Criticism Toward Leaders

This year we’ve been focusing as a church on growing in gospel gratitude. That’s a rather important topic to be focusing on in the current political, economic, and church culture that we find ourselves living.

For one, politically there is a lot that could cause us to lose focus on being thankful for the gospel, which should motivate godly living and energy on the mission of winning people to Jesus and teaching them to be more faithful disciples.

Economically, that certainly is the case. Last weekend I was trying to fly home from Colorado after visiting my family for a week, and I had flights delayed and cancelled. As I was trying to switch flights and book news, the options of flights was discouraging, but even more than that, the costs of flights was discouraging!

• The point is there is plenty economically going on that could rob us of the gratitude we should have in the gospel.

Sadly, the current church culture could be enough for us to lose our gratefulness for the gospel. Reading about declining church attendance, moral failures in church leadership and organizations is enough to breed disappointment and frustration.

With all of that going on in the world, not to mention things that might be going on specifically in your place of work, or your family or your school, making sure we are growing in gospel gratitude is very important.

This summer we’ve been spending time thinking about the issue of Handling Criticism, and the reason we’ve focused on that, is because sinful criticism is a huge obstacle that will keep us from experiencing gratitude in the gospel.

• So as Pastor Green addressed a couple weeks ago, we could be sinfully judgmental in the criticism we give. That would hinder gospel gratitude.

• Or we might be the recipient of sinful criticism in which case we shouldn’t exalt ourselves in pride, like the person who is sinfully criticizing us, rather we should humble ourselves and seek the Lord. Moses and Aaron were prime examples of that in Numbers 16 when the Levites complained against Moses and Aaron...their critics “rose up against them”, but we see Moses and Aaron fall down on their faces seeking the Lord.

• So receiving sinful criticism could hinder gospel gratitude if we respond improperly.

One of the points that stood out to me from this series is when Pastor Viars preached on Numbers 13...sinful criticism can rob you of future opportunities.

• The Israelites not being allowed to enter the promise land was proof of that. 40 years they had to wait in the wilderness for that entire generation to die, that rebelled against the Lord by not going into the Promise Land.

So cultivating a grateful heart in the gospel is of utmost importance, and handling criticism is an important part of cultivating that thankful heart.

This morning we are going to be studying Numbers 12 and we are going to be thinking about the issue of Criticism Towards Leaders.

In some sense, we’ve seen this all throughout our study in Numbers. Moses has been criticized, Aaron has been criticized. So we’ve seen leaders being criticized. But this morning we are really going to hone in on sinful criticism of leadership.

Now, a couple of disclaimers before we get rolling this morning.

First—as we’ve said throughout this series—this is not a series that is designed to put down constructive criticism. And specifically, in this message, this is not a message that is seeking to insulate our church leadership from any constructive feedback.

• At my staff meeting for Restoration, one of my staff members, Joe Fornwall, mentioned Psalm 141:5 Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; It is oil upon the head; Do not let my head refuse it, For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds.

• Here’s the point...helpful, constructive criticism is loving and as this verse says, “KINDNESS.”

• Why? Because if I really hate wicked deeds and pray against wickedness, wouldn’t I want to know my own wickedness so that it can be dealt with?

• The answer is most definitely, yes! And constructive criticism and reproof is often what is needed.

Second disclaimer: As a pastor, it can seem a bit “self-serving” to preach a message that discourages criticism towards leaders.

• And it might seem especially self-serving or even tone deaf in a church culture where we read about the moral failures or abuse of power by religious leaders constantly.

• Part of the answer I know our pastors would give to that, is that we are under the authority of God as well. We are not an authority over the Bible. As we preach and teach, we also must be submitted under the scriptures. And as such, that’s why our church is open with the finances, and why as a church we go through a strategic ministry planning season that invites and seeks the input of every member of our congregation. By planning and doing it together as a church, there is accountability in the direction we are going as a church. So if we as pastors, just decide to scrap the strategic plan we voted to approve and do something entirely different, there’s a problem.

• So this is not a message explaining why we as leaders don’t need accountability.

So with that in mind, follow along with me in Numbers 12 beginning in v.1.

With the time we have remaining we are looking at 3 vital truths about the seriousness of sin toward God’s appointed leaders

The first truth, is that sinful criticism against leaders distorts reality...

I. Sinful Criticism Distorts Reality (vv.1-2)

Numbers 12:1-2 - Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman); and they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard it.

Now, if you were reading along and wondered who is this Cushite woman? Well, you’re in good company!

• There is significant debate about whether or not this is Moses’ wife Zipporah who comes on the scene in Exodus 2:21 while Moses was in exile after fleeing Egypt and before God called him to lead Israel out of Egypt.

• Some people think this is Zipporah, others think it’s not Zipporah and another woman.

In everything I read and researched, there is no clear conclusion that can be made...and in some sense I think that’s exactly the point!... as we will see.

Because as confusing as it is to who the identity of this woman is, the even more confusing aspect has to do with why the identify of this woman as a Cushite has anything to do with the issue that Miriam and Aaron bring up with Moses.

The issue that they raise with Moses is, “Has LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us as well?”

• Now that’s odd...the text is very clear that they went to Moses BECAUSE of his Cushite wife...but they don’t seem to talk to Moses at all about his Cushite wife...

And that’s why I said early, the confusion about who this woman is might be a key point...we don’t know whether this is Zipporah or not. We don’t know if Moses has one wife or two. It’s all speculation. What we know is that this woman is a Cushite.

BUT, what we also know, is that her identity as a Cushite woman isn’t really the issue!

Miriam and Aaron are coming to Moses with sinful criticism...and their criticism is distorting reality so that they are seeing things the way that fits best with their agenda, which has to deal with authority and position.

• Miriam is Moses’ sister and Aaron is Moses’ brother.

• Both have prominent roles within the community of Israel. Aaron is the high priest and Miriam, is described this way in Exodus 15:20 as they are worshipping the Lord and celebrating their deliverance from Egypt through the Red sea...

Exodus 15:20 Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing.

The point is, Miriam was a leader as well and highly recognized in the community. But at this point for Aaron and Miriam that was enough. They didn’t want to be underneath their older brother, they wanted to be on par with their brother.

One commentator put it this way:

The narrative begins in a manner reflecting the typical human attempt to camouflage one’s true intent by stating an issue that might gain a more sympathetic hearing. (Cole, Numbers, The New America Commentary vol.3B, p.199)^[1]

In this way, sinful criticism distorts the truth...

It distorts the truth (vv. 1-2) (cf. 2 Samuel 15:1-4,13-14; Luke 20:22; John 19:12; Mark 15:7)

Is it true that Moses married a Cushite? Yes, the text is very clear about that. The truth of Moses’ marriage to a Cushite is clear. But for some reason Miriam and Aaron grab ahold of that truth and use it to distort the bigger truth that Moses is their God given authority through whom God has chosen to speak.

Now it’s important to note, that the text is silent on whether or not Moses’ marriage to this Cushite woman is a good or bad thing. That ambiguity I believe is important. Because that lends this text to be applied to both legitimate issues and illegitimate issues that we use to then attack our main concern.

Let me see if I can illustrate this to make it more clear.

• Sadly, power struggles exist within churches today. And often, people who want influence, power, and prominence in the church will look for things to use as a springboard to undermine the current leadership’s authority so that they can get more power for themselves.

• So for example, it could be something involving a pastor’s wife, similar to the issue Miriam and Aaron bring up with Moses’ wife.

• It could be, well the pastor’s wife works outside the home. And that isn’t truly the issue, that’s just the issue that’s used undermine the wisdom, authority and leadership of the pastor so that person or group of people can exercise more authority and power within the church.

• When Pastor Rob Green spoke a couple weeks ago, he mentioned the show Stranger Things which doesn’t keep up on but then he keeps up on the show about Obi-Wan.

• The shows that he does or does not watch could easily be something our sinful, critical hearts grab ahold of simply to excuse ourselves of following his authority so that we can live how we want.

This same kind of thing plays out in marriage and the workplace as well.

• One of the interesting I learned when I graduated from Purdue University and started working, was that what college you went to didn’t really matter. I worked alongside people who went to schools with programs that weren’t ranked, I worked alongside people who had engineering technology degrees rather than engineering degrees, and I worked under bosses who didn’t even have engineering degrees but were going back to school 20 years later to get a bachelor’s degree in anything, because the company decided for them to have the role they were in they needed a bachelor’s degree!

• So on the one hand, the education didn’t matter! All that mattered was, can you do your job.

• But then there were the power struggles that arose and an employee could view their education as far as school and degree as better and therefore they are smarter than their boss and can choose to do things differently than how their boss wants them to do it.

In that case, education is really just a smokescreen for their central concern...they don’t want to submit to the authority of their boss...they want to work do things their way.

As sinful criticism distorts reality and the truth, what follows is rebellion as we’ve already seen.

It incites rebellion (v.2) (Genesis 11:5; Psalm 33:13; Hebrews 4:13)

This chapter is a clear attack on the authority of Moses, and Miriam and Aaron way overstep their bounds in challenging Moses.

