Character studies can be an interesting and beneficial method of biblical study. Since the biographical information in the Bible is written for our instruction and encouragement, we ought to study those people. (Ro. 15:4).

Miriam is an interesting woman of the Old Testament, even though there are only a few scripture texts concerning her (Ex. 2:1-10; 15:20; Num. 26:59; 12; 20:1). She was a descendent of Levi, one of the sons of Jacob (Ex. 2:1). This was the tribe of the priests. Her father was Amram; her mother, Jochebed (who was Amram's aunt, making Miriam and her siblings cousins to their own father Ex. 6:19-20)! She had two brothers, Aaron and Moses (Num. 26:59).

Faith Comes Through Hearing

As we begin to glean some lessons from this character study, we will see that Miriam was a good child. The writer of Hebrews states that it was by faith that Amram and Jochebed hid Moses. Since faith comes through hearing the words of God (Ro. 10:17), we can assume that they had instruction from God to protect their beautiful baby boy in the manner in which they did. This faith was passed on to Miriam. Likely, she was told to watch over baby Moses when he was placed in the river in the basket. Miriam was obedient, and protectively kept watch over her baby brother. She was a brave girl, for it was no light matter to be protecting a Hebrew child. She put her life on the line, overseeing the baby, and in approaching the princess whose father had commanded that all Hebrew baby boys be killed. Not only was Miriam obedient and brave, she was precocious, taking advantage of the situation to protect her tiny brother—thinking on her feet—asking if she could find a Hebrew to nurse the baby for the princess, whose heart melted upon the baby's cry (Ex. 2:1-10).

With these qualities, it is no wonder that she was given the gift of prophecy (Ex. 15:20). However, this does not presuppose that Miriam publicly led a congregation of men. The only example we have of her leading is in the singing and dancing of the women’s celebration of praise to God, for rescuing the Hebrews out of Egyptian bondage (Ex. 15:20).

Miriam's Sin

But Miriam had some weaknesses, as we all do. Perhaps some of these developed as a result of her prominence as the sister of Moses. It sometimes is the case that when one is placed in special positions, weaknesses not previously known are revealed. One can become difficult, thinking too highly of himself. We are informed of such a situation that developed during the wilderness wanderings, while the Israelites were camped at Hazeroth, approximately 40-45 miles northeast of Mount Sinai (Zondervan's Pictorial Bible Dictionary, Grand Rapids:MI: Zondervan Publishing House, p.339). .

Miriam may have been the eldest child in their family. Perhaps this is why Aaron was influenced by her on this occasion. It seems to be implied that in approaching Moses, she was in the lead because her name is mentioned first in Numbers 12:1, and only she received the severe punishment. Of course, this was not the first time (Ex. 32), nor the last (Num. 20:1-13), that Aaron was influenced by the sinful inclinations of others.

As we look carefully at this context, we ask what was the sin committed by Miriam and Aaron? The Bible tells us that they spoke against Moses because of his Cushite wife. The Cushites were a black race; the name Cush means "black." Cush was the grandson of Noah, through his son Ham. Could it be that there were motives or feelings, in addition to racism, that caused them to speak against Moses? The details that stirred Miriam and Aaron to sin are not given. But there may have been something more. Perhaps Moses' wife had received some privileges because of who she was, causing jealousy in Moses' siblings. Whatever it was, Miriam and Aaron were compelled to challenge Moses, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?" Their indignation is clear.

Being the meek man that he was, it seems Moses simply ignored them, and did not respond. But the King of heaven saw this as a serious sin that must be corrected. This was not simply a sister criticizing her brother unfairly. "Suddenly, the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, 'Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.'" There Jehovah rebuked them for making themselves equal to Moses. The authority of Moses had been directly delegated from the Sovereign God. To reject the authority of Moses was to reject the authority of God himself. To belittle his servant was to undermine the effectiveness of the leadership of Moses.

Consequently, God was angry with Miriam and Aaron. He sharply rebuked them. Aaron's heart melted when he saw that Miriam was covered with leprosy. He turned to Moses. The point was now well-taken that he was the authority here. He pled with Moses, confessing, "O, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned." He pled for Miriam's life. Moses begged God to heal her. The answer was that Miriam would have to be outside the camp for seven days. She and others needed to learn there are consequences for rebellion. Others had received much harsher punishment (cf. Num. 16).

Later in their travels, Miriam died in the wilderness of Zin, at Kadesh, not having received the blessing of going into the promised land (Num. 20:1). Surely, the people had deep affection for this good, but imperfect, servant of God.

What had Miriam and Aaron done that was so sinful? They had not respected God's delegated authority. In our world, there is such a laissez faire disposition regarding authority, whether in the home, the church, or the nation. We need healthy reminders that the Lord of heaven has no tolerance for rebellious dispositions.

Our Challenge

As women, we need to take caution. Our own disregard for God's delegated authority figures may not be as obvious to us as it should be. When we see work that we feel should be done by the elders or men of the congregation, it may be tempting to be condescending toward them. It is one thing to respectfully encourage congregational leaders, but it is quite another to complain and grumble against them, to undermine them, to attempt to manipulate them to get what we want, or to completely ignore their authority. Women today are challenged from religious and secular venues to be more assertive and publicly involved in worship service, in spite of the biblical teaching regarding female roles (1 Cor. 11:2-3; 14:34-35; 1 Tim. 2:8-15; Eph. 5:22-33).

