HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-6.-The sedition of Miriam and Aaron. Here is another sedition in Israel. What is worse, the sedition does not, at this time, originate among the mixed multitude, the pariahs of the camp. The authors of it Ill'& the two leading person- ages in the congregation, after Moses Mmself. - Nor are they strangers to him, such ·as might'"'b-e- aeemed -1iis nstaral - rivals; they are his own kindred, his sister nnd brother. I. THE STORY 011' THE SEDITION was, in brief, this :-Moses was not the only member o~ the family of Amram whom the Lord had endowed with eminent gifts. Aaron, bis elder brother, was a leading man among the Isruelites before Moses received his call at Horeb. Miriam also was a womnn of high nnd various gifts, both nntural nnd g~acious. _She was a prophetess-the earliest recorded example of a wornnn endowed with the gif~ of pr~phecy-and she excelled also in song (Exod. xv. 20 ; MiC'ab vi. 4).. The eminent gifts of these two were not passed over. They found such recog- nition and score, that next to Moses, Aaron and Miriam were the two most honoured and infl~entia individuals in the camp. But they were not content with this. Moses was set m yet higher place, and this roused their jealousy. They could not bear to see another, one brought up in the same family, a younger brother too, eleva.ted above them. Miriam could not brook the thought of being subject to the youn"'er brother whose infancy she had tended, and whose ark of bulrushes she had b~en set to watch when their mother committed him to the unfeeling bosom of the Nile. "Hnth the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? bath he not spoken also by us? " Envy is a root tenacious of life .n the hume.n heart. When some one whom you he.ve known fnmiliarly as your junior or inferior is raised above you in office or wealth, in gifts or ~race, watch and prayt else you will be very apt to fall into Miriam'e sin. I say Miriam's sin, for it is plam that tho sedition origin- ated with her, Not only is her name put first, but in the H3btew the beginning of 136 THE BOOK OF NGMBERS.
the narrati \"e runs thus: " Then she spake, even Miriam and Aaron, against Mo11es: 1 When th!'r~ is en,y in the. he~rt, it. w}ll soon find occasion. to break out. Vory \lharactenst1c11lly, the occasion m tlus instance wae some misunderstanding aboui Moses' wife. She was not of the daughters of Israel. Miriam affected to despise her as an unclean person, and persuaded Aaron to do the emme. It was an instance of o. thing not rare in history, a family quarrel, a fit of ill-feeling between two sistera-in- law, stirring up envy and strife between persons in high office, and troubling the community. There was something very petty in the conduct of Miriam and Aaron but it was not, therefore, a trifling offence. When they were giving vent to thei; envy" the Lord heard." II. Tm;: PUNISBMENT OF THE SEDITION. It does not appear that Moses made any compla.int; he was the meekest of men, humble and patient. All the rather does the Highest take the defence of his servant in hand. "Suddenly," i. e. in sharp dis- pleasure, Miriam and the two brothers were commanded to present themselves before the Lord, at the entrance of the tabemncle. Whereupon,-!. Tlie Lord pronounced a warm eulogy upon .MOSe!J. Observe the terms in which he is describecl, for there is much more in them than is perceived at first. " My servant Moees,"-" servant in all mine house,"-" faithful in all mine houee." (1) Moeee wae "the servant of the Lord," "the ma.n of God," in a sense more ample than any other individual who ever lived excepting only Christ himself; and one ca.n perceive a tone of singular love in the -way in -which the title is here used: "my servant Moses." (2) The commission of Moses extended to every pa.rt of the Lord's house, and in every department of bis service be showed fidelity. As a propl1et, he was more extensively employed and more faithful than Miriam ; as a priest, he was more honourable and faithful than Aaron ; and he wae, moreover, king in Jesburun, the valiant and faithful leader and commander of the people. These were facts, and Moses might well have appealed t.o them in vindication of himself against the complainers. But he did better to leave the matter in the Lord's own band (Ps. x:xxvii. 5, 6). 2. Besides vindicating Moses and rebuking hie detractors, tke Lord put a mark of his displeasureon,.Miriam. Th@ ring.leader in the sedition, she bears the brunt of the punishment. She has affected to abhor her sister-in-law as unclean; she is herself smitten with leprosy, a disease loathsome in itself, and which entailed ceremonial defilement in the highest degree. This done, the clond of the Divine presence rose as suddenly as it had come down. Miriam and Aaron stood before the tabernacle utterly confounded, till Aaron was fain to bnmble himself before hie brother, sayin~ :-We have done foolishly, we have sinned; forgive us, and do not let the sad affair go further; have pity on poor Miriam especially ; see how pitiable a sight she is. " Like the dead thing of which the flesh is half consumed when it cometh out of its mother's womb." Moses was not the man to resist so touching an appeal. Miriam was healed ; but she was shut out from the camp as an unclean person for the space of a week, as the law prescribed. The leBBon lies on the surface. Do not give harbour to envy becauee of the welfare or honour of your neighbour, rather '' rejoice with them that do rejoice.'' It is not always easy to rejoice when some one younger, or of humbler birth than ourselves, is exalted above us. Nor is the difficulty lessened when the pel'l!on exa.lted is of our own kindred. Nevertheless envy must be cast forth. The author of all gifts and honours is God'. To envy the receivers is to rebel against him and provoke his displeasure. And God_'s ordinary method in_i:unishing; em:ious pride is _to in~ict sof!le peculiarly igno- mimoue stl"".lke. 'WLen lfinam swel:s with pnde she 1s smitten with leproey.-B. Vere. 6-8.-.1Yie ,i,ngular nQMUr of Mosu. The best commentary on these :'erses is supplied by the comparison instituted between Moses and our blessed Lord m the Epistle to the Hebrews (iii. 1~). The Hebrews a.re reminded that of all the servants whom the Lord raised up to minister in the ancient Church, there was not one who approached Moses in respect either to the greatness and variety of the services performed by him, or the greatness of the honours bestowed upon him. Mos~s was set over all God'e house, and in this eminent station he was conspicuously faithful In these respects Moses was the most perfect figure of Christ. Christ's priesth?od we.a foreshadowed by Melchisedec, hie royalty by David and Solomon, his prophetical cJlice by Samuel and the goodly company of prophets who followed him. But in. oe. xn.J THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 137