The truth which lies at the basis of these series of messages is: THERE IS STUBBORN OPPOSITION EVEN RESISTANCE TO AUTHENTIC AUTHORITY AND LEADERSHIP IN ALL OF US AT TIMES. I said “Authentic Authority and Leadership” because not all leaders and authority figures are authentic. Some have arrogated positions of leadership and authority. Have pushed themselves into the forefront without having moral weight and a mandate to lead. And yet, In spite of our denial to the contrary, the sad fact which hangs like a dark cloud over all our lives is that AT CERTAIN SEASONS, WE REFUSE TO LET GOD BE GOD IN OUR LIFE.
I do contend on solid grounds that Almighty God, the Creator of all that is, is the Ultimate and Absolute Authority and Leader. He is absolute truth, absolute power and possesses unimpeachable character.
And yet at times, we puny, frail, short-sighted, fallible creature of a day do assert our imagined right to rule our own lives. And by asserting that supposed right, we imperil ourselves to the Danger of Death.
That seems to be the gist of our text. For it warns us of a place called Kadesh in which Resistance to God results in Death. For that verse of Scripture, which has been codified, has not been modified or de- leted which says that “The wages of sin is DEATH.” Now on last Sunday, we were confronted with Divine Punctuation Marks. We were enlightened as to the meaning and message of that Interim of Silence between the Semicolon and Conjunction and the Period which awaits the close of the sentence if Repentance is not forth- coming. God is poised to write Periods at the end of each life which does not do Repentance between the Semicolon and Conjunctive “And.”
The loss of life as a result of those airplanes crashing into the World Trade Towers in Manhattan and the Pentagon in Virginia, attests to the fact that GOD WILL WRITE A PERIOD AT THE END OF A SENTENCE WHEN THAT INTERIM BETWEEN THE SEMICOLON AND CONJUNCTION IS NOT FILLED WITH REPENTANCE!!! However, I’m not going to use this preaching moment to address that issue, because I am dealing with that issue on Wednesday evening in our Bible Study. So if you desire a clear, biblical understanding of the events which are taking place now, you need to be present at Bible Study on Wednesday evening.
Yet our Text seems to suggest that THERE IS STUBBORN OPPOSITION TO AUTHORITY IN OUR PERSONAL PREFERENCE OF PROMINENT PEOPLE!!!
The truth of the matter is that there are People who hold Prominent Places in our Personal Preference whom we Prize and Praise more than the Powerful Prince of Peace! That is attested to in a myriad of ways. That person who says that “another individual mean more to him/her than life itself,” is pushing this proposition of Personal Preference of a Prominent Person from their Perspective. That spouse who loses their soul-mate thru death and desires no longer to live without them, is pushing the proposition of Personal Preference of a Prominent Person from their Perspective.
That person who would rather face eternal separation from the righteous God than part company with an evil and adulterous person is expressing Personal Preference of a Prominent Person from his/her Perspective. Any Person who chooses a Deified Piece of Grass over the Immortal and Awesome God has opted for Personal Preference of a Prominent Person from their Perspective.
And yet, our Love, our Eros, our Phileo, our need to be possessed, accepted and loved by other human beings does, at times, cause us to Prefer the Creature over the Creator!!! Sometimes, a mother chooses the life of her child over the safety of her soul. Sometimes, a husband chooses the love of his wife over his commitment to God. Sometimes, squeezed people choose making a living over receiving a life from God! Yes, because of our frailty and firm grip on the here-and-now, we often Prefer a Prominent Person from our Perspective over the Person of the Holy God!!!
Let’s consider MIRIAM.
I was startled when I found out what her name means in Hebrew. I was not prepared for what I learned. For I learned, after having examined my Hebrew Text and Lexicon that Miriam means REBELLIOUS. It suggests the idea of a Stubborn Resistance to Authority.
The word Miriam - Meer-yawn’ reminds us of Eve’s condition after the Fall in Eden: Rebellious, Resisting the Authority of Her Head, Adam.
Let’s look at Miriam as she appears in Scripture as we trace her rise to Prominence and Power.
I. PROMINENT PEOPLE HAVE NOT ALWAYS BEEN WELL KNOW: THEY HAVE HAD INCONSPICUOUS BEGINNINGS. EXODUS 2:1-10.
So Inconspicuous was Miriam that we are not even told Her Name in this Second Chapter of Exodus. She is referred to in verse 4 as “his sister,” that is Moses’ sister. She is referred to in verse 5 as one of the “maids” of Pharaoh’s daughter. And in verse 7, she is referred to again as “his sister,” Moses’ sister.
Inconspicuous, Unknown; yet she played a major role in the plan of God for the life of Israel. As an older sister, she watched to see what would happen to her baby brother Moses - v. 4.
She was responsible for reuniting her brother Moses with his Hebrew family - verse 7-10. She was a MAID who MADE A DIFFERENCE!
I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN SENSE THAT REBELLIOUS NATURE IN MIRIAM TO AUTHORITY HERE! She seems to be saying to Pharaoh even here in the 2nd chapter of Exodus that You are Not the Final Authority in this matter! You’re not going to make me take my eyes off of my brother!!! I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE HIM UP THAT EASILY - VERSE 4.
