MOSHE'S DEALINGS WITH THE PEOPLE OF YISRAEL
11:1The
people were as murmurers, speaking evil in the ears of Yahweh: and when Yahweh
heard it, his anger was kindled; and the fire of Yahweh burnt among them, and
devoured in the uttermost part of the camp. 11:2The
people cried to Moshe; and Moshe prayed to Yahweh, and the fire abated. 11:3The name of that place was called Tav`erah,
because the fire of Yahweh burnt among them.
Yahweh Responds To The Prayers Of His
Servants
When the people cried to Moshe, when the fire of Yahweh burned in the camp, he prayed to Yahweh, and the fire abated. Showing that Yahweh indeed responded to the prayer of his servant for the people.
Yahweh's servants, especially his prophets, should pray for the people whenever they sin and face the consequences of their sin. That Yahweh may both forgive them their sin, and also abate the consequences of their sin.
The sinning people should likewise repent of their sin, in order to assure their forgiveness and the abatement of the consequences of their sin.
Aharon And Miryam Speak Out Against Moshe
12:1Miryam
and Aharon spoke against Moshe because of the Kushite woman whom he had
married; for he had married a Kushite woman. 12:2They
said, "Has Yahweh indeed spoken only with Moshe? Hasn't he spoken also
with us?" Yahweh heard it.
12:3Now
the man Moshe was very humble, above all the men who were on the surface of the
earth. 12:4Yahweh spoke suddenly to
Moshe, and to Aharon, and to Miryam, "Come out you three to the tent of
meeting."
They three came out.
12:5Yahweh
came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called
Aharon and Miryam; and they both came forth. 12:6He
said, "Hear now my words: if there be a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will
make myself known to him in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream. 12:7My servant Moshe is not so; he is faithful
in all my house: 12:8with him will I
speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form
of Yahweh shall he see: why then were you not afraid to speak against my
servant, against Moshe?" 12:9The
anger of Yahweh was kindled against them; and he departed.
12:10The
cloud removed from over the Tent; and, behold, Miryam was leprous, as white as
snow: and Aharon looked at Miryam, and, behold, she was leprous. 12:11Aharon said to Moshe, "Oh, my master,
please don't lay sin on us, for that we have done foolishly, and for that we
have sinned. 12:12Let her not, I
pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of
his mother's womb."
12:13Moshe
cried to Yahweh, saying, "Heal her, Mighty One, I beg you."
12:14Yahweh
said to Moshe, "If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn't she be
ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and
after that she shall be brought in again." 12:15Miryam
was shut up outside of the camp seven days: and the people didn't travel until
Miryam was brought in again. 12:16Afterward
the people journeyed from Chatzerot, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.
Moshe Prayed For Miryam's Healing
When Aharon and Miryam had sinned, and consequently Yahweh made Miryam leprous, Aharon cried to Moshe that they be forgiven their sin, and that Miryam be healed of her leprosy. For Aharon recognised that Yahweh indeed heard Moshe his servant, and was also repentant after both he and Miryam were reproved by Yahweh.
Moshe responded, as is typical of faithful servants and prophets of Yahweh, by crying to Yahweh to forgive their sin and remove the consequence of their sin.
Miryam Shamed In Retribution For Her Sin
Yahweh, typically, agreed to forgive their sin and also remove the consequence of their sin. For they were repentant. Nevertheless, Yahweh did not remove the consequence of their sin, Miryam's leprosy, immediately. Yahweh taught them that she needed to be shamed in retribution for her sin. And only after her shaming period was over would the consequence of her sin be removed.
Sometimes Yahweh Does Not Answer Our Prayers
In The Manner That We Expect
In this Yahweh showed us that he sometimes does not answer our prayers at the time we expect answers to our prayers. He sometimes does not answer them in the manner we expect because he has good reason for not doing as we request. We should therefore try to ascertain why Yahweh acts in the manner that he does, seeking understanding from him in order to serve him faithfully and fearfully.
The Fiery Serpent On A Standard
21:1The
Kana`ani, the king of `
21:4They
journeyed from
21:7The
people came to Moshe, and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken
against Yahweh, and against you; pray to Yahweh, that he take away the serpents
from us." Moshe prayed for the people.
