Good morning. Welcome to our
services this morning. Welcome to those who are on Zoom
this morning and those who will hear us on sermon audio. We welcome
you to our study of the book of Numbers. We are in chapter
12 today, chapter 12. We're going to read the entire
chapter, chapter 12, verses 1 through 16. We just heard read in the
Bible reading this morning, a passage of scripture from the book of
Galatians. and in that passage of scripture in the book of Galatians
chapter four verse twenty four it says that these things were
an allegory. Now Hagar and Sarah and what
happened there is an allegory. Now it's just hard to comprehend
sometimes that as we look at the scriptures that two thousand
years three thousand years before the event here in the book of
Galatians chapter four was written that this event took place it's
a historical event it took place and yet the lord said it's an
allegory it's an allegory between grace and works it's an allegory
between works for salvation and grace. It's just one of those
statements. Hagar represented Mount Sinai,
which is in Arabia, which is Jerusalem, which now is in bondage. And Sarah represented the elect,
represented the seed, represented and her son was the seed, and
we're the children of that faith through that promise that God
gave, so it's just a wonderful thing. I want to look at this
passage of scripture here in some ways as an allegory. This
chapter 12 has 16 verses, and I'd like to begin reading with
verse 1. Chapter 12, and there in verse 1, the scripture says,
now it brings up, we're going to be talking about three people
in here, and then Almighty God. The last verse shares with us
the people that they're all of Israel, but by and large, we're
going to have Miriam, we're going to have Aaron, we're going to
have Moses, and then we're going to have Almighty God. He's going
to come down and he's going to visit personally. He's going
to share his purpose. He's going to share his will.
He's going to share his word, and it's going to be face to
face. Now, if you want to hear the word of God face to face,
you open up your Bible. Don't listen to a dream. Don't
listen to some figment, but you listen to the word of God. That's
where he speaks to us face to face. And he is true, and he
is honest, and he is straightforward. And as we look at this passage
of scripture, we're gonna see about Moses. Now we just heard
read about there in Galatians about the Apostle Paul was used
to write those words. Now I am convinced that if Moses
and the Apostle Paul sat down for a visit over a cup of coffee,
they would not have the slightest disagreement over the gospel. or over christ or over the world
wisdom or over righteousness or over sanctification or redemption
they would be in absolute and complete agreement on everything
spiritual why because the holy spirit taught moses in the holy
spirit top paul and they did not teach them different things
moses was not depending upon works for his salvation neither
was the apostle paul they were both depending upon christ for
their salvation for their savior Neither Moses nor Paul had a
relationship from God because some preacher preached a few
small little facts about the story of the death of Jesus on
the cross, which is normally preached from every pulpit or
almost every pulpit across our nation. A little bitty message
about Jesus on the cross. And then we asked them, the preacher
asked them to get saved, make a decision, They give them an
offer, and once that is done, now we must teach them how they
must live the Christian life, and so we enter into the law,
and we get them back under the law. Well, that's not how God
saved Moses, and that's not how God saved the Apostle Paul. Moses
and Paul were both raised from the spiritual dead and called
of God to life. And God taught them. God taught
them about himself. And God taught them about salvation. And God taught them about the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the
instructor to them. And we have a passage of scripture,
and forgive me, but I'm going to leave Numbers chapter 12.
We'll be right back here and read this chapter. But would
you turn with me to the book of Galatians? the book of Galatians
for one verse of scripture here we have the composite of all
scriptures here we have the composite of the teaching of God the Holy
Spirit in one verse of scripture we rejoice in it as the Apostle
Paul was led to write remember he's not the author he's the
secretary the Holy Spirit is the author from beginning to
end holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost
And my friends, if you have a problem with what Moses wrote, or you
have a problem with what Paul wrote, you have a problem with
God. We're going to see that in our reading over there in
the book of Numbers chapter 12. We have a problem with God if
we have a problem with their writing, because it wasn't their
writing, it's the Holy Spirit that gave them the message. God
gave them the message, and this message was given before the
foundation of the world, and now it's delivered. Galatians
chapter 2 and verse 20 sums it up. I am crucified with Christ.
The church is crucified with Christ. The believers are crucified
with Christ. He's the one that exhibited all
that was necessary, required to save us, and we are in Him
in that sense. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. Now let me make this statement.
