When have you been thankful for someone s criticism? #BeautyfromAshes QUESTION 1 BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE LifeWay

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1 When have you been thankful for someone s criticism? QUESTION 1 #BeautyfromAshes BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 83

2 THE POINT A critical spirit damages our lives. THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE Criticism has sunk to a whole new level in recent years. Manners have given way to meanness. Charles Barkley, former NBA player, is known to be tough and plainspoken, but he avoids social media for the simple fact that people are so mean-spirited and critical of others in our current American culture. It s easy to embrace a critical spirit, and we don t need Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to do it. It s hardwired into our fallen nature. When we compare ourselves with others, our own sense of insecurity wants to bring others down and elevate ourselves. We begin to pass judgment on them their motives, actions, and thoughts as if we have the right to do so. We damage lives including our own when we criticize. We will see an example of that in Miriam, but we also will see that the discontentment underneath our criticism can only be broken when we place our focus back on God. 84 SESSION 3

3 WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? Numbers 12:1-11,13-15 (HCSB) 1 Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman). 2 They said, Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does He not also speak through us? And the Lord heard it. 3 Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth. 4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, You three come out to the tent of meeting. So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came forward, 6 He said: Listen to what I say: If there is a prophet among you from the Lord, I make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7 Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My household. 8 I speak with him directly, openly, and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. So why were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses? 9 The Lord s anger burned against them, and He left. 10 As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam s skin suddenly became diseased, as white as snow. When Aaron turned toward her, he saw that she was diseased 11 and said to Moses, My lord, please don t hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. Cushite (v. 1) This term may refer to Moses wife Zipporah ( Midianite and Cushite were used as synonyms), or to a second wife he possibly married after Zipporah had died. The form of the Lord (v. 8) The term rendered form means likeness or semblance. This phrase most likely refers to some type of a visible representation of God, but not to His full glory. Diseased (v. 10) The Hebrew term was used for a wide variety of skin diseases, ranging in severity of effects from white spots on the skin to the loss of fingers and toes. 13 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, God, please heal her! 14 The Lord answered Moses, If her father had merely spit in her face, wouldn t she remain in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in. 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought back in. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 85

4 THE POINT A critical spirit damages our lives. Numbers 12:1-3 God had called Moses to an unprecedented task. Moses not only led all the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, but he also led them through the desert to the edge of the promised land a task that ultimately took 40 years. Serving alongside him, though, were his two older siblings, Miriam and Aaron. Miriam and Aaron verbally criticized Moses because of his wife. They evidently didn t like the woman he chose to marry because, they said, she was a Cushite. They may have been speaking about Zipporah, Moses wife, who was from Midian, or about another woman he later married. Either way, it was clear their complaint concerned the woman s ethnicity. It appears they weren t happy with her and they weren t happy with Moses for marrying her. But there is more to this story. The real issue came out when they questioned, Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does He not also speak through us? Their dislike of Moses wife was only a facade a smokescreen that covered the real issue. Miriam and Aaron were jealous! They were comparing themselves with their brother. Moses was God s mouthpiece. He had the platform and the prominence. He was the miracle worker on a first-name basis with God and met with Him face to face. All eyes were on Moses. Miriam and Aaron may have felt they had all the qualities of a good leader, but Moses had something they didn t: humility. Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth. Now that s saying something. God was doing great things through Moses, yet he acted as if he was unaware of his giftedness. There s no room for humility in a critical heart. What are some of the main motivations behind our desire to criticize? QUESTION 2 86 SESSION 3

5 Numbers 12:4-11 God was not pleased. Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, You three come out to the tent of meeting. This verse gives me flashbacks of middle school when I was regularly called out of class to the principal s office. To get called out of class usually meant someone was in trouble and that s what it meant for Miriam and Aaron. God won t tolerate a critical spirit. He confronted Miriam and Aaron, and He corrected their thinking and attitude toward their brother. And then He disciplined them. Ouch. As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam s skin suddenly became diseased, as white as snow. Miriam was left with a skin disease as a result of her sin. Scripture doesn t say why Miriam alone received judgment, but it may indicate that she was the primary instigator in the confrontation with Moses. There is always a price to pay for having a critical spirit, and not just by the people we hurt with our jealousy and criticism. We personally pay the price. While it s not likely that we ll be stricken with an infectious skin disease as punishment, we may suffer in a similar way that lepers did. When a person developed a skin disease in the Israelite community, he or she was separated from the rest of the people. Isolated. When we re critical of others, it grieves the Holy Spirit who calls us to be kind and compassionate (Ephesians 4:30-32), which causes a break in our fellowship with God. In both cases, criticism separates us from others. Let me address one specific area of criticism. God equips His followers with gifts and abilities for use in His kingdom. We don t get to pick the gifts, but we do get to choose how we respond to the way God distributes those gifts. If we react negatively like Miriam and Aaron did by comparing themselves with Moses we risk losing our effectiveness in using the gifts God has given us for His glory. Why? We become so obsessed with the shortcomings of others that we no longer can move forward and use our own gifts for the gospel. What price do we pay for having a critical spirit? QUESTION 3 BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 87

6 THE POINT A critical spirit damages our lives. How can we help one other avoid a critical spirit? "Comparison is the thief of joy." T H E O D O R E R O O S E V E LT QUESTION 4 GRACE > JUDGMENT Choose one of the following scenarios and identify two ways to approach and extinguish a critical spirit. You re in mid-conversation with fellow coworkers and realize the words you re about to say are harsh and dishonoring. You re with a close friend having lunch and he quickly turns critical of a mutual friend you both share. You ve posted something on social media that unintentionally garnered a vicious argument in the comment section. How do we make the shift from a critical spirit to an honoring one? 88 SESSION 3

7 Numbers 12:13-15 When God disciplines us, He has a purpose. His discipline is to bring us closer to Him and make us more fruitful in the future. Jesus said, I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. (John 15:1-2). A critical spirit is like a dead limb. It never bears good fruit. It must be cut out of our lives. It creeps up in our hearts and steals away our ability to worship God with a pure heart. When this happens, God will discipline us to make us fruitful. God struck Miriam with a skin disease, but His purpose was to discipline, not condemn. Aaron confessed in verse 11 identifying what he and Miriam had done as sin and he pleaded for her deliverance. Moses also prayed, God, please heal her! (v. 13). God responded. It s not clear if the healing was immediate, but the fact that Miriam could be brought back into the camp after seven days indicates that God healed her. As a part of the discipline