Latest / Scripture Central / Exodus 14-18 I EXODUS OF ISRAEL I Handmaidens, Harems and Heroines I Lynne Hilton Wilson

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Exodus 14-18 I EXODUS OF ISRAEL I Handmaidens, Harems and Heroines I Lynne Hilton Wilson · Scripture Central

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  Miriam is a prophetess because she knows who her Messiah is.
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  She is honored as the sister of Moses and as a prophetess, but
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  not as a wife and a mother, which is very unusual for
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  biblical women. Were they aware that when Moses
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  raises his arms, they win, and when Moses's arms got tired,
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  they were not able to succeed? We do do not need to be afraid.
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  We can stand firm. I absolutely love this advice
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  from Moses. I just want to remind you that
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  when Miriam is doing this, she is over 80 years old because
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  Moses, her little brother, is 80 years old.
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  Miriam and Aaron or Adeline. And for some reason, it seems
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  like Miriam took the leadership here because Miriam is the one
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  who receives a very harsh punishment.
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  Hello, welcome to Scripture Central, where I want to talk
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  today about the handmaidens, harems, and heroines in the Old
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  Testament as these women find their Messiah.
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  We're in Exodus chapters 14 to 18 in this later bronze era and
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  we have some fabulous women to look at today in our Old
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  Testament scripture study. I could have named it
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  Prophetess, Priestess and and Princess and all of those 3
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  categories would have fit very beautifully in our wonderful
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  Miriam. We also are going to talk a
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  little bit about her mom, Jocheved and other Hebrew women
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  as they leave Egypt. So Shalom and welcome back to
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  the ancient world where the Israelites have finally been
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  released. They've walked through the Red
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  Sea. The cloud and the pillar are
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  beginning to shine. And we are introduced to the
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  prophetess Miriam by name. Now, she was introduced before
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  as an unnamed older sister. I assume it was Miriam, but
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  maybe not. Maybe there was another unnamed
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  older sister. I'm not exactly sure.
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  The text doesn't tell us, but the title prophetess is only
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  used for six, well actually 10 people in the Bible.
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  We have Deborah as #2, Holda as #3, Isaiah's wife is #4, and
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  then to the New Testament we have Anna as #5 and then the
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  four daughters of Philip are also named prophetesses.
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  Now we have 2 prophetesses that are prophetesses of the devil,
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  not of the Lord. So I wasn't really counting
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  those because those are a little different kind of women.
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  But let's start here with Miriam.
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  Now she's the daughter of Eram and Jacobid.
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  Now if you look at the book of Numbers and Chronicles, when
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  they talk about them, it sounds as if possibly they were half
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  siblings. But the word is also for
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  cousins. It appears to me as you go back
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  to the Hebrew, to be a little closer to being cousins in their
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  relatives. Most people assume that Miriam
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  is the big sister who watched the basket that Jacob had
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  prepared for Moses, her younger brother probably about eight
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  years younger. If we are taking the Bible
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  numbers literally and as Miriam is focused on here in the Old
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  Testament, she is honored as the sister of Moses and as a
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  prophetess, but not as a wife and a mother, which is very
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  unusual for biblical women. Most of the time they're
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  introduced in their relationship to either their husband or their
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  sons or their daughters, but not not Miriam.
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  She stands a little bit unique in this matter.
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  I also want to remind you that the word prophet and this
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  prophetess is one who has the spirit of prophecy.
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  And we're told in the Book of Revelation by John the Revelator
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  that one who has the spirit of prophecy is one who testifies
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  and knows that Jesus is the Christ.
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  So this means Miriam is a prophetess because she knows who
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  her Messiah is. She believes in Him, and this
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  comes out in her actions too. Let's start with verse 17 and 18
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  when the Pharaoh left the people, God did not lead them
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  around the road to the land up to the Philistines.
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  You know, he could have gone the shortcut right up to the
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  promised land. Slam dunk.
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  It's the trips made in a few weeks, not a few 40 years.
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  You know, the 40 years is because of their wickedness.
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  It was unnecessary. It they did not need to take
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  this long. But he does not go up that way
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  initially because the Lord had told Moses, you bring all the
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  children of Israel back down to Sinai.
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  And so that's what these verses are saying.
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  The Lord had wisdom in the route He was choosing.
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  And one of the things that stated in this text, verse 18 is
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  he didn't want the people to get frightened by seeing war.
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  He wants to 1st develop their testimony.
