to use a turn of phrase, by shifting their concern for Moses’ (new?) wife and his position. Classic bait and switch, perhaps?

Next, Miriam and Aaron reveal the real issue. They asked, “Has the LORD really only spoken by you? Hasn’t He also spoken by us?” Well, for Miriam, the answer would have to be No! True, she did act like a guard when Moses was floating in that basket, and she did grab a tambourine or similar instrument and added her voice to the “Song of Deliverance” when Israel crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 15). But as far as new information, new revelation, the new system of centralized worship at the Tabernacle? Not a word.