21:8Yahweh
said to Moshe, "Make you a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard: and it
shall happen, that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." 21:9Moshe made a serpent of brass, and set it
on the standard: and it happened, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he
looked to the serpent of brass, he lived.
21:6-9 shows that when a sinner is repentant, Yahweh's servants should pray for that sinner, that he may be forgiven his sin, and the consequences of his sin removed. For so did Moshe, Yahweh's servant and prophet, pray for the repentant Yisraelites, and the plague of serpents was abated.
The People Of Yisrael Repeatedly Sinned Against
Yahweh
9:1Hear,
Yisra'el: you are to pass over the Yarden this day, to go in to dispossess
nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to
the sky, 9:2a people great and tall,
the sons of the `Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say,
"Who can stand before the sons of `Anak?" 9:3Know therefore this day, that Yahweh your
Mighty One is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire; he will destroy
them, and he will bring them down before you: so shall you drive them out, and
make them to perish quickly, as Yahweh has spoken to you.
9:4Don't
speak in your heart, after that Yahweh your Mighty One has thrust them out from
before you, saying, "For my righteousness Yahweh has brought me in to
possess this land." Whereas for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh
does drive them out from before you. 9:5Not
for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go in to
possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your Mighty
One does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word
which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya`akov. 9:6Know therefore, that Yahweh your Mighty One
doesn't give you this good land to possess it for your righteousness; for you
are a stiff-necked people.
9:7Remember,
don't forget, how you provoked Yahweh your Mighty One to wrath in the
wilderness: from the day that you went forth out of the land of Mitzrayim,
until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Yahweh. 9:8Also in Chorev you provoked Yahweh to wrath,
and Yahweh was angry with you to destroy you. 9:9When
I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of
the covenant which Yahweh made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days
and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water. 9:10Yahweh delivered to me the two tables of
stone written with the finger of the Mighty One; and on them was written
according to all the words, which Yahweh spoke with you in the mount out of the
midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. 9:11It
came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that Yahweh gave me the
two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant. 9:12Yahweh said to me, "Arise, get you
down quickly from hence; for your people whom you have brought forth out of
Mitzrayim have corrupted themselves; they have quickly turned aside out of the
way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image."
9:13Furthermore
Yahweh spoke to me, saying, "I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a
stiff-necked people: 9:14let me
alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and
I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they."
9:15So
I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount was burning with fire: and
the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands. 9:16I looked, and, behold, you had sinned
against Yahweh your Mighty One; you had made you a molten calf: you had turned
aside quickly out of the way that Yahweh had commanded you. 9:17I took hold of the two tables, and cast
them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. 9:18I fell down before Yahweh, as at the
first, forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water;
because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in the
sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger. 9:19For
I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith Yahweh was angry
against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also.
9:20Yahweh
was very angry with Aharon to destroy him: and I prayed for Aharon also at the
same time.
9:21I
took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped
it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust: and I cast the dust
of it into the brook that descended out of the mount.
9:22At
Tav`erah, and at Massah, and at Kivrot-Hatta'avah, you provoked Yahweh to
wrath. 9:23When Yahweh sent you from
Kadesh-Barnea, saying, "Go up and possess the land which I have given
you"; then you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your Mighty One,
and you didn't believe him, nor listen to his voice. 9:24You have been rebellious against Yahweh
from the day that I knew you.
9:25So
I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and forty nights that I fell down,
because Yahweh had said he would destroy you. 9:26I
prayed to Yahweh, and said, "Sovereign Yahweh, don't destroy your people
and your inheritance, that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you
have brought forth out of Mitzrayim with a mighty hand. 9:27Remember your servants, Avraham, Yitzchak,
and Ya`akov; don't look to the stubbornness of this people, nor to their
wickedness, nor to their sin, 9:28lest
the land whence you brought us out say, 'Because Yahweh was not able to bring
them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has
brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.' 9:29Yet
they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great
power and by your outstretched arm."
