Trusting God With Family Conflict

A short time after the group that complained about the food died and were buried, the people came to Hazeroth, where they stayed for some time.  Here a new problem arose.  Moses was over eighty and had been married to Zipporah for over forty years.   When he remarried, he had married an Ethiopian, which in their language meant a black person.  She wasn’t Jewish, and they didn’t like it much, as Numbers 12:1 tells us.  “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.” 

 

Upset about his marriage, Miriam and Aaron became jealous of Moses’ popularity and began to try to discredit him, in Numbers 12:2.  “And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?...”  Why shouldn’t they share in his power?  After all, they were his siblings and were both older than he was, and God had used them at different times as well.  They were just as qualified as Moses to speak for God.  Such an attack by those you have trusted and been close too is devastating, but they are not uncommon, and sometimes there is not much you can do about them except trust God to work it out.    

 

God knows about such attacks, and will do what is needed to keep these attacks from destroying his plans.  He knew that Moses was not the problem and he addressed it directly, in Numbers 12:2b-4.  “And the LORD heard it.”  (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)  And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.” 

 

Moses was meek, i.e. not self-centered, and would not retaliate, but God took it seriously.  God made it very clear that he was the one who decided would speak for him to the people, in Numbers 12:5-8.  “And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.  And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.  My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.  With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” 

 

It was very disrespectful for them to decide God had no choice in the matter.  Numbers 12:9-10 tells us God was quite angry.  “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed.  And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.”  God completely withdrew from the Tabernacle to make his disapproval obvious, and Miriam came down with an advanced case of leprosy. 

 

Aaron was shocked by God’s response, and admitted they had done wrong, asking Moses to do something to heal her, in Numbers 12:11-12.  “And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.  Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.”

 

When Moses prayed for God to heal her and forgive them, God reminded them that even making her father mad would have resulted in a period of discipline to drive home the seriousness of her sin.  God would do no less.  It would be a week before she recovered, as a warning not to repeat her sin as Numbers 12:13-16 describes.  “And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.

 

And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.  And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.  And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.”  As Dr. Lee Baucum says, forgiveness is not a blank check.  We frequently still have to deal with some of the consequences of our sin. 

 

When we are wrongfully attacked, we can trust god to deal with the attackers, even when they are members of our own family or church.  Romans 12:19-21 instructs us, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”    By doing good, you are emphasizing the contrast between them and yourself, forcing them to consider their attitude.