Moses was
not simply kvetching, but expressing legitimate despair. God
heard his cry.
In response, He put the spirit of Moses
on 70 elders to ease the burden of leadership.
An Ethiopian Israeli woman plays a djembe, a goblet-shaped drum
originally from West Africa.
As if the sin of thousands of
Israelites complaining were not enough to bear, his brother and
sister, Aaron and Miriam, publicly criticized Moses for marrying a
Cushite, (Ethiopian), woman. They became envious of his status
with God as a prophet and leader.
After all, God gave Miriam and Aaron His Spirit to
prophecy as well—but not as much or in the same way as He gave to
Moses.
A prophet should know better than to
envy another prophet.
God asked Miriam
and Aaron, “Were you not afraid to
speak against My servant, Moses?” (Numbers
12:8)
After seeing thousands of Israelite's
struck dead from their complaining, they should have been very
afraid, but they weren’t.
As a consequence of their
verbal attack against Moses, Miriam was struck with leprosy.
(Numbers 12:10)
Leprosy
is a punishment for the sin of Lashon
Hara, literally, evil tongue.
It is the use of truth, for a
wrongful purpose; i.e., to lower another persons status in the eyes of God
and people while seemingly elevating our own in the eyes of people.
The truth is never to be used as a
weapon of hate or envy. While we are to be speakers of the
truth, we are to do so with love.
"Speaking
the truth in love, we will grow to become, in every respect, the mature
body of Him who is the head, that is, Messiah." (Ephesians
4:15)
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