WOMEN of CHARACTER: MIRIAM…part 2 Opposing Godly Leadership……from Numbers 12 It’s late. Only a few couples are left around your kitchen table, sipping the last of your coffee……and carving up the pastor and the church for dessert. When they’re gone, they’ll leave behind a sink-ful of dirty dishes. And wasted words that could have been prayers. First, a Quick Read: Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the LORD heard this….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 came out. Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam…..The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them. When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam leprous, like snow….So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please 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…..Numbers 12: 1-2,4-5a 9-10a, 13-15 When You Think about It: Miriam’s dissatisfaction had probably been brewing for some time. If we could listen in to her conversations with herself, perhaps we would hear things such as: “There is something unfair about the organizational structure that is developing among us. Only men are being put in charge of things. Maybe that’s the reason we’re all stuck in the desert…..The women do not recognize and respect my role as prophetess. I really think Moses should require them to acknowledge my position….I know that marrying a Cushite is not forbidden like marriage to a Canaanite, but it is beneath the spiritual position of our family.” We women have a way of stuffing our displeasure until it erupts. We also have a tendency to see life in its bits and pieces rather than as a part of the flow of redemption. When we look at the individual parts of our lives, some things appear unfair and unpleasant. When we take them out of the context of the big picture, we easily drift into the attitude that we deserve better, and the tumble down into the pit of pride begins…….Susan Hunt The cure for rebellion is to turn to God...to cleanse your heart…Henry Brandt LOOK AT IT THIS WAY: No pastor is perfect. No church leader is above all reproach. No husband or father can presume to always speak and act with the wisdom of God. Those in positions of godly authority over us—even the best of them—can’t help but add some flesh into the mix of their decisions, some human undercurrents into their understanding of God’s will. But God understands, and still admonishes us to “Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you” ..Hebrews 13:17 CHARACTER CHECK: Pray for your leaders. Pray that they’ll be able to make wise decisions, to stand against temptation, to enjoy unity in their homes. Prayer will keep you at peace with them. Goodnite.....fb
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:21:54 +0000
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