Numbers 11-14, 20-24, 27

<p>Even the great prophet Moses felt so overwhelmed and discouraged at one point that he wanted to give up and die (See Numbers 11:14&ndash;15). But God did not give up on Moses.</p> <p>My dear brothers and sisters, if we look at ourselves only through our mortal eyes, we may not see ourselves as good enough. But our Heavenly Father sees us as who we truly are and who we can become. He sees us as His sons and daughters, as beings of eternal light with everlasting potential and with a divine destiny.</p>

<p>Aaron and Miriam find themselves in a disagreement with Moses because of his Ethiopian (or Cushite) wife. We had not read about her before. In Exodus, Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of the priest of Midian (Exodus 2:16, 21). Midian is east of the Sinai Peninsula in Western Asia, and Ethiopia is in Africa along the southern part of the Nile River. These locations are very far from each other. Some believe Zipporah and the Ethiopian wife are the same person, but they are most likely different individuals. For untold reasons, Aaron and Miriam do not agree with Moses&rsquo;s decision to marry her. However, their response was written clearly: they believed they had the right to speak against Moses because in the past the Lord had also spoken through them. The question is whether a past spiritual experience or leadership role justifies one to speak against the Lord&rsquo;s anointed and his marriage preferences. Fortunately, Moses is humble and does not respond to his siblings.</p> <p>As Moses remains silent, the Lord steps in on his behalf. The Lord calls Moses, Aaron, and Miriam into the tabernacle and descends as a cloud to the door, asking Moses&rsquo;s siblings to meet Him there. In what follows, the Lord makes a distinction between the role of someone who prophesies (as the seventy men in chapter 11 or perhaps Miriam and Aaron) and <em>the </em>prophet (as Moses, who was chosen to lead the people). This distinction is often missed.</p> <p>Acknowledging Miriam and Aaron&rsquo;s prior experience and inspiration, the Lord states that an inspired indi&shy;vidual does receive personal revelation, described here as visions or dreams. In other words, the inspiration that Aaron and Miriam had experienced was in fact real and valid. In the often-misunderstood verse 7, the Lord is saying that Moses is not that kind of prophet. He is more than that. By saying that Moses is &ldquo;faithful in all mine house,&rdquo; the Lord may be acknowledging Moses&rsquo;s marriage to the Ethiopian woman. Moses is the kind of prophet that receives much more than visions and dreams. The Lord speaks with Moses &ldquo;mouth to mouth, even apparently [or clearly], and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold.&rdquo; In other words, the communication between Moses and the Lord is direct.</p> <p>Miriam and Aaron should not have spoken against the Lord&rsquo;s anointed, despite their role as people who prophesy. Notwithstanding, the Lord invites them to be better, for at that moment He is speaking to them clearly from the tabernacle door. Said differently, in this rebuke, Miriam and Aaron speak directly with the Lord &ldquo;even [clearly], and not in dark speeches.&rdquo;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Author:</strong> Noe Correa<br /><strong>General Editor:</strong> Taylor Halverson<br /><strong>Associate Editor:</strong> Morgan Tanner<br /><strong>Senior Editor:</strong> Sarah Whitney Johnson<br /><strong>Assistant Editor:</strong> Sam Lofgran<br /><strong>Assistant Editor:</strong> Verlanne Johnson</p>