I've said it several times, but a lot of people think that when
God saves us, He creates a new good part in us. that is part
of us. You know, we never find that
in Scripture. We are still the same flesh. The thing that has
happened, the blessing that has taken place, is what the Apostle
Paul shares with us, and Moses would agree with this wholeheartedly,
but Christ liveth in me. God has worked a work, the gospel
has been preached, He gives the new birth, and in that we have
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That's the good part of us. That
part teaches us. And thanks being to God, that
part restrains us many times. It's not us that are stopped
from doing things that we once did. It's the Holy Spirit stopping
us. Now, if God wants to restrain us, He can. He is Almighty God. If He doesn't, we find ourselves
back in a pit, just like we're going to find Aaron and Miriam. There's nothing different between
what Miriam and Aaron did than what Korah did. And yet, Miriam
and Aaron were believers and Korah was not, and we see the
difference in judgment upon them. Alright, here it says, I am crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God. That's where our faith comes
from. If you have faith, if you have
God's faith, you have God-given faith, you have the faith of
Jesus Christ. You have the faith of the Son
of God. It's not ours. We never had it. We never participated
in it. We didn't produce it. It's something
that God gives us as a result of the new birth. It's a gift
of the Holy Spirit. And then he goes on to tell us
that the great fact here that we can just find great solace
in, great comfort in, who loved us and not only loved us, he
had to go beyond that point. To be able to love us without
sin, he had to go beyond that point. Love was not going to
be sufficient. He must pay for us. he gave himself for me that's
what the apostle paul said and the church says the same thing
he gave himself he ransomed me he purchased me he bought me
he redeemed me how glorious is all of that and the writer of
the book of numbers says he was used as a secretary and the writer
of the book of galatians the secretary of the apostle paul
would agree completely on these words now let's go back there
to the book of a book of Numbers and it tells us in verse one
and Miriam and Aaron now we're going to find their names mentioned
several times and then we're going to find Moses' name mentioned
here several times in this book of Numbers the Lord is going
to be mentioned but we have three individuals Miriam and Aaron
spake against Moses they spake against Moses that was a serious
serious thing and in fact as we go down through here we're
going to find that erin erin says alas my lord i beseech thee
lay not the sin upon us wherein we have done foolishly so we
have advanced notice as we read down through here they had sinned
they had done it foolishly verse eleven but we'll get there in
just a moment here it says that they had complained they brought
an accusation they spake against moses because of the ethiopian
woman whom He married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
Now, as an allegory, I want to say this right here. This is
the complaint by the world about who Jesus Christ chose before
the foundation of the world whose names are written in the Lamb's
Book of Life before the foundation of the world and who are saved
by the grace of God throughout time and Jesus Christ promised
to redeem them at the cross. This is the accusation. We find
it as we follow the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ how
often we had religious people say, if he knew who she was. that he's eating with publicans
and sinners. He's going to the home of publicans
and sinners. He's entering into conversation
with publicans and sinners. How the world looks at those
who Jesus Christ should save is so different than what God
looks at. The world looks at, religion
of the world says, good people, good people. He'll be attracted
by that. Well, he has come into this world
to seek and to save that which is lost. The whole need not a
physician. So he has his interest in a people
and they are shop-worn. They are beggars. They are the
outcasts and the downcasts. They're the spotted and spangled
and all kinds and yet they belong to the Lord. So here we have
that Ethiopian woman that Moses had married came into conflict
here. It's interesting here, though,
that that complaint is not the real complaint. The real complaint
is mentioned in verse 2 of this chapter. That complaint was just
a surface one. You know, the Lord had some people
come to Him, Pharisees come to Him. They'd taken a woman that
was in the very act of adultery, brought her before Him, asked
Him what should be done, and their thought is tempting him that they might
accuse him. Now that's the undertow. We need to find fault with this
one. We're going to tempt him, but
we're really looking for accusations. Well, the Lord never gave them
that room. And we're going to find here
that the real reason is mentioned in verse two, and that is they
said, they said, hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? My goodness, isn't that almost
the words of Korah? We're going to run into that
a little later here in the book of Numbers, but people that spoke against
Moses are speaking against God. They said, hath the Lord indeed
spoken only by Moses. Now in a few moments when they
meet the Lord, when they converse with the Lord, or the Lord converses
with them I should say, they're going to say it was foolishness
and it was sin. Lord help me not to get involved
in that again. Help me. But at this moment they bring
a word against Moses. Is he the only one in authority
here? Is he the only one that God has chosen to this position?
