and redeemed you from the house of slavery; God’s testimony, God’s self-defense was Miriam. She messed up so she stepped up. She didn't try to mimic men or to please them but simply connected to her true self, to the woman within her, to her inner power of life and she remains an example for women leaders of all times. Before I get into them, left me give you a little bit of her story. Maacah was the mother of Abijam and the grandmother of Asa. 12:9-10; Deut. Jecoliah of Jerusalem gave birth to Uzziah. There, God is going to take some of His Spirit that is on Moses and put it on these elders to help bear the burden of leading the people. So Moses prays and asks God to heal Miriam from this disease. In fact there are no stories about Moses’ sons in the wilderness, unlike Aaron’s, suggesting that he sent them away again. And then, one day, she died. God does not take rebellion lightly, especially when it comes from among His people and is directed against His authority. There are nine months until Christmas. It is something I fight within myself often! Black and shiny. Names in your New Testaments have been translated from Hebrew to Greek to Latin, and to German in some cases, and then into English, rendering many familiar and beloved names distantly related to their original forms. We made it easy for you to exercise your right to vote. (2 Corinthians 10:5) If Miriam had not let these jealous thought stay in her mind, she would have never acted upon them and would have avoided be excommunicated from the camp. As women we also need to respect the authority that is given to others (Num. The Rev. Do we think of her as having been sent before Israel just like Moses and Aaron? Click here - Build a Diligent Prayer Life ecourse, “Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt and ransomed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.” Micah 6:4. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be. With cautious optimism and hope, Miriam crouched on the bank of the Nile River, watching intently as her baby brother Moses, lying in a waterproofed basket, floated among the reeds at river's edge. Miriam and her mother knew that Pharaoh's daughter, accompanied by her maidens, came to the river to bathe. We don’t hear anything more about Moses and his family business until he shows up in our lesson with a brand new wife. Now, here's what I learned. Again, we are being shown a REAL woman here. She messed up and then she stepped up. It was at that moment that Miriam spontaneously hurried to the princess and offered to help. One of the things I like best about the prophet Miriam is that when she messed up, she stepped up. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 12:6-8). When God called her name, calling her on the carpet, calling her to account, she didn’t shuck and jive, she didn’t duck and dodge, she stepped up. It would have taken quite a bit of courage to be so forthright with the Pharaoh’s daughter. There's a course for that! One of them, Pharaoh's daughter, noticed the basket among the reeds. And move on. Since the biblical disease is never described with the numbness and loss of body parts associated with leprosy in other parts of the world and because houses, clothing and other inanimate objects could be contaminated, most biblical scholars identify this disease as something else. She shows us God using a woman in a strong and influential way. Dr. Dennis Proctor told me that. And they three came out. She was anxious, and with good reason. This process is automatic. God spoke to her and through her and she spoke for God in song and verse. This is Miriam’s story. American King James Version×). Myriam has a well-established background in public health. 3:10-22). You can’t run and you can’t hide. © 1995–2020 All correspondence and questions should be sent to info@ucg.org. And it was decided that Miriam had to leave the community and stay in the camp beyond the camp. 22:6; Eph. [7] My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all my house. ." All of those Marys, all of those Miriams, were named for one woman, the mother of them all although she never married and never gave birth, the prophet Miriam. And the LORD heard it. God listed her in such select company because she had set a faithful example for all Israelites in her time and all mankind forever. But her name wasn’t Mary; it was Miriam. "Pharaoh decreed that only first-born sons would die; you decreed both boys and girls would never be conceived. Yet the sum of her life is so much more than her most infamous mistake. If we know Moses, we probably know Miriam watched over him while he was in the river. But, without question, Moses had a greater part to play. Then God said to Miriam and Aaron, you two, come a little closer to the Fire. God doesn't need our advice. She lived in Egypt as an Israelite, so it stands to reason that the difficulties of the people affected her as well (Ex. It's at this juncture that we find Miriam risking her life to save her little brother. The women joined Miriam in the Song of the Sea and Dance of Deliverance. Look at Deuteronomy 24:9, Remember what the Holy One your God did to Miriam on your journey out of Egypt. Miriam, the prophet-woman, messed up, stepped up, sat down, got up and then she moved on. So Miriam took a small hand-drum – I know your bibles say a tambourine in Ex 15, that’s a translation error, it