FRIDAY 2nd
Numbers 12:1-16
NIV (v10) – ‘When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease . . .’
ESV (v10) – ‘When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.’
We come to the book of Numbers today and I am jumping straight in toward the middle!
The book of Numbers commences with a census in chapter one and a second census in chapter 26. The first census takes place around a year after the people of Israel have left Egypt in the Exodus, then the second takes place around another thirty-eight years later. In the years between the two census’ the people of Israel eventually move from Sinai, (Numbers 1:1) wander through the wilderness (Numbers 10:12) and eventually arrive at the Plains of Moab (Numbers 22:22). During this period, they faced many varied situations as they progressed on their journey toward the promised land. There were times when they were happy to obey, times when they chose to rebel and times when they chose to grumble and even oppose the man who God had appointed as their leader, but the amazing things is that God never failed them and his provision, protection and presence was always toward them. But we also read that God sometimes needed to deal with them in what we may consider to be harsh ways, but they were ways in which God was going to purge them from anything that was displeasing toward him and would be damaging toward the camp as a whole. An example is found in Numbers 12: where Aaron and Miriam oppose Moses and as a result God caused a leprous skin to form on Miriam.
It takes my mind to Hebrews 12 where we read ‘. . . And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.’
Sometimes God needs to discipline us has his children, and just as God had to deal with Miriam, he also may need to deal with us, not because God wants to punish us to hurt us, but so that he can purge us, and use the discipline as a means of correcting us and as this Scripture says to yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness. I remember when I was in Bible College back in 1980-81 we were all given a portion of Scripture in which we were to prepare a ten minute word to present before the lecturer and the college class, my lot fell to speak on these verses from Hebrews. I do not remember what I shared, but I can remember thinking why me? Why can’t I have been given some easier verses!? Who wants to talk about being disciplined? I do not even remember what comments I received afterwards, but I wonder if I had been given these difficult Scriptures because at that time I needed to be disciplined and purged!!
The strange thing is that it is still a subject we would rather not talk about, spiritual discipline or what perhaps would be known as Church discipline, it is very rarely practised today – hopefully that is because we are all behaving extremely well in God’s family! See just as there can be tension and strife within a natural family, so there can be within the spiritual family, and the best way to deal with it is to get to the root and cut it out, stop it before it causes unrepairable damage. The incident with Moses, Aaron and Miriam was a natural family incident as they were brothers and sisters, but it also spilled over to become a spiritual matter because they were in positions of leadership within the people of Israel. If it had been left undealt with, it could have had a devastating effect upon the whole. I am not sharing this because I think there are matters within our camp that need dealing with, not at all, but just within the context of doing the devotions it could be so easy to gloss over things when instead it is beneficial to be reminded of Godly principals, and spiritual discipline is one of those Godly principals.
We need to constantly remind ourselves that there are many things that if left unchecked can be damaging to the whole, just like we read about a little yeast spoiling the whole in the process of making unleavened bread, murmurings, gossip, roots of bitterness, malicious language, foolish talk, back biting, the list could go on, my prayer is that God will help us all to be kept in the place of having hearts and lives that are pliable and open to his discipline, to keep the leaven out so that the whole can be perfectly formed.