“Moses – Family Troubles”

​B I B L E  B I T S  &  B I T E S
Devotions for Families

Season 2: Heroes of the Bible
Episode 33: “Moses – Family Troubles”
Today’s Bible Bite: Numbers 12

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd0Wc_79GEk (0817kings – Animated Bible Stories)
“…why were you not afraid to criticize my servant Moses?” (Numbers 12:8b)

God provided the Israelites with everything they needed—water, food, clothes that wouldn’t wear out, a tabernacle to worship Him and a leader, Moses, who spoke directly with God and could tell them God’s messages. But as always, there was always someone complaining about something. In today’s story, the complaints were from Miriam and Aaron. They thought that Moses had made a mistake and questioned his leadership. After all, why did he think he was the only one God could use to lead His people? They were leaders, too!

God heard them and chose to set things straight Himself, right away. He told Moses, Miriam and Aaron to go out to the Tabernacle and there He gave Miriam and Aaron a stern talking to. He made it clear to them that He had chosen Moses and so questioning Moses’ leadership was in fact questioning God. As punishment, God caused Miriam to become infected with leprosy—a terrible skin disease. Aaron pleaded with Moses, who pleaded with God, to please heal her. God agreed, but required that Miriam spend a week outside the camp—kind of like a timeout. He wanted to ensure that Miriam and Aaron would support Moses as he led the people and not cause problems.

Think about it...
• Miriam and Aaron were not happy with a decision that Moses had made. What did they do?
• God heard their complaints against Moses and decided to deal with it right away. What did He do?
• God made it clear to Miriam and Aaron that they needed to support Moses. Why was this so important?
• Miriam and Aaron got thinking they didn’t need for follow Moses’ directions—he was just their younger brother after all. Do you ever have trouble working with your brothers and sisters?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, for Moses’ leadership and humility. Even though his brother and sister didn’t agree with him, he still cared about them deeply. He prayed for Miriam when she became sick even though God was punishing her. Help us to remember to care for our family members even when we disagree.