When we are critical of others, there is often something deeper going on below the surface in our own hearts. That deeper issue comes bubbling to the surface in our expressed opinions of others, and the more sanitized the criticism is the easier it is to hide behind it and not deal with what’s really happening internally. In other words, criticism is many times just a smoke screen; we are discontent or insecure or jealous about our own position or abilities, so we deal with that insecurity by finding a sanitized way to criticize others.

Miriam had been there through it all.

The sister of Moses and Aaron, she bore witness to her people’s slavery. She saw the terrible injustice of the infanticide at the hands of Pharaoh. But she was also discontent to watch her little brother fall prey to the hands of a tyrant, and she was courageous enough to take action. There was the basket, the river, the approach of the daughter of Pharaoh, then Miriam’s offer to fetch her own mother – the true mother of this baby – to nurse him.

She saw Moses grow up as a prince of Egypt and then watched him leave Egypt in disgrace. She was there when he came back; she saw the miraculous plagues and the divine deliverance at the Red Sea. She was a prophetess who sang songs about the greatness of God. Strange, then, that we see her as the critic of this same brother that she had saved, followed, and loved in Numbers 12:

“Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman). They said, ‘Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does He not also speak through us?’ And the Lord heard it…” (Num. 12:1-2).

In looking at verse 1, there are a couple of things important to notice. The text uses the feminine form of the verb, implying that Miriam is the instigator. Sure, Aaron goes along with her, but she is the leader. The main critic.

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