Numbers 12:1-15
Yes, Aaron and his elder sister Miriam had been foolish. As Miriam is mentioned first, it would appear that she was the source of the complaint. The resulting judgment on Miriam, who was also Moses’ sister, was an opportunity for her two brothers to pray for her—and for God to show mercy. Miriam was healed, and she returned to the camp after the time required by the law of that time. Sometimes we also speak foolish things. There is no limit to God’s kindness when we call to him in our shame. God loves to forgive more than we sometimes dare to ask.
Miriam and Aaron Are Jealous of Moses
“Here are the laws that you are to obey as long as you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Listen to them! In the land that you are taking, destroy all the places where the people worship their gods on high mountains, on hills, and under green trees. Tear down their altars and smash their sacred stone pillars to pieces. Burn their symbols of the goddess Asherah and chop down their idols, so that they will never again be worshiped at those places”.
Do not worship the LORD your God in the way that these people worship their gods. Out of the territory of all your tribes the LORD will choose the one place where the people are to come into his presence and worship him. There you are to offer your sacrifices that are to be burned and your other sacrifices, your tithes and your offerings, the gifts that you promise to the LORD, your freewill offerings, and the first-born of your cattle and sheep. There, in the presence of the LORD your God, who has blessed you, you and your families will eat and enjoy the good things that you have worked for. “When that time comes, you must not do as you have been doing. Until now you have all been worshiping as you please, because you have not yet entered the land that the LORD your God is giving you, where you can live in peace.
When you cross the Jordan River, the LORD will let you occupy the land and live there. He will keep you safe from all your enemies, and you will live in peace. The LORD will choose a single place where he is to be worshiped, and there you must bring to him everything that I have commanded: your sacrifices that are to be burned and your other sacrifices, your tithes and your offerings, and those special gifts that you have promised to the LORD. Be joyful there in his presence, together with your children, your servants, and the Levites who live in your towns; remember that the Levites will have no land of their own.
You are not to offer your sacrifices wherever you choose; you must offer them only in the one place that the LORD will choose in the territory of one of your tribes. Only there are you to offer your sacrifices that are to be burned and do all the other things that I have commanded you. But you are free to kill and eat your animals wherever you live. You may eat as many as the LORD gives you. All of you, whether ritually clean or unclean, may eat them, just as you would eat the meat of deer or antelope.
Read The Bible In
One Year: Isaiah 36-38
Plus Daily Chapter: 1 Tim. 1
