MIRIAM
In the ritual we are told that Miriam, sister of Moses, constructed
his ark so skillfully that she saved his life, and with his mother
made the ark plumb, level, square, arched, and waterproof.
"
Learn from these noble, self-reliant daughters of ancient times your
responsibility and work in making the world better because you live,
and earnestly strive to become worthy builders of the Temple of
Justice, Truth and Right.
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Well these two sentences do not even start to tell the story of
Miriam and what you should learn from her so I will give you what I
have been able to find out about Miriam.
From the book, "All of The Women of The Bible" by Edith Deen I found
the following:
Miriam is the first woman in the Bible whose interest was national and
whose mission was patriotic.
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When she led the women of
The portrait of Miriam, brilliant, courageous sister of Moses, is
drawn in a few graphically real strokes.
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We have the first picture of her in Exodus 2:4,7 when she was a little
girl.
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And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, shall I go and call
to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women,
child for thee?
Here she is not named, but is referred to only as Moses' sister.
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Her courage at this time gives an indication of the kind of woman she
was to become.
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As she stood guarding her baby brother in the ark made by their mother
Jochebed, she exhibited a fearlessness and self-possession unusual in
a little girl.
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She was then probably about seven years old.
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Though she was awaiting the coming of a powerful princess, the
daughter of a hostile tyrant who had decreed that all male babies
should be destroyed, Miriam showed poise, intelligence, and finesse.
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When the daughter of Pharaoh came down with her maidens to the banks
of the
Never disclosing by look or word her own relationship to the child,
she brought her mother Jochebed to Pharaoh's daughter.
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The child Moses was safe at last behind palace walls, with his own
mother as his nurse.
Through the years that passed, while Moses was in Pharaoh's house, and
during the subsequent period when he had left the scene of courtly
splendor to live some forty years in Midian, the Bible gives us no
record of Miriam.
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There is also no record of her during Moses' long pleadings with
Pharaoh to release his people, so that they might return to the land
of their fathers.
Through the long oppression of the Israelites by hard taskmasters, we can be sure that Miriam was ministering to her people and that she was reverenced as the honored sister of Moses and Aaron, who were to lead the Hebrews out of bondage and form a new nation. " The prophet Micah attests to this when he says, "For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; " and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam".
(Micah 6:4)
For I brought thee up out of the
servants; and
I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
The second scene in Miriam's life opens when
Miriam now occupied a unique place among the Hebrew women, that of
prophetess.
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The Hebrew word "prophetess" means a woman who is inspired to teach
the will of God.
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It is also used for the wife of a prophet, and is sometimes applied to
a singer of hymns.
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The first meaning must be applied to Miriam because the Bible gives no
record that she was ever married.
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Tradition has it that she became the wife of Hur, who with Aaron held
up the hands of Moses, but we have no warrant whatever in Scripture,
by direct word or inference, to confirm this tradition.
The next scene depicts Miriam in all her triumph.
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A strong wind had backed up the waters of the
(Exodus 15:21)
And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumped gloriously; the
horse and his
rider hath he thrown into the sea.
This Song of Deliverance, sometimes referred to as the Song of Miriam
and Moses, is one of the earliest songs in Hebrew literature, and one
of the finest.
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What part Miriam had in the composition of this national anthem, the
oldest on record, is not known, but in weaving it into the conscious
life of her people she had an equal share with Moses and Aaron.
Miriam is the first woman singer on record.
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The wonder of it is that she sang unto the Lord, using her great gift
for the elevation of her people.
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With her they exulted over their escape from their enemies.
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And with freedom came a newly discovered faith and confidence in God.
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This was Miriam's great hour.
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She was the new
The third scene in Miriam's life offers a sharp contrast to this one,
and occurs some time later.
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Some chronologists believe it took place only one year after the
passage across the
The limitations in Miriam's character come into clear focus in this
third dramatic scene in her life.
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No longer does she stand on the summit as she did in her triumphant
hour.
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She is still an exalted person, but no longer a leader in exultation.
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This time she is a leader in jealousy and bitterness.
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Probably she had become rebellious because her place was secondary to
that of her brother Moses.
With Aaron, we hear her murmuring, "Hath the Lord indeed spoken only
by Moses?
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Hath he not spoken also by us?
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And the Lord heard it."
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(Numbers 12:2)
And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only
And the Lord heard it.
In this delineation of the envious, bitter side of Miriam's character, following so soon after the courageous, inspiring scene of the woman who had sung to God so joyfully, we have one of the most perfect examples in the Bible of woman's mixed nature of good and evil.
It is probable that Miriam, older than Moses by about seven years, had
expressed herself quite freely against her brother's wife from an
idolatrous country.
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That an Ethiopian should be raised above herself, who was a daughter
of
On the other hand, she rang a warning bell to others who might follow Moses' lead. " When a man's wife is opposed to the religion of his country, especially the wife of a man occupying the lofty position of Moses, his cause is in peril. " And Miriam evidently feared this. " She was not alone in her thinking. " Aaron was a partner in the complaint, but Miriam's name was placed first. " Probably it was she who brought up the matter to Aaron and influenced his thinking. " There is a peculiar analogy between Miriam's sin and her punishment. " The foul vice of envy had spread over her whole character, like the loathsome disease which had overtaken her. " Her sharp words made more real the words James spoke many centuries later: " "And the tongue is a fire," it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature".
(James 3:6)
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity:
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So is
defileth the
Leprosy, the pale plaque of
(Numbers 12:10)
And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle;
white as
" "And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee." "
(Numbers 12:13)
And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal
Though she had held a grudge against him, Moses acted toward her in a spirit of love. " Probably when he saw his sister leprous, he remembered that he had once been stricken with leprosy, too. "
(Exodus 4:6)
And the Lord said furthermore unto him, put now
We can assume that the heart of Miriam was touched by her brother's love. " Though she was shut out of camp for seven days, in accordance with the regulations of the Israelites
(Numbers 12:15),
And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven
days:
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And the people journeyed not till Miriam
was brought in again.
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she was not shut out of the hearts of those she had led in their
triumphant hour.
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Though wearied from their long wanderings and impatient at every delay
in reaching the
(Numbers 12:15)
was brought in again.
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Doubtless the leprosy of Miriam's mind departed with the leprosy of
her body.
Deputy Advisor
Betsy Ross Conclave No. 14