Numbers 12:6–8

This time the attack on Israel's human leader comes from another side, at the point where he is most exposed. The charge concerns a Cushite wife he has taken, but the spirit of self-exaltation clearly shows itself in their murmuring: "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?" Who had denied it? But the evident intention is to put themselves on an equal footing with Moses, and so remove him from the leading place God had given him. To them the Cushite wife proved that morally Moses was no higher than they were. So they excuse themselves from obeying him.

The Lord then spoke directly and solemnly to Aaron and Miriam. He told them that if there was a prophet among the people of Israel, He Himself would make Himself known to that prophet by a vision or a dream (v.6). Was this the case with either Aaron or Miriam? No, not even this. How then could they claim to be mouthpieces for the Lord?

I must notice the value of the word "all" in this passage. It is very striking. "He is faithful in all my house," says the Lord. These words told Aaron and Miriam that Moses was a person of special dignity, with access to all parts of the Lord's house. He was not only faithful, but faithful in all parts of the house. He had the right to be in the holiest, or heavenly place, as well as in the tent of meeting or the courts.

God had revealed to Moses all the structure of the tabernacle... Guided by the Holy Spirit, Moses regulated every detail of it, and he did not forget one of them. This is a very important and searching principle. At the end of Exodus God tells Moses to do everything exactly as He has commanded. There is no liberty for any fantasy in the things of God.

The Lord thus testifies both to the faithfulness of His servant and to the special place of nearness which He, in His grace, had given him. It points back to the time when Israel turned away from God. Aaron and Miriam had had their share in that, and Moses alone was faithful. In fellowship with the LORD's mind, he took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and called it the tent of meeting. Then the pillar of cloud came down and stood at the door of the tent, as it does here, "and the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." (Exodus 33:7-11.) Where were Aaron and Miriam at that time?

And why in Numbers is it "my house" and in Hebrews "his house"? Why the change from "my" to "his"? Because the Son had come, and the old house is no longer owned. The foundation of the new house was laid, and Christ as Son over His own house is not a servant but Lord. He alone is the Faithful One. His house has put out of sight the old house, in which Moses, despite his eminence, was only a servant. Moses failed, so he was not allowed to enter Canaan. Yet centuries later the Spirit's testimony about the man is "faithful in all his house". Is that not wonderful? Such is the reckoning of grace.

It is a most serious thing for anyone to speak against the Lord's servant. We may be sure that God will deal with it, sooner or later. In the case of Miriam, the divine judgement came down suddenly and solemnly.

"And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses." And why? Openly because of the Cushite woman he had married... And they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?" And the LORD heard it. (Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.) So much the worse for them. Had Moses defended his own cause, I am persuaded God would not have dealt with Aaron and Miriam in this way. Even if a person is completely in the right, the lack of faith that fights for self always blocks the working of grace.

Here we also have the divine testimony about Moses, that he was "faithful in all my house," which is quoted in Hebrews 3. This much is very clear. If God chooses a man to be His mouthpiece, to carry His message to others in inspired words, faithfulness is the first thing needed. The opposite of meekness is self-assertion. If Moses had not excelled in meekness, he would have tended to push himself and his own thoughts into the words from God. And if he had not been faithful, he could easily have been turned aside, so as to misrepresent what God had really said.

There is one other reference to the Church as the house of God, in Hebrews 3. In verses 2 and 5 it refers to the house of Israel as such in the past. (Look at Numbers 12:7: the house is God's, not Moses'.) But Israel had forfeited that position and was set aside from it. In verse 6 the writer assures his readers that they now hold this position. They no longer hold it through their link with Israel. They hold it through their link with Christ.

Faithfulness, then, was said of Moses. It was also said of the Lord (Heb. 3:2). Were they therefore to be regarded as equals, the Apostle of the Hebrews no better than the lawgiver of old? ... The one who builds a house has more honour than the house. Moses was not a builder. The Son was, and in that none could equal Him. He built all things. Moses was a creature. He is God. ... Our Apostle is the Son. Moses was only a servant. A son is undeniably greater than a servant. And we have not yet exhausted the contrasts. For Moses was a servant in God's house. The Son is over God's house; for it is God's house, not the Son's house, that Hebrews 3:6 teaches.

Moses went on faithfully with the Lord while Israel was failing all around him. It was not when Israel was doing well that Moses was nearest to God, but when they had all gone wrong. When the golden calf was made, "Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, far off from the camp." Then he went out to meet with God. There "the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." In Numbers 12 God points back to this as a glorious mark of distinction on Moses.

In any case, it is a fatal mistake to speak against even the weakest and humblest of God's servants. If the servant does wrong — if he is in error, if he has failed in something — the Lord Himself will deal with him. But fellow servants should be careful about taking the matter into their own hands. Otherwise they may be found like Miriam, meddling to their own harm.

The Hebrew word is rendered dark speeches in Numbers 12:8; riddle in Judges 14:12-19; hard questions in 1 Kings 10:1; dark sentences in Daniel 8:23, and so on.

Even in Old Testament times there were different characters of inspiration... But while there is this difference in character, there arises no question as to authority.

I must notice the value of the word "all" in this passage. It is very striking here — "who is faithful in all my house," says the Lord. Those words told Aaron and Miriam that Moses was a person of special dignity, with access to all parts of the Lord's house. It was not only that he was faithful. He was faithful in all parts of the house, with the right to be in the holiest, or heavenly place, as well as in the tent of meeting or the courts.

temunah, "form, appearance," which may not imply likeness. Numbers 12:8; Deuteronomy 4:12, 15, 16.

But Moses could come closer to God than the elders of the people. He went into the middle of the cloud and was allowed to speak with God face to face... Despite this very privileged position, God remained hidden in the sanctuary. To some extent He was still an "unknown God" even to Moses. Although he saw the form of God, this did not imply full knowledge of God. This is obvious from the well known passage in Exodus 33, where Moses asked to see God's glory. The divine answer was: "You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live."

It points back to the falling away of Israel, in which Aaron and Miriam had had their share. Moses alone was faithful then. In fellowship with the LORD's mind, he had taken the tent and pitched it outside the camp, far off from the camp... Where were Aaron and Miriam at that time? And yet they had dared to deny his place of intimacy with the Lord, and to claim equality with him!

Yet these words are not fulfilled but surpassed by the greater glory of Him who has been indeed "faithful." His faithfulness was not in relation to the earthly tabernacle but the heavenly one. He is "Son over God's house," not merely "servant in" it... He whose word is God's word indeed — who not merely beholds the LORD's form, but is Himself the "express image" of the Father.

It is very awful to hear, at times, the way in which people allow themselves to speak and write about Christ's servants. True, these may give occasion. They may have made mistakes, and shown a wrong spirit and temper. But we must confess we feel it to be a very dreadful sin against Christ to speak evil of His dear servants.

God knows how to bring down pride. He knows how to provide for the honour of His servants when they are meek — no less in this day than when Moses lived. Only, servants must not try to defend themselves. God alone knows the right way and the right time.