Daily Devotion | Numbers 12 | 2026 April 30

Title: Daily Devotion | Numbers 12 | 2026 April 30

Scripture: Numbers 12 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 April 30

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

All right, dear brothers and sisters, peace to you. We thank God for His grace. We have come to a new day to study our Daily Devotion. The passage we are studying today is Numbers chapter 12. Let us pray. Lord, thank You for Your grace. Lord, You have recorded this series of rebellious and resistant events in the Bible, so that we may see Your will clearly. Lord, before Your Word, cause us also to repent, and enable us truly to take this matter as a warning in our own lives. Lord, enable us to know You and experience You more deeply. May You be with us. In the name of Jesus Christ.

All right, today we look at Numbers chapter 12. After Numbers chapter 11, we see a series of rebellious events: the stubbornness and rebellion of the Israelites, and how God dealt with them. In fact, in the apostle Paul’s letter, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, the apostle Paul repeatedly cites these things, right? They were baptized into Moses. They fell in the wilderness. They worshiped idols. They grumbled.

First Corinthians 10:11 says this very clearly: these things happened to them as examples, and they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. So I think here the apostle Paul has already made very clear the lessons and the meaning of these things in history. I have also repeatedly emphasized this passage several times before, in each devotion. So this is our example and our warning. We must receive it.

In this event, we must not read it and then think that is all, as though it were only something that happened to the Israelites in the past. On the contrary, we must take it as a warning for ourselves. We must be careful. Chapter 11 first spoke about complaining about water, and then complaining about meat. By chapter 12, they begin to rebel against and resist Moses’ authority. In fact, it was indeed like this. In the age of Moses, at that time, God spoke only with Moses. Moses became a mediator for all the people. That is, God spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and Aaron listened and obeyed. It was always this kind of pattern. Moses became a middleman who passed on the word.

Here, was it possible that Moses received some words and Aaron did not tell them to the Israelites? Of course, from the record of Scripture, we know that this was not possible, because Moses was a very faithful person. But for someone who received information from Moses, there would be two kinds of reactions, right? What is one reaction? It is this: “Has Moses kept back some of God’s words? Is there something he is not telling us?” There would be such a question, right? For Moses, he says, “Oh, Aaron, God told me this,” and then Aaron goes and does it. Of course, there is no problem. But might Aaron think in his heart, “Is this really what God said? Did God have more words, or fewer words? Did you, Moses, add something in yourself?” This is one question in Aaron’s heart.

And then there is jealousy toward Moses, right? “Why should God speak only to him? Why does God not speak directly to me?” So this is what chapter 12 speaks about: Aaron and Miriam’s resistance against Moses’ authority. Therefore here we need to understand the principle by which God acts. God establishes authority in the church. In redemption, God establishes one unique mediator. So this is the issue we must pay attention to.

Then someone may say, “Do we still need to return to episcopacy? Do we need to find one person to listen to God’s voice?” That is not what this means. Very clearly, Moses is a type of Christ. In the whole history of redemption, Moses becomes a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. God completes the redemption of His people only in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only mediator. He is the only Savior. I think this is the key point that chapter 12 wants to tell us: the uniqueness of Moses is actually a type of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.

In fact, if you look back at chapter 11, we already saw that Moses very much hoped that the Spirit given to him could be distributed to others. So Moses himself did not have this idea, saying, “I want to monopolize this authority, as though everyone must listen to me alone. Since I am in the middle, I can use this to maximize my own benefit.” Moses did not have this at all. He hoped that the Spirit of God could be given to more people.

Chapter 11 has already said this. So from this angle, we can see that Moses’ heart was very broad. But God did indeed appoint Moses to become a unique mediator in that age. Later, this points to the one unique mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is impossible for us to worship the true God outside the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything we receive is received in the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the Lord Jesus Christ we worship the triune God. God the Father loves us in Jesus Christ. Christ therefore becomes this one unique mediator. This mediatorship is unique. It cannot be replaced. Nor can there possibly be another method. After humanity committed original sin and could no longer be justified by obeying the law, the Lord Jesus Christ became the only mediator.

So we must carefully understand this mediator, love this mediator, and in this mediator come to understand more deeply the worship of God the Father. We must also gain strength in this mediator in order to imitate this mediator. This is the meaning of the mediatorship of Jesus Christ, the meaning of His unique mediatorship. Chapter 12 speaks about the uniqueness of this mediator. Very clearly, Moses was challenged. Let us look at the specific text. Here it says that Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married. So this matter should have been stirred up by Miriam. The sister, the elder sister, felt as though Moses had married a Cushite woman, and that there was a problem.

