On September 21, 2017, Miriam kept coming to mind.  I had never even thought of Miriam, so I began to study her life.

Miriam was the first born of brothers Moses and Aaron.  She was a very protective sibling.  Moses was the youngest and born at a time when all Hebrew baby boys were to be killed. Their mother wanted to protect Moses, so Miriam in her courage followed the basket in the Nile River that Moses’ mother placed him in to save his life.  When he was taken out of the water by a slave girl of Pharaoh’s daughter, she fell in love with Moses and wanted to raise him . Miriam stepped forward from hiding, just a child herself, and offered to find a Hebrew nurse for him.  That nurse was Moses’ mother.

For more of her story, God spoke to Miriam in dreams and visions.  That meant what she received was in part, but God spoke to her younger brother, Moses, mouth to mouth.  Miriam’s discontentment with Moses had caused her to rebel against God.  She wanted more. Miriam and Aaron came against Moses, but Miriam started it and she spoke it.  God heard it and after He spoke to them and left, they saw Miriam had leprosy.  This, to me, is a lesson in how we speak of others. God heard the prayers of her brothers and said that she was to be put out of the city for only 7 days and could then return. God hears our prayers.

Miriam was very loved and the people would not move on without her. That must have humbled her greatly, because she moved forward in the Lord. She was forgiven and went on to follow her brothers.  She gave not to herself, but to others, serving God as a leader of women.  She made a difference in God’s kingdom and witnessed miracles.  The people named the well after her where their water was provided.

When they crossed the Red Sea, Exodus 15 tells of the first song recorded in the bible, ‘The Song of Miriam and Moses’, as they gave praise to God for their deliverance.

Close to entering the promise land, Miriam, Moses, and Aaron passed away. God did include her as a leader in Micah 6.

The bible doesn’t speak much of her as a prophetess, but we learn so much as we look into her life during an amazing time on earth.