Tuesday 22nd August
Read Numbers 12:4-9
“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?’
9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.” (NIVUK)
The insurrection is more serious than we might at first consider. Very rarely is God ever said to do anything ‘suddenly’ (‘at once’ in the NIVUK). But he calls the siblings together, then singles out Aaron and Miriam and, ironically enough given their claim that the Lord also speaks through them, grants them direct and clear communication from Him.
Unfortunately for them it is only to further emphasise that they are not remotely in Moses’ league. The vague communications commonly granted to prophets does not apply to Moses. Moses is faithful, humble and dedicated to serving God expecting nothing in return. He holds his access to the ‘inner ring’ (as CS Lewis so helpfully describes it) lightly. It is high praise indeed. Which makes it all the more stunning when we read in Hebrews that Moses is not even remotely in Jesus’ league.
“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 ‘Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,’ bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.” (Hebrews 3:1-6) (NIVUK)
What do you think the writer means when he declares that ‘we are his house’ (v6)? What does it mean to be faithful?
