Why God Afflicted Miriam
With Leprosy
By
King Joseph De World Emperor
The Son Of Jacob
Also Called
Emperor Joseph
Onye Eze Joseph
Introduction
Holy
Moses suffered a lot of oppositions, challenges, hindrances, criticisms and
mockery, when he was leading the Israelites from the land of Egypt to the
Promised Land.
Crisis, Even In Marriage
Joseph: Even the wife married by Holy Moses, it was
troubles, full of crisis. The bible authors wrote about when Aaron and Miriam
were mocking Holy Moses. It was not only Aaron and Miriam that mocked Holy
Moses. Son of man, mockeries were many, to the extent that Holy Moses turned
his back on the wife he married, abandoned her. The women stayed alone in
Israel.
The first
wife of Holy Moses was a shunemite, Zipporah was a Shunemite women. The second
wife was a black woman, an Ethiopian. The first wife died, and Holy Moses
married a second wife. But Aaron and Miriam rose against Holy Moses because of
the second wife.
Miriam
was mocking Holy Moses, saying, “You say the glory of God is in your body. You
did not see any Israelite woman to marry, that you went and married an
Ethiopian woman, a foreigner.” Every day, she was mocking Holy Moses and even
the women. Until Miriam took hold of the woman and beat her severely.
It was not
just because Miriam was insulting Holy Moses and the woman that anger and wrath
of God fell upon her. She beat the woman and was maltreating her, and took away
from her all the properties that were used in marrying her.
The Head: Which means that all the jealousy of the
present and modern generations was what Miriam was raging against the women,
always mocking her steadily, saying disrespectful things about the women.
Joseph: Miriam was declaring to the woman, saying,
“You woman shall not bear a child for Holy Moses.” And she threatened the woman
to return to her country, “If you know where you came from, return to the same
place.”
The Head: That is what many women are doing nowadays.
Joseph: And God was asking Miriam,
“Are you the person that married the woman?
Why do
you involve yourself in what does not concern you?
Do you
know the reason why she was brought into the midst of the Israelites?
Miriam
was struggling for those who hated Holy Moses.
The Head: And some of the things Miriam was saying were
what some Israelites were complaining to her along the way, or here and there.
Joseph: Yes!
The Head: They were encouraging her not to allow the
woman to have any right.
Son of
man, the reason why Miriam took the law into her hands, started acting as if
she was the final judge, was because she was older than Holy Moses, in age.
The Head: She felt that she had the right to control
Holy Moses.
Joseph: So, she went and discussed with Holy Aaron,
planned with Aaron.
Then,
Aaron and Miriam wanted to drive the woman away by fire and by force. They
wanted to break (tisaa!) the marriage. And Miriam looked for the things she
would do to make the woman go away. Since other people have planned and mocked
the woman, but the woman did not want to go.
What
surprised Miriam was how Holy Moses was keeping quiet and silent unto them.
Even Miriam was mocking and abusing (na akọ ya ọnụ); abusing
the woman. But Holy Moses kept silent.
When the
battle became severe, Holy Moses would pretend as if he had abandoned the woman,
his wife; as if he was in support of Aaron and Miriam. But he did not support
them, because Holy Moses was not a person who talked too much, and he was not
troublesome. Only God was defending Holy Moses. But all these facts were not
written in the bible.
The Head: And today, many people are making the same
mistake without knowing that those people, who did such are maltreatments in
the past, were severely punished.
Joseph: The only thing the bible authors wrote was
that Miriam mocked Holy Moses for marrying a foreign wife. They said, “Is it
only Holy Moses that God speaks to?” and that God came in, and Miriam was
punished more than Aaron.
Son of
man, the two persons pleaded for forgiveness.
Why God Afflicted Miriam With Leprosy
Joseph: Why did God afflict Miriam with leprosy?
The Head: Perhaps, she had caused a lot of troubles
(okwu na uka o konukotara).
Joseph: That was one.
What was
the second reason?
Miriam
went to the woman and took away all the various gold and other various things
that were used in marrying the woman into their family. And she put all these
things on her own body, and stood before God.
And God
said,
“Is it this body you use in wearing stolen
gold and ornaments?
Taking
away from your fellow woman what belongs to her?
Her husband’s
properties?
And you
still stay in the presence of Holy Moses to rebuke him,
demanding that the woman must be driven away?”
