Numbers 11 shows us how enervating
grumbling can be. It not only could make one cynical but also could spread like
a contagious disease. We saw how the murmuring and complaining spirit of
the children of Israel even rubbed on to Moses. This shows us that no one is
immune to this destructive habit. It is no wonder why God had to deal with it.
And for us to nurture a God-pleasing life, we must be watchful and not allow a
spirit of discontent to creep into our lives causing us to grumble over the
smallest thing.
In Numbers 12, we see the emergence of yet another problem, the issue of envy. What’s glaring about this issue that confronted Moses was that it came from people dear to him. It came from his own brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam. They envied Moses’ leadership and spoke against him. We know people do become envious of others who are in positions of leadership which they themselves have secretly aspired to have. But for envy to come from someone dear can be very unnerving. Aaron and Miriam had unwittingly despised God’s choice of Moses by criticizing him. After all, he did not appoint himself as the leader. It was God who had called, chosen, and commissioned him to lead the people of Israel out of bondage and to the promised land. Hence to speak against him was to speak against God.
The first issue they murmured against Moses was his marriage to a Cushite woman. Was this woman Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro? The text seems to indicate that this was a recent event. Whether she was Zipporah or not, the issue they raised against Moses was that his wife was not an Israelite. They did not bring the matter to God or to Moses, but to everyone who would lend them an ear. This is the crux of the problem. If they genuinely wanted to solve the problem, they would have taken it up with Moses, but they did not. What they did was more like seeking to smear Moses’ reputation. And that was totally unacceptable. This is something we must learn. If we are not happy with a leader, we should take it up with that leader himself or herself first. It would be wise to bring the matter to God in prayer prior to approaching the leader. And only when he or she does not want to listen, should we go to people who have the capacity to solve it. Not with every Tom, Dick, or Harry, just to discredit the leader.
The real issue they had against Moses was not so much his marriage but his leadership that they were envying. His marriage was just a smokescreen to what they were truly unhappy about. The questions they asked revealed that. They felt they were equally disposed to take the lead. This is what envy always does. First, they compared themselves with Moses. Then they compared their situation with his. In personality, they felt they were better than Moses. In the situation, they felt Moses was better though he seemingly had a flawed marriage in their eyes. As they did that, they became unhappy that he should be given the privilege of being the leader.
We must all learn that we are brought into the community to complement and supplement each other. If we have proper self-acceptance, we will not envy the task of another. And we should not despise another person's lack nor envy his or her gift because we accept that God knows best. We acknowledge that He has endowed each one of us precisely with what He knows we can do best. This is borne out by what God said of Moses. In parenthesis verse 3 said, “(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any person who was on the face of the earth.)” The best way to deal with envy is to start counting our own blessings instead of counting others. We must not view someone else’s acceptance as our rejection. When we put our confidence in God and who He has made us to be, we will leave no room for envy or jealousy to wreak havoc in our lives. So put your confidence in God, for He knows you best!
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