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Icons of the Bible: Aaron & Miriam - A Part to Play & A Lesson to Learn

Updated: Aug 31, 2023


Icons of the Bible: Aaron & Miriam - A Part to Play & A Lesson to Learn
Icons of the Bible: Aaron & Miriam - A Part to Play & A Lesson to Learn
Icons of the Bible: Aaron & Miriam - A Part to Play & A Lesson to Learn
Icons of the Bible: Aaron & Miriam - A Part to Play & A Lesson to Learn

Images from Icons of the Bible James Lewis


The Icons of The Bible Series will go through all the people of the Bible in chronological order. I will attempt to provide you focused article and videos that will help you become more familiar with those whom God chose to tell us about in His Holy Scripture. - Andy


Icons of the Bible: Aaron & Miriam - A Part to Play & A Lesson to Learn

Moses, Aaron and Miriam

Aaron

Aaron was Moses' older brother. He was born in 2365, three years before Moses, before the Pharaoh's edict requiring the death of male Hebrew children. He was the ancestor of all koheins, the founder of the priesthood, and the first Kohein Gadol (High Priest). Aaron and his descendants tended the altar and offered sacrifices. Aaron's role, unlike Moses', was inherited; his sons continued the priesthood after him (Num. 20:26).

Aaron served as Moses' spokesman. As discussed above, Moses was not eloquent and had a speech impediment, so Aaron spoke for him (Ex. 4:10-16). Contrary to popular belief, it was Aaron, not Moses, who cast down the staff that became a snake before Pharaoh (Ex. 7:10-12). It was Aaron, not Moses, who held out his staff to trigger the first three plagues against Egypt (Ex. 7:19-20; Ex. 8:1-2 or 8:5-6; Ex. 8:12-13 or 8:16-17). According to Jewish tradition, it was also Aaron who performed the signs for the elders before they went to Pharaoh (Ex. 4:30).

Aaron's most notable personal quality is that he was a peacemaker. His love of peace is proverbial; Rabbi Hillel said, "Be disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and drawing them near the Torah." According to tradition, when Aaron heard that two people were arguing, he would go to each of them and tell them how much the other regretted his actions, until the two people agreed to face each other as friends.

In fact, Aaron loved peace so much that he participated in the incident of the Golden Calf (Ex. 32), constructing the idol in order to prevent dissension among the people. Aaron intended to buy time until Moses returned from Mount Sinai (he was late, and the people were worried), to discourage the people by asking them to give up their precious jewelry in order to make the idol, and to teach them the error of their ways in time (Ex. 32:22).

Aaron, like Moses, died in the desert shortly before the people entered the Promised Land (Num. 20).

Miriam

Miriam was Aaron and Moses' older sister. According to some sources, she was seven years older than Moses, but other sources seem to indicate that she was older than that. Some sources indicate that Miriam was Puah, one of the midwives who rescued Hebrew babies from Pharaoh's edict against them (Ex. 1:15-19).

Miriam was a prophetess in her own right (Ex. 15:20), the first woman described that way in scripture (although Sarah is also considered to be a prophetess, that word is not applied to her in scripture). According to tradition, she prophesied before Moses' birth that her parents would give birth to the person who would bring about their people's redemption.

Miriam waited among the bulrushes while Moses' ark was in the river, watching over him to make sure he was all right (Ex. 2:4). When the Pharaoh's daughter drew Moses out of the water, Miriam arranged for their mother, Yocheved, to nurse Moses and raise him until he was weaned (Ex. 2:7-9).

Miriam led the women of Israel in a song and dance of celebration after the Pharaoh's men were drowned in the sea (Ex. 15:20-21). She is said to be the ancestress of other creative geniuses in Israel's history: Bezalel, the architect of the mishkan (the portable sanctuary used in the desert) (Ex. 31:1-3) and King David.

According to tradition, because of Miriam's righteousness, a well followed the people through the desert throughout their wanderings, and that well remained with them until the day of Miriam's death.

Like her brothers, Miriam was not perfect. She led her brother Aaron to speak against Moses over a matter involving a Cushite woman he had married (Zipporah, or possibly a second wife) (Num. 12:1). They also objected to his leadership, noting that he had no monopoly on Divine Communication (Num 12:2). For this, Miriam was punished with tzaaras (an affliction generally translated as leprosy) (Num. 12:10). However, Aaron pled on her behalf, and she was cured (Num. 12:11).

Like her brothers, Miriam died in the desert before the people reached the Promised Land (Num. 20:1).." from the article: Moses, Aaron and Miriam


3 Life Lessons From Aaron In The Bible

When you think of the leadership of The Israelites, Aaron might not be the first to come to mind but he played a significant role. Like many other Bible characters, he had his faults, but nonetheless, he is someone we can learn from.

In this article, we’ll look at 3 life lessons from Aaron in The Bible. The lessons, which stem from 3 separate stories, are:

  • We All Have A Part To Play In Life

  • We Can Easily Be Led Astry

  • We Should Avoid Criticizing Others..

..The last life lesson from Aaron we’ll look at is we shouldn’t criticize others. This lesson is taken from Numbers chapter 12 where Aaron and Miriam Opposed Moses. Because Aaron and Miriam criticized Moses, God’s anger burned out against them and Miriam was left with leprosy for seven days." from the article: 3 Life Lessons From Aaron In The Bible


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