Scripture
“So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
~Numbers 12:8, NIrV
Quote
A child allowed to be disrespectful to parents will grow up respecting no one.
~William Franklin Graham
Aaron and Miriam got upset with their brother Moses because he married a woman from Cush which would be present day Ethiopia. The ancient Cushites became known as the Sumerians: a group that migrated East toward the Persian Gulf and then on to India. The word Cush does not mean black as some suppose. The Cushites were descendants of Ham and they were dark shinned but a Sumerian would look more like an Indian than an African. There was no outrage concerning Moses wife Zipporah. She was a descendant of Midian, one of Abraham’s sons by Keturah and therefore a Semite. No one knows for sure why Aaron and Miriam became so upset. It was probably a result of jealously. Perhaps they were afraid Moses would someday appoint one of his son’s [none were pure blooded Israelites] to succeed him as Israel’s leader. As far as we know, this thought never crossed Moses mind. He knew early on that Joshua would be the next leader.
The point of the text is that Aaron and Miriam disrespected Moses and without fear of consequence. Should we show deep respect for God’s anointed servants? Times have changed and the current view is to treat God’s servants like you would treat anyone else but David did not hold this view and neither do I. Twice David quoted God, “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” [I Chron. 16:22, Psalms 105:15] He also substantiated this quote with the history of the patriarchs. Abraham was vastly outnumbered by the natives but they respected him and his God. Even Pharaoh and Abimelek dared not harm Sarah and Rebecca out of fear of the God of Abraham. David’s story is really unique: Saul hated David, they were no best friends but David refused to harm Saul. There is no question that David disagreed with Saul on most issues but he would not lay a hand on him because he was God’s anointed king.
Over 40 years ago, Bro. Inman was helping me in revival when a woman called him aside and began a verbal attack on my character. Bro. Inman was a gentle man but he stopped her: “Lady, you are saying some awful hateful things about God’s anointed servant and he will not hold you guiltless.” Unfortunately, she was a fool and continued her rant. God held Aaron and Miriam accountable for their actions. You will not convince me that God’s servants are free game but if you have no fear of God, go ahead and be disrespectful. I have a word for you: nothing good will come from it. God can humble you just like He did Aaron and Miriam. By the way, Aaron and Miriam were Baptist. How do I know? They were yakking with each other about what they didn’t like about their pastor instead of getting on their knees praying for him.
By the way, who prayed for Miriam’s healing?
Another day of sunshine yesterday. It was a bit cooler but still very nice. Big Mama’s surgery went good but she got sick coming home from the surgery center. She stayed sick most of the day. March is zooming by at record speed. The time changed happens tonight.