When Familiarity Breeds Contempt
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman (Num.12:1).
Aaron and Miriam couched their racial prejudices under the guise of their ministerial calling and superior wisdom by virtue of being older siblings. Aaron was a priest and he was the older brother. In that era the elder brother was the head of the family and priest of the home in the absence of the father. Miriam was the oldest, a prophetess, and the one who had cared for Moses as a baby. They both leveraged their sibling position and their ministerial credentials to break up Moses’ marriage. According to the narrative, these siblings confronted him after his marriage to the Ethiopian woman. Numbers 12:1 says they “spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman who he had married.” So what were they expecting him to do now other than to divorce the woman? And did he have any moral or legal grounds for a divorcement or was it strictly on the basis of race? It did not matter to them that Moses was the one whom God chose to confront Pharaoh and deliver the people. If he could hear from God about such a great matter as the deliverance of a nation held captive by the most powerful empire of the day then can he not be trusted to make a decision as to whom he should marry?
It is always interesting to watch how our support workers leave us to do the hard and dirty work and how they challenge our authority when things settle down and the church is running smoothly. Where were Aaron and Miriam when the duel was going on with Pharaoh? Aaron accompanied Moses only because the latter asked God for a mouthpiece. But check the records and you will discover that Aaron never said a word to Pharaoh. He was excess baggage. And of course Miriam was not involved in those heated negotiations. But now that they were out of Egypt and had finally left Sinai for what should have been the last lap to the land flowing with milk and honey, everyone was coming out of the woodworks and staking claim for positions of power. Korah and company would demand a power-sharing structure and question the legitimacy of Aaron and the Levites’ exclusive hold on the priesthood. And now it was Aaron and Miriam’s time to strike and Moses’ marriage to the Ethiopian woman gave them the opening they wanted and for which they waited a long time. But the marriage was a sidebar to a bigger agenda and that was the question of power.
It is easy for friends and family to lose sight of the spiritual calling of one of their own. The Jews rejected Christ because they saw him as one of their own. Is this not the carpenter’s son? Are these not his siblings? Is he not Joseph’s son? What good can come out of Nazareth? (Mt.13:55-57; Lk.4:22 and 28; Jn.6:42). They say that familiarity breeds contempt. Our own experiences prove the maxim to be true. This is why as leaders we have to be able to find that line between leadership and friendship especially with those people that are close to us. We are not in the Lord’s business to make friends. We serve God and are accountable to him, not to them. Let us not allow familiarity to make us cross those boundaries with God’s anointed servants. He is close to them and anytime they are falsely accused or their spiritual authority is being challenged he is sure to take umbrage. Miriam had to learn this lesson the hard way.