Nu 12 part 2: when "Kindled" doesn't refer to an e-device

      I spent a few days on a bible bunny trail. It was intellectually stimulating, but not of much use for this study. I now return you to our regularly scheduled Miriam.

         Numbers 12:1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian [tyvwk Kuwshiyth] woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

       Looking at a smattering of Bible commentaries, most suggest the Ethiopian/Cushite woman is not Zipporah, who came from Midian rather than Cush.

       Besides, if it were Zipporah, why did Miriam and Aaron wait so long to protest Moses’ marriage to her? So my guess is that she is a different woman.

       Why did Miriam and Aaron start criticizing Moses? Maybe they were close to Zipporah and they didn’t want Moses to remarry or replace her. Maybe they were prejudiced. Maybe they had a big fight with Moses’ wife. Who knows?

       2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard [emv shama`] it.

       It appears from what Miriam and Aaron say is that their dispute really had little to do with Moses’ wife, but actually with other issues. That Moses married an Ethiopian/Cushite woman becomes the springboard for their complaint.

       God hears Miriam and Aaron speaking against Moses. Moses doesn’t have anything to do with what happened next. (Verse 3 describes Moses as wne `anav, meek/humble.)

       4 And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.

       Suddenly. The LORD hears Miriam and Aaron and speaks suddenly. This behavior of theirs must stop. Now.

       None of them were at the tabernacle at the time; the LORD calls them to the tabernacle. What any of them were doing at the time is speculation. (I confess, I have speculated on it already.) Whether the three were apart or together, they all hear from the LORD suddenly.

       Next, the LORD separates Aaron and Miriam from Moses. If you look at the verses, Miriam was mentioned first in verse 1, but then it becomes “Aaron and Miriam.” (Speculation time again.)

       5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.

 6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

       The LORD says some amazing things about Moses. He says Moses is faithful [Nma 'aman] in all his (God’s) house. He speaks to Moses apparently [harm mar'eh}, in the sense of appearing or visibly. He doesn’t speak to Moses in dreams or visions but hp peh to hp peh.

       Why then were Miriam and Aaron not afraid [ary yare'] to speak against his servant Moses? Yare means to fear, revere or be afraid.

       The LORD’s anger [Pa 'aph] is kindled [hrx charah] against them. What does He do? He departs [Kly yalak]. Then the cloud departs [rwo cuwr] from the tabernacle.

       Remember yalak? It means “to go, walk, come”; it also has a meaning “to live, manner of life, to die.” I contrast this with the cloud cuwr-ing from the tabernacle. The cloud turns aside, a simple movement, but the LORD yalak-s from Miriam and Aaron. Did the LORD yalak from them as a punishment? Or did He yalak from them to keep from punishing them?

         There is another phrase in scripture, the “fierce anger” of the LORD. It uses a word similar to the anger that is kindled in verse 9. In Hebrew, it is Nwrx charown Pa 'aph. You don’t mess around with the LORD’s charown ‘aph. See Nu 25:4; Nu 32:14; Isaiah 13:9; Jer 4:8, 26; Jer 12:13 and more. Invariably, judgment and desolation follow. That is, unless, people repent.

       To find the LORD’s anger being kindled [charah], look in your concordance for “anger + kindled” or “wrath + kindled.” We’ve already seen what happens when the LORD’s anger is kindled in Nu 11. The LORD’s anger was kindled against Moses in Exodus 4:14. At that time, Moses got off easily compared to the subsequent times His anger is kindled.

       10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

        When the cloud departs, Miriam becomes leprous. Aaron sees her state and repents to Moses (to Moses, not to the LORD, who has just left them). It’s all he can do.

             11 And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. 12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb.

       13 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.

       Cried is qeu tsa`aq, “to cry, cry out, call, cry for help, clamor, cry out in distress or need” and to call together/gather. The brothers are desperate for their sister’s healing. The LORD responds to Moses.

       14 And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

       This is a tough one for me. The idea of one’s father so humiliating a child seems to hold a kind of rejection that would last more than seven days. Exegetically, was it a typical practice in ancient Palestine? Maybe it was commonplace and doesn’t have my 21^st century horror at the thought of it. See Deuteronomy 25:9.

       The LORD defines the shame [Mlk kalam] as lasting seven days. Hermeneutically, if I were feeling shame about something for more than seven days, maybe I’d better take those feelings to God and get myself whole. Living in shame doesn’t do me (or the people around me) any good. To paraphrase one of my pastors, go to the hardware store, buy a ladder and get over it.

       Numbers 11 doesn’t actually say that Miriam is healed. She is shut out [rgo cagar] of the camp for seven days and is brought in [Poa 'acaph] again, so I infer that she was actually healed.

       The people don’t travel until Miriam is brought in again. They are not going to abandon her. Nor is the LORD.