REDEEMED FROM A CRITICAL SPIRIT

MAY 1, 2016

THE POINT

 A critical spirit damages our lives 

GET INTO THE STUDY

• When we play the comparison game, it becomes easy to fall prey to criticism. 

• Comparing ourselves to others can lead to discontentment and dissatisfaction, and such discontentedness only leads to further problems, such as a critical spirit.

• Contentment comes only when we take the focus off of ourselves and place it on God. 

• God will place in us an ambition -- a desire -- to serve His kingdom.

THE PASSAGE

Numbers 12:1-11,13-15

THE SETTING

• Numbers 11 details how on their journey from Mount Sinai to the promised land, a series of complaints erupted among the Israelites against God and His leader Moses.

• The Israelites first complain about the hardships of the journey, resulting in God sending fire among them.

• Not learning their lesson, they complained again about having only manna to eat and no meat.

• Moses also complained bitterly to God about the burdens of leading the Israelites, so God directed him to appoint 70 elders to assist him.

• God sent quail for the people to eat, but then sent a deadly plague upon them in judgment.

• The Israelites then traveled to as a Hazeroth, where a conflict between Moses and his siblings Miriam and Aaron ensued..

Numbers 11:16-17

16  The LORD therefore said to Moses, "Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you.

17  "Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone.     NASB

Numbers 12:1-3

1  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.

3  (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)     NASB

KEY WORD: CUSHITE (v. 1)

This term may refer to Moses’ his wife Zipporah (“Midianite” and “Cushite” were used as synonyms), or to a second wife he married after Zipporah had died.

 A CRITICAL  SPIRIT CAN ARISE WHEN WE COMPARE OURSELVES TO OTHERS.

  

VERSE 1:

“Miriam is first mentioned, because she was first in the transgression, and so was only punished; Aaron was drawn into the sin by her, and he acknowledged his fault, and was forgiven: it must be a great trial to Moses, not only to be spoken against by the people, as he often was, but by his near relations, and these gracious persons, and concerned with him in leading and guiding the people through the wilderness,...”     

John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible

• Some commentaries indicate that the problem may be because they were overlooked in the selection of the seventy and that Moses had consulted with his wife before choosing them. 

VERSE 2:

“They could not deny that God had spoken by Moses, but it was plain he had sometimes spoken also by them; and that which they intended was to make themselves equal with him, though God had so many ways distinguished him. Note, Striving to be greatest is a sin which easily besets disciples themselves, and it is exceedingly sinful. Even those that are well preferred are seldom pleased if others be better preferred. Those that excel are commonly envied.”     Matthew Henry’a Commentary on the Whole Bible

• This shows their pride in the position they held within the community.

• It is likely that they got the big head.

• Thus they would likely push their weight around and lord it over the people.

• They might even try to control the decisions that these seventy would make. 

VERSE 3:

“…the object of the parenthesis was either to explain that there was no real ground for the hostility of Miriam and Aaron, or to show that the direct interference of the Lord himself was necessary for the protection of his servant. The verse bears a difficulty on its very face, because it speaks of Moses in terms which could hardly have been used by Moses of himself. Nor is this difficulty in the least degree diminished by the explanations which are offered by those who are determined to maintain at any cost the Mosaic authorship of every word in the Pentateuch. It is no doubt true to some extent that when a great and good man is writing of himself (and especially when he writes under the influence of the Holy Spirit), he can speak of himself with the same calm and simple truthfulness with which he would speak of any other.”     

The Pulpit Commentary

TRANSITION:

 Comparing ourselves to others can lead to a critical spirit, a spirit that God rejects.

Numbers12:4-11

4  Suddenly the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, "You three come out to the tent of meeting." So the three of them came out.

5  Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward,

6  He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream.

7  "Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household;

8  With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?"

9  So the anger of the LORD burned against them and He departed.

10  But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous.

11  Then Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned.     NASB

KEY WORDS: The form of the Lord (v. 8)

The term rendered form means “likeness” or “semblance.” This phrase most likely refers to some type of a visible representation of God, but not to His full glory.

Diseased (v.10)

The Hebrew term was used for a wide variety of skin diseases, ranging in severity of effects from white spots on the skin to the loss of fingers and toes.