was a tambourine-shaped drum without the metal pieces – she took a drum in her hand and led the people through the water singing her song. Leading her people through the danger water, Miriam was the first Israelite to set foot on the other side. Miriam led the women in singing and dancing with joy, for God had not just vanquished their enemy, He had done so gloriously! God inspired Moses himself to record the details of her error, which was a serious issue to God. A little further down the road, Moses begins to experience burnout. Today, God’s truth and it is given in the scriptures (Jn. The word lachem in Hebrew translates to "them" and is inclusive of both men and women. Moses messed up and God would deal with him. And know that that you may have to pay a price and that you may have to bear the consequences, in public, in your community. He says that He decides who will be His prophet and speak to them via visions or dreams. Miriam here is named as a “prophetess”. 4:11). [])). This isn't my first comfort zone, not by any means. )” Have you ever done that? 4:11-16; 1 Cor. I knew these leaders were seeking God's will for their own lives and I was not trusting that God would speak to them and guide them to make the right choices and decisions. Israel remained camped for one week, time enough for this spiritual lesson for Miriam and Israel to sink in (Numbers 12:15 Numbers 12:15And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.American King James Version×). Naamah the Ammonite, was the mother of Rehoboam. She expressed all the robust qualities that are best: courage and ingenuity in a dangerous situation; loyalty to her family; a love of music, story-telling and dance; intellectual enquiry into questions about authority and social responsibility. Earlier, when Moses identified Miriam as a prophetess, he wrote how she had led the Israelite women in singing that served as a wholehearted answer to Moses' and Israel's praise to God. They could only remember the lesson if they remembered the woman and the story! God did not limit this work to men (Judges 4:4; 2 Kings 22:14; Luke 2:36). And then one day, Miriam messed up. She never married. He didn’t lead the people through the water. And it’s a good thing for men who are used to being at the center of the story – even sharing pronouns with God in some preacher’s mouths – to have to think about where they fit into the story and find their place in a woman’s story. The laws of health, hygiene and quarantine God had instituted for the well-being of the people directed that lepers live outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46 Leviticus 13:46All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.American King James Version×). Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and after that she may be received again" (Numbers 12:14 Numbers 12:14And the LORD said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. After the death of Israel and subsequently his son Joseph, "there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8 Exodus 1:8Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.American King James Version×). A careful study of those events can help us better understand Israel's trying nature and God's patient mercy for His people. If caught, she might die herself for defying the ruler's order. For whatever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. The bible is full of these spaces, many, disproportionately, in the stories about women. But the people wouldn’t move, they wouldn’t walk through the waters. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. Moses responded quickly to Aaron's cry. You wouldn't expect the five book of Moses to promote women's leadership but a patriarchal society led by elders. The patriarch of the family was Jacob, also named Israel. At this point God becomes angry with Miriam and He strikes her with leprosy. A natural leader such as Miriam doesn't tell you how to think and what to do but rather connects to your inner self, enables you to better understand your own feelings and empowers you to realize your true potential without being afraid of losing control. [10] And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked on Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. We will see that she had a part to play in the events of the Exodus and the wilderness wanderings. Consider this event's significance against the backdrop of some incredible miracles: God heard Israel's cries for deliverance. And she is the only woman to have her childhood, adulthood, old age, death and burial recorded in the scriptures. The wife of Jesse was the mother of David. [3] (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were on the face of the earth.) the word of God was formed in the woman of God. And when God looked back on Miriam’s life and death, all God saw was her gifts. In these last and evil days someone needs to be reminded and someone else needs to learn that the word of God about a woman through a woman to women on Women’s Day works for men too, because women are the image of God, not once removed, but in everyway, image-bearers. But that’s not the only was Miriam was remembered, in 1 Chronicles 4:17, another Egyptian princess married into the tribe of Judah and named her newborn baby daughter Miriam. The princess could easily have rejected Miriam's offer of Moses' own mother to nurse the infant.