Look intently at this.
And
seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He
was seated, His disciples came to Him.
(Matthew 5:1 NKJV)
Jesus did not retreat in fear, nor did He retreat, but it was a strategic move because the voice travels better as it moves downhill. Aside from that, there was the need to teach His own disciples what the heart of God is.
Having gathered His followers and all the others, He opened His mouth and taught. In the previous post, I covered Matthew 5:3, where the God's Word translation conveys this:
“Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.” (GW)
Though I did not elaborate on the idea that understanding that you are spiritually helpless it is much like an alcoholic who realizes that they are not in control and will never be.
Does God leave you helpless?
Absolutely not. God's life in you makes you a son or daughter of the King and entitled, within reason, to all the authority of the King. Think about the children of diplomats and how protected they are.
“Blessed
are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.”
(Matthew
5:4 NKJV)
Blessed?
It seems so odd to consider telling someone who just had their family blown up as they attended church in Nigeria that they are blessed.
The NLT unpacks Matthew 5:4 with “God blesses those who...” I think this way of perceiving what Jesus/God is about to say is more appropriate as, in most cases, it would be difficult at best to see this thing or event as a blessing.
Mourn is the Gk word penthéō and means to mourn, lament, or grieve over people or situations, and they do not have to be your own.
My takeaway on this is that in time, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, God will turn this thing that has brought your mourning into a blessing. This turn may be in heaven, before the Father, but occasionally, it happens quickly within the current time frame.
"How blessed are those who are humble, because it is they who will inherit the earth!” (Matthew 5:5 ISV)
The other common word option is meek. Both meek and humble have an aroma of weakness in my mind for a long time. What changed my mind came about when I read the narrative about Moses. Allow me to elaborate.
(Now, the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.) Numbers 12:3 NKJV
Being placed in the river by his mother, you could certainly see Moses' future as one that could be oppressed or dead. But that was not to be his fate. He was rescued by the Pharaoh's daughter and raised to be nobility in the Egyptian court. The scriptures do not define how Moses came to understand what his true heritage was, but we have evidence that confirms our suspicions.
“And it came to pass in that length of time, that Moses having grown, went out to his brethren the sons of Israel: and having noticed their distress, he sees an Egyptian smiting a certain Hebrew of his brethren the children of Israel.” (Exodus 2:11 Brenton)
Based upon Exodus 2:11, it is hard to perceive the humility in Moses as yet. Perhaps we don't understand the meaning of the word. I can tell you that it is not what my dear mother defined it as.
Humble, according to the Word Study Dictionary, is the Hebrew word ‛ānāw. It is an adjective meaning poor, oppressed, afflicted, humble. It is used for persons who put themselves after others in importance; it is also used for persons who are not proud, haughty, supercilious, self-assertive, or low in rank or position.
We always build our arguments on at least two witnesses, so here is another.
“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:24-27 NKJV)
Let's apply some logic to what we read here.
Moses, at his sister's prompting, was given back to his mother to breastfeed until he was weaned.
There have been mothers who have allowed their children to stay on the breast beyond seven years. I suspect that most attempt to wean the child when their teeth show up around 18 months.
If Moses was given back to Bithia at 18 months, then there is "NO" way this child could have been taught about his heritage as a son of Jacob, a follower of Yahweh. (Keep in mind that these people, who kept to themselves, were sheepherders and followers of this unknown God, Yahweh. They were not known as Jews as yet.)
This puts the driving force on Bithia, the daughter of Pharaoh, who rescued Moses from the river, to have Moses placed in the intermittent care of Jochebed (which, according to the Midrash, was the birth mother of Moses.) And, as far as we know, she used these opportunities to teach Moses about his heritage as a Jew.
This puts the motivation on Bithia, Pharaoh's daughter who rescued Moses from the river, to have Moses placed in the care of Jochebed (who, according to the Midrash) was the birth mother of Moses.
Does that make sense?
Not unless you believe in a God that works through people, often without their understanding, and does what seems to be improbable and impossible.
So, can we define humility based on what we see in Moses?
Absolutely. In Numbers 12, we find someone making a defining statement about Moses. Since God had Moses write all these early books, we might assume that it was Moses writing, as the Holy Spirit instructed, about himself. The Apostle Paul and the Disciple John seemed to find writing about themselves a bit uncomfortable. The following passage is a definition of Moses for a reason. We know this because, in most translations, it is set apart by parentheses. The Berean Study Bible did not do so.
“Now
Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the
earth.”
Numbers
12:3 BSB
Why bring up the word humble and apply it to Moses?
Because there was a jealous hostility arising in the camp, and it centered on the brother and sister of Moses.
“Then
Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had
married,
for he had taken a Cushite wife. “Does the LORD speak only through
Moses?” they said. “Does He not also speak through us?” And the
LORD heard this.”
Numbers
12:1-2 BSB
When I read this, I find myself saying, really, all this because he married another woman.
By the way, what became of Zipporah, the first wife?
Oh, she is still around. If you remember, she threw the foreskins of their sons at Moses, yelling that he was a bloody husband to her, after he insisted that his sons, who might have been young men at this point, were to be circumcised. This is just a guess, but it seems some distance was suddenly put between Moses and his wife. Later, we see Jethro, Zipporah's father, come to Moses, and he brought Moses' two sons with him. Those two sons became priests in the desert temple.
We have several examples that might define Aaron and why he acts as a spokesman for God, but what about Miriam?