Women will sometimes request: "Teach us to delegate." Before that issue can be addressed, other matters must be studied. What is the authority for delegation? Who can delegate? Who can receive delegation? What can be delegated? Can a woman delegate?

Elders do have the authority to delegate in areas of expediency. It is imperative that good leaders delegate (cf. Ex. 18:13-26), in harmony with the scriptures. There is no doubt that women have some realm of authority (1 Tim. 5:14). However, they do not exercise rule over the leadership of the church, husbands, nor do they have non-delegated authority over other women. There is no biblical authority for women elders!

Delegation infers authority. Who has given us authority? Elders may delegate responsibilities to deacons and various members of the congregation. The elders may even ask a woman to lead a group of women in a task. Providing she does that with all propriety, without bossiness or an air of superiority, she could help direct a work involving women. Eager female workers in the church may look to the preacher's wife or elders' wives or some other good woman for help in organizing a work (e.g., caring for baptismal clothing, ladies’ day, ladies’ Bible class, food for shut-ins, grieving families, etc.). With the approval of the elders (especially when obtaining speakers, spending money), these ladies are involved in important works. But leading/delegating does not mean treating adult women as children. Sometimes women can be so abrasive over the most miniscule matters (e.g., where food should be placed on a table!) Lists may be prepared asking for volunteers, rather than bossing.

Elders are usually very lenient about allowing women to choose what they want to study in ladies' classes or on ladies' days. Yet for the protection of their flock, they have the responsibility of knowing what that is. Women can be influential in bringing in false teaching. Any task, work or program of the church must be done with some oversight of the elders. They must officially approve of any program, before plans are put into motion. The scope of oversight will be determined by the elders.

If Miriam simply complained to Moses about overlooking her as a prophet, or for some perceived dishonor (bringing her a hard lesson through painful skin lesions and isolation), what would have been her fate, had she organized some program without Moses' official approval! What if she had gone individually to each tribal leader to get some sort of acquiesce for her wishes, then to persuade Moses, told him that all had agreed. Pure and simple this is manipulation! What if she had planned to spend monies out of the treasury for expenses for her program, without approval! We know what! She would have met the same fate as Dathan and Korah (Num. 16:25-34). Let us be warned that stepping out of our God-given role is a serious matter.

Submission

Gender justice advocates despise the teaching of the Bible on submission. But the biblical facts speak for themselves. God has a plan for the church. And that plan does not include women elders or women preachers for the general assembly, and self-appointed functionaries.

One may ask what is submission? Is it a mindless surrender of one's will to another. Absolutely not. It is a positive word describing a willful choice. The lifestyle of a Christian is one of submission — that is, the deliberate choice to submit to God, and to others as he requires. It is the recognition of our rank (Eph. 5:21) (cf. W.E. Vine, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words,Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers Inc., 1997, pp.1099-1100).

The Bible teaches us to submit to God in all things (Jas. 4:7); to submit to church leaders (Heb. 13:17), to submit to masters, even hard ones (1 Pet. 2:18); to civil authority (Ro. 13:5); to put others first (Phil. 2:3-4); to submit to husbands in everything, as unto the Lord (Eph. 5:33-24; Col. 3:18), even to unbelieving husbands (1 Pet. 3:1).

What can we do about the problem each of us has in learning submissive behavior? First, we need to remember that God always commands what is good for us (1 Jn. 5:3). The leadership of men in families, parents over children, elders/deacons/men in the church is for our greatest good and happiness.

Second, we need to learn how to love. When you love God as you should, you will want to submit to Him. We can only learn to love him from observing nature in a deep way (Rom. 1:20), and studying his word regularly in a meaningful way. We learn to love others when we recognize our own unworthiness of God's love for us. When we are humble and grateful for the love of our heavenly Father, we will be compelled to love others. Certainly loving God truly embodies loving fellow human beings.

Third, we must be dedicated to be submissive even when it is not easy. God's love for us does not remove the inclinations we have to be our own boss, to be highly opinionated. It is easy to be submissive when we agree with demands upon us. But it is not easy to do what God says when it goes against "the grain." We may not understand why he asks us to submit to our husbands, why he limits our role in the church, or why he commands that we contribute each Lord's day (1 Cor. 16:1-2) or to never forsake the assembly (Heb. 10:25-26), or to marry only one man (Mt. 19:1-9).

In our society, we are swimming against the tide of a me-oriented current. We are taught to be our own person, to think for ourselves (do what we think is right), stand up for ourselves, etc. The war in our hearts will tug at us to resist the biblical teaching of submissiveness. Miriam was a good woman. She was God's servant. Yet she was made an example to us of how serious it is to be cavalier in our dispositions toward authority. Where we spend eternity will depend upon our submissive wills.

We cannot take issue with God, for his own Son willingly submitted himself to the Father, emptying himself of that equality of rank, because of his love for us (Phil. 2:2-8; 1 Cor. 11:3). For us he has taken a submissive role forever (1 Cor. 15:28). May we praise our Savior as the highest model of submissiveness, and strive to follow his example (1 Pet. 2:21). Thanks be to God for sending his Son (Jn. 3:16).

Suggested articles on Christian Courier on the Web:

Woman’s Role in the Church

The Current Fad of Male Bashing

1 Corinthians 14:34 - “Silence” in the Church The Role of Woman

Judges 4 - Deborah, the Woman Judge

Should Women Function as Translators in the Assembly?

To comment on this or any other Women of Hope articles, you may email Betty Jackson at bjackson@christiancourier.com.