Here there are different explanations. The translations all translate it as “a Cushite woman.” Moses married a Cushite woman. What exactly happened in this matter? Later in Scripture, we basically do not see what the matter was concerning Moses marrying this wife. So here there are two explanations. You may consider which one is more reasonable. One explanation is that at this time Moses’ wife had already passed away. Moses certainly would not have taken two wives. Perhaps his wife had passed away, and then he married another Cushite woman, for example a woman brought out from Egypt, and took her as his wife. This matter can also have spiritual significance. For example, it shows that in Moses’ age, the gospel could come to the Gentiles. Through marrying a Cushite woman, she could be brought into the gospel, right? Because they were originally not God’s people, but through marriage they could be brought in.

This is one explanation. And this is also reasonable. We can also place this within the whole history of the Old Testament, right? We Gentiles turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, as though the Lord Jesus Christ married a Gentile woman. Moses married this Cushite woman as his wife, and the gospel came to the Cushite woman. This is one explanation. This is acceptable. It fits the Bible. Looking at the meaning of the whole Bible, it also seems to be this way. Another explanation says that this Cushite woman may not necessarily truly have been a Cushite woman. Because in the original language, “Cushite woman” refers to a woman with darker skin. It may have been Zipporah, Moses’ wife. Zipporah may have been this woman. Miriam simply disliked the wife he had married in Midian, and so she rose up to slander him. This possibility also exists, because afterward Scripture does not record again the matter of the Cushite woman.

Both explanations are possible. I think if he did marry a Cushite woman, then the gospel explanation we just mentioned is acceptable. Another possibility is that Miriam was simply looking for trouble, right? “You married a Midianite woman.” Some people say a Midianite woman and a Cushite woman are not the same. It may simply mean a woman with darker skin, that is, a woman from another people. It does not mean that Moses had a second marriage. This can also be explained. In any case, no matter what, Miriam began to slander him. Miriam and Aaron found a flaw in Moses. He had not married a woman of his own people, but had married a Gentile woman as his wife. They found this flaw in the matter, and so they began to spread this and say, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also? We are also prophets, are we not? Then why should God speak only to Moses?” This was denying and slandering Moses’ authority.

And God heard it. Verse 3 says, “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” Many people use this to infer that the book of Numbers was not written by Moses. They say, if Moses wrote it himself, how could he write such a sentence? Actually, this reasoning does not make sense.

I think there are several reasons why Moses could write this sentence himself. One of the reasons may be this: when Miriam and Aaron slandered Moses, Moses did not make a sound. Moses did not speak. “Fine, you say God does not only speak to me. I will not make a sound.” So it is appropriate to place this here. Moses is expressing, “I have no objection. I did not resist. If God can speak to you, and if God does not speak to you, that is God’s choice. It is not my meaning. I did not say that I would not allow God to speak to you.” I think verse 3 has good reason to be placed here. It is not as though it is a random evaluation. Rather, verse 3 expresses Moses’ reaction to this matter: “I did not make a sound.”

But Moses not making a sound does not mean that God would not make a sound. The LORD spoke. He came down in a pillar of cloud and stood among them, and the LORD spoke. Verse 6 is the word of the LORD. The three of them all came, right? He called the two of them over: “You two, come here and listen to Me speak. If there is a prophet, I appear in a vision and speak in a dream. But Moses is different. Moses is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, clearly, and not in riddles. He beholds My form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” So here, through this way, God once again establishes Moses’ authority. God is saying to them, “This is My meaning. I chose Moses as the unique mediator, not you. You should be afraid.” The result is that God became angry.

Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. What should be done at this point? Quickly, Aaron pleaded and said, “O my lord, please do not lay this sin on us.” It was he who said this. She was like a stillborn child whose flesh is half consumed. Then Moses began to cry out to the LORD. He said, “O God, please heal her.” So here we see that in the whole pattern, Miriam did not speak. Miriam very clearly was the leading one. In chapter 12 verse 1, Miriam’s name is placed first, and also Miriam is the one punished first. So Miriam became leprous. But at this point, Miriam seems not to plead. Instead, it is Aaron who pleads. I think this does not necessarily mean that Miriam did not plead or did not repent. I do not think this is necessarily the case.

Why? Because what is mainly recorded here is due to the different identities of Aaron and Moses. One is the high priest, and one is the prophet. Miriam may also have spoken, but because those words were not important here, they were not recorded. That does not mean she did not plead. Aaron said, “Oh, please do not lay it on us.” You see, she had already become leprous. It was terribly frightening. Then Moses pleaded, and the LORD said, “Please heal her.” This is what we have spoken about: actually the previous pattern is still present. Israel sins, the LORD becomes angry, Moses prays, and God speaks. The pattern is still there. What did the LORD say? He said that if her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Now shut her outside the camp, and only after seven days may she be brought back. So Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days. But you see, there is still grace. During the seven days when she was shut outside, the people did not set out. The people remained there. Originally the cloud had departed, so were they supposed to set out? But the people still remained there, and only after Miriam was brought back did they set out. So here there is judgment, and there is also grace.