Measure For Measure
Joseph: And God poured leprosy upon Miriam, so that
she would see the body to use in wearing gold – for her to understand that what
she was doing was very bad. And Miriam became ashamed.
It took
years before the leprosy left the body of Miriam. Actually, Holy Moses prayed
for Miriam, but God gave conditions to Miriam. God said that He would answer
Moses’ prayer and forgive Miriam, but as the Ethiopian woman, as Miriam was
insulting the woman, and took away her belongings, and the Ethiopian woman went
into a room and locked herself inside, and did not see the leg with which to
come outside – was very ashamed to come outside – and every day the woman was
weeping; even so, Miriam should stay in confinement too.
And God
said to Holy Moses, “The leprosy shall depart from Miriam, but it will take
while, take some time. You people shall be going out and coming o o. But
because of Miriam, nobody will travel further, for Miriam to stay in the same
confinement into which she forced the Ethiopian woman. Miriam should not
journey with them with leprosy on her body.”
The Head: That was for Miriam to see and know that what
she was doing was wrong. God made Miriam to stay alone, in confinement, seven
times the number of days the Ethiopian woman was in confinement, because Miriam
greatly provoked God.
Son of
man, Miriam did what God did not expect.
Joseph: Miriam was declaring to the woman that she
would not bear any child for Holy Moses, and separated Holy Moses from the
woman, so that Miriam would have the chance to persecute and maltreat the
woman. A newly married woman could not see her husband.
The Head: And it was because of her husband that the
woman came there. And her husband was the only person who could console her and
make the woman able to endure whatever she was encountering in the marriage (na
anagide).
Joseph: One good turn deserves another. The cup which
Miriam used in measuring for the woman, was the same cup which God used in
measuring for Miriam. You humanity do not know that God is a God of justice.
Is it
because people do say, “Merciful God, Merciful God and Merciful God.”
God said
that the cup a person uses in measuring for somebody is the same that Himself
will use in measuring for the person. You humanity do not know that God started
this very long time ago.
Even The High Priest Was Not Spared
Joseph: Son of man, Aaron was given his own flogging.
He was pleading for mercy.
But did
he plead for mercy, for Miriam to stop maltreating the Ethiopian woman?
He did
not. God was merciful to him, but he was also flogged.
Even
Aaron went into his own confinement, with Miriam. He did not come outside at
all. He was in confinement praying, up to the number of days Miriam was also in
confinement and prayer. Aaron was pleading with sores all over Miriam’s body.
Miriam’s punishment was double - leprosy and confinement.
Unacceptable Sacrifices
Joseph: Yes, he was punished because many people will
do bad behaviour, and still hope to come and beg God for mercy, just as the
Israelites were doing. They would be committing sin, breaking the laws of God,
hoping to afterwards offer redemptive sacrifice (aja mgbaputa). They were
saying, “Once I offer redemptive sacrifice, I shall become free. Once I take
one goat and go to the high priest, he will offer the sacrifice, and by so
doing, he redeems me.” It is not like that with God the Father.
The Head: That was true.
Joseph: You are trying – those who believe and behave
in that way are doing wrong.
Even The Israelites Were Affected
Joseph: Everybody was in confinement, including the
Israelites, because God told them to stop moving about, not to go to battle,
not to go fishing and not to do other various things. Everybody was in
confinement. And the Israelites believed that it was God that stood, established,
Holy Moses, made him the leader of the Israelites.
Effective Discipline
Joseph: And everybody removed his or her hands from
the Ethiopian woman – stopped involving themselves in the life and marriage of
the Ethiopian woman. And the gossipers put their tongues in their mouth –
stopped gossiping and stopped causing troubles and crisis – and rested, faced
their own private matters and lives, because they did not know what other type
of affliction that God would come again with.
Mercy Is By Merit
Joseph: Son of man, it is everybody that is worthy of
mercy. And it is not in every situation that mercy should be shown. Mercy is
good.
If God
just forgave Aaron and Miriam, there would have being no lessons from their
lives. And all the Israelites would not even know what was happening. Yes, they
would see that nothing happened to Aaron and Miriam, because they later asked
for mercy and obtained mercy from God. That would make the Israelites to act
wrongly, from time to time, and still hope on mercy. God does not do
partiality.