Wow! Talk about sibling rivalry! As if Moses doesn't have enough trouble with the Israelites! I love how God just goes totally 'parental' on them. 'You 3, here NOW, I'm coming down out of this cloud and talking to YOU.' We are told almost in passing here that Moses has a new wife. A Cushite. I had to remind myself (love that NetBible) that the Cushites are from Ham's son Cush- the son the disrespected Noah. They were from Ethiopia. We aren't told but is she perhaps a woman of color and that's what they are grumbling about? Just a thought. God does not seem to have a problem with it at all-whatever they were grumbling about. After the big Ta-do, the story that follows is a beautiful picture of the Messiah. Miriam becomes a leper (often associated with sin and being 'unclean') and Moses intercedes for her even though she had just turned against him. Much the same strory with Jesus: His own rejected Him, but He interceded with the Father for those who believed on Him to cleanse them of their sin. John 1:11-12 (if you haven't noticed by now you can put your cursor on these verses to read them).
I was a little curious about the statement in Num 12:3 about Moses being 'more humble that anyone on the earth. (Seems like an oxymoron to tell anyone you are humble)
Here's a good article about it and how tricky it is to translate some of the Hebrew words-the same word can also be translated oppressed and that he was!
http://www.godward.org/Hebrew%20Roots/meanings_of_moses.htm
The other possibility is that Joshua, his young aid was actually doing the writing for Moses and inserted that himself. Moses must be about 82 or so by now.
Another excellent possibility that my friend came up with was that it because he had seen God 'face to face' as it were. If that doesn't humble you, I don't know what would!
The Spies
The other big news today is of course about the spies. Interesting how the only two that brought a good report back are Joshua from the tribe of Judah and Caleb from the tribe of Ephriam. No one else believes that they can take the land that God promised them. But when God gets angry and says they cannot enter the land and will have to wander for 40 years until everyone over 20 dies.....they get the bright idea that NOW they will go and try to fight for the land. I think we can safely say that this is probably the origin of the phrase "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??!!"
The giants in the land: I promised a little more info when we got to giants in the land. But I'm finding the topic a little too deep for me. There are a lot of hoaxes out there etc. and I don't want to tell you something wrong. This website seemed pretty authoritative and points out many of the hoaxes. Also, when you look at the section : References to Giants in ancient texts, references in the Bible are included as well as other ancient book which are still be translated/pieced together but they have many similarities to the Biblical stories.
http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/giants.htm.
2 comments:
By the way, do you notice 'what's wrong with the picture' of Moses, Miriam and Aaron?
When I read the text for Feb 8, I was struck by the lack of faith on the Israelites. It seems that every time the going gets tough they bemoan the fact that they were ever brought out of Egypt in the first place. It speaks of how sinful man is never saitisfied with our circumstances, in this case, despite being delivered from opression and slavery. And it speaks of how so often our faith is weak and we doubt God. Many people struggle with doubt, but we need to trust God. It certainly helps to be a part of a faith affirming community like our Chronological Bible group!
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