"THE AUTHORITY OF MOSES"

#1 · April 20, 2002, 12:46 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on April 20, 2002, 12:46 pm
Posted by: Shalomyshua <Shalomyshua@...>

Jo-ann and I received a request from a pastor on "pastor mail" to try to give our insight about Moses and what G-d really thought of him and the authority that G-d gave to him.

In Numbers Chapter 12 we find that Moses' sister and brother, Miriam and Aaron, have joined the children of Israel in rebelling against the authority of Moses. Though their protest appears to be much less serious than the widespread popular discontent described in Numbers 11, it was, in fact, a peculiarly piquant and fundamental one. It was not just a case of petty family jealousy, for Aaron, Moses brother, was also the high priest and therefore supreme religious leader, and most holy man in Israel; while Miriam, his sister, was a prophetess and thus head of the spirit-filled women {Exodus 15:20}.

Here then is an alliance of priest and prophet, the two archetypes of the Israelite religion, challenging Moses position as sole mediator between G-d and Israel. His vindication is at once decisive and dramatic: indeed the description of his position and office clearly prefigures that of our Lord in the New Testament.

Once again, a personal grumble is coupled with a questioning of Moses' spiritual authority {11:4-34}. This time Miriam and Aaron insight one of the first cases of racial prejudice! They complain about Moses' Cushite wife, before they begin to broach the real issue: "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses?" Of this Cushite woman we really know nothing except what verse 1 tells us. She may be identical with Zipporah, more usually described as a Midianite {Exodus 2:16}; Habakukk 3:7 and some Assyrian texts suggest the identity of Midian and Cushan. Cush, however refers to Ethiopia {Genesis 10:6}. So you see, most commentators think that she was black and she may have been Moses second wife and that she had come from Ethiopia. {Gen 10:6}. The text, however, does not explain why Miriam and Aaron objected to this woman, other than possibly her dark skin, because in reality their objections to her were only a "smokescreen" for their challenge to Moses' spiritual authority. We always do that! When we are upset with someone and engaged in an argument, we look for a vulnerable point in them~~~Nevertheless, the linking of Moses' marriage with his relationship to Israel, may not be as arbitrary as it first appears. Regularly marriage is seen as symbolizing G-d's covenant with Israel. Moses as G-d's representative par excellance , must therefore demonstrate in his relationship with his own wife, how G-d acts towards Israel. But it would be pure speculation on my part to attempt to figure out the objections of Miriam and Aaron of this analogy.

Heres the deal! Miriam and Aaron claim that the Lord speaks with them in the same intimate way that He speaks with Moses. "Speak with' is a better rendering of the Hebrew word dibber b' than RSV speak through {2}, for the same phrase is used in verses 6 and 8 of the close and intimate discussions between G-d and His servants. Their questioning of Moses' unique authority follows the account of what we wrote we wrote about in our message yesterday about "wise elders," of the sharing of Moses' spirit with the seventy elders, which could be interpreted as showing that Moses was just first among equals. We always give ourselves away, in trying to gain our point, because just in the very terms in which Miriam and Aaron phrased their challenge shows that they themselves recognized that there was, in fact, a difference between their authority and Moses'. This is confirmed by G-d's Words in verses 6-8, G-d's judgment of leprosy upon Miriam in verse 10, Aaron's inability as high priest to help her {11-12} and her eventual cure through Moses' intercession to G-d {13-15}.

On earlier occasions when the Jews complained about G-d failing to provide them with food and water, Moses passed on their complaint to G-d, {11-4 & Ex 17:2-4}. This time, when his own status was questioned, he remained silent, for the bible tells us that: the man Moses was very meek, more than all men that were on the face of the earth {3}. NEB and TEV 'humble' conveys the sense of the Hebrew ''anaw" better than meek. It is a word that elsewhere in Hebrew is used only in poetry. "Anaw" sometimes refers to those that are in real poverty, or those who are weak and liable to be exploited {Is 11:4}. Such people must look to G-d for aid, because they are unable to help themselves But more frequently the word seems to denote an attitude of mind, more characteristic of the poor than the rich, one of humility and dependence on G-d.

