Miriam
17
anxieties were liable to wear away his strength, and in her distress she
acquainted her father with the matter. Jethro had marked that the care
of all the people was upon Moses, and therefore he counseled him to
look after the religious interest of the Hebrew host, while worthy men,
free from covetousness, should be selected to look after the secular
concerns of the people.
After Miriam became jealous, she imagined that Aaron and herself
had been neglected, and that Moses’ wife was the cause—that she had
influenced the mind of her husband—that he did not consult them in
important matters as much as formerly.
The Lord heard the words of murmuring against Moses, and he
was displeased, for Moses was very meek, above all the men which
were upon the face of the earth. “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. 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. 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. My servant Moses is not so, who
is faithful in all mine house. 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? And the anger of the Lord was kindled
against them, and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the
tabernacle, and behold Miriam became leprous, white as snow, and
[21]
Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold she was leprous. 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. Let
her not be as one dead. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal
her now, O God, I beseech thee.” “And Miriam was shut out from
the camp seven days; and the people journeyed not till Miriam was
brought in again.”
The cloud was removed from the tabernacle because the wrath of
God rested upon Miriam, and it did not return until she was removed
out of the camp. God had chosen Moses, and put his Spirit upon
him, and by the complaints of Miriam against God’s chosen servant,
she not only behaved irreverently to Moses, but toward God himself,