Hath he not spoken also by us and the Lord heard it? now if
you'll turn with me to the eleventh chapter of the book of numbers
we find out what they what appears they are referring to i must
say this is what they're referring to in the book of numbers chapter
eleven verse fourteen it says i am not able moses is i'm not
able to bear all those people alone because it is too heavy
for me and if they'll deal with us with me kill me i pray the
out of the hand uh... If I have found favor in thy
sight, and let me not see my wretchedness. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel,
whom thou knowest to be elders of the people, and officers over
them. Bring them unto the tabernacle
of the congregation, that they may stand there with me. And
I will come and talk with thee there. And I will take of the
Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them, and they
shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear
it not thyself." Well, here we have the situation. Moses, and
he feels wretched about it, but Moses says, I'm just not able
to take care of all this great host of people. And the Lord
had prepared ahead of time 70 men that would be able to help
him. Moses didn't have to go out and find them. They'd already
been identified. Moses knew who they were. God
had already identified them. But the problem that we face
here in that twelfth chapter of the book of Numbers is They
said, hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses. He did not take
us into consultation. He didn't take us into his close
by hand. He didn't sit down with us in
the church study and talk to us about the issue and bring
it up and we could talk about it and settle it. It was just
done when we found out about it. Well, Moses made no complaints. Did you know that as we read
through here? Moses didn't make any complaints. Number one, it
tells us there in verse three, now the man Moses was very meek
above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. This
man is a meek man. He is so meek. And we find that
this is one of the characteristics that we're going to find with
regard to a person that is serving the Lord. In 2 Timothy chapter
2, would you turn there with me? 2 Timothy chapter 2. In 2
Timothy chapter 2, again, the Apostle Paul was the secretary,
but the words of the Lord, 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 24, we find these
words. And the servant of the Lord must
not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, in meekness
instructing those that oppose themselves." Now, if we have
an example of two opposing themselves, we find that is Marian and Aaron.
They're Israelites, but they're opposing themselves. They're
opposing God. They're opposing what God has
to say. So, in meekness instructing those
that oppose themselves. Moses is the meekest man, and
he is instructing them then in some ways he's instructing them
by being quiet and let the Lord speak to them. This is so often
the answer. Well, it goes on to say, if God
peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.
Now that's all we want Aaron and Miriam to have. the acknowledging,
what is it? To give them repentance, to have
a change of mind about this, to the acknowledging of the truth.
And the truth is not hard to find. His name is Jesus Christ,
the Lord of Glory. What he has to say is the truth.
So as we follow down through here, we find that there was
a problem. We find here, going back to the
book of Numbers chapter 12, Numbers chapter 12 there in verse Verse
3, Moses was a very meek person, and he's not going to get involved
in this fuss. He doesn't bring it up. It's
none of their business about his wife. It's none of their
business about who was chosen among the 70. He doesn't even
get involved in that. It's the Lord's business to take
care of it. So he does. Now, you know, what
an error it is to think that our words are equal with God's.
as Aaron and Miriam apparently felt that their word was just
as equal with God's, and by natural birth we think that our interpretation
is correct. How, many say passages of Scripture
are not fair. Therefore, my interpretation
is at least equal and probably of greater value than the word
of God. No, Ezekiel was caused to bring up this issue in the
18th chapter of the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 18. We have those
who complain about God. It's still going on. It will
continue on to the very end of our age until the Lord should
return. He is going to have this problem. We're going to have this problem.
Ezekiel 18. In Ezekiel 18, It tells us there
in verse 29, Ezekiel 18 and verse 29. The scriptures share this. Yet saith the house of Israel,
the way of the Lord is not equal, not fair. Oh, house of Israel,
are not my ways equal? That's God speaking. My ways
are equal. are not your ways unequal. And what makes it unequal?
Because they're not in agreement with God. God has written it. God has spoken it. God has declared
it. God has declared it through his
prophets. God has declared it through his priests. God has
declared it through his kings. God has declared his word. And
we have opposition on every side because God is not equal. Well,
in reality, The complainers are unequal. God is right. He is right in all the things.
One of the reasons we find this is found in Isaiah chapter 55.