Again, the text is not clear whether Moses’ wife as a Cushite is a good, bad, or neutral thing. What is clear, is that Aaron and Moses are using that as an opportunity to oppose Moses and challenge his authority.

By God’s grace our church is full of people that aren’t rebelling but rather submitting. And that is a marvelous gift of God that we should thank him for. And part of thanking God is thanking God for each person in this church that is a part of joyfully submitting to the Lord and to the leadership that he has appointed over this church.

Because as we read at the end of v.2...“The Lord heard it.”

• We know that God hears everything, and knows everything, even what isn’t spoken. But the text is emphasizing that God REALLY took note of what was said...and he took note, not because of how wonderful it was, but because of how wicked it was.

As a church, I hope what we want God to hear us saying, is how thankful we are to the Lord for each other and the unity that we enjoy from the Lord.

We’ve said it a number of times, but I think it’s important to constantly remind ourselves...going through a strategic ministry planning process like our church just went through is a time that could have exploded into all kinds of criticism and divisiveness. With thousands of different input, there is no question that the plan doesn’t reflect exactly what everyone wants. And all of those things could become and for many churches do become the springboard for sinful criticism and attacking God given authority.

So I hope that as a church we cultivate real love and thanksgiving for one another and that the Lord will HEAR IT!

Psalm 33:13 - The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.

Hebrews 4:13 - …there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

That’s a serious warning...so we need to be on guard against sinful criticism because it distorts reality, which then invites God’s judgment.

II. Sinful Criticism Invites God’s Judgement (vv. 3-11)

Now, before the Lord responds to what he hears from Miriam and Aaron, we get a note about the character of Moses.

The text says,

Numbers 12:3 - (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)

The reason this verse finds itself here, certainly has to do with the way Moses responds to this direct challenge to his authority.

First, it’s hard to have this kind of attack come at you.

• Our most natural response is to defend ourselves. And Moses had some amazing material to defend himself with...10 plagues, crossing of the Red Sea, the giving of the 10 commandments, his glowing face from speaking with God, and on and on it goes.

Second, it’s really hard to hold back when it’s your family that is attacking you!

• Have you ever noticed how it’s much easier to be restrained with people who aren’t family, but with family we are a lot quicker to be direct, angry and defensive?

• I think there are a lot of reasons why that is the case, but I just want to point out that Moses’ response is evidence of his humility.

One commentator put it this way:

The narrator wishes the reader to know that Moses himself would probably have let this challenge go unanswered. It was Yahweh who heard it and who took it upon himself to answer it. (Ashely, The Book of Numbers, NICOT, pg. 224)^[2]

As I studied this passage, the conclusion I rapidly came to was, “I’m not as meek as Moses.” Not even close. And as a leader I need to continue to grow a lot more in the humility that Moses displays here and that is supremely found in the person of Jesus Christ.

It’s my sinful flesh that wants to respond to criticism with criticism. But as Pastor Aucoin shared a few weeks ago, proud, exalted criticism needs to be met with humility.

And one of the points that comes out here in this text is what Paul writes in Romans 12:19–21 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. ²⁰ “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Moses does that here...he doesn’t take vengeance, but leaves room for the Lord.

And the reason that sinful criticism against leadership and authority invites God’s judgment is because that usurps God’s authority.

Usurps God’s authority (vv. 4-8) (Job 13:9; Galatians 6:7-8)

Moses could have usurped God’s authority by taking vengeance there...but instead...as the meekest man on earth, he left room for Lord.

Miriam and Aaron on the other hand, usurped God’s authority by attacking the authority of Moses...

Romans 13:1–2 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. ² Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

And just as Romans 13:2 promises, Miriam and Aaron received condemnation upon themselves, and in this scenario God chose to act quickly!

Numbers 12:4 - Suddenly the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out.

Numbers 12:5 - Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, He said “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so, with My servant Moses, he is faithful in all My household; With him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?”

There is irony in what happens here...Miriam and Aaron claimed that God spoken through them as well as Moses. Well, in some respects they are right. But in this scenario they wanted to be people that God spoke with at least on part they way Moses was.

• That’s exactly what they got. God summoned all three of them...not just Moses.

• And in the presence of God...the visible presence of God, God addressed Miriam and Moses directly, not through Moses to them!

• But this isn’t exactly the face to face communication they were beckoning for.

• The face-to-face communication they received from the Lord himself was a strong and terrifying rebuke...a rhetorical question clearly indicating that they were totally out of their minds not to be terrified to speak against Moses.

And whenever people overstep their place and usurp God’s authority, it demands HIS, divine response.

Demands His Response (vv. 9-12) (Psalm 50:19-21)

Numbers 12:9 - So the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed. But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow...

