Criticism Toward Leaders

If you’ve been following along in our preaching series, Handling Criticism, I’m sure you have noticed that we have been in the book of Numbers quite a bit recently.

First, Pastor Aucoin walked us through Numbers 16 to show us how Criticism often comes from a rebellious heart.

Then, Pastor Viars lead us through Numbers 11 to help give us a better understanding of the critic’s heart.

A couple weeks ago Pastor Aucoin showed us the Victory for the Critical Heart from Numbers 21.

And last week Pastor Viars taught us about complaining visionaries from Numbers 13.

We have all of these different examples of handling criticism from the book of Numbers alone because this season in the life of the nation of Israel was characterized by complaining and sinful criticism.

We’ve seen criticism over work, over where they are, over where they are going, and even over what they eat.

This morning we are going to continue our sermon series on Handling Criticism by looking at Numbers chapter 12.

In this chapter we will see how some of the Israelites choose to be critical of their leaders.

Read passage

From our passage this morning we can see…

3 vital truths about the seriousness of sin toward God’s appointed leaders

The first thing we can see from the first two verses is that …

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

When Miriam and Aaron approached Moses to make and accusation, they were clearly struggling with some distortions in their own thinking.

We can see this because they actually have two different reasons for approaching Moses to make their case.

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.

So, the main reason they approach Moses is because he has married a Cushite woman.

Well, why could that be a big deal?

Miriam and Aaron could view this as a big deal because Moses, the leader of Israel, was not even married to an Israelite. Israel was supposed to be a pure and holy nation that represented God to the other nations and Moses’s spouse was not even a descendant of any of the twelve tribes.

So, because of this, maybe Moses should be discredited a little bit. Maybe he shouldn’t be the guy in charge or maybe he shouldn’t be the only guy in charge. Maybe because of this he needs to share a little bit of the authority over the tribes of Israel. We wouldn’t want a leader that doesn’t represent the nation well or a leader that might even seem a bit hypocritical.

Now, the fact that Moses has married a Cushite woman is presented as the main issue at hand but is that the real issue at hand here?

Meaning, has Moses really been discredited because of his spouse and Miriam and Aaron are just being faithful leaders in Israel holding their brother accountable?

Verse 2 and every verse that follows after that show that there is another issue at hand which is the real issue for this challenge.

Miriam and Aaron ask “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?”

This statement shows that at the end of the day, what Miriam and Aaron want is a little bit more of the power in Israel. They want to be a bigger stakeholder than they currently are and they don’t see any reason why Moses is so special as to be the one to hold his title and to be the one that God speaks through.

The Lord’s response to Miriam and Aaron shows that the Cushite woman has nothing to do with it. There is not anymore talk about Moses’s wife, all of what God says is focused on how Moses is the one qualified for his role and how God has appointed Moses to be His mouthpiece. Miriam and Aaron are not commended for their investigation of Moses’s credentials but rather they are rebuked for their attempt to discredit God’s appointed leader.

So, there is a presenting issue, and a real issue as to why Miriam and Aaron approach their brother.

And this shows the seriousness of sinful criticism because…

A. It distorts the truth (vv. 1-2)

Miriam and Aaron, desired to share in the power and authority God had given Moses alone and they began to believe that Moses’s wife was a legitimate reason for this encounter.

They know deep down that the issue is that they are discontent with the responsibility that they have been given but it appears they have begun to believe a narrative that is not true. They believe that the real reason they are doing this is because it is the right thing to do since Moses’s wife is not an Israelite. This could be because they have told the story to themselves over and over again or because they have suppressed the real reason for their foolishness and found that this presenting reason sounded good enough to justify their actions.

And we all do this as well right?

We can think of presenting reasons for actions in our lives that we know are not the real reason for our actions, yet we have begun to believe the presenting reason justifies us in whatever we do.

Imagine the husband that gets home after a long day’s work only to find that the house is not in the state he wished it to be. Things are a mess and dinner is not ready when he was expecting it. What he does is he gets angry with his wife for not having everything in the house in order by the time he got home. The presenting issue is that the house is not in the best shape, but the real issue is that the man had a bad day at work, had an argument with his boss whom he is terrified of, and instead of choosing to handle his fear and angry biblically, he chose to unleash his anger and frustration in his own home where he knew he could get away with it and where he knew he could exercise the control he wanted.

