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The Customer Service Center provides frontline customer support for all of Moody’s ministries. Ask that the Holy Spirit provide encouragement to Jens Douglas, Janet Giesler, and Sarah LaValle as they serve and minister to the men and women who contact the Institute today.
TODAY IN THE WORDSenator Strom Thurmond from South Carolina ran for President in 1948 as the candidate for the States Rights Democratic Party on a segregationist platform. In 1957, he launched the longest filibuster by a single Senator in history—clocking in at over 24 hours—in an attempt to defeat the Civil Rights Act. So many were surprised when after Thurmond’s death it was revealed that he had fathered a daughter with a black maid. While neither of them acknowledged the relationship while he was alive, Thurmond had supported his daughter financially for many years, and she had visited him in Washington, D.C.
Our passage contains irony related to skin color. But the ultimate issue was not black or white skin, but whether Aaron and Miriam would demonstrate appropriate respect for God’s appointed leader.
Miriam and Aaron began to complain about Moses’ dark-skinned wife from the land of Cush (v. 1). Whatever their complaint about Moses and his wife, the core issue was that Miriam and Aaron were jealous of Moses’ authority. Each of them had been granted special positions of responsibility, but they weren’t content with those roles (see Ex. 15:20; 28:1). Moses didn’t defend himself, but God did. The three siblings were summoned to appear before the Lord.
God detailed His special relationship with Moses. Unlike prophets, to whom He spoke in visions and dreams, Moses heard from the Lord face to face. He had seen the very form of the Lord (v. 8; see Ex. 33:12-23; 34:29). His face glowed with the radiance of God. How could Miriam and Aaron even conceive of challenging the position and authority of Moses? They were really challenging the authority of the Lord.
Miriam had complained about her dark-skinned sister-in-law, and in judgment God turned her own skin deadly white—with leprosy. Devastated, Aaron begged Moses for forgiveness, and Moses begged God for healing for his sister. The Lord agreed, but Miriam still suffered exile from the camp for seven days.
TODAY ALONG THE WAYDuring your prayer time today, spend extra time praying for your pastor and leaders in your church. Pray that they would seek the face of the Lord and that God would bless them with wisdom. Pray that they would lead your church to growth in unity and love in Christ. Pray that the church would be strengthened for service through their ministry. Thank the Lord for providing His people to do His work, and thank Him for the gifts that you have been given to support your church (see 1 Corinthians 12).
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