Bang, slam, crash. The hammer pounds and the sounds ring loudly. It resonates throughout the blacksmith shop.
The orange glow of the iron tells the blacksmith that it is malleable. With enough force the shape of the metal can be manipulated to mold the iron into the desired shape.
Two things are absolutely necessary to complete the task. There must be heat, high heat. And there must be pressure…intense pressure.
The task is not for the weak of heart or the weak of strength. Anything less than intense pressure and heat and the metal will not yield. But the expert is adept. He works quickly. And then the sizzle of the molten lead being placed into water. Cooling the item allows it to hold its shape.
God specializes in molding His servants. They, like the iron, will yield only with heat and pressure.
Today we learn about another great woman of faith. Miriam is the target. From an early age God shapes her. She is a hero of the faith. But like so many she is an imperfect hero. She does not always measure up to the task.
Three Biblical scenes tell her story. Each shows a different aspect of God’s incredible ability to shape her and use her. She shines and she stumbles. She knows the height of victory and the pain of failure. We gain great insights by learning her story.
SCENE ONE: MIRIAM STEPS UP AND STEPS OUT
2 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket[a] for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
Miriam is not identified in this first experience but later she is identified by name.
She lived in a time of great struggle. For four hundred years the people of God have merely existed in Egypt. Long forgotten was the glory of Joseph who reigned beside the pharaoh. Mistrust turned to jealousy and jealousy begot repression. Eventually the people of God were enslaved.
Decades have come. Generations have known nothing but hardship and oppression. God was coming onto the scene.
The Egyptian leaders began to worry that the abundant slaves from Israel would overwhelm them. They put a plan in place to suppress their growing numbers. The male children were to be stopped at birth. Midwives refused to participate in this diabolical scheme. The people of God continued to prosper.
In desperation Pharaoh ordered his people to dispose of all babies in Egypt. In a bit of irony God rescued one of his own in Egypt from an order of destruction. Later God would rescue his Son by sending him to Egypt.
The child, Moses was born to Amram and Jochabed. They would not follow the order of destruction. So, they raised Moses, hiding him from the watchful eyes of the Egyptians. And Miriam would forever be known by her connection to her two famous brothers. But she has her moments to shine AND struggle.
When Moses was too big to hide his parents did the unthinkable. They put him in a basket and put him in the Nile. Miriam was to stand watch over her brother.
We do not know how old she was at the time. Nor do we know how long she watched. But eventually the deliverance they hoped for came about. The daughter of Pharoah spotted the Israelite baby and felt sorry for him.
She took him out of the water giving him the name that defined the situation. Moses was to be raised as a grandson of Pharaoh.
Yet, in God’s amazing provision Miriam was able to suggest that she bring the baby to a Hebrew woman who would provide for his care. Moses’ mother ended up being paid to watch the child she bore.
We would do well to note two things in this first story. First, note that NONE of this was an accident. God provided exactly the right solution to protect the one who would be their deliverer. God allowed Moses to both know who he was as a Jewish boy AND to have the benefits of being raised in Pharoah’s house.
God’s amazing plans do not always manifest to us in the moment. They certainly did not in this circumstance. But God is always at work. Trust Him even when you cannot see.
Second, we see the faithfulness and boldness of Miriam. She was given a large task and fulfilled it perfectly. God would use her generations later as a leader among His people. Faithful living now may yield results later. Walk faithfully.
SCENE TWO: MIRIAM THE SONG LEADER (Exodus 15:19-21)
Eighty years pass between the first time we see Miriam and the second. In the interim Moses has reached adulthood. Doubtless she, her parents, and their other children have maintained a relationship with Moses.
He makes an early failed attempt at leadership. Stepping in to defend a Hebrew slave, Moses slays an Egyptian. The consequences of his actions could have been severe, so Moses ran and did not stop until he had crossed the desert. The forty-year-old Moses starts over tending flocks on a mountainside.
Forty more years pass with Moses long gone and the bondage in Egypt continuing unabated. The intensity and ferocity of their slavery only grew.
Finally, God led Moses back to Egypt. This message is not about the great deliverance God provided. That will be examined another time.
Consider what Miriam has seen. At eighty years old her brother reemerges on the scene, promising to deliver their people. She must have stood by him as they watched the great plagues fall on the Egyptians.
Finally, Pharaoh agrees to let them leave and they make their way towards the Red Sea. Miriam must have gasped with the rest of their people as she observed Pharaoh and his horsemen charging towards them. Did she doubt? How could she not?
Then God showed Himself powerful again, splitting the sea to allow them to cross. He then withdrew His hand, letting the waters resume drowning the Egyptians in the sea.
19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen[e] went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them:
“Sing to the Lord for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.”
Miriam becomes the worship leader for Israel. Together with the women they exalt in God’s deliverance. They give Him praise.
Here, again, we see Miriam step forward. She models that in the great moments of our lives we must stop and give God glory. He is worthy of our praise.
Miriam is far from an impassive onlooker. She is viewed as a leader. She is spoken of with equal authority to Moses and Aaron in Micah 6:4. She was, like they were called to meet with God at the Tent of Meeting.
SCENE THREE: MIRIAM DOES NOT FINISH WELL (NUMBERS 12:1-15)
Ah, how great it would be if every Biblical story only told the great moments. If the story only captured people when they stood boldly and strongly. If Miriam could only be remembered for her watchfulness and her song.
But, alas, the Scripture presents God’s people as they really are. He shows us with our scars, with our flaws, and with our failures. Thank you, God, that you show us real people so we can not struggle so when we fail.
12 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this. 3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
In short order Aaron and Miriam began to speak against Moses. It is obvious that Miriam was the instigator of this complaint session as she was the only one punished.
Moses was eighty when this started and she was considerably older than that. She had seen so many things and stood by her brother’s side.
Now she displays a problem with the dreaded demon of comparison. “Has He (God) not spoken to us too…” She was saying “who does he think he is.” Jealousy reared its ugly head and Miriam spoke up. Comparison always leads to jealousy. She had certainly not learned contentment, and it showed.
God’s response was quick and sharp.
At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So, the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words: “When there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
I speak to them in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?”
The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous[a]—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease,
God’s response was to first exalt his servant, Moses. God says about the servant that he was humble. God further pointed out that He had been able to speak with Moses as a friend. God saw Him as faithful and allowed Moses to see God’s back.
God not only lifted Moses, but he punished Miriam. Miriam’s punishment was severe. She was stricken with leprosy. As a person with leprosy, she would have been forced outside the camp and abandoned to a slow, agonizing death.
11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”
13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”
14 The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
The great power of intercession is on display in this passage. Aaron spoke to Moses for Miriam and Moses spoke to God for them both.
Aaron’s words are powerful. He does not try to hide his failings. He said, “God forgive our stupid sin.” Call it what it is. Sin is a stupid rebellion against a holy God.
And God listened. Miriam is forgiven although she will endure the punishment for her sin. She will remain outside for a season. Forgiveness often does not nullify the consequence of our sin.
But the good news is that she is forgiven. Like her, our sins can be washed away. God can restore us. We must only confess and turn to Jesus for cleansing. Her white leprosy is washed clean. Our ugly sin, likewise, can be washed away.
I offer three applications in summary:
- The Power of a Disciplined Life. Your task may seem insignificant but do it well. The next deliverer might be under your care.
- The Influence of a Worshipful spirit. Lead the way with song. Turn every deliverance into a worship session. Do not let time lapse between God’s work and your song.
- A Danger of an Unguarded Heart. Sin can sneak in quickly. Be always on guard. Follow God for yourself. Do not worry about what He does or does not do in someone else’s life.
