Miriam and the Sin of taking Offense
Num 12:1-2 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman); (2) and they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?" And the LORD heard it.
At some point in the wilderness journey Miriam actually takes offense against Moses. And in verse 1 we are told that part of this offense was that she didn't like the fact that he had taken a gentile bride. There was something else disclosed too which may be the real reason behind her attitude, for verse 2 says that she said 'Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses. Has He not spoken through us also?' It seems she wanted some recognition for what she thought she had done and was saying 'Look, I'm pretty important around here too, what about me?'
We really need to watch out for this matter of taking offense because often it is just a small thing that trips us up. We can take offense at injustices and sometimes it can just be a word that we overhear. The other day, I heard someone say something about me, but I didn't know the context in which it was spoken and I spent a couple of days stewing about it. What a waste of time! When a person is offended the first thing they normally do is to build a fence with a sign on it saying 'keep out'. You withdraw and isolate yourself and brood, and this is what Miriam is actually doing here. She is talking about it to Aaron, so she is including others in this, and then together they bring it to Moses.
I read quite a good example during the week. There were two guys who were in hospital in isolation. The hospital wanted them to have complete rest so they put them in this room where there was no television or radio. First they started talking all about their families, their children and the experiences they had had. This went on for a few days then they ran out of things to say. Then the man who was next to the window started to describe what he could see happening outside the window to the man in the other bed. He would talk about the kids that were playing with kites, the dogs chasing balls, the families having picnics, and it was all good. But at one point, a thought entered into the mind of the other man, and it was this. 'Why should he get the window bed?' He started to think 'this is not fair, why should this guy be by the window and not me?' He threw the thought out, but it kept coming back and back again. Then he thought 'well if this guy was fair he would be willing to change places and give me a time by the window.' Then he turned a little bit sour towards the guy and starting putting up barriers. Then one night the guy who was next to the window, who had a lung disease, became really sick and started coughing at night. The other man just remained in his bed looking at the ceiling and remained silent while the other man was groping for the buzzer to get the nurse. Unfortunately, that night, the man died and in the morning they came and took his body away. When the nurses arrived the man said 'Would you mind moving me next to the window?' The nurses replied 'Good, that's O.K'. Moved him next to the window and got him all settled. He propped himself up on one elbow to look out of the window and what faced him was a brick wall. When I read that example I thought 'that's hard, but so often true'. This man took offense and it became something so big in his life that he didn't help when he should have.
So somewhere in their journey Miriam takes offense at Moses, and says 'Has the Lord only spoken through Moses?'