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  So he's taken them down to have an experience with God at the
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  mountain. Now, Miriam would have been
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  among those women who had borrowed the jewels from their
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  neighbor who roasted that first Paschal lamb.
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  Miriam would have been with the women packing and moving and,
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  and and coming up against the water and seeing the the
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  Egyptians behind them. Miriam probably was also close
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  enough to have heard her brother say in Exodus 1321.
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  Do not be afraid, stand firm and you will see the deliverance of
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  the Lord. He will bring you today.
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  The Egyptians you see today you will never see again and the
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  Lord will fight for you and you need only to be still.
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  I absolutely love this council. You know, we have a war going
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  on. We have enemies chasing us, and
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  they're all the adversary. They're all the, some of us have
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  those outside of the adversary. But we are in a battle of our
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  spiritual safety against the adversary.
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  And if we can be still and receive the guidance of the
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  Spirit, we can avoid them. We do not need to be afraid.
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  We can stand firm. I absolutely love this advice
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  from Moses and I. The reason why I think Miriam
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  heard it is because of what she sings later in a beautiful poem
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  and in a beautiful song and dance.
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  But before we get there, as they're heading down, this is
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  verse 21 of Exodus 13. The Lord went before them in the
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  pillar of the cloud to guide their way, and at night by the
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  pillar fire. This is such a beautiful imagery
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  of a guiding, directing God who's providing warmth and
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  shade, who's providing different temperature control and
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  different a sign of his presence.
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  And I hope in your lives you feel the spirit like a fire is
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  burning. Sometimes it's more like a
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  cloud. It's just a dim mist.
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  Is the imagery that Elder Bednar used a foggy morning.
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  But know that God is travelling with you.
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  And in Exodus 14, verse 19, we're told that the Angel of God
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  who had been travelling with them withdrew and went behind
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  them so that this pillar of fire could move out in front.
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  And that's wow, the armies of the Egyptians were destroyed,
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  that God's presence was involved.
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  And once the the waters of the Red Sea come back over and
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  destroy them, that is when this prophetess begins her prophecy.
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  And we're told in chapter 15, verse one and two, and I'll read
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  this from the NIV translation. Miriam says I will sing to the
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  Lord, for he is highly exalted, both horse and driver.
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  He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my
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  defense. He has become my salvation.
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  He is my God and I will praise him, my Father's God, and I will
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  exalt him. You know, she's just filled with
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  testimony, filled with faith, and she wants to do all she can
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  to honor him. At this time we see Miriam here
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  in a position of leadership and her words testify of her faith.
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  And moving now into verse 11, she continues on.
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  Who among the gods is like you, Lord?
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  Who is like you, majestic and holiness and awesome and glory
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  working wonders? I, I just want to mention that
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  when the word Lord is capitalized, remember that means
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  Yahweh. That's Jehovah, and Jehovah we
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  believe, became Jesus of Nazareth and is the Son of God,
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  and he was God of the Old Testament and he became the
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  Savior and Messiah of the New Testament.
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  And so these beautiful prophecies understand that.
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  And in verse 20 it says that Miriam the prophetess, the
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  sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand.
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  She's also the sister of Moses, of course.
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  Now this word timbrel, I thought in my mind was like a
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  tambourine, but actually it's a hand drum.
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  I found some descriptions of archaeologists who found them,
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  and interestingly, those working in the Eastern Mediterranean
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  have found about 40 little terracotta figurines that depict
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  this hand drum playing that date back to the time of Moses, clear
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  down to the time of Lehigh. And virtually all of these
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  musicians are women on these little terracotta statues that
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  they found. Now these figures show them
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  playing the drums with their wrist and their hands.
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  And we also find musicians artwork in Egypt where the women
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  were playing either hand drums or flutes or dancing.
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  And, and it's a, it's a wonderful part of their culture
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  that these musical instruments and, and rhythm are part of what
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  was given to the women to celebrate either a victory or
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  celebrate praising God. But I just want to remind you
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  that when Miriam is doing this, she is over 80 years old because
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  Moses, her little brother, is 80 years old.
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  The only assumption we're making here is that Miriam is the older
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  sister who helped. She, she may have been a younger
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  sister, but the bottom line is she's near 80 years old.
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  And not only was she a beloved leader, but we see that as she
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  thanked God for their survival, she was followed by the women.
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  You know, Exodus 15, verse 20 and 21, all the women follows
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  her and the Timberland dancing, and Miriam sang to them.
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  And this is the beautiful song that she's singing as the women
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  are dancing. In the greatness of your
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  Majesty, you threw down those who opposed you.
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  You unleashed your burning anger.