The Psalms repeatedly assure the humble that G-d will deliver them, "The Lord lifts up the humble; He adorns the humble with victory {Psalms 147:6, 1 Peter 5:6}.

Rarely has a humble man been so signally and spectacularly vindicated as Moses! Moses, Aaron and Miriam are summoned to come to the Tent of Meeting! G-d is an expert on conflict resolution! There G-d appears in the pillar of cloud. Then in a poem eleven lines long the Lord proclaims that Moses is without peer among holy men.

There is little doubt about the meaning of the second and third lines: " If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision {6}: but the grammar of the Hebrew has puzzled commentators, most of whom resort to emendation. However this is probably unnecessary The lines can be literally rendered: If there is among you a prophet of the Lord, in a vision to him I make myself known" Whereas ordinary prophets had to be content with receiving G-d's Word through dreams, visions and in riddles, Moses is in a different class. He is G-d's servant entrusted with looking after all of His estate, i.e. Israel, and like other men in his position he has immediate access to the owner of the estate that he is looking after {Gen 24: 2 & 40:20}.

Moses speaks to G-d directly mouth to mouth and therefore can interpret G-d's will for Israel, the apple of G-ds eye, with total authority. Finally, Moses is described as entrusted with a;; my house." Because of great humility the "Olam Habah" was open to Moses! Moses was a very humble man, obedient to his Lord without deviation. He was focused on G-d!

When we go to prayer, we ask G-d for all of our needs; but we never ask Him what are His needs? In Matthew 6, G-d tells us that He knows "our needs before we ask Him! He also tells us in verse 7 "and when you pray, do not use vain repetitions like the heathen do." Then He tells us how to pray: "Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be YOUR name, YOUR kingdom come,YOUR will be done; not OURS! It is all about Him!

It is our duty as followers of Y'shua to restore His name to the nations! That is His need! We are the only ones that can do that! The Mighty name of the Lord that has been blasphemed in our movie houses, in our factories, and sadly enough, even in our homes. When we restore His name and pray "hallowed Be Your Name and we send "up" our praises and our honor and blessings to Him, instead of asking for our own needs. He will send "down" what we need!

Lord, make us humble like Moses,

Pastor Dick and Jo-ann

Posted by: Shalomyshua <Shalomyshua@...>

Jo-ann and I received a request from a pastor on "pastor mail" to try to give our insight about Moses and what G-d really thought of him and the authority that G-d gave to him.

In Numbers Chapter 12 we find that Moses' sister and brother, Miriam and Aaron, have joined the children of Israel in rebelling against the authority of Moses. Though their protest appears to be much less serious than the widespread popular discontent described in Numbers 11, it was, in fact, a peculiarly piquant and fundamental one. It was not just a case of petty family jealousy, for Aaron, Moses brother, was also the high priest and therefore supreme religious leader, and most holy man in Israel; while Miriam, his sister, was a prophetess and thus head of the spirit-filled women {Exodus 15:20}.

Here then is an alliance of priest and prophet, the two archetypes of the Israelite religion, challenging Moses position as sole mediator between G-d and Israel. His vindication is at once decisive and dramatic: indeed the description of his position and office clearly prefigures that of our Lord in the New Testament.

Once again, a personal grumble is coupled with a questioning of Moses' spiritual authority {11:4-34}. This time Miriam and Aaron insight one of the first cases of racial prejudice! They complain about Moses' Cushite wife, before they begin to broach the real issue: "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses?" Of this Cushite woman we really know nothing except what verse 1 tells us. She may be identical with Zipporah, more usually described as a Midianite {Exodus 2:16}; Habakukk 3:7 and some Assyrian texts suggest the identity of Midian and Cushan. Cush, however refers to Ethiopia {Genesis 10:6}. So you see, most commentators think that she was black and she may have been Moses second wife and that she had come from Ethiopia. {Gen 10:6}. The text, however, does not explain why Miriam and Aaron objected to this woman, other than possibly her dark skin, because in reality their objections to her were only a "smokescreen" for their challenge to Moses' spiritual authority. We always do that! When we are upset with someone and engaged in an argument, we look for a vulnerable point in them~~~Nevertheless, the linking of Moses' marriage with his relationship to Israel, may not be as arbitrary as it first appears. Regularly marriage is seen as symbolizing G-d's covenant with Israel. Moses as G-d's representative par excellance , must therefore demonstrate in his relationship with his own wife, how G-d acts towards Israel. But it would be pure speculation on my part to attempt to figure out the objections of Miriam and Aaron of this analogy.