Or imagine a wife for a minute. The husband has asked his wife to take care of some things while he is gone on a business trip and has given her a list of simple tasks to do with her time to help him while he is gone. Instead of doing the different things on the list her husband has asked her to do, she decides to pick and choose. “I can do this one, but I don’t think this one is the wisest way for me to spend my time. This one is good, but these ones would be better done if he just did it himself.” The presenting issue here is that the list of things her husband has given her to do just aren’t the best he could have asked. He could have been more wise in how he chose her to use her time while he was on a business trip. But the real reason might be that she struggles to submit to her husband and this seems like a great opportunity to use her time how she wants to use it while he is gone.

Here’s another one, think of a brother or sister in Christ you are close with. You see this person do something that you think may be foolish for them to do. They are not blatantly disobeying any commandments of the Lord, but you question their motives on a couple different issues. What you do is you go to this person and explain your concerns to them. The presenting issue is that you believe this would be a great opportunity to rebuke or admonish your brother or sister in Christ, because sometimes love looks like rebuking someone right? But in fact, you are jealous of how their life has been going over the past 6 months and your life has not been so great. So, this looks like a great opportunity to knock them down a few pegs. That will make comparing yourself to them as much more pleasant experience.

We all struggle with this kind of thinking right? We have a sinful desire deep down and instead of seeking to kill it, we try to help it sneak past the guards in a disguise. We disguise it as either a desire or an action that appears to be righteous and after we have given it this holy camouflage, we often begin to forget what our real heart motivation is, then we feel justified in our actions because we have begun to believe a distortion of what it true.

This is a great example of the importance of biblical accountability

When we are tempted to believe false narratives, we need to have people there to hold us accountable. Miriam and Aaron should have been holding one another accountable instead of joining forces on this act of foolishness.

Individuals who are wiser than us and know what it looks like when we are tempted to distort truth when we are trying to advance our own agenda. These should be people who follow Christ and people who are willing to tell you when you are wrong.

It is actually really easy to find these people in a Bible believing church like ours. As I stand up here all I can think of is “Wow, I now remember all the people that have set me straight at one time or another.” 😊 But really, you can find this accountability in many ways here at Faith Church. If you do not have someone or multiple people to talk to about your thinking, I would encourage you to reach out to one of the pastors to see how you can become more involved. If you are college aged, you could always join PBF or PBFi. They have small groups that meet every week where you can get to know other believers.

If you are not in college, you could join one of our Faith Groups. Faith Groups are Bible studies that meet weekly where we regularly learn God’s word, pray together, and fellowship. As we enter the fall this really is the most logical time for you to join so reach out to someone and we can make that happen.

Sinful criticism often distorts the truth and…

B. It incites rebellion (v.2)

And that is really what is going on here. Although Miriam and Aaron are not trying to create a large uprising in the nation of Israel by gathering the tribes, this is still an act of rebellion against Moses but ultimately against God.

They are trying to see Moses removed from power to some degree and they want to share in the power that he has to give up.

They tried to disguise their efforts and even if Moses could not see their true intentions, they could not hide them from the Lord.

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.

The Lord could see right through their scheme. He knew what they were after and he could see that they were complaining and discontent just like the rest in the camp of Israel in those days. When God saw the intentions of their hearts, that is when this passage takes a dramatic turn. That is because…

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

Now, it is just interesting to see how this section of the narrative is framed. Once the Lord heard the accusation, 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.)

When you read that, you can tell “this is not going to end well for Miriam and Aaron.”

These two chose to come with accusations against the most humble man on the face of the earth. They were acting irrationally in their sinful criticism of Moses because they were trying to discredit the most humble man on the face of the planet and God had directly appointed this man to his position.

They attempted all of this because ultimately sinful criticism…

A. Usurps God’s authority (vv. 4-8)

It would have been quite the scene to see all this play out. God immediately calls the three of them out to the tent of meeting where they can get this all settled.

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?”

The Lord rebukes Miriam and Aaron for rebelling against His authority. He does this by showing how Moses should be anything be anything but discredited.

