Numbers 12 Summary: A Concise Overview in 5 Minutes

Numbers 12 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• In Numbers 10, the Israelites set out from Mount Sinai to go to Paran on the 20th day of the 2nd month of the 2nd year after leaving Egypt. The events of this chapter occurred only a few days after they set out on their journey.

• The year was approximately 1490 B.C.

CHARACTERS:

• Miriam – The sister of Moses and Aaron.

• Aaron – Moses and Miriam’s brother. He was the High Priest of the Israelites.

• Moses – God chose Moses to lead the Israelites. His relationship with God was unique. God spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex 33:11).

WHERE:

• The events recorded in Numbers 12 happened in Hazeroth.

• At the end of the chapter, the Israelites moved on to the wilderness of Paran.  

OUTLINE:

• MIRIAM AND AARON SPEAK AGAINST MOSES (12:1-16):

  • Aaron and his sister Miriam were irritated with Moses because he had married a Cushite woman.

  • Verse 2 suggests the real nature of their frustration with Moses’ special relationship with God and the authority God had given him over the rest of the Israelites.

  • They said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us all?”

  • They complained about Moses even though Moses was a very meek man.

  • God was angry with Aaron and Miriam and called the 3 siblings to the Tabernacle.

  • He spoke with them from the cloud and reaffirmed Moses’ special place as God’s representative.

  • God asked Miriam and Aaron why they weren’t afraid to speak against His servant.

  • When God finished speaking, the cloud lifted off the Tabernacle and God punished Miriam by afflicting her with leprosy.

  • Moses plead with the Lord to forgive his siblings and heal Miriam.

  • God told Moses He would heal her after 7 days, but until then she was to be exiled from the camp.

  • The Israelites remained at Hazeroth until the 7 days were completed, then they moved on into the wilderness of Paran.

APPLICATION:

• The authority structures of the world exist because God permits them to exist, and we need to be very careful about speaking evil of those in authority.

• This is true for civil leaders and religious leaders.

• Heb 13:17 - Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.

• 1Th 5:12  We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

• Rom 13:1 - Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 

• 1Pe 2:13  Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 

• We should be very careful before we rebel against or speak evil of those in positions of authority.

DIAGRAM OF THE CAMP OF ISRAEL:

DIAGRAM OF THE TABERNACLE: