Unlikely Heroes – Miriam

By Justin Allison

6/15/13

Ice-Breaker Q’s

If you could be a contestant on any game show, which one would it be?

If you could cure any one disease what would it be?

If you had to eliminate one odor from the earth, which would it be?1

Today we are going to look at a woman, Miriam, as a Hero in the OT. For the ladies, can

you describe some of the ways that women were treated differently in ancient times?

Somebody tell me what they know about Miriam…?

Miriam (meerʹee-uhm), the sister of Moses and Aaron. We first hear of her when the

infant Moses was placed in a basket on the Nile and his sister (not named here) watched

from a distance; when the baby was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter, the sister offered

to find a Hebrew wetnurse and fetched Moses’mother (Exod. 2:4-8). After the Exodus,

Miriam had a prominent position among the women, for Exod. 15:20-21 records her

leading the women in the victory song after the events at the Red Sea. Miriam is called a

prophetess in this passage. She later considered her prophecy equal to that of Moses

when she and Aaron complained about the marriage of Moses to the Cushite woman

(Num. 12); for that, she was struck with leprosy and was healed a week later after Aaron

asked Moses to intercede for her. Miriam died and was buried at Kadesh. In later biblical

tradition the leprosy of Miriam was presented as a caution to Israel (Deut. 24:9), and

Miriam was remembered together with Moses and Aaron as leaders sent by God (Mic.

6:4). In postbiblical Jewish legends the prophecy of Miriam is stressed, and she was

considered to have foretold the birth of Moses as savior of his people.2

Ex 15:1, 20.

What is important to learn about her here?

Prophetess?

Any others in the OT? Deborah (Judg 4:4), Huldah (2 Kgs 22:14), Isaiah’s wife

(Isa 8:3), and Anna (Luke 2:36); a couple of not-so-godly women do as well (Noadiah in

Neh 6:14 and “Jezebel” in Rev 2:20).

Teach song?

Nu 12:1-2

Why was it a big deal then to have marry outside of their ethnic race? Religious/Cultural

identity

1 McFarlane If… (Questions for the Game of Life), 69.

2 Paul J. Achtemeier, Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature, Harper’s Bible Dictionary, 1st ed.

(San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985), 641.

Note that she was the leader in the inquisition

So, Leprosy is ? Why did this happen?

Did she learn from it? We aren’t told…

Mi 4:3-5

What is special about Miriam being mentioned here?

In this passage, God is rebuking his people, calling them to be faithful again. He begins

with retelling how he has physically saved them, and how he has given human leaders.

Based upon what we talked about earlier, women in ancient times, what is special about

Miriam being mentioned here?

Wrapping Up Based on what we’ve read, what are some qualities of Miriam’s character? What did she

excel at/ or what is she remembered for?

So even though Miriam had her problems, she was considered a prophet, and revered as

an example of leadership generations later.

What does her story tell us about God?

What does her story tell us about ourselves? Maybe something we need to change/work

harder at? How does her example give us hope in our situations today?

Is there something that God did in her story, that you and I can pray for to happen in our

lives this week?

Maybe taking worship songs seriously…

Maybe we need to respect those in position of authority above us…

Maybe we need to respect the fact of God speaking to/through women at certain times,

who knows…

Maybe we need to ask God to do something special with our family, as he did with

Miriam’s family…