God’s response came swiftly in response to the rebellion of Miriam and Aaron.

One of the challenges that needs to be wrestled with is why did Miriam become leprous only, and not also Aaron?

• Is this what one commentator called, “a man-God wrath against women”?^[3] The answer is no...the God of the Bible isn’t chauvinistic, and the text gives us two significant clues to help us understand this.

Now, there is no question about it, both Miriam and Aaron are in the wrong, but on the first look, Miriam seems to bear the brunt of the punishment and Aaron is let off the hook.

But Aaron’s request to Moses shows that even though Miriam is leprous it’s not like Aaron thinks he escaped punishment...he sees punishment in his sister’s punishment and so he says to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not account this sin to US...” or as the ESV says, “do not punish US...”.

So from the outset, it’s important to recognize that even though Aaron didn’t get struck with leprosy he still acknowledges his sin and feels the leprosy on Miriam as a punishment on him as well.

Secondly, the text indicates very clearly in the Hebrew that Miriam is the ring leader of the attack on Moses. Yes, Aaron is with Miriam, but in v.1 the word “spoke” is a feminine verb. That might not sound like a big deal, but the verb “spoke”...debir דבר...in Hebrew, is used 98 times in the book of Numbers, and this is the only place where the feminine verb is used.

Moses could have used the masculine verb which would include Miriam, but he chose to use the feminine verb indicating that Miriam is playing the lead part.

This is an action packed chapter of the Bible to be sure. God wastes no time in responding to the rebellion of Miriam and Aaron and defends his servant Moses right away.

That often is not how God chooses to respond. Everyone in this room is guilty of sinfully criticizing God given authority.

• We’ve all sinfully criticized our parents, and probably school teachers, government officials, bosses, law enforcement, pastor’s, teachers, and so forth.

• But probably not a single person has a story like the one in Numbers 12, where God didn’t wait one second to address it, and address it directly, clearly and miraculously.

So a key question is, “What if God doesn’t respond quickly, and loudly to our sinful criticism of authority? How should I think of that?”

One very tempting way to process God’s patience in responding is found in Psalm 50.

Psalm 50:19-21 - You let your mouth loose in evil and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done and I kept silence; [you] thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.

In other words, we take God’s patience and silence as a stamp of approval, or a shrug from God meaning he doesn’t really care.

• But as Psalm 50 states, God does care and he will not keep silent forever.

We shouldn’t take God’s silence as approval...we should see God’s silence and patience as his grace, giving us time to repent before more serious consequences come.

Romans 2:4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

So I want to plead with you, to evaluate the authorities and leaders in your life that God has put over you...is their sinful criticism of them that you need to repent of...

Proverbs 22:3 The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, But the naïve go on, and are punished for it.

• The Bible is very clear, that fools have to wait until there are negative consequences for their actions...but wisdom leads people to evaluate and repent before negative consequences come.

• A wise person will respond to the conviction of the Spirit without needing severe consequences to get their attention.

“God’s longsuffering must never be looked upon as laxity (cf. 2 Pe 3:3-10) nor abused. His reckoning for rebellion will be manifested.” (John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, p.776)

So I hope you heed the warning...but since all of us have failed, and probably failed many, many times over in sinful criticizing authority, the REALLY, REALLY good news, is that sinfully criticizing authority is forgivable.

III. Sinful Criticism Is Forgivable (vv. 13-16)

For everyone who has authority, whether that be in the church, your work, your home, your neighborhood, and so forth, I hope you grab a hold of this point.

Sinful criticism is forgivable! And notice, Moses responds to the punishment against Miriam by pleading for her healing.

Numbers 12:13 Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “O God, heal her, I pray!”

• Again, Moses’ humility is remarkable...he prays for the people that sinfully and unlovingly attack him, and he does it quickly!

Numbers 12:13-16 - Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “O God, heal her, I pray!” But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward she may be received again.” So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again. Afterward, however, the people moved out from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.”

So, if sinful criticism is forgivable, that should motivate us to repent of sinful criticism towards leaders.

Repent of sinful criticism toward leaders (vv. 13-14) (1 Thessalonians 5:12,13; Hebrews 13:17)

That’s exactly what Aaron did, and he did it quickly. There is no guarantee that consequences will cause repentance.

One of the saddest realities that I hear from parents and friends of people who want someone they care about to get into Restoration, is that they have reach “rock bottom.” But the reality is, some people...in fact according to scripture many people will never reach rock bottom...they will just keep on going down.

Matthew 7:13 is quite clear...

Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.

The many that lead to destruction, makes it clear that most will never reach a rock bottom.