Unlike other prophets God does not speak to Moses through visions or dreams. In contrast God speaks to Moses alone face to face.

We know Moses is not a perfect person, but this statement says a lot about Moses. “He is faithful in all my household.”

Moses is at a level where he even gets to behold the form of the Lord while everyone else only hears from the Lord in dark sayings.

This response from God shows that Moses is the man for the job but also that God knows what He is doing and that is the key issue here.

Miriam and Aaron were challenging God’s choice of Moses. They believed that God was wrong in his appointing of Moses and God shows them how afraid they should have been to even speak against the Lord’s servant.

There is a principle here that we should be taking away when we think about our own leaders. None of our leaders are perfect, and I don’t know anybody that talks with God mouth to mouth, but we should be giving our leaders respect knowing that God is the one that has put them in that position, and God might just have put them in that position because they are qualified for that position.

That is not where our hearts naturally go though is it? It is so easy for us to think of two things:

1. We think of all the reasons why one of our leaders is not qualified for their position. We simply look past all of their positive features to try to find features we think will discredit them in our eyes or in the eyes of others.

2. We try to think of every way in which we measure up to someone God has appointed. How do they fall short, and how are we a more appropriate choice? Where are their failings, and where are my strengths?

You see what we want to do is we often want to elevate ourselves to a point where we are close enough to someone’s level of leadership, that we then have the credibility to talk to them in a certain way. It is one thing for someone lower on the ladder to talk to the CEO like that, but it is another for the CFO to talk to the man in charge without a tone of respect. We can believe it is okay for the Vice President to speak to the President without a posture of respect since the positions are so close after all.

This text shows that even if you are right under a leader, you should still be speaking to them with respect and honor. Afterall, Miriam and Aaron were right under Moses. In fact, Aaron was the High Priest!

Yet God rebuked them for their sinful criticism because sinful criticism always…

B. Demands His Response (vv. 9-12)

Numbers 12: 9-12 - 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. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned. Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother’s womb!”

Sometimes the Lord’s disciple comes in the distant future and other times it comes immediately. Either way we can be sure that God will discipline His people that He loves.

He will also reprove those who stand against Him. Ultimately of those who are characterized only by wickedness, God says 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; thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.

John MacArthur speaks accurately of God’s response to rebellion when he says in his commentary…

“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)

We know that God will respond to those who are fueled by sinful criticism.

When we compare this episode with Moses’s siblings with the other scenes surrounding it in Numbers, we see that God’s response is actually quite merciful. If we look at it as an isolated incident if can appear that God was rather harsh with Miriam but in context that is not the case at all. This is probably because Miriam and Aaron have shown themselves to be upright and faithful in many other areas of life.

Miriam was given leprosy for a week. The entire camp of Israel had to wait before her seven days was over and I’m sure that was shameful. Having leprosy would be bad but word also probably got around pretty quickly in the nation about what had happened to one of their leaders.

But you know what didn’t happen in Numbers 12. Nobody was buried! We’ve already been there in this series but if you need reminders just turn in the book of Numbers in either direction. You will either find people dying by fiery serpents, the world’s largest flock of quail, or the earth is opening up and swallowing them whole.

This passage is an example of God’s mercy and can be a reminder of how God will discipline His people so that they grow in godliness. By their response to what happened, it is clear that Miriam and Aaron at least relearned a few lessons that day. One of those truths we can see in this passage is that…

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

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.”

In all circumstances we should be seeking to…

A. Repent of sinful criticism toward leaders (vv. 13-14)

Miriam and Aaron repented once they were disciplined by God, but we should be seeking to repent as soon as we identify our desires to be sinful.

We should not delay our repentance but should be a people that repents of our sin quickly and we should also be seeking to…

B. Reaffirm your love toward your brother or sister in Christ who has sinned in this way (v. 15-16)

Numbers 12:15 - So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.

Reconciliation is essential to true forgiveness. When one of our brothers or sisters sins in this way we must be there to love them.

It is easy for all of us to have sinful criticism toward our leaders, but God reminds us in Numbers 12 of how sinful criticism distorts reality, it invites God’s judgement, and that it is forgivable.