Miriam

In all her life, Miriam had never been so angry with her younger brother, Moses. And she was an old woman now, deserving of respect! After all she had done for him, Moses was going to get married to a Cushite woman from Africa? How could he do this to her? She had been quietly upset when he had married Zipporah, who was a foreign woman from Midian. Now she was not going to keep silent. 

If it were not for Miriam, Moses would not even be alive! Hadn’t she been the one to watch over him as he floated down the Nile River in that basket their mother had made? And when Pharaoh’s daughter had found him, who had been the one to come out of hiding? Who had told the Egyptian princess that she would need a woman to nurse the baby? Who had said she knew a woman who could do that? She had! Because Miriam had been so brave, Pharaoh’s daughter had even paid their mother to take care of Moses!

When Moses had come back to Egypt after 40 years of hiding in Midian because he had murdered an Egyptian, who had welcomed him? Miriam had! Who had encouraged everyone to listen to everything her brother said? She had! And who had led the women in playing tambourines and singing songs of praise after Moses had led all the people across the Red Sea? She had!

Moses was an old man now. She was not going to watch her brother make a fool of himself and her. She was as much a leader among the people as Moses was!

Miriam went to her other brother, Aaron. She knew better than to talk about her feelings. He might think she was jealous and not listen to her. She knew how to make him do what she wanted. “Moses is in love with that young Cushite. We must think of the Law. We must think of the people. The woman is not one of our people, Aaron. It doesn’t matter if she believes in God! She’s a foreigner from Africa. A foreigner! It’s a sin for Moses to marry her, and we must speak out against it. Besides, you are his older brother. You are the one who should lead the people.”

Soon both Miriam and Aaron were saying bad things about their brother, things like, “Moses isn’t the only leader. We’re good leaders too. We can tell everyone what God has said just as Moses does.” People overheard them speaking. It did not take long before the entire camp buzzed with gossip. 

The Lord called for Moses, Miriam, and Aaron to appear before him. Miriam was certain the Lord would take her side. Hadn’t she been a good helper for God from the time she was a little girl? He would know she was a better leader than her younger brother. 

But the Lord was furious! “Who are you to say bad things about the man I have chosen to lead Israel?”

Miriam couldn’t believe God’s words. And now what was happening? Her body felt strange to her. When she looked at Aaron, she saw the fear on his face. “Your skin is covered with white spots,” he said. “You have leprosy!”

She looked at her hands and cried. She was going to die of a terrible disease!

Aaron fell to his knees and cried out to his brother, “Oh, my lord! Please don’t punish us for our sin. We should not have spoken against you, Moses. Please make our sister well!”

Moses prayed for Miriam. He begged God to heal her. Miriam covered her face with shame over the terrible things she had said about her brother. 

The Lord did heal her, but he told her she must live outside the camp for seven days. She did a lot of thinking during that time. Before the seven days were up, she knew how wrong she had been. 

When Miriam came back to the camp, she went straight to Moses and his wife. “I was wrong to say bad things about you. I am very sorry.” Moses and the Cushite woman forgave her, and both were happy to call her their sister again. 

Miriam never spoke another word against Moses. 

 

 

When God made Moses a leader, Miriam was not kind to her younger brother. She acted as if she thought God didn’t know what he was doing. She got her other brother, Aaron, and other people mad at Moses by saying bad things about him. What did God say and do that shows how angry he was with Miriam? Do you think God wanted her to die? How did he answer Moses prayer?

Gossiping is saying unkind things about someone when the person isn’t around. It always leads to trouble. Think of a time when someone gossiped about you and got you in trouble. How did it make you feel? If we gossip about our leaders and question what they are doing when they are following God, it is like saying we don’t believe God knows what he is doing. How does God feel when you don’t believe he has chosen good leaders?