Numbers 12
Notes
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1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.
2 And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it.
3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
4 And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out.
5 And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.
6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.
7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.
10 When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.
11 And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned.
12 Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”
13 And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.”
14 But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.”
15 So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again.
I. Racism at its heart is idolatry.
I. Racism at its heart is idolatry.
1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.
2 And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it.
A. Skin color does not determine value.
A. Skin color does not determine value.
1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.
Illus: We are constantly looking around us for ways that we can determine value, specially in measuring ourselves as greater than others.
Sometimes we looks at others and use morality as a way of determining that we are “better”
Other times we use social status as a way of determining our “superiority”
Throughout the history of the world man has used race as a way of determining our value over others.
We we talk about race we quickly want to single out the sin to people in the KKK, or who people who use racially derogatory terms, but racism goes far deeper than the visible fruit we see on the surface.
Racism is seen when we are quick to look at another person with suspicion where you might give your grace to someone who looks more like you.
Racism is when you unknowingly listen more closely to the opinion of one color of skin over another.
Racism is looking at a young black or Arab man and rushing to fear in a way you would never do with a white kid.
Racism is looking at a segment of people and judging them by the worst that you see and hear.
Racism is using humor to mock others or listening and laughing when racist jokes are told.
Racism is openly mocking the way a person looks online when you have a differing political opinion.
Racism at it’s heart is a direct affront to God… because every person on this earth is created in His image and made in His likeness.
When you insult, and allow the sin of racism to hold sway in your heart, you are critisizing the creator and allowing you own skin color to devalue the intrinsic value our creator has given every man.
25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Illus: More than that, Jesus died for every person of every nation and every race. Racism is anti gospel and anti christian.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
B. We use skin color to worship the idol of our own self worship.
B. We use skin color to worship the idol of our own self worship.
1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.
2 And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it.
Illus: This is a moment where we need to differentiate between the fruit and the roots.
The fruit is racism, the roots are the idolatry of self.
Our idolatry in racism worships ourselves over worshiping God. It takes the goodness that God has created us differently all over the world to display God’s creativity in creation and perverts it to say that some of God’s creation in good and some it not.
It screams I deserve more value because you have made an idol in your own image.
When we view people as God views them, created in His image and valued by him, we love and value them as God does.
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
II. Your ego works against God.
II. Your ego works against God.
3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
4 And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out.
5 And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.
6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.
7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
A. God uses the humble and empowers the weak.
A. God uses the humble and empowers the weak.
3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
4 And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out.
5 And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.
6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.
7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.
Illus: Aaron and Miriam wanted to be important, they used race to get to that end. They abandoned the very thing that gave them value, the God who created them.
Moses on the other hand understood who he was in his own skin. Nothing. He understood that his value, importance, and usefulness was found in God.
Moses’ inability to speak when God appeared to him forever defined who He was. He understood his complete and utter dependence on God.
Over and over scripture teaches that God seeks humble men and empowers them, yet we feel our works, race, self righteousness give us value.
This is not a single incident… look at how God picked His king for Israel...
(when samuel was looking for a king, he looked for the wrong things)
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
B. God looks deeper than the color of your skin, he looks into the depths of your heart.
B. God looks deeper than the color of your skin, he looks into the depths of your heart.
6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.
7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.
Illus: When God looks at us, he not only sees our outward actions, he also sees our motives and our thoughts.
Our God knows every lustful thought where we devalue women who are created in his image.
Our God knows every racist thought where we devalue our fellow man who is created in his image.
Our God knows every hateful though where we commit murder with our minds.
Our God knows every gossipy thought where we use our self righteousness to tear down our brother.
Our God is calling a people who will be faithful in all of His house, not only in their actions, but also with their minds.
Look to peter who struggled in understanding that it was not his Jewish skin that made him special, but his redeemed heart that mattered.
(peter still struggled even after salvation)
34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,
35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
III. What truly makes you unclean?
III. What truly makes you unclean?
9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.
10 When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.
11 And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned.
12 Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”
13 And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.”
14 But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.”
A. Aaron and Miriam believed one’s skin made them unclean. It is your heart, not your skin that makes you unclean.
A. Aaron and Miriam believed one’s skin made them unclean. It is your heart, not your skin that makes you unclean.
Illus: Today needs to be a day of repentance.
Perhaps today God is convicting you of jokes you have told, or joke you have laughed at.
Perhaps God is convicting you of posts you have shared.
Perhaps God is convicting you of the very thoughts that have gone through your mind.
Today is a day to repent.
Faith is more than just claiming forgiveness, it is also trusting that God’s way is better than your way.
Faith today is believing that God created every man, woman and child in His image, that he died on the cross for every man, that he loves every man… and that you will allow him to transform your heart to love others as he has loved you.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.