GOD REJECTS A CRITICAL SPIRIT

VERSE 4:

“Suddenly God spoke to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, and then descended dramatically in the midst of the cloud. This theophany (appearance of God) was ominous. The language of this verse is more directly physical than usual. God came down, stood, and then called Aaron and Miriam forward.”     Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary 

• Like when Dad called out the miscreant to the woodshed; the dreaded place of spanking.

VERSE 5:

• Here we see that God is displeased when one speaks against his anointed, this would include any pastor that God had called to be over His church.

• We also see that:

o Here God judges quickly.

o This was done in front of the injured party.

o God speaks to them so they may hear His Words as He has heard their words,

o Effectively they were told that they should have known better because the closer familiarity with Moses was superior to the closeness of God to them; therefore they should have had greater respect for Moses and not try to claim equality to him.

VERSE 6:

• To listen to His words was to hear them with the expectation of obedience.

• God contrasted a prophet and Moses.

• The sovereign Lord alone chose whom He desired to be a prophet and communicate with in dreams and visions.

VERSE 7:

• God’s revelations to Moses contrasted sharply with His dealing with prophets.he did not communicate with Moses indirectly. 

• To be called God’s servant indicated that the person was trustworthy and devoted to God.

VERSE 8:

1. Miriam and Aaron should have been afraid to speak against Moses because:

a. their criticism was petty and over something which was beyond control: The wife of Moses.

b. their criticism was simply not true; Moses was not a proud man, but the most humble man on earth.

c. their criticism was prompted by their own self-interest; they were jealous of all the attention Moses was receiving and wanted some of it for themselves.

2. Leaders in the house of God must make themselves accountable, and open to criticism and questioning - but need not make themselves quiet targets for those whose criticism is petty, false, and self-motivated.     David Guzik’s Enduring Word Commentary

VERSE 9:

• Aaron and Miriam must have felt both devastated and fearful.

• The Hebrew word translated anger means “nostril,” “nose”, or “face” as well as “anger.”

• The term may have come to be associated with breath due to the snorting through the nose that is associate with extreme anger. 

• The word burned has is the sense of the intensity of Gods anger.            

VERSE 10a:

• The word translated diseased encompasses a number of ailments which cause the skin to turn white and flake off from the body.

• Miriam’s skin disease meant she could no longer stay in the camp and take part in its activities. 

• Instead of the prestige she coveted, she found herself disgraced and without a place among the people, excluded from the entire community.

VERSE 10b-11:

• Aaron acknowledged Moses’ superior status as leader, confessed that they had sinned and then asked Moses to intercede for Miriam. 

• We would do well to understand tat God is very displeased with a critical spirit toward His anointed leaders.

TRANSITION:

Note that God’s discipline is intended for restoration.

Numbers 12:13-15

13  Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "O God, heal her, I pray!"

14  But the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward she may be received again."

15  So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.     NASB

GOD’S DISCIPLINE IS INTENDED FOR RESTORATION

VERSE 13:

• Moses demonstrated his character by quickly interceding for Miriam.

• He obviously did not take any satisfaction from the judgment she had received.

• Cried out translates a Hebrew word used for a call for help in a situation of distress.

• Moses addressed the Lord by the name God, a term emphasizing His power and majesty.

VERSE 14:

• In God’s answer to Moses, he described a situation which may have either been a hypothetical or an ancient practice within the community.

• A fathers spitting in his daughters face expressed contempt public humiliation.

• A daughter so treated spent seven days in the disgrace of isolation as punishment.

• God said Miriam’s leprosy was judgment to be taken no less seriously.

• Miriam was to be confined outside the camp for seven days, after which she would be allowed to rejoin the community.

VERSE 15:

• That Miriam was brought back into the camp after seven days in isolation indicates that she was healed.

• Also, it will may have implied she was restored to useful service.

• The Scriptures consistently reveal that God’s judgment is designed to be redemptive not merely punitive.

• In spite of Miriam’s foolish challenge of Moses’ authority the Israelites evidently continued to hold her the high esteem, for they did not move on from Hazeroth  until she rejoined them.

• It is also noteworthy that she was remembered chief for her role as a leader, not for her rebellion (Micah 6:4).

WRAP IT UP:

 Watch your words

 Reject a critical spirit

 Affirm other people

Philippians 2:3

3  Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;     NASB 

The temptation to criticize comes to all of us at one time or another. 

We should be very careful not to err.