Miriam and Aaron – Jealousy (Numbers 12)

The death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis policeman on 25 May sparked off a global wave of protest against racism, urging societies to face up to their past, admit the inequalities in their present, and reform for the future the organisations and structures in which racism is able to hide and flourish.

Racism is not a new phenomenon; and it is not always a matter of White and Black. Over 3,000 years ago, Miriam and Aaron, Middle Eastern Jews, were complaining about their brother Moses marrying a black Cushite woman (from the area of present-day Ethiopia and Sudan). Miriam’s name is placed before Aaron’s – unusual for a woman in that culture – which suggests that it was primarily she who had an issue with Moses’ wife. Quite probably she was jealous at no longer having the exclusivity of relationship with her brother as when he was single. She uses the colour and ethnicity of his wife as a pretext to recruit her other brother Aaron to her side.

Racism has indeed been used as a cover for other issues in many societies. It was a convenient justification for maintaining the vast economic benefits reaped from the injustice of slavery. American slave owners could feel satisfied that even the US Supreme Court had adjudged black slaves to be less than fully human. Its 1857 judgment declared that the phrase in the Declaration of Independence, ‘all men were created equal,’ was never intended to apply to blacks. Thankfully, that judgement was reversed in 1868.

Racism takes the lid off other dark things that are residing in our hearts. Miriam and Aaron’s racism brings their simmering jealousy out into the open and gives them confidence to oppose Moses to his face. “Has the Lord only spoken through Moses?” they ask. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” (verse 2). ‘And we are older than him!’ they might have added.

So it is that racism can bring violence into the open. People of different ethnicities become a ‘legitimate target’. The Brexit rhetoric of Britain becoming a global player by taking control of its own destiny fanned into flame feelings of ethnic and racial superiority. In the aftermath of the 2016 referendum there was a significant increase in the level of racially motivated attacks in Britain.

Though racism was the catalyst for this confrontation between Miriam and Aaron and their brother, it is quickly forgotten once jealousy shows its face. Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? (Proverbs 27:4).

Can we stand before jealousy? Moses’ conduct in this story gives us four pointers which will help us. Firstly, we take a position of humility – like Moses (verse 3 – evidently somebody else wrote this about him!). “In humility count others better than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3).

Secondly, like Moses, it is wise not to respond directly to jealousy. For a person may be blithely unaware of their jealousy and can readily deny it. Many years ago there was a person in our church who was jealous of a leadership role which my wife and I had been given. They seemed all the time to be working surreptitiously to undermine our position. Things came to a head when we unwisely confronted them after a church service. It ended up in a shouting match; and I have never seen a church empty so quickly.

Thirdly, we put our trust in God. The Lord stepped in and came down in a pillar of cloud (verses 4-9). It was he who vindicated Moses, not Moses himself. Whenever I have been tempted to justify myself, I recall one of the best pieces of advice that I ever received: Michael, vindication comes from the Lord.

The Lord does not always intervene as quickly as he did with Moses. He has his own timing. That situation in our church dragged on for months. Then at a church meeting on a completely different matter, the whole situation somehow came out into the open, and the other person had to admit publicly that they had been acting out of jealousy.

Fourthly, we pray for the jealous person, both before and after their jealousy has been made manifest. Moses unhesitatingly prayed for Miriam when she had been left with leprosy all over her body, and the Lord answered his prayer – not immediately, but in his time (verses 13-15).

We may feel that we are being insulted, as Moses was. God encourages us not to repay insult with insult, but to bless, so that we can inherit a blessing (1 Peter 3:9). Our example is Christ. Even he did not please himself, but let himself be insulted (Romans 15:3). It can be really hard to bless a person who has hurt us. We may start off by doing it through gritted teeth. But the effort is well worthwhile, for it enables Christ to be formed in us, and brings blessing to us.

If we are tempted by jealousy, it is good to keep in mind the image of Miriam, covered with leprosy, her flesh half eaten away (verse 10-11) – a graphic picture of the damage which jealousy can cause. A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones (Proverbs 14:30) – and envy is the first cousin of jealousy. There is rarely the same dramatic visible damage from jealousy as there was with Miriam. But the harm to our inner being (our bones, in the proverb) is always significant, and there may well be physical consequences as well.

If we succumb to jealousy – and none of us can say that we have never ever been jealous of anybody – then we confess our jealousy, we apologise to those we have hurt, we receive God’s forgiveness, then we crucify the flesh with its passions and desires and keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:24-25). That is the way that leads to true life.