Sermon: January 20, 2008
"Chopped Liver"
(scripture references are clickable)
As we continue in our sermon series from the book of Numbers, we have another tragic story before us today – a story of what happens when the green-eyed monster takes over, a story of when leaders fall off their pedestal, a story of when selfish desires take precedence over the needs of others and over what God has ordained. In other words, we have a story of human sin and downfall – our story. I know we don’t generally like to hear these kinds of stories. They hit too close to home. But they are here in Scripture because we need to hear them. May God speak to us clearly as we hear them today!
We have three main characters in our story from Numbers today: Moses, Aaron and Miriam, who are siblings. Aaron is the older brother and Miriam the older sister to Moses, the youngest. Together they lead Israel. But there is a pecking order here, for Moses is clearly the leader of this group. He is the one God has chosen to be at the top. But that’s not to say that Miriam and Aaron are unimportant. Miriam has been used by God since she was a little girl. She was the one to keep watch over her baby brother as he floated down the Nile in a basket, and she made the suggestion to Pharaoh’s daughter that she find a wet-nurse for baby Moses, after which she then fetched her own mother. Miriam, we are told, was also a prophetess and a worship leader. In Exodus 15, she took up a tambourine and led the women of Israel in a time of praise by the shores of the Red Sea.
In the same way, Aaron was chosen by God to be Moses’ right-hand man. He accompanied Moses before Pharaoh numerous times, and it was his staff that miraculously budded almond blossoms and turned into a serpent. Moreover, Aaron was chosen by God to be Israel’s first high priest, an honor that stayed in Aaron’s family for over a thousand years. He alone was chosen from all those in the tribe of Levi – a great honor, to be sure. He led Israel’s worship; he oversaw the people’s sacrifices and prayers. But we see today that all these honors for Aaron and Miriam were not enough. They weren’t satisfied with this. They wanted more.
Indeed, jealousy, envy and discontent snuck into Miriam and Aaron. The text leads us to believe that Miriam was the instigator here. She is listed first in this chapter, and the verb form used is feminine. And the first thing she did was to talk against her brother Moses because of his new wife, who was not an Israelite. Let this be a lesson to us all, friends – when people are upset with you, especially if you are a leader, they rarely tell you what is really the matter! But perhaps Moses’ new wife was threatening to Miriam because she was no longer the first lady in the land. Perhaps the new elders we read about in last week’s lesson were threatening. Perhaps this was an old, festering sore. But either way, Miriam was jealous of her brother. She felt passed over. She felt like chopped liver. And as a result, she dragged her brother Aaron into her complaint, (sin often spreads to others!), fanning the flames of his jealousy. And together, they complain: “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t He also spoken through us?” (Numbers 12:2, NIV).
Problems always seem to come in twos and threes, don’t they? When Satan attacks our progress, he rarely only attacks once. And here, after attacking the people in the incident with the quail, he now attacks the leaders – Miriam, Aaron, and through them, Moses. Miriam and Aaron fall prey to their worst inclinations – jealousy, pride, arrogance and pettiness. They are worried about their place and their position. They want credit, influence and what they think is due to them. And that’s a far cry from what the Lord desires in His leaders. Consider our first Scripture passage for today from 1 Timothy, in which Paul instructs Timothy about the kind of people to look for in elders and deacons. Elders, he says, should be “above reproach . . . self-controlled, respectable, hospitable . . . not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money” (1 Timothy 3:2, 3, NIV). Deacons, he says, should be “men worthy of respect, sincere . . . They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience” (1 Timothy 3:8, 9, NIV). And sadly, in this chapter at least, Miriam and Aaron are none of these things. They fail the test for spiritual leadership.
Contrast their behavior with Moses’ actions, though. Moses is a very humble man; he doesn’t lash out at his brother and sister. He doesn’t go on the attack to defend his honor – which I’m sure was tempting, as no one can push our buttons like family! No, instead Moses is meek. He lets God fight His battles. I found a great definition of meekness as I was researching this sermon this past week: meekness is not weakness, but rather power under control.[1] And that’s exactly what Moses has here. He maintains his cool. And he lets God act.
And indeed, God does act here – swiftly. And to be sure, that’s a necessity here, before Miriam and Aaron’s poisonous accusations and attitude spread through the entire camp. God speaks, calling the three siblings to the Tent of Meeting. He then appears in a pillar of cloud and calls Miriam and Aaron forward to bawl them out. And God tells them, in no uncertain terms, that Moses is His chosen servant. He tells them that He has a special, unique relationship with Moses that He does not have with them – and how dare they criticize the way He has ordered things! And that’s exactly what Miriam and Aaron had done. They had essentially said that God was wrong to choose Moses over them. They had accused God of being unfair. They had said that they knew more than God. When they complained, they really weren’t criticizing Moses, who had indeed done nothing wrong; they were really criticizing God. And God called them on it, saying essentially “Who do you think you are? How dare you say that you are right and I am wrong!” Indeed, God expects more from His leaders.
And when He withdrew, Miriam had become leprous. She, as the ringleader, was judged for all the poison and discontent she had tried to spread. That poison instead was directed back at her, taking physical form. She had sought to be number one – now, she was a nobody, for according to the Law, lepers were to be expelled from the camp. Aaron, the high priest, the one who normally interceded before God on others’ behalf, now begged Moses, the man he had lately criticized, for healing and forgiveness. He asked God to intercede for him and for his sister. And amazingly, Moses does. He doesn’t hold a grudge. He doesn’t make them grovel. He doesn’t say “I told you so”. No, he’s humble and meek, and he grants his brother’s request. And because of Moses’ prayer, God is merciful; Miriam is healed of her leprosy. But – there are still consequences. Miriam is required to wait for seven days outside the camp. By Law, a public rebuke carried with it a period of shame, usually seven days. And since Miriam had been publicly rebuked by God, she must observe this practice, which means that the whole community now knows her shame. Everyone knows of her sin. And everyone must now wait and be held back because of what she did, because of her jealousy and greed. The people who were lately on the move were stalled until one of their leaders could deal with her sins.
As always, there is a lesson here for us, friends. Miriam and Aaron, through their shortcomings, teach us so much. They teach us that one person’s sins can hold a whole group back from progress. They teach us that jealousy, pettiness, greed and love of self can spread poison and discontent among God’s people. They teach us that God instead desires humility, obedience, meekness and acceptance of His plans. He desires instead that, like Moses, who was so quick to forgive his brother and sister, we be humble, merciful and content with the life God has ordained for us. I know those are hard lessons, friends. I know that it often takes a lifetime to learn and re-learn these things. But as we struggle for humility and contentment, as we contend for meekness and compassion, let us remember the story of Miriam and Aaron, and of the tragic price they had to pay for their jealousy and greed – indeed, of the price that the whole nation had to pay! And let us pray that God would lead us into an attitude of obedience and submission to His will. And as always, to Him alone be the glory!