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  It consumed them like stubble. You know, this is the NIV
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  translation. I I just am thrilled to see
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  these Israelite women joining together in song and dance.
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  Now granted, if we have a million people, I don't know how
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  many are joining in the song and dance, but it sounded like as
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  many who wanted to join could come in.
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  I'm also sort of surprised that the women chose of the few
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  possessions they were able to bring with them that they chose
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  to bring this. Perhaps they didn't.
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  Perhaps they just gathered some things on and and were able to
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  make some musical instruments as they had gone through the sea
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  and and arrived on the other side.
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  Whatever the situation is, I'm not sure, but I am thrilled that
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  part of their celebration of God's miraculous saving of them
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  is that they felt loved from God and they they sang it.
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  I love the text in Exodus 1513. In your unfailing love you have
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  led the people you have redeemed and in your strength you will
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  guide them by your holy dwelling.
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  And we're going to learn about the Tabernacle pretty soon.
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  One more common about these little timbrels though these
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  these these hand drums 17 times timbrels is are mentioned and
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  five of the times in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, it
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  includes the musicians who are using them and every time they
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  include musicians, they are women in these versus Judges
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  511, First Samuel 18 and Jeremiah 13.
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  So this is wonderful. We also learn a little bit later
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  that there's female musicians who played at the Tabernacle in
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  the temple. This is from the Psalm Psalm
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  Psalm 68. Oh God in the sanctuary, damsels
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  playing with timbals. Now this was not the case at the
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  time of our Lord. By the New Testament, things had
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  changed. Women were kept in their homes.
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  But in the Old Testament, in the Hebrew, the women were part of
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  the musicians that joined in the celebrations of worship and in
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  exalting not only God, but also their kings and their festivals.
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  One of those times is when King David brought the Ark of the
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  Covenant into the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem.
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  And the text emphasizes the music.
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  David and all the House of Israel played music before the
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  Lord on timbrels. That's Second Samuel 65.
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  But as we go back to Miriam, as we see her going through the
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  roles of gathering the manna and, and, and supporting and
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  helping and leading these women throughout those first few
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  months and days as they get to Sinai, she is a major positive
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  character. But the next time we hear about
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  her by name is not until Numbers chapter 12.
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  And that is not a positive reaction.
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  It sounds like Miriam and Aaron are speaking against their
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  brother a little bit in verse one.
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  And it sounds like they're mad that he is married to an
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  Ethiopian now. I really don't know what's going
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  on. Is there a power struggle?
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  Did the new wife not appreciate the leadership of Moses's
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  siblings? The text doesn't say if if if
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  Zipporah, Moses first wife, the Midianite Jethro's daughter had
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  had had died or if this is a second wife that's despised.
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  You know, we know nothing about it except that Miriam and Aaron
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  or Adeline. And for some reason, it seems
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  like Miriam took the leadership here because Miriam is the one
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  who receives a very harsh punishment.
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  She receives leprosy and it's instantaneous.
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  Immediately, Aaron asks Moses to plead to heal his sister, and
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  God does. And Miriam followed the protocol
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  that was established in the law of Moses.
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  She had to leave the camp for a week to make sure that her sin
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  condition did not spread. And the healing still had to
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  wait to make sure it didn't just go away.
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  And sure enough, she was completely healed.
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  After a whole week, she was able to be brought back into the
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  camp. You know, we're not told how she
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  felt during that week of solitude, but the whole camp
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  waited for her and the whole camp rejoiced when she came
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  back. I do think she was very beloved.
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  And then the next thing we hear about Miriam is her death.
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  Numbers chapter 20, verse 1. So we'll talk about that more.
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  But she did not enter the Promised land and neither did
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  Aaron and neither did Moses. So we'll talk more about that
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  later. But she is a great woman.
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  In fact, she's so well known in the Old Testament that future
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  prophets remember her. The prophet Micah, chapter 6,
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  verse 4 remembers Miriam as a leader along with her brother
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  Moses. It says I sent Moses to lead
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  you. And also Aaron and Miriam, you
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  know, the Lord is calling them as, as counselors as it would
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  be, or as his supporting system. And then of course, in the New
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  Testament we have 8 women who are identified as Miriam in
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  Hebrew or Mary in Greek. We've got Mary of Nazareth, Mary
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  of Magdala, Mary of Bethany, Mary the wife of Cleophas, Mary
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  the mother of James and Josie, Mary of Jerusalem, Mary of Rome.
