Jocelyn is a unisex name for babies, mainly popular in the Christian religion and its main origin is French. Aaron — Hebrew, meaning “miraculous”. Adom: African, which means “God's blessing”. As we continue our series on women in the Bible, I would be remiss if I didn't include Miriam in our study.
Miriam is a portrait of courage, deep family connections, leadership and a faithful life. On the other hand, it is a portrait of the effects of gossip and words that bring others down. If you're not familiar with Miriam's story in the Bible, let's make a quick summary. Unfortunately, Moses was born during a time when a decree was in effect requiring that all Hebrew male babies be killed.
His mother was able to hide Moses for three months, but when she could no longer hide him, safely, she knew she had to find a way to escape Pharaoh's anger. He found a papyrus basket or him and covered it with tar and tar to make it waterproof. He then placed Moses in the basket and hid it in the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. Older sister Miriam stood idly by and watched what would happen to her little brother.
Soon after, Pharaoh's daughter, Bithiah (also spelled Bitya) went down to the river to take a bath, saw the basket and sent a slave to look for it. Once she opened the basket and saw baby Moses, she immediately fell in love with him and decided to stay with him and raise him as if he were his own. Miriam, who was standing watching, bravely stepped forward and offered to look for a Hebrew woman to breastfeed the baby for Bithiah. Miriam ran to tell her mother, and Mose's own mother compensated her to take care of him and take care of him until he was weaned.
By then, Moses had been living in Midian and had a wife and two children. He spent his days tending to his father-in-law's flocks. Miriam witnessed the great miracles that God performed through Moses. He was also part of the huge crowd of people who crossed the Red Sea party.
She looked back, after passing by, and watched Pharaoh's chariots and army swallow in the sea. Exodus 15 gives us the first song recorded in the Bible, which was written by Moses. It's a song of praise from a liberated people. Miriam, over time, became hungry for more power.
Moses, of course, was chosen by God to lead the people and Aaron to be the high priest. Miriam, as we know, was considered a prophetess, but she wanted more and became restless. He began to question Moses and speak against him. Both she and Aaron had some difficult things to say about Moses' Cushite wife, too.
The Lord, who hears everything, decides to discipline Miriam by beating her with leprosy. We can assume that Miriam had a change of attitude after the leprosy incident. He lived another thirty-eight years, and the Bible never mentions it again questioning Moses, his authority or his wife. In fact, Miriam is not mentioned again until she dies, never reaching the Promised Land.
It is believed that he was around 130 years old at the time of his death. Biblical scholars make the correlation between Miriam's death and lack of water and conclude that, for the previous forty years, they had constant water in Miriam's credit. They think Miriam's death causes the well to dry out. Hebrew experts point out that the Talmud explains that Miriam, Aaron and Moses were responsible for the three gifts that the Jews had in the desert: the water well, the column of clouds and the manna, respectively.
So those are the stories in the Bible that give us an idea of who Miriam was and her importance in the story of our faith. As with most women we read about in the Bible, Miriam's story can teach us a lot. The lessons we can learn from Miriam are lessons about what to do and what not to do. For a little girl, only five years old, Miriam showed incredible courage when she approached Pharaohs' daughter to find someone to breastfeed baby Moses.
Can you imagine the audacity of this child? It's one thing to defend them from a bully in elementary school, but another, quite another, to guide, correct, and gently support them as adults. Ask God today to reveal to you how you can be a good brother and reflect our ancestor Miriam. Do you thank God for your blessings (and trials)? Many Christians do, but they do so with a general statement. Something like “Thank you, God, for everything you've given me.
That's great and it's a start, but, really, it's just a start. Let's learn from their example and when you pray, thank God for the roof over your head, the food you have to eat, the health of your family and your church. Miriam taught women about God and, after being freed from slavery, guided them in song and music. She was someone others wanted to be close to and follow.
When you watch how you interact with others, are you someone that others want to be close to and follow? Or are you bitter, angry, bossy, or even passive? Leaders don't just sit around and watch. Miriam didn't just accept that her brother would float on the Nile under uncertain circumstances. Instead, he observed and took action when he saw the slave of Pharaoh's daughter retrieving Moses' basket from the water. Do you just sit around and let others do all the work? Or do you take a step forward and take action? Maybe you don't feel called to lead a group or an organization.
You can still serve the Lord in leadership in other ways. Can you lead young women to stronger marriages and to walk more deeply with God? Miriam discovered that she had been given the gift of prophecy and used it to help guide the Israelites to the Promised Land, along with her brothers, Moses and Aaron. Miriam, although for years a faithful servant, developed a bitter heart and began to complain about her brother Moses and his wife. God hears everything and feels that Miriam deserved punishment for the harsh treatment she has given to her brother and wife.
She is affected by leprosy, and removed from camp for a full week. God wanted me to reflect and repent. She must have been humiliated and embarrassed by her behavior. Scholars believe that Miriam's leprosy was seen by the Hebrew people as a confirmation that Moses was chosen by God to be the leader of the Israelites and that, although Miriam and Aaron were important to history, they were subordinate to Moses.
Are you one of those who complain? Do you complain about others and their circumstances? Do you tend to gossip or talk about others? While I don't gossip, God has convinced me that sometimes I can be unkind when talking about others. I can mention to my husband: “Can you believe that such and such a thing did such and such? or “The way Blank treats her husband is horrible. We know that Miriam was strong in her faith and, according to Hebrew tradition, women transmitted their faith to their children. We also assume from biblical scholars and, as mentioned above, that Miriam taught other women about Torah.
Her teaching to other women was fundamental to passing on faith generation after generation. It's one thing to take your children to church and Sunday school or VBS. It's something else, completely different, to demonstrate true faith in Jesus in your home. Children are more likely to model their behavior than to act on their words.
Do you bless future generations by teaching your children (and possibly others) about God? One generation praises your works to another; they talk about your powerful acts. Use them for further study, for writing scriptures, or for use in your war notebook or Bible journal. Mesu Andrews, one of my favorite authors of Christian fiction, has a fantastic book about Miriam. Read More A Deep and Exciting Look at What It Really Means to Do Everything for the Glory of GodContinue Read More 12 of Satan's Lies and How to Fight Them with God's WordContinue Read More 8 Helpful Lessons We Can Learn from Sarah in the BibleContinue.
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