Isaiah chapter 55 shares some wonderful truths that help us
through every day. These are the kind of words that
give us great courage. These are the kind of words that
bless us. These are the kind of words that
share with us when things don't seem to be going right, let's
just read Isaiah chapter 55, and we want to read there verses
8 and 9. Now, read the whole chapter,
but these two verses of scripture share so much about let's just
trust the Lord. He's given us the grace to trust
Him. Trust the Lord. Here in Isaiah
chapter 55, there in verse 8, the Lord says, For my thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith
the Lord. Now that just brings it right
out in the open, doesn't it? That just brings it right to
the forefront. The Lord's ways are not our ways. Aaron and Miriam
may have complained about it. They may have complained about
who Moses married, and they may complain that they were not involved
in the discussion about who is going to be the leaders, those
70 leaders. Maybe they wanted to be one of
them. But the way is God's way. Our thoughts, my thoughts, are
not your thoughts, saith Neither your ways my way, saith the Lord,
for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As far as the heavens are higher than the earth are his ways above
our ways. He's spiritual, so often we think in a natural way. And I'm sure that that would
really come down to where Aaron and Miriam are thinking at this
time, it's a natural way. I'm not being included. I'm not
as important. I'm not, not, not. And yet the
Lord's ways are perfect in all ways, in all times. And His ways
are greater. And He knows the end from the
beginning. He's going to work all things
after the counsel of His own will. And we're not involved
in that. And so we'll just trust Him. As far as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways, the Lord said, higher
than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. So we have
this wonderful thought about God when it comes to situations
like this. And it appears when it is brought
to Aaron's knowledge he's the first to say we have been foolish
and we have been sinful and Let's get this straightened up and
get go on well With regard to the characters of this passage
of scripture, I need to remember sometimes what it says in the
book of the Psalms. Psalm 106 and verse 16 about
Aaron. Here it makes it quite plain. The Lord does not call a saint
a saint without being a saint. And here in the book of Psalm
106, Psalm 106, there in verse 16 psalm 106 and
verse 16 we have this word about Aaron it's a very interesting
word it's kinda like that publican when he left his place
there near the temple Jesus said he went down to his house justified
Now I'm going to take it at face value. I hope you do too. He
was justified. He was justified before the cross. He was justified. All right,
here in the book of Psalms 106 and verse 16 the scriptures say
here. Now it's talking about some problems
that were in the desert and there's ongoing issues going to be in
the desert as they travel from place to place and it is brought
up a number of times here in the Psalms brought up a number
of times even Stephen commented on it but it tells us here and
they envied Moses also in the camp and Aaron now notice this
comment the Lord left us about Aaron Aaron the saint of the
Lord now before we run off too far we have to come back to this
Aaron was a saint of the Lord now Aaron had a flaw just like
you and I have Aaron had sin as a result of that. We're going
to read about him over in the book of Hebrews chapter 7 verse
23. In the book of Hebrews chapter
7 verse 23 we read about Aaron. He had no continuing priesthood. He was going to die. He's going
to be taken out into the desert there, he's going to be taken
alone, Moses and Eliezer with him, Moses takes off his high
priestly garments, places them on his son Eliezer, and Aaron
dies there. Here in the book of Hebrews it
tells us about that, that it's important that this priesthood
did not continue because we have another priesthood that would
continue after the order of Melchizedek, and that's where we find our
Savior, the Lord Jesus, a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
In the book of of Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 23 and they truly
were many priests because they were not suffered to continue
now here's the reason by reason of death Aaron died now he's
a man like you and I are He was put into a position to be the
high priest. He was being put in a position to be a representative
to Israel in a pictorial sense. The true representative is Christ.
He was made a priest, but he was a priest for a reasonably
short time, 40 years maybe. And then he died. But our priest
ever liveth to make intercession for us. So we have that. They
envied Moses also. in the camp and Aaron, the saint
of the Lord. And it tells us that Moses was
meek. He had a great meekness. And
then we find some things about Miriam. You know, it was Miriam. She's the sister of Moses. She's
the sister of Aaron. And she was a young girl when
Moses was put in the Nile River by his mother. The edict had
went out that all the male children were to be slaughtered. They
were to be killed. because there was going to be
too many and they wouldn't be able to rule over them. Well,
we have Moses' mother looked upon him with respect and she
took care of him while the Lord moved on her. This is my man. This is my man. I'm going to
take him. So she put him in the Nile River. That young sister
was placed there to observe what was going on. Pharaoh's daughter
found Moses in that little boat, took him out of the river, And
Miriam come up and said, do you need a nurse for this little
boy? And she said, yes, do you have someone in mind? And she
did, by the way, Mama. So Mama raised that little baby
into young adulthood. And we find that Miriam, in Exodus
chapter 15, would you turn there with me? Exodus chapter 15. In
Exodus chapter 15, after the army of Pharaoh was destroyed Much like we rejoice today When
we come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is our Savior and
he has defeated all our enemies He's taken care of them He buried
them. He slew them. He covered them. He paid for them all our enemies
and Here in the book of Exodus, chapter 15, verse 20, it says,
Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron. Now, we want to be
careful here about this word prophetess, because it goes on
to tell us exactly what she did. In this sense, everybody that
sings to the glory of God is a prophetess. Everybody that
has a good word about God is a prophetess. We're telling what
we know about God, what we know about salvation. We're a prophetess
in that sense, for she says, And she took a timbrel in her
hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and
with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing
ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his
rider hath he thrown into the sea. Is that much different than
amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like
me? Or there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's
veins? She's a prophetess bringing glory to God for what he has
done, what he did for her, what he done for the rest of Israel,
what he's done for us. So let us be a prophetess, let
us be a prophet. Let's sing glory to the Lord,
just like she did. So she's called a prophetess.
