Miriam The Prophetess

Who is Miriam? Why do we need to study about her life in the midst of a coronavirus outbreak?

Interestingly, that's what the Bible taught us to do. To remember what the LORD did to her on the way when the Israelites came out of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 24:8-9
8 “Take heed in an outbreak of leprosy, that you carefully observe and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; just as I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do.
9 Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt!

Miriam was the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the sister of Moses and Aaron.

Numbers 26:59
The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.

She was also a prophetess. The Bible includes her name as one of the trio that God used to deliver the Israelites out of the land of slavery in Egypt.

Micah 6:4
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of bondage; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

After Pharaoh's army was destroyed in the sea, Miriam led in a song with a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

Exodus 15:20-21
20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
21 And Miriam answered them:
“Sing to the LORD,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!”

When the Israelites were in the wilderness, Moses taught the men the commandments of God. And similarly, Miriam might have done the same to the women.

But somehow spiritual pride crept in, and Miriam began to think and behave as if she was the same as Moses in the sight of God! She went beyond her jurisdiction, and made a complaint with Aaron against Moses about the wife of Moses.

Numbers 12
1 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
2 So they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it.
3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)
4 Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!” So the three came out.
5 Then the LORD came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward.
6 Then He said,
“Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak to him in a dream.
7 Not so with My servant Moses;
He is faithful in all My house.
8 I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;
And he sees the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid
To speak against My servant Moses?”
9 So the anger of the LORD was aroused against them, and He departed.
10 And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper.
11 So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.
12 Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb!”
13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “Please heal her, O God, I pray!”
14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again.”
15 So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again.
16 And afterward the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

The Bible did not give any details of what their complaint was all about. Maybe the marriage union was not proper in the eyes of Miriam and Aaron or maybe Moses might have neglected his duties as a husband to his wife after taken the enormous task to lead the people of God to the Promised Land.

As they were criticizing Moses, they uttered these words, “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t He spoken through us, too?” But the LORD heard them.

Immediately He summoned Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to the Tabernacle: “Come here, you three,” He commanded. So they stood before the LORD. Now Moses was the humblest man on earth. But Aaron and Miriam were not.

Then the LORD descended in the Cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle. “Aaron and Miriam, step forward,” He commanded; and they did.

And the LORD said to them, “Even with a prophet, I would communicate by visions and dreams; but that is not how I communicate with My servant Moses. He is completely at home in My house! With him I speak face-to-face! Very plainly. Not in dark sayings or in dreams and visions. And he shall see the very form of God! Why then were you not afraid to criticize him?”

Then the anger of the LORD grew hot against them, and He departed. As the Cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, Miriam suddenly became white with leprosy.

When Aaron saw what had happened, he cried out to Moses, “Oh, sir, do not punish us for this sin; we were fools to do such a thing. Don’t let her be as one dead, whose body is half rotted away at birth.”

And Moses cried out to the LORD, “Heal her, O God, I pray!"

And the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face she would be defiled seven days. Let her be banished from the camp for seven days, and after that she can come back again.”

As she had leprosy, she needed to be quarantined for seven days. She must carefully observe to do according to what the LORD had commanded regarding this matter in Leviticus 13. After her isolation from the camp for seven days, she was brought back into the camp. There the people of God were waiting for her before they could travel again. Afterwards they left Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

As Aaron was not stricken with leprosy, Miriam's leprosy might be a divine punishment for slander. This was because she, not Aaron, was the one who initiated the complaint against Moses.

Very sadly, Miriam died in the wilderness. She didn't enter the Promised Land.

Numbers 20:1
Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there.

In the New Testament, the English name of the Hebrew name Miriam is Mary.

Luke 10:38-40 (Tree of Life Version)
38 Now while they were traveling, Yeshua entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.
39 She had a sister called Miriam, who was seated at the Master’s feet, listening to His teaching.
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving; so she approached Yeshua and said, “Master, doesn’t it concern You that my sister has left me to serve alone? Then tell her to help me!”

Luke 10:38-40 (New King James Version)
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

The NT Miriam was much better than the OT Miriam. Mary, the NT Miriam, was not distracted. She was able to come before the Lord, be still and listen attentively to His teachings. She did not doze off as He shared the Holy Scriptures of God. She took delight in both hearing and doing the Word of God.

But Mary had a sister Martha, and Martha was a type of the OT Miriam. Totally distracted. Could not sit still even for a little while. Must be busy doing something. Must run here and there. Very quarrelsome and full of complaints.

Very soon, we will be approaching the Passover. It is a time to clean the house, ensuring there is no leaven (sins) therein, and that we are washed in the Blood of the Lamb.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

When Passover arrives, it is the time to stay inside our homes! It is not the time to run outside and go places, doing prophetic acts, miracles, signs and wonders. It is not the time to do spiritual warfare. It is the time to dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and to abide under the shadow of the Almighty. It is the time to say of the Lord, “He is our refuge and our fortress; our God, in Him we will trust.” It is the time to let the Lord search us, and know our hearts; try us, and know our thoughts. Let Him examine and see if there be any wicked ways in us, and lead us in the way everlasting. It is the time for us to draw near to the Lord as He draws near to us!

But modern prophets and prophetesses today are behaving like the OT Miriam and the NT Martha. They always want to do powerful deeds, roaring like lions, waging spiritual warfare and busy doing this and that even when the time is not.

Again, let us remember what the LORD our God did to Miriam on the way out of Egypt!

Written on: 5 April 2020