NUMBERS 12:1-16
Miriam and Aaron were Moses’ older sister and brother. But even they took issue with Moses’
leadership, although at first their complaints concerned his wife. Numbers 12 does not
specifically say what Miriam and Aaron found objectionable about Moses’ wife, but jealousy
must have been the main problem.
This jealousy took its usual hypocritical turn. Miriam and Aaron did not talk to Moses about his
wife; instead, they complained about his authority. How easy it is to disguise jealousy beneath a
cloak of zeal for the law of God or to think of oneself as pure while rebuking somebody else’s
faults. Real jealousy originates from power hunger, and it usually breaks out in faultfinding, just
as it did in this case.
We need to spend time in the Word and be alone with God until we are more concerned about His
honor than our own. We do not have to worry about competition from other believers; our
concern is only to glorify the Lord in all that we do.
When a Christian is more concerned about God’s honor than about his own, God will take care of
his worries about competition from fellow believers. Granted, it is much easier to say this than to
really live it, but we must come to grips with this problem if we are going to have victory in our
Christian lives. We must be aware of the indwelling Christ and rely on Him to give us victory in
these areas.
“For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing”
(James3:16, NASB).
Theodore Epp
www.backtothebible.in
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