“If there were prophets among you… I would speak to them in dreams. But not with my servant Moses. Of all my house, he is the one I trust. I speak to him face to face, clearly, and not in riddles!” Num. 12:6-8.
Miriam and Aaron were Moses’ brother and sister. Miriam was the one tasked with watching over her infant brother in Egypt. And Aaron was the person appointed to accompany Moses to speak to Pharaoh, demanding Israel’s release from Egypt.
Their seems to be some family jealousy afoot when Moses siblings complain about the foreign wife, he had. She is called a Cushite, and its meaning is vague. It is enough to say that they didn’t approve of the Cushite woman. Some scholars say Moses’ wife is a ruse for the fact that they did not approve his authority.
Moses did not rage against Aaron and Miriam nor attempt to defend his marriage to the Cushite. The Hebrew text, rather, describes Moses as the “meekest or most humble man alive.” God heaps praise on the man Moses, and seems to imply that the siblings had no ground for criticizing their brother.
Moses and Aaron’s animus toward Moses is a case study of the contrast between pride and humility or meekness. On the one hand, Miriam might have been pulling the age card. She, after all, was the one who watched out for her infant brother and she was also a prophetess. Aaron was the High Priest and the only person allowed into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle.
There is no indication that Moses exhibited a reaction against his critical brother and sister. It would have only made things worse — hurling accusations, demanding compliance, and asserting power. Certainly not something a meek person would do.
One is reminded of what Isaiah said about the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:7. “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.”
Prayer:
O Jesus, you pronounced as blessed those who do not resist mistreatment but rather live in a way that is humble and self-controlled. A way in which you, yourself, lived. As did Moses. We pray for strength to harness and control our inclinations to lash out, speak impulsively, and otherwise try to assert ourselves. Through you we pray. Amen.