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  And then there's the other Mary that may have been one of those,
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  but I don't know. So it could be 7 or 8 women, but
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  this great prophetess is one that we can join with her in
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  calling for sister Scriptorians, calling for sister leaders,
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  calling for the gift of the Spirit of Prophecy to be given
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  to men and women so that we can fulfill the prophecy.
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  Not only in Joel chapter 2 that your daughters will prophecy,
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  but also the prophecy of Spencer W Kimball that has been repeated
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  by multiple prophets since that time including Russell M Nelson.
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  Where the women are called to lead out in righteous ways and
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  be a voice and a witness for God.
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  The next group of women are just general unnamed in the keeping
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  of the Sabbath and gathering of the manna.
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  And they had to go out every day and pick up their basket full
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  their Omer of what was needed. And it sounds like mana is very,
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  very tiny. You know, they say it's the size
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  and a little bit like a coriander seed that has some
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  sweetness to it like honey, but they don't know what it is.
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  That's why they call it mana. That means I don't know what it
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  is. You know, they get tired of the
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  same food all the time. The Lord sends the quail and the
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  women would have been involved not only in catching those
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  little birds, but also in, in in preparing them and saving their
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  feathers and, and then harvesting and eating the meat.
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  I think the women would have all been rejoicing at the water from
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  the rock. You know, as I just did a little
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  bit of math to try to figure out if we do have the numbers that
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  are recorded in the Bible. If we do have 600,000 men who
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  are fighting age, we have got well over 1,000,000 people,
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  especially with women reproducing a lot is what the
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  text in in Exodus had said when they were in captivity.
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  So I don't know how much time and how long you had to wait in
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  a queue, how long the line was to get your water, but a million
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  people drinking would have taken a long time.
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  I hope it was a a huge river that flowed out.
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  I hope it was a lot of water that everyone could be
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  satisfied. But what a challenging time for
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  these women trying to learn about God, trying to learn about
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  a prophet, trying to learn about following a prophet and yet
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  being hungry and thirsty and and realizing that change was needed
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  before they get to Sinai. They get to Refidem where the
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  battle is fought and our first battle is fought.
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  And I wonder if the women were close enough to see, were they
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  aware that when Moses raises his arms, they win.
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  And when Moses's arms got tired, they, they were not able to
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  succeed. And so our wonderful Aaron and
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  her hold their arms up, you know, sustaining the prophet we
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  have Aaron representing I think the Aaronic priesthood.
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  And my Hebrew teacher taught me that he thought her represented
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  the Melchizedek priesthood. I can't find that anywhere in
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  the scriptural text, but in some ancient Jewish sources he may
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  have been right hand man. But the bottom line is our
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  prophet needs to be supported and our Moses was representing
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  Jesus Christ. And we can be instruments in not
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  only helping build the Kingdom with our Savior, but we can also
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  be instruments in sustaining every level of every person who
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  helps do this good work. Whether you're sustaining a
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  nursery leader or if you're sustaining your local leaders in
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  your community, we need to hold each other's arms up in our
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  families and in our church and in our callings.
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  Do you remember when Moses is initially going to Egypt, he
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  brings Zipporah and his two sons with him and they were older and
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  one of them had not been circumcised.
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  And we don't know when Moses sent them back to heal or to
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  stay with Jethro, but at some point between the time that they
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  left Midian and the time now that they're at the foot of
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  Sinai or almost at the foot of Sinai, Zipporah and her two
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  older sons, I couldn't find any artwork with sons who are
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  mature. But these, these young men are,
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  are not little boys anymore. You know, he's been married for
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  20-30, forty years. Possibly he arrived with Jethro
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  at age 40 and he's now over 80. So these may not be young
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  children. These may be grown men.
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  But for whatever reason, Jethro and his family have come back.
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  This is chapter 8, verse 5 and we're told that they greet each
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  other with great joy and the text only refers to hugging the
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  father-in-law. But I am sure Moses and Zipporah
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  we're thrilled to see each other again and their sons as well.
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  Remember the sons Jershom meant I have become a foreigner in a
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  foreign land and Ililizar is my father's.
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  God was my helper. He saved me from the sword of
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  Pharaoh. So these two boys are now
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  reunited with their father and the family is together.
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  Not only are these women fabulous stories in the Old
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  Testament, but I hope they motivate every one of us, men,
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  women and children, to become priests and priestesses and
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  prophets and prophetesses who speak with a gift of prophecy,
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  who seek these gifts, the Spirit, and use them to build
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  the Kingdom of God. And I say this in the name of
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  Jesus Christ, Amen.