Miriam’s story is full of bravery, wisdom and obedience, but she also had a jealous side as well, where her brother Moses was concerned.
Miriam was the sister mentioned in Exodus 2. When her mother took her baby brother and put him among the reeds near where Pharoah’s daughter bathed, she watched him carefully from a distance. When Pharoah’s daughter found the baby and realized he was a Hebrew baby, she ran right up to her and asked if she could go find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for her. When the permission was given, she ran to get her mother.
Miriam lived through all the harshness of Pharoah. She saw the 10 plagues that were brought on Egypt. She was a part of the very first Passover. She followed the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. She was a witness to the parting of the Red Sea and Pharoah’s army being swallowed back up by the sea when they pursued the Israelites. She rejoiced in song and dance with the Israelite women in Exodus 15. She witnessed God providing for their every need in the desert, bringing them water, quail and manna.
In the book of Numbers though, we see another side of Miriam. Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” The Lord was not pleased with them talking badly about Moses, so he struck Miriam with leprosy. She was sent outside of the camp for 7 days until she was healed by the Lord. We are told in Numbers 20:1 that Miriam died in the Desert of Zin in Kadesh.
You can read more about Miriam and the Exodus of Israel in Exodus 2 and Exodus 15, and also in Numbers 12 and 20.
Christian Nymphos 