One of the first places we see Miriam is in Exodus 15.
“Then Miriam
the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took
a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with
tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang back to them: “Sing to the
LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown
into the sea.”
Exodus
15:20-21 BSB
Seriously, that is all I could find. Perhaps she got the job because she was family.
Earlier in this post, I defined humility from the Word Study Dictionary. It is an adjective meaning poor, oppressed, afflicted, humble. It is used for persons who put themselves after others in importance; it is also used for persons who are not proud, haughty, or self-assertive.
This may have played a role in Moses' and his resistance to going to Pharaoh.
Did you notice how Numbers 12:3 pointed out how both Miriam and Aaron were saying, “Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” and “Does He not also speak through us?”
Well, they got a generalized answer.
“And
suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three,
come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three went out, and the
LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the
Tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them had stepped
forward,”
Numbers
12:4-5 BSB
The answer was this.
“He
said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the
LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a
dream.”
Numbers
12:6 BSB
Did Aaron and Miriam meet these qualifications?
We are never told what their qualifications were aside from Miriam leading the worship choir.
I can tell you that Jesus spoke to me in a dream, but maybe it was a vision; all I know is that it felt very real. He related my entire life to me, and I was only about 25 at the time. I am now coming up on 70, and I can tell you that I saw the end, and it was filled with joy. Sadly, when I woke up, the only thing I could remember was that He had been there and the joy I felt. Truth be told, it has been a rough 45 years, and I am living through a rough time now. Maybe the joy has more to do with the joy we all will experience when He comes back soon for His bride, in the moment we call the rapture.
But when it comes to Moses, it's different.
“But
this is not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house.
I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees
the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My
servant Moses?”
Numbers
12:7-8 BSB
Face to face?
Several translations use the terminology mouth to mouth. It is the Hebrew word peh and infers the mouth as the instrument of speech. You might say, we talk face to face. So this makes the relationship that Moses has different from anybody else's up to this point.
It goes on to say,
I speak clearly,
face to face,
not in riddles,
and he sees the form of the Lord.
Not even Moses was able to look at the face of God, or he would die, so this is all symbolic but serious. To elaborate on the serious nature of this conversation, God says, “Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
Make no mistake, God was angry.
“So
the anger of the LORD was aroused against them, and He departed.”
Numbers 12:9 NKJV
Oh, He didn't go away without acting.
“And
when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam
became leprous, as white as snow.
Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. So
Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on
us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.
Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed
when he comes out of his mother's womb!"
Numbers
12:10-12 NKJV
You should know by now that Leprosy is a fungal disease that is treatable nowadays.
Aaron pleads with Moses for help.
“So
Moses cried out to the LORD,
saying, "Please heal her, O God, I pray!" Then the LORD
said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would
she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven
days, and afterward, she may be received again." So Miriam was
shut out of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey till
Miriam was brought in again.”
Numbers
12:13-15 NKJV
Verse 13 is one of the most dramatic verses that help to define why Moses was deemed so humble because he put God first in decision-making.
Was Moses always so humble?
I don't think so, and here is why. Remember how I asked the question, where is Zipporah, Moses' first wife? Well, Jethro, her father, brought her back to Moses, along with the sons. As you well know, there are two sides to every story. In a region that still supports a culture where a woman can be treated as a farm animal, I can't imagine what could have become of Zipporah. Perhaps humility played a large role in this marital affair.
“And
Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that
God had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that
the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. Then Jethro,
Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent
her back, with her two sons,
of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, "I have been a
stranger in a foreign land") and the name of the other was
Eliezer (for he said, "The God of my father was my help, and
delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh"); and Jethro, Moses'
father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the
wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. Now, he had
said to Moses, "I,
your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her
two sons with her."
So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed
him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went
into the tent. And Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had
done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the
hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the LORD had
delivered them. Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the LORD
had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the
Egyptians. And Jethro said, "Blessed
be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians
and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from
under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater
than all the gods;
for
in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them."
Exodus
18:1-11 NKJV
In contrast to Moses, the humble man – because he trusted and followed God, “the people,” including Aaron and Miriam, “behaved proudly,” according to Jethro.
Proudly is the Hebrew word zûḏ and means to treat someone insolently, proudly, or arrogantly. The people acted in opposition to Moses and showed their indifference to God.
The next day, Moses went back to work.
“And so it was, on
the next day, that Moses sat to
judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from
morning until evening. So when
Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said,
"What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do
you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until
evening?" And Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because
the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a difficulty,
they come to me, and I judge between one and another, and I make
known the statutes of God and His laws." So Moses' father-in-law
said to him, "The thing that you do is not good. Both you and
these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For
this thing is too much for you, you are not able to perform it by
yourself. Listen now to my voice; I
will give you counsel, and God will be with you. Stand before
God for the people so that you may bring the difficulties to God.
And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the
way in which they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover, you
shall select from all the people
able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and
place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds,
rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people
at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall
bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So
it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with
you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be
able to endure, and all these people will also go to their place in
peace." So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did
all that he had said. And Moses
chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the
people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties,
and rulers of tens.”
Exodus 18:13-25 NKJV
And then Moses let his father-in-law depart, but the wife and sons stayed, as though Moses demanded they stay. If there was an impetus to stay it came through Jethro.
“Then Moses let
his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land.”
Exodus 18:27 NKJV
Moses took his father-in-law's advice.