Then in verses 5-10, she helped Pharaoh’s own daughter Rebel against the Authority of the King!!! We can sense Her Rebellious Spirit even here!!!
I think we need to be reminded of that Principle of Civil Disobedience as Practiced by the Late Dr. King and Gandhi. There is a time and place to rebel against the powers that be!!! When that authority is in defiance of higher laws, its time to stubbornly rebel! When that authority practices Terrorism on its own citizens, its time to rebel! There is a time when we must not Bend nor Bow to the Music of the powers that be!!! There is a time not to sing “God Bless America,” and “The Star Spangled Banner.”
That is the apostle’s Paul advise to us in Ephesians 6 where he says: “to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
At those times, like Miriam, we must defiantly stand afar off to see what is being done to our brothers and sisters, and even help those who are friendly to our cause disobey ungodly laws and ordinances!!
Some Prominent People Have Had Inconspicuous Beginnings. Miriam began as a MAID. My SECOND POINT IS THIS:
II. INCONSPICUOUS BEGINNINGS SOMETIMES LEAD TO PROMINENT PLACES. EXODUS 15:20-21.
Here in the 15th Chapter of Exodus, we confront Miriam some 80 years later, no longer a teenaged girl nor a slave of Pharaoh’s daughter, standing on the banks of the other side of the Red Sea elevated to the status of a Prophetess. She has gone from being a MAID to a MATRON! The Lord God has Elevated Her!!!
Somewhere I read that “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Somewhere I read, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.”
Somewhere I read that, “Promotion come neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: He puts down one, and sets up another.”
Somewhere I read that, “His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation. He scatters the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He puts down the mighty from their seats, and exalts them of low degree. That He fills the hungry with good things; and the rich He sends away empty.”
That’s why the way Up is Down. The way to Greatness is thru Service. So if we want to exchange our Aprons for Royal Robes, we must take the Towel of Service!!! Miriam has now been elevated to the Position of Prophetess.
Allow me to digress to progress. If you would look at the first tree words of verse 1 of chapter 15, you will find an uncharacteristic phrase: “Then SANG MOSES ….” If the commencement of that verse had read, “Then Spoke Moses,” or “Then Prophesied Moses,” or “Then Prayed Moses,” perhaps we would have read it and paid no attention to it. For characteristically, Moses would Speak as the mouthpiece of God and as the representative of the people. Characteristically, Moses would Pray to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob on behalf of the nation. So if that verse would have said Then Said or Prayed Moses, it probably would not have grabbed our attention.
But it does not say Then Said Moses, but THEN SANG MOSES!!! We need to really look at this. For the Singing of Moses Signals the Sign of Something Significant!!!
When, then, did Moses Sing? The context of Chapter 14 informs us that He Sang on the heels of the Lord’s great deliverance of Israel from the grip of Pharaoh and his army. After the Lord had caused the waters of the Red Sea to stand up like a mighty giant on both sides until Israel made it safely to the other side, and then spoke and waters rushed back in place drowning the army of Pharaoh therein, THEN SANG MOSES!!!
Moses is not known for having a melodious voice or a career as a songster. Moses is not known for causing goose-bumps to cover the surface of the skin. He could not sing as anointedly as David or play as skillfully as Richard Smallwood. But as a response to witnessing the salvation of the Lord, He Sang.
That ought to suggest to us that regardless of our singing savvy or musical ineptness, that following every Divine Deliverance should be Personal Praise!!! The Lord’s Working should be accompanied by our Worship! Deliverance should trigger Applause. Salvation should signal SINGING. So, ‘THEN SANG MOSES!’ He sang because the Lord had triumphed gloriously.
Oh, when Moses Sang, it must have Moved the Nation! When Moses Sang, it must have tuned up the hearts of the people; because verse 1 also says that “the children of Israel also sang this song unto the Lord.”
When Moses Sang, it also stirred the heart of his older sister Miriam; for verse 20 says that Miriam “took a timbrel (a tambourine) in her hand,” and said to the women in verse 21 “Sing ye to the Lord.” The Holy Spirit empowered her to form the first Women’s Choir and Dance Company in Israel!!!
I think I better end this message now. For I feel Praise coming into this House. I feel Worship breaking out in Here. I feel Dancing breaking Loose in Here. I feel like somebody wants to Git Their Praize On!
If the Lord has moved you from a Maid to a Matron, you ought to make some Music.
If He has sifted you a Slave to a Son, you ought to Sing!
Salvation Signals a Song. Deliverance Dictates Dance.
Redemption ought to Raise Some Praise!!!
Get on up now, and Git Yo’ Praize ON!!!
Sing to the Lord!!!
LET HIM BE GOD IN YOUR PRAISE!
LET HIM BE GOD IN YOUR WORSHIP!
LET HIM BE GOD IN GRATITUDE!
LET GOD BE GOD IN YOUR PRAISE!!!