10:1At
that time Yahweh said to me, "Hew you two tables of stone like the first,
and come up to me into the mount, and make you an ark of wood. 10:2I will write on the tables the words that
were on the first tables which you broke, and you shall put them in the
ark." 10:3So I made an ark of
shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like the first, and went up into
the mount, having the two tables in my hand. 10:4He
wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments,
which Yahweh spoke to you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day
of the assembly: and Yahweh gave them to me. 10:5I
turned and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark that I had
made; and there they are as Yahweh commanded me.
10:6(The
children of Yisra'el journeyed from Be'erot Bene-Ya`akan to Moserah. There
Aharon died, and there he was buried; and El`azar his son ministered in the
Kohen's office in his place. 10:7From
there they journeyed to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Yotvatah, a land of
brooks of water. 10:8At that time
Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Yahweh,
to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this
day. 10:9Therefore Levi has no
portion nor inheritance with his brothers; Yahweh is his inheritance, according
as Yahweh your Mighty One spoke to him.)
10:10I
stayed in the mount, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights: and
Yahweh listened to me that time also; Yahweh would not destroy you. 10:11Yahweh said to me, "Arise, take your
journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land, which I
swore to their fathers to give to them."
10:12Now,
Yisra'el, what does Yahweh your Mighty One require of you, but to fear Yahweh
your Mighty One, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahweh
your Mighty One with all your heart and with all your soul, 10:13to keep the commandments of Yahweh, and
his statutes, which I command you this day for your good? 10:14Behold, to Yahweh your Mighty One belongs
Heaven and the Heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is therein. 10:15Only Yahweh had a delight in your fathers
to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples,
as at this day. 10:16Circumcise
therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked. 10:17For Yahweh your Mighty One, he is Mighty
One of mighty ones, and Sovereign of sovereigns, the great Mighty One, the
mighty, and the awesome, who doesn't regard persons, nor takes reward. 10:18He does execute justice for the fatherless
and widow, and loves the sojourner, in giving him food and clothing. 10:19Love you therefore the sojourner; for you
were sojourners in the land of Mitzrayim. 10:20You
shall fear Yahweh your Mighty One; him shall you serve; and to him shall you
cleave, and by his name shall you swear. 10:21He
is your praise, and he is your Mighty One, who has done for you these great and
awesome things, which your eyes have seen. 10:22Your
fathers went down into Mitzrayim with seventy persons; and now Yahweh your
Mighty One has made you as the stars of the sky for multitude.
How Yahweh's Servants Are To Entreat Yahweh
When A Grievous Sin Has Been Committed
9:18 shows the manner Moshe entreated Yahweh to save the people of Yisrael from death after their sin of idolatry against Yahweh. Moshe fell before Yahweh, forty days and forty nights, eating neither bread nor drinking water! Showing that when the sin committed by people is grievous, the manner Yahweh's servant and prophet is to pray to Yahweh for their atonement and forgiveness is by falling before Yahweh and fasting!
Moshe's example shows that Yahweh servants, particularly his prophets, are to be alert to the conduct of the people Yahweh has given to them to serve. Such that if the people commit sin, Yahweh's servants and prophets are to quickly plead to Yahweh on their behalf, while at the same time urging the people to repent of their sin.
Moshe's Prayer For Aharon Facilitated Aharon's
Preservation
9:20 shows that it was Moshe's prayer to Yahweh that resulted in the preservation of Aharon's life, after Aharon had participated with the people in their sin of idolatry.
Moshe's Prayer To Yahweh For The People's
Preservation
9:25-29 give the reasons Moshe gave to Yahweh in attempting to persuade Yahweh to spare the people and not destroy them. Moshe reminded Yahweh of his promises to the ancestors of the people, and how these promises were to be fulfilled in these people. Moshe also reminded Yahweh of his great name throughout all the earth, and how Yahweh's reputation stood to be damaged if he did not bring those people into the land of the Kanaanim.
Not that Yahweh was unaware of the things that Moshe was praying to him about, to persuade him from his intended action. No! Only that Moshe reasserted that what Yahweh was already doing, and what he was urging him to continue doing, was for the glorification of Yahweh's name, and for the showing of Yahweh's faithfulness, independent of the sinful conduct of the people inheriting these promises and blessings. In other words, Moshe prayed for the performance and perpetuation of Yahweh's will, despite the sinful conduct of the people.
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