And then in Numbers chapter 20 and verse 1, we find something
else about her. She's just related to Adam, just
like the rest of us are. We may be at the edge. We may be close. Well, I know
this. I'm much closer than I once was.
I'm getting closer to the time when the Lord is going to close
my eyes and physical life will be gone. And I'll see him in
that spiritual sense. I'll see him as he is. And it
tells us here in the book of Numbers chapter 20 verse 1. Then
came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation in
the desert of Zin in the first month. And the people abode in
Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was
buried there. So we have her life. her death and here in the book
of numbers chapter twelve we have a time when she was foolish
and a time when she was a sinner just like Aaron confesses well
let's go back there to the book of numbers chapter twelve for
just a moment as we continue to look at this allegory we're
finding here in numbers chapter twelve beginning with verse four
God made her realize this. Verses 4-8, The Lord spake suddenly
unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out, ye three,
unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And the three came out. What
an interesting statement is made here. You come out. But He brought
them out. He didn't leave it to them. They
are His, and He will put them where He needs to put them. He
said, you come out, and they came. That is the almighty power
of God. For people to say that God calls
and they don't pay any attention. Now it may appear that way for
some time, but when God sends that effectual call, they will
come. They cannot resist the almighty
power of God. They cannot resist that God has
a purpose and he is going to carry it out. So often we find
that people feel that they have more power than God does. That
they can choose but he won't. It's wrong for him to choose.
It's wrong for him to get involved in choosing. And we find it just
so prevalent in among religion today that God, it's wrong for
him to choose a people But they can choose the clothes they wear.
They can choose the food they want to eat. They can choose
the church they want to go to. They can choose whether they
want to read the Bible or not. They can choose all of this,
but God is not that kind. They are better than He is. They're
more powerful than He is. They're more sovereign than He
is. And we find out the scriptures tell us, without fail, He is
sovereign. he is the king of kings he's
the lord of lords and he will carry out his purpose according
to his eternal workings and it will be carried out so here we
have the lord spake suddenly to moses and to aaron and to
miriam and they came to the tabernacle of the congregation and the lord
now that word lord is l capital l capital o capital r capital
d this is jehovah Jehovah 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 in that a wonderful statement.
He called them they came. That's what he does. That's his
business He was intent on them hearing this message and they
heard it and he said hear now my words and 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." Now, I was reading,
preparing for this message, and one of the commentators said,
it appears that When the Lord speaks to someone that's asleep,
it's in a dream, and if they're awake, it's in a vision. Well,
whatever. God spoke to people. He still
speaks to us, but not as He did here. He speaks to us through
His Word. It's His Word that has the life. It's His Word that's
vibrant. It's His Word that carries meaning. It carries weight to one that
doesn't know the gospel, to one that's never been born again,
It doesn't mean anything. We've got it all figured out
in our natural state, but it is life. The Word is life. The Word is our food. The Word
is our water. The Word is our power. We trust
it. We trust God who gave it. Hear
my words. Verse six. Verse seven. My servant
Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. that term
could be so applied to our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Moses is a type
of Christ here. The Lord is faithful in all of
God's house. He was faithful to do all at
God's. I've done all. I've finished all. I've performed
all that was ever put into the covenant of grace. With him will
I speak mouth to mouth. That's an interesting phrase,
isn't it? Speak mouth to mouth. As a friend
speaketh to a friend. And, you know, today he still
speaks to us mouth to mouth. That's when we open his word.
