#299 Who Are You?

And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses, because of the Ethiopian woman, whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

2 And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.

3(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

4 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.

5 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.

6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a Prophet among you, I the Lord will make my self known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream:

7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

8 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?

9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.

10 And the cloud departed from off the Tabernacle, and behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

11 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:

12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed, when he cometh out of his mothers womb.

13 And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.

14 ¶ And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not bee ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

15 And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not, til Miriam was brought in again.

16 And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran. Numbers 12 KJV

Moses brother and sister speak against the prophet, and even to the extent of taking jabs at his wife. Now there are a few approaches to this text, but I believe it requires multiple angles to thoroughly understand. His wife is hear described as an Ethiopian woman, a Cushite. Cush was one of the sons of Ham, and the name Ham means "burnt", "black", basically of dark flesh. For those that don't like to think of Moses as married to a black woman, or are uncomfortable with interracial marriage, I won't apologize but please hang in there. I believe this is an important part of the text, and that not only in the meaning of the ancestor's name but also in Jeremiah, we read, 

"If you say in your heart, 'Why have these things happened to me?' Because of the magnitude of your iniquity Your skirts have been removed And your heels have been exposed. 23"Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do goodWho are accustomed to doing evil. 24"Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw To the desert wind.…Jer. 13: 12-14

When Miriam says Ethiopian it bares racial connotations,  first from the curse upon Ham, which she would be familiar with, and yet this is no ground for us who are all born under the curse of sin, but I have heard racist try to defend their position on such grounds. Secondly, she was an outsider, not born into any of the covenant tribes, but this again would not bode well for those who believe by faith. We all come from different cultures and backgrounds, and it is not a right of birth, but by Grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. One thing I am not certain of from the passage is whether this is Zipporah or a Cushite woman of later marriage. Zipporah is a wonderful example of culture vs. God's command. She saves the life of Moses from the hand of God, by circumcising their son. God commanded this and either because of the voice of his wife or by his own absorption into other cultures, for whatever reason, Moses has not obeyed this command. He bears the sin of this as the head of the household and also the affliction. Zipporah removes her son's foreskin and throws it at Moses feet and with disgust, for she says, "you are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me." God never addresses Moses marriage or choice of an Ethiopian partner, but he does address Miriam and Aaron for their arrogance. Is interracial marriage ok:

1. We are all one body in Christ, no matter where we were born or what culture we came from. The Bible is very clear about not being unequally yoked, but this is a condition of the heart and faith, for that is where God is looking. I would much rather my daughters marry a Godly black, yellow, brown or red man than a white man who does not fear the Lord. The color makes no difference just as the outer circumcision did not impress Christ, nor birthright. He said it was the inner circumcision of the heart. If you are looking to the outside you will need another Christ.

2. We all come from Adam and Eve, and we all have fallen short of the glory of God. You cannot even take a Darwinian approach here for even science is starting to catch up to the things the Bible has already so clearly stated. We all share one parentage in the end, so there is no supreme race, no white supremacy. Some of my black friends actually feel sorry for me when we are out fishing, and refer to me as melanin deficient; I do burn rather easy. There are so many different colors of flowers, birds, not all lizards are green, and if you cannot see beauty in those created in the image of God, then you will also need another god. 

3. God told Abraham that all nations of the earth would be blessed through him. He commands Christians to go out and preach the gospel to all men, not asking us to check with our culture, parents or popular opinion. We receive everyone as equals, and love even our enemies. Where is your racism founded? The same place as all our other sins, it is in hardened, wicked, deceitful hearts. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. Who are you, are you the Creator of all? Where were you when God reached out to you? I was lost, dead in my trespasses and sin, full of envy, hate and pride. This is the easy stuff, milk, it hasn't even gotten to the difficult part yet, but if you are hung up here, will you even make the rest of the journey? If you can't let go of racism, then you will also need another gospel. 

In the end of this, God deals with Miriam and Aaron's arrogance, their envy, their jealousy. Miriam is dealt the worse and bares the outer mark. If she thought it was bad to be an Ethiopian, well she is now white as snow, and put outside the assembly as unclean. She is a Leper and Moses immediately goes to God on her behalf. God firmly requires that she remain in this manner 7 days, for as hated as spitting was in that culture, if a father were to show his disgust by spitting near or on her she would be ceremonially unclean this many days. Every sin against man is a sin against God, and He picked Moses, so they grumbled against God.

Before the coming of this faith,[j] we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:23-29