For Miriam, she was stubborn and rebellious. She was shut outside for seven days, and afterward she was brought back. So in this pattern we still see it here: God’s judgment, and also God’s mercy. That is, after seven days she was received back again. So this whole story, as we said earlier, its purpose is to safeguard the uniqueness of Moses as mediator. God communicates His will through only one way. This is the way that God has chosen.

Because regarding Moses’ authority, later on, if you look at chapter 13 and chapter 14 in the book of Numbers, and even to chapter 16, they again rebel repeatedly. Why do people rebel against Moses’ authority? It is not simply that they are rebelling against Moses’ authority. Rather, people are opposing God’s authority. People do not like God’s will, and so they oppose God’s servant. Later, in the history of Israel, including their attitude toward the prophets, it is the same. Whether it was Isaiah or the prophet Jeremiah, when they proclaimed God’s word, the result was that they were killed by the Israelites or persecuted to death. Why? It was not the prophets’ problem. It was that the Israelites simply did not want to hear God’s voice, did not want to hear God’s word, and did not want to act according to God’s will.

So I think this is something we need to pay attention to. On the surface, they were resisting Moses, but in reality, they were opposing God’s authority. So I think here there are several reminders for us. When we read Scripture, when we understand God’s law, you must act according to it. At that time, there may be some people who rise up, so-called pastors, who say, “God is not that strict. God is not that severe. Jesus Christ is love.” When we hear these voices, we may begin to dislike those pastors who speak the truth and uphold principles, and say, “Sorry, I will go find a church that suits me better.”

Yes, that church may indeed suit you very well, right? The pastor does not speak about holiness, there are no demands on life, everyone just loves one another, right? Whether you sin or not does not matter. Come on Sunday, pray, and God forgives and pardons. Isn’t that very good? Life goes on bright and cheerful. That church really suits you. But you must be careful whether such a teaching that goes against Scripture is from God, or whether it is a voice coming from the flesh. You must pay attention: do we like to listen to the voice of the flesh, or do we like to listen to the voice of God? If you insist on choosing the voice of the flesh, the result will be very serious. So this is, I think, the first reminder for us: we must listen to the Word of Scripture, and also to the voices of those pastors who explain Scripture. If what they say truly accords with Scripture, not something they add, and not something they take away, then you must treat it as God speaking, and you must listen carefully and obey. This is the first reminder to us.

Another point is about the uniqueness of the mediator. Earlier we said that God gives salvation only through Jesus Christ. In Scripture, Jesus Christ becomes the only mediator. This is also connected with the Second Commandment. We said that you shall not make for yourself a carved image, nor any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall worship the LORD your God. The First Commandment speaks about the correctness of the object of worship: you can only worship the LORD. The Second Commandment speaks about the correctness of the manner of worship: you can only worship God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Anything that does not conform to Jesus Christ is making an idol.

So you must understand this clearly. The Second Commandment strictly limits the way we worship God. Only the way that God is pleased with is acceptable. What is this way that God is pleased with? It is to follow God’s statutes and ordinances. God receives our worship only in Jesus Christ. God also regards us and accepts us only in Jesus Christ. So I think when this is placed within the uniqueness of the mediator in chapter 12, it becomes very clear. God will not give multiple paths. God will not raise up Miriam, nor will He raise up Aaron. There is only one way, which is Moses. And this authority, which comes from God, God Himself will uphold.

Do you see? Moses did not uphold his own authority, and he did not need to uphold his own authority. Because in this matter, you can see that Moses did not even really want this role. It was very difficult. But God will uphold Moses’ authority, so that Moses’ authority is established. But this does not mean that today we still have Moses. We do not. Today we are under a system of elders. Will there still be such a person who receives God’s voice directly? There is no need anymore. Because the Scriptures have already been given. We only need to read the Scriptures.

Under the revelation of Scripture, there is a plurality of elders who together receive and discern. There is no longer such a bishop or such a prophet. There is no need for that anymore, because the Lord Jesus Christ is that one true prophet. So here we must hold fast to this point. What is the key point of chapter 12? It is the way God acts in order to safeguard the uniqueness of His mediator. So here is a very great reminder to us: in everything, we must be in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must never go beyond the boundaries of Christ, beyond His rules, beyond His commandments.

Then you may object and say, “Why must it be in Christ? Why can I not use other ways?” You cannot. Why? Because God has established only one mediator, the mediator who is one person with two natures, both God and man. So to know Christ, to follow Christ, to behold the glory of Christ—this becomes the lesson of our entire life. No one has given us any other way to worship Him. Therefore we do not need to seek other ways.

At the same time, we must resist the rebellious heart within us. “Why should this person have the final say? Why must it be according to Scripture? I can also have my own ideas.” We must never think like this. This is resistance against God’s Word, and also irreverence toward God. Miriam made this mistake, and in the end she was struck and disciplined by God. So we also ask God to have mercy on us, that we may continue to value the Lord Jesus Christ as the only mediator, and in the Lord Jesus Christ receive the only true comfort. All right, today’s sharing will end here. Thank you, everyone.