We're not trying to find our purpose in here trying to find
the verse of scripture and prove it by or have a thought and go
to the Bible to try to prove it we go to the Bible because
we want to know what God has to say about it thus saith the
Lord and that's what he says here I'll speak mouth-to-mouth
the Word of God he speaks to us he speaks to us maybe in a
loud voice or still small voice however it is but he's gonna
still speak to his people I'll speak mouth-to-mouth and 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?" From what we have read here,
at this moment at least, they had not realized. Maybe they
had in the past. They let it slip. They didn't
think about it. But this was not just a servant. This was
a servant of the Lord they were speaking out against. And that
was so true during the times of the Lord Jesus. We find that
so many spoke out against him, not realizing who he is. He's the son of God. Now those
who knew him, the apostle Peter made that great confession. Thou
art the Christ, the son of the living God. There's no greater
prayer than we can pray than what the Word of God has about
God to repeat back to him. We were going through the Psalms
one time, I brought out these are the words, most of the Psalms
are the words we wish we could say in prayer to God. That's truly the Word. He says
here that, wherefore they were not afraid to speak against my
servant Moses. That was a serious thing that
they had done. We're going to find others here
as we follow through the book of Numbers. We're going to find
others that spoke against the servant of God. Jeremiah was
put in prison, but then delivered. They spoke out against the servant
of God. That was the normal thing for lost people to do. And I
sent my prophets unto you and you kill them. That's what he
said. to a group during his ministry. 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 Aaron looked upon Miriam.
Now isn't that interesting? Aaron the high priest noticed
this. That was part of the priest's
job. If you go back to the book of Leviticus, they're the ones
who identify the leprosy. And Aaron the high priest sees
this about his sister, how it speaks in an allegory about the
fall. and were identified as sinners
in the fall. And she was leprous and all over
leprous. And what a statement that says
about sin, that there's not a part of us, not a part of our universe,
not a part of the entire creation of God, the side of heaven that
has not been touched by the fall. She has demonstrated that she
has been touched by the fall. You know, the moment that Adam
ate that forbidden fruit, it could have been said about him,
you're white and leprous. Every particle of your being
is leprous before God. And the same is true about his
wife, leprous. Well, let's go on. The high priest
identified her as such. And Aaron said unto Moses, alas,
my Lord, I beseech thee, lay not this sin upon us. Now, isn't
that an interesting thing for a person to say? Well, if it's
not going to be laid on us, where's it going to be laid? laid on
him the iniquity of us all laid on him laid on it don't lay it
on us well if we have to pay for our sin we have no hope we'll
face God in judgment but it's laid on him let it not be laid
on us lay not this sin upon us wherein we have done foolishly
and wherein we have sinned We just have someone confessing
their very nature. After the Lord saves us is the
time we really can say, as this says, O wretched man that I am,
done foolishly, sinned against God. Let her not be as one dead,
of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's
womb. That's quite a vision. we have here in this verse of
scripture about that scene. It's hard for us to imagine that
condition, and yet this is the condition that we're in. And
the Lord said unto Moses, if her father had but spit in her
face, should she not be ashamed? What that means is if her father
had taken into hand her waywardness to begin with. This may not have
happened. Correct your children. Correct
your children. Let her be shut out from the
camp seven days and after that let her be received in again. Did you notice that? Let her
be received in again. He's going to be without the
camp. We're in our lost state, but let them be received back. Let them be received again. We
just are so... Grace people will be gracious.
We just know that. That's part of the scriptures.
It's just part of what God gives us. Grace people will be gracious.
And here we find that being carried out. Grace will be gracious,
Lord. Grace will be gracious. Let her
come back in. Let her be received again. We
believe in restoration. We believe in restoration, to
be restored. And then, and Miriam was shut
out of the camp seven days, and the people journeyed, not until
Miriam was brought in again. And afterward, the people removed
from Hezroth and pitched in the wilderness of Paran. What they
say in there? She's home. Let's go on. Let's
go on. You know, there's no record of
this ever happening again between Miriam and Aaron. They were taught
of God. They heard God's Word. They understood
that they were foolish. They understood that they had
sinned. They understood forgiveness. Don't let this sin be laid at
my charge. Let it be laid at someone else's charge. And we
find out that that was taken care of. Miriam is healed of
her leprosy. Moses never got involved in the
argument. Moses never said a thing to his
brother or sister. The Lord took care of that. How
glorious that is, how the Lord takes care of us in this condition. And so, afterward, the people
were removed from Hezroth. It's over. Let's go on. Let's
go on with the rest of life. Let's go on with the rest of
the day. Let's go on with this, and we'll just trust the Lord.
And as we find in the very next chapter, chapter 13, we're going
to have some spies go in, and they're going to demonstrate
what it is not to have any hope at all in the Lord God Almighty. Well, thank you for joining us
today, and we pray that God's blessing will be upon you.