moses used the ibis to help him defeat the ethiopians

God was judging rebels, not bigots.īut, you say, Moses was approved by God and he actually did the thing he was accused of. God opened the ground and put them in it.

An assembly of men under Korah attempted to grab power on a much larger scale. If you don’t believe this, read what happened four chapters later. This was the issue, not the nature of the charge against Moses.ĭo we really think God would have handled it differently if instead of questioning his marriage, Miriam and Aaron had accused Moses of being a moneygrubber and a thief? Is it only when they attach some racial significance to the situation that God decides He has to act? The intent of the heart would have been the same and that is what God was judging. On this basis, God asks, “wherefore were ye then not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?' v8. He then proceeds to establish that Moses is indeed the man He has chosen to speak through, face to face. He vouches for the general character of Moses: “.who is faithful in all my house” v7. God does not speak to the nature of the charge directly. In verses 4-8, God establishes the reason for His anger towards Miriam and Aaron. Once it has served its purpose, it is often cast aside. Oftentimes, it is a distorted half-truth lacking proper context. In modern politics, we quickly learn the smear is just a means to a political end, whether it is true or not. But we are all familiar with the routine. This is not to suggest that people serving in positions of responsibility in government should not be held accountable. First, they question the character of the person in office and then promote themselves, much like modern politicians. This has the makings of a religious, political power grab. “ And they said, hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.” We’ll return to the first verse but we first have to establish what the chapter is about.

So they say.Īs tempting as it is to read it this way, let’s back up a bit. Let this be a lesson to modern day bigots. God was exposing and judging their bigotry. His sister and brother didn’t like it and so they bad mouthed him. We read in Numbers 12:1, “ AND Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses, because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.”įor many, this verse is what the chapter is all about.

Moses used the ibis to help him defeat the ethiopians