Friends, I pray and preach and teach with the hope that no one who comes through the doors of this church or through the doors of Restoration will miss out on the gift of forgiveness and the joy of repentance in Christ Jesus.

In the previous chapters of Numbers that we’ve studied so far in this series, most of the time the people don’t repent...they suffer the consequences and someone intercedes on their behalf.

But in this scenario we see Aaron respond emotionally and deeply with repentance.

I want to quickly give you 3 aspects of genuine repentance, because there is a false, fake, counterfeit repentance that isn’t pleasing to the Lord, that doesn’t produce real change and doesn’t rightly acknowledge our sin...and sadly it’s very, very common.

First, real repentance confesses sin accurately and fully.

• Repentance doesn’t try and save face or dignity. Repentant people fully acknowledge the depth and wickedness of their sin.

• We see Aaron do that quickly here...in part we see how in humility he calls Moses his lord—not as in Lord like God, but he acknowledges Moses’ authority over him which was the problem in the first place.

Second, real repentance is sorrowful over the sin, more than over consequences.

• Often you’ll see emotion or sorrow in what the bible calls “worldly sorrow.” But worldly sorrow is only sorry over the consequences, whereas godly sorrow, is sorrowful over the sin and hurt done to the Lord and others.

• As a result, godly sorrow accepts consequences, whereas worldly sorrow tries really hard to get out of consequences.

• Aaron does ask for mercy for Miriam and himself, but when the Lord doesn’t totally remove the consequences, neither Aaron nor Miriam complain.

The last aspect of genuine repentance is turning away from sin TO the Lord.

• Many people will try and turn away from sin, but they don’t turn to the Lord, they turn to something else.

• For example, trying to turn away from sexual immorality by spending all your free time in the gym or watching movies isn’t genuine repentance.

• Real, genuine repentance doesn’t just put off sin, it also puts on the opposite...true righteousness after the likeness of Christ.

This morning we’ve been talking specifically about sinful criticism towards leaders...that definitely needs to be repented of and avoided.

But what is more important than just evaluating your relationship with your earthly authorities is evaluating your relationship with the God of heaven and earth.

• We see in this passage, that God is a God of justice. He doesn’t just overlook or shrug off sin as if it’s no big deal.

• Aaron and Miriam didn’t get let off the hook because they had important religious roles in the community.

• They didn’t get a pass because Moses was their brother.

• Their sin demanded the justice of God...

But the Bible makes it clear that the just verdict on our sin is death...and not just physical death, which is part of the punishment of our sin, but ultimately what the Bible calls in Revelation the “second death” where people who refuse to repent and trust in Christ are sent into the lake of fire, which is described as a place of “torment, night and day forever.”

Friends, that’s a price you don’t want to pay. That a price that God doesn’t want you to pay. But it’s a price that must be paid. And Scripture is clear that God loved us so much that he sent his beloved son, Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross to pay for our sin, so that we might be forgiven!

So if you’re here and you haven’t genuinely repented of your sins and turned in faith to Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection as your only hope of salvation, I’d plead with you to do that today.

Christian friend, Miriam and Aaron are a warning to us as well. Miriam and Aaron believed the Lord...but God doesn’t take sin from his children lightly either.

• As children of God, he will discipline his children. How much better to respond to his kind instruction and teaching rather than the teaching that comes through discipline?

• If there is sinful criticism towards God given authority in your life, repent and pursue joyful submission to those authorities.

Real quickly, one final point...

Reaffirm your love toward your brother or sister in Christ who has sinned in this way (v. 15-16) (2 Corinthians 2:1-11; Galatians 6:1-2,10)

Numbers 12:15–16 So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again. ¹⁶ Afterward, however, the people moved out from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

As I’ve already mentioned, the humility of Moses in responding quickly asking for mercy for Miriam is remarkable. And we see how the entire community waited for Miriam before they moved on.

We all sin...we are all big sinners in need of big grace. When someone turns with genuine repentance, we need to be prepared to grant forgiveness and lovingly welcome them back.

When we do that, we are imaging the forgiveness and love of our heavenly Father and savior Jesus Christ!

Jesus was on the cross, and while he was being mocked, and killed...he was already praying for mercy for those who were sinfully criticizing him, and a whole lot worse!

He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).”

I hope that when I’m sinfully criticized in the future, there will be more and more of Jesus and less and less of me. I hope that’s you’re prayer as well.

^[1] R. Dennis Cole, Numbers (vol. 3B; The New American Commentary; Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 199.

^[2] Timothy R. Ashley, The Book of Numbers (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament; Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1993), 224.

[3] Allen, Numbers, the Expositor’s Bible Commentary, pg. 802.