Numbers 12:1-16 (NLT)
1 While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman.
2 They said, “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” But the LORD heard them.
3 (Now Moses was very humble—more humble than any other person on earth.)
4 So immediately the LORD called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and said, “Go out to the Tabernacle, all three of you!” So the three of them went to the Tabernacle.
5 Then the LORD descended in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle. “Aaron and Miriam!” he called, and they stepped forward.
6 And the LORD said to them, “Now listen to what I say: “If there were prophets among you, I, the LORD, would reveal myself in visions. I would speak to them in dreams.
7 But not with my servant Moses. Of all my house, he is the one I trust.
8 I speak to him face to face, clearly, and not in riddles! He sees the LORD as he is. So why were you not afraid to criticize my servant Moses?”
9 The LORD was very angry with them, and he departed.
10 As the cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, there stood Miriam, her skin as white as snow from leprosy. When Aaron saw what had happened to her,
11 he cried out to Moses, “Oh, my master! Please don’t punish us for this sin we have so foolishly committed.
12 Don’t let her be like a stillborn baby, already decayed at birth.”
13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, I beg you, please heal her!”
14 But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had done nothing more than spit in her face, wouldn’t she be defiled for seven days? So keep her outside the camp for seven days, and after that she may be accepted back.”
15 So Miriam was kept outside the camp for seven days, and the people waited until she was brought back before they traveled again.
16 Then they left Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
What seems reasonable to us in talking about those in the leadership God has placed in our lives may not be so acceptable to God. Moses’ choosing of a wife upon his arrival in Midian after killing the Egyptian was not something to be criticized by anyone, but especially those through whom He chose to speak. In the eyes of God, to do so was to stand in judgment over God Himself, the One Moses met with face to face. This opened a door wide to the threat of leprosy that was allowed to remain open for a full demonstration of just how serious dishonor of God’s anointed can be. For God to effectively lead through Moses, his leadership, and especially those closest to Him, would have to realize just how treating him was the same as treating God Himself. Maybe this story is what was clear in the mind of David when given the opportunity to kill King Saul in the cave of En Gedi.
The God that dealt with criticism in this way with Moses is the same God who has made us to kings and priests in Christ. We have been given to the very throne of Grace where we can meet face to face with our Helper. While it may seem reasonable to analyze and criticize those He has chosen to lead and speak through, based upon the examples of Moses and Ananias and Saphira, it is surely much better to be like David and choose to simply not touch what God has anointed. Surely many doors have been opened to the very curse the blood redeems by the treatment of our Redeemer through those He meets with face to face. How much better to remain with a heart in full confidence towards Him by remaining true to who are His.