Celebrating Miriam the Prophetess

CELEBRATING MIRIAM THE PROPHETESS

By Ezekiel Kimosop

Miriam is first introduced in the Bible in Exodus 15:20. At this point she is described as "Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron." She led the Hebrew women in celebrating the great hand of God that saw the Egyptians drown in the Red Sea. The defeat and destruction of the Pharaoh and his mighty army is recorded in Exodus 14.

Who was Miriam? This article seeks to examine Miriam's personality and her influence as a leader in Israel in her time.

Miriam was the sister of Aaron and Moses. Given that she is the only sister among the three siblings of Amram son of Levi she was possibly the girl mentioned in Exodus 2 who ingeniously suggested to Pharaoh's daughter that she identifies a Hebrew maid for Moses who had just been salvaged from the River Nile. This would place Miriam as the eldest of the children of Amram, However Exodus 2 makes no mention of Aaron who is listed as Moses' elder brother in Exodus 7:7.

Little is known about Miriam beyond the few references [twelve in number] mentioned in a number of Pentateuch Scriptures, majorly in the book of Numbers (cf. Numbers 12:1, 4 5, 10,15; 20:1; 26:59; Deut. 24:9] .

In 1 Chronicles 6:3-4, Miriam's father is mentioned as Amram, a son of Levi and God confirms her prophetic ministry. God declares that He sent before the children of Israel Moses Aaron and Miriam. Again the order of names here signifies their prophetic authority. Moses was the last born but he was God's chosen leader over Israel. Aaron was the high priest while Miriam was a minor prophet. Again this is a lesson to us that God is not a respecter of persons. The Bible is replete with stories which demonstrate that God can elevate a person from obscurity to stardom!

Miriam is perhaps most remembered for her conspiracy with Aaron in Numbers 12:1-16 where she scolded Moses for taking an Ethiopian woman and went on to question his prophetic authority over Israel. God's wrath was kindled against her and she was struck with leprosy. Her leprous condition held back the wilderness journey by seven days as the people waited for her to recover.

The death of Miriam in Kadesh is recorded in Numbers 20:1. No mourning was mentioned perhaps because of the disgrace she had invited upon herself.

Miriam was no doubt a prominent leader among the children of Israel. She however ranked third in authority after Moses and Aaron.

Little is also known of her specific prophetic works in Scripture. This does not suggest that she was inactive or that her ministry was remote. God may have spoken through her on some occasions that are not recorded in the Bible.

Was Miriam probably serving among the women? Some consider the incident described in Exodus 15:20-21 as evidence of this fact. This is however difficult to tell from Scripture. The fact that she is listed alongside her brothers in 1 Chronicles 6:3-4 suggests that she was a prominent spiritual leader who served among God's people and if this was restricted to the women leadership then the Bible is silent about it.

Going back to Exodus 2, and assuming that Miriam was indeed the girl mentioned here, we can make a few observations on her character and skills.

Miriam was undoubtedly a sharp and decisive person. She was passionate and courageous.

The fact that God used her to convince the Egyptian princess to give a soft landing to her kid brother Moses was evidence that she was a creative person who thought on her feet. Her creativity was again evident in her act of leading the Hebrew women in praising God in Exodus 15:20. She picked up her timbrel and all the women followed her in extolling the greatness of God and His awesome power that He demonstrated in the salvation of Israel from their enemies.

As a prophetess, Miriam undoubtedly spoke the mind of God and was used of God to declare His divine will for His people. That is what prophets do. However, Miriam, like us, made her share of mistakes too. She allowed pride to get the better of her and by this imprudence, she brought God's judgment upon her and caused Israel an extra seven days in the wilderness.

I believe Miriam possibly learned from her mistakes. Her story of biblical leadership has left for us a great lesson that our setbacks are opportunities for self reflection and growth.

Unlike Rahab, no mention is made of Miriam in the New Testament Scriptures. She is not however alone. Several heroic women of old such as prophetess Deborah, Jael and Huldah do not feature in the hall of fame in Hebrews 11 yet their contributions to the redemption of Israel cannot be overlooked. These women served God with outstanding faithfulness in their time.

When Miriam died of age she had accomplished God's purposes for her life and was a mother in Israel, a great icon and strength among God's people.

Miriam could have been over 100 years at the time of her death given her age difference with her brothers.

MIRIAM'S LEGACY

Miriam is a great inspiration among God's people and we can draw a number of moral lessons from her life and ministry.

1) We learn from her life and ministry that God can use insignificant and obscure people for His glory, notwithstanding their shortcomings. Someone said that God does not call the qualified but qualifies the called.

2) None of us who serve God is perfect before God yet God graciously chose to use us for His glory.

3) We also learn about God's immeasurable grace and mercy. Miriam could have died under God's judgment for crossing the red line when she defiantly questioned the authority of Moses and belittled his high calling but God mercifully preserved her. My view is that leprosy was a minor judgment which was most likely meant to warn her to watch her steps!

Aaron probably escaped judgment because he expressed remorse for his part in the rebellion. Some say that Aaron may have had no direct role in questioning the authority of Moses. It is however difficult to tell from the passage because both Aaron and Miriam are named as having jointly conspired. Others say that Aaron was already serving as high priest and God could not permit leprosy upon him. Again it is difficult to tell from Scripture if Aaron had assumed the office of high priest at this point in time. 

4) We learn from Miriam's life and ministry that God is not a respecter of persons. God uses people who are willing to serve Him irrespective of their social backgrounds. He used several women in the Bible to fulfill His divine purposes at diverse times in the history of God's people. He used Miriam to minister to His people during the wilderness journey.

He later raised Deborah as Prophetess and Judge in Israel. God also used Deborah to proclaim the liberation of Israel and to lead the battle alongside Barak. This battle saw Israel break from the twenty year Canaanite oppression under Jabin and Sisera (Judges 4-5).

6) We learn that God has ordained His divine leadership order in the church and that we should submit to our leaders and offer them our support and respect. We should do things God's way and not our way. Where we are convinced that a church leader has erred, we should approach the issue with decorum and wisdom using the regulations established in the Scriptures (1 Timothy 3:1-13; 5:19).

7) Finally we learn that God rebukes and punishes those He has appointed to serve Him. All leaders are therefore ultimately accountable to God for the discharge of their responsibilities. Leaders should be careful not to invite reproach into their leadership mandates so that they do not bring disrepute to God's people and hurt the reputation of the church and it's witness for Christ.

A Christian leader should watch their moral conduct at all times because they are considered as champions of moral standards among God's people (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Marrying from among the heathen was unacceptable for God's chosen people and Moses' conduct in marrying an Ethiopian woman was therefore a violation of God's moral standards that He had prescribed for His people. To this extent, Aaron and Miriam were justified in questioning Moses' conduct. They however had no authority to question his spiritual mandate. 

We should never overstep the lines of our spiritual authority. 

Shalom.



© Ezekiel Kimosop Teaching Series 2019