"In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried." (Numbers 20:1) The Bible says the events of this chapter happened "in the first month". But of what year? It's believed to be the fortieth year since the Israelites left Egypt. If so, a great deal of time passed between Chapter 19 and Chapter 20. But the Lord had said that, due to the people's refusal to march in faith into the promised land in Chapter 14, no one over the age of twenty who had seen Him perform wonders in Egypt and in the wilderness would enter the promised land, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. This means the Israelites moved from place to place in the wilderness until everyone of the faithless generation died out.
Moses' own family is no exception to the Lord's decree that "not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors". (Numbers 14:23a) Miriam dies in Chapter 20 without ever laying eyes on the promised land. We don't know her age but she was evidently the oldest sibling in the family of Moses. She is believed to have been the sister who watched over him when he was placed in the basket in the river as an infant. If Moses had any other sisters, they are never named, and it is assumed by most scholars that Miriam is the sister of Exodus 2 who was sent by her mother to see what would happen to baby Moses.
Though Miriam rebelled against the leadership of Moses in Numbers 12, Moses loved her and forgave her. He prayed for her when the Lord struck her with leprosy as discipline and the Lord heard Moses' prayer and healed her. We are given no details about Miriam's illness, death, or funeral. But we can safely assume that Moses and Aaron and possibly the entire congregation mourned her deeply because she was considered a prophetess according to Exodus 15:20.
This is a time of grief and it's also a time of deprivation because we'll learn there's no source of running water at Kadesh. I believe the community has stopped off at Kadesh due to the need to bury Miriam and observe the days of mourning for her. Anyone who had contact with her body would have to observe the seven days of ceremonial uncleanness and the cleansing rituals as outlined in our previous chapter. But while the community is at Kadesh they run out of water and there is no fresh water to be found. As they've done many times in the past, the people turn on Moses and blame him (along with his brother Aaron) for their hardship.
"Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, 'If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! Why did you bring the Lord's community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!'" (Numbers 20:2-5) The people say, "We wish we were dead! If only we'd already died here in this wilderness like so many of our community before us then we wouldn't be enduring this thirst. If only the Lord would strike us dead rather than allowing us to suffer without water. We were so much better off in Egypt! Slavery in that land of plenty was better than freedom in a land where we are finding no water. Why have you done this to us? Under whose authority have you led us here? You want us to die!"
As usual, Moses' first instinct when faced with trouble is to go to the Lord for help. We could learn a lot from this attitude because sometimes we go to the Lord last, after having already unsuccessfully attempted to solve our problems ourselves. "Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them." (Numbers 20:6) If we'd fall facedown before the Lord more often we'd stand back up in victory far more often. The Lord should be our first resort when troubles come, not our last resort.
Moses and Aaron respond in a godly manner to the anger and accusations of the crowd in our portion of Scripture today. In tomorrow's portion we'll find Moses being overcome with anger himself and we'll find him giving in to the frustration of leading people who don't want to be led by him. We'll find him behaving in a manner that makes it clear---in case it wasn't already---that he and Aaron are not exempt from the Lord's decree that the generation of people aged twenty and older who saw the Lord's wonders in Egypt and in the wilderness will not enter the promised land. Miriam has already fallen in the wilderness, never to reach the land the Lord vowed to give to the descendants of Abraham. Later in this same chapter we'll find Aaron dying several months after Miriam, at a location known as Mount Hor. Moses will die on Mount Nebo in Deuteronomy 34.
In today's passage we find Moses and Aaron handling their situation in the right way. Join us tomorrow as we find them not handling their situation in the right way and as we find the Lord judging them guilty of failing to honor Him in the presence of the congregation. Prior to this there may have been some doubt as to whether the family of Moses would be kept from the promised land. After all, Moses and Aaron had the faith to believe Israel could take over the promised land with the Lord's help. Moses and Aaron didn't rebel against the Lord in Chapter 14 when the people's faith failed them and they refused to enter but instead wanted to turn back to Egypt. Yet in Chapter 14 the Lord stated that no one aged twenty or older, other than Joshua and Caleb, who saw His wonders in Egypt and the wilderness would enter the promised land. This means that even though the Lord knew Moses and Aaron didn't doubt His ability to give them victory over the tribes of the promised land, He also knew Moses and Aaron would mess up at Kadesh in Numbers 20. There is nothing the Lord does not know. This is why He can speak of the future as if it has already happened. This is why He can make decrees based on events that haven't even taken place yet. This is why, way back in Genesis, the Lord could say He disliked Esau before Esau and his twin Jacob were even born. The Lord knew the type of profane, carnally-minded man Esau would be. The Lord knew what type of cruel and uncharitable people the descendants of Esau would be, as we'll see later this week as we move on through Chapter 20. The Lord is able to make decisions based on future events because He knows exactly how future events are going to play out.
Tomorrow we will see Moses making what is probably the biggest mistake of his life---a mistake that denies him entry to the promised land when the time comes for Israel to move forward and begin taking possession of it. But the Lord doesn't turn His back on Moses. Moses doesn't become "unsaved" by his mistake. The Lord still loves him. If a man like Moses can mess up and still be loved by the Lord, you and I can take comfort in knowing the Lord still loves us when we mess up too.
No comments:
Post a Comment