Heres the deal! Miriam and Aaron claim that the Lord speaks with them in the same intimate way that He speaks with Moses. "Speak with' is a better rendering of the Hebrew word dibber b' than RSV speak through {2}, for the same phrase is used in verses 6 and 8 of the close and intimate discussions between G-d and His servants. Their questioning of Moses' unique authority follows the account of what we wrote we wrote about in our message yesterday about "wise elders," of the sharing of Moses' spirit with the seventy elders, which could be interpreted as showing that Moses was just first among equals. We always give ourselves away, in trying to gain our point, because just in the very terms in which Miriam and Aaron phrased their challenge shows that they themselves recognized that there was, in fact, a difference between their authority and Moses'. This is confirmed by G-d's Words in verses 6-8, G-d's judgment of leprosy upon Miriam in verse 10, Aaron's inability as high priest to help her {11-12} and her eventual cure through Moses' intercession to G-d {13-15}.

On earlier occasions when the Jews complained about G-d failing to provide them with food and water, Moses passed on their complaint to G-d, {11-4 & Ex 17:2-4}. This time, when his own status was questioned, he remained silent, for the bible tells us that: the man Moses was very meek, more than all men that were on the face of the earth {3}. NEB and TEV 'humble' conveys the sense of the Hebrew ''anaw" better than meek. It is a word that elsewhere in Hebrew is used only in poetry. "Anaw" sometimes refers to those that are in real poverty, or those who are weak and liable to be exploited {Is 11:4}. Such people must look to G-d for aid, because they are unable to help themselves But more frequently the word seems to denote an attitude of mind, more characteristic of the poor than the rich, one of humility and dependence on G-d.

The Psalms repeatedly assure the humble that G-d will deliver them, "The Lord lifts up the humble; He adorns the humble with victory {Psalms 147:6, 1 Peter 5:6}.

Rarely has a humble man been so signally and spectacularly vindicated as Moses! Moses, Aaron and Miriam are summoned to come to the Tent of Meeting! G-d is an expert on conflict resolution! There G-d appears in the pillar of cloud. Then in a poem eleven lines long the Lord proclaims that Moses is without peer among holy men.

There is little doubt about the meaning of the second and third lines: " If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision {6}: but the grammar of the Hebrew has puzzled commentators, most of whom resort to emendation. However this is probably unnecessary The lines can be literally rendered: If there is among you a prophet of the Lord, in a vision to him I make myself known" Whereas ordinary prophets had to be content with receiving G-d's Word through dreams, visions and in riddles, Moses is in a different class. He is G-d's servant entrusted with looking after all of His estate, i.e. Israel, and like other men in his position he has immediate access to the owner of the estate that he is looking after {Gen 24: 2 & 40:20}.

Moses speaks to G-d directly mouth to mouth and therefore can interpret G-d's will for Israel, the apple of G-ds eye, with total authority. Finally, Moses is described as entrusted with a;; my house." Because of great humility the "Olam Habah" was open to Moses! Moses was a very humble man, obedient to his Lord without deviation. He was focused on G-d!

When we go to prayer, we ask G-d for all of our needs; but we never ask Him what are His needs? In Matthew 6, G-d tells us that He knows "our needs before we ask Him! He also tells us in verse 7 "and when you pray, do not use vain repetitions like the heathen do." Then He tells us how to pray: "Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be YOUR name, YOUR kingdom come,YOUR will be done; not OURS! It is all about Him!

It is our duty as followers of Y'shua to restore His name to the nations! That is His need! We are the only ones that can do that! The Mighty name of the Lord that has been blasphemed in our movie houses, in our factories, and sadly enough, even in our homes. When we restore His name and pray "hallowed Be Your Name and we send "up" our praises and our honor and blessings to Him, instead of asking for our own needs. He will send "down" what we need!

Lord, make us humble like Moses,

Pastor Dick and Jo-ann