OT Characters: Miriam (CLEAN Series)

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas' <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/clean-podcast-6/">website</a>.</p><p><strong>Introduction</strong></p><ul><li>19 lepers are healed in the Bible, several in the OT and even more in the NT (though there's no healing of lepers in John and Acts).</li><li>Leprosy (Hansen's Disease) can be cured, with multi-drug therapy -- and cheaply!</li><li>The first leper in the Bible was Moses’s sister, though you could also argue it was Moses himself (Exod 4:6).</li><li>In the case of 3 of our lepers, the person begins healthy, and then contracts leprosy suddenly, as a punishment for sin. That is not the normal order: when we meet the leper, he or she is already leprous, and then is healed.</li></ul><p><strong>Scriptural study: Numbers 12:1-15</strong></p><ul><li>It seems Moses had taken a second wife, unless Zipporah wasn’t a full Midianite. Aaron and Miriam are miffed!</li><li>Notice the jealousy. “And the Lord heard it.” Nothing we say, or even think, escapes God’s notice.</li><li>V.3 is a hyperbolic statement. The point isn’t about how humble Moses was. It’s about the contrast between him and his older sister.</li><li>The Lord sets up a four-way meeting.</li><li>God’s anger was justified. Miriam <i>should</i> have been afraid to speak up.<ul><li>Yes, God had spoken through her. Technically, Miriam and Aaron were prophets, too.</li><li>But it's not such a great comparison since God spoke face to face with Moses.</li><li>Besides, Moses was humble -- in this instance <i>he</i> wasn't the problem.</li></ul></li><li>What was the real issue? <i>Something else</i> (Cushite wife -- they didn't like her)</li><li>Punishment of leprosy (v9). How horrible!</li><li>Notice that Aaron feels the punishment – When one part suffers, they all suffer. A close-knit family.</li><li>Notice also the reversal of the normal chain of communication:<ul><li>Usually God speaks to Moses, and then Aaron relays that message to the people (Exod 7:1)</li><li>But now it is Aaron speaking to Moses,