In the Old Testament the greatest authority God appointed was Moses. We can learn many lessons from him. We will put aside for now the general and lifelong dealings that Moses went through. Instead, we will pay attention to the description of his reaction when his authority was offended, mocked, opposed, and rejected. Moses was rejected and opposed several times, and each time he reacted in the proper way.
Before Moses was appointed by God to be the authority, he killed an Egyptian who had slain one of his kinsmen. Afterwards, he exhorted two Hebrews to not argue with each other. But the two Hebrews turned around and asked him, “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?” (Exo. 2:14). At that time Moses had not yet learned his lesson; he did not know the cross or the meaning of resurrection; he acted purely by the strength of his flesh. As a result, he could not stand the test. He had killed someone and rebuked others and appeared to be quite bold, yet within he was weak. As soon as he was tested he became afraid. He ran away to the wilderness of the Midianites in fear, and stayed there for forty years to learn his lesson (vv. 11-22). After he passed through many trials, God showed him the vision of the burning bush. The bush appeared to be burning, but it was not consumed. The fire did not consume the bush. After God showed Moses this revelation, He called him and made him the authority. It was after such a training and such a calling that he was qualified to be a leader. After he became the leader, he experienced rejection by others many times. In one instance, his brother Aaron and his sister Miriam reviled him, criticized him, and rejected him as the deputy authority. Let us see how he responded.
According to Numbers 12:1-2, Moses married a Cushite woman, and Aaron and Miriam spoke against him for this. In this section we see the degree of spiritual loss they suffered as a result of their reviling of deputy authority, and we also see Moses’ reaction as God’s deputy authority. Aaron and Miriam were in effect challenging Moses: “Can it be possible that only you, Moses, who married a Cushite woman, can speak for God? Can we not do the same? You are a descendant of Shem, and you married a descendant of Ham. Can a person like you be a spokesman for God? Is it possible that we who have never married a descendant of Ham are barred from being God’s mouthpiece also?” They might have argued a great deal with their sister-in-law, but the real problem was that they were touching Moses as the deputy authority. At this point verse 2 says, “And Jehovah heard it.” It does not say that Moses heard it. Here we see a man who was not touched by man’s word. He was a person beyond man’s reviling. We see a transcendent man, a man of authority. All opposition, reviling, and rebellion were under his feet. He let God listen to the many words while he himself did not lend an ear to them.
Those who desire to be a minister of God’s word, who want to speak for God, and who aspire to take the lead among the brothers and sisters should learn to have no ear for reviling words. We should let God listen to those many words; we should reserve the words for God. We should never pay attention to how others criticize or revile us. Those who find out what others say about them and then get angry, indignant, or vindictive are not qualified to be a deputy authority. Those who can be affected by revilings or who can be crushed by such words cannot be a deputy authority. Moses was a person untouched by reviling words.
When Moses was reviled, he did not vindicate himself. All vindication, justification, and reaction should come from God, not from man. Those who seek to vindicate themselves do not know God. No one who has walked on this earth has had more authority than Christ. But when the Lord was on earth, He never vindicated Himself. He is the only person who never vindicated Himself. Authority and vindication are incompatible. Whenever we try to vindicate ourselves before someone, it means that the person is our judge. Whenever we vindicate ourselves before those who criticize us, we are telling them that they are higher than us. A vindicating person is a person who is under the judgment of others. Those who vindicate themselves have no authority whatsoever. Whenever a person vindicates himself, he loses his authority. God may have committed His authority to us, but if we vindicate ourselves before men, we have lost our authority because we are begging them to be our judge.
Paul was a deputy authority to the Corinthians, yet he said, “It is a very small thing that I should be examined by you or by man’s day; rather I do not even examine myself” (1 Cor. 4:3). Vindication can only come from God. We should pass on all reviling and critical words to the Lord. When man’s revilings become too much, God will take action. But if we vindicate ourselves to anyone, we are in effect making him our judge. If we seek understanding from anyone, we are falling under that person’s feet. Hence, we must never vindicate ourselves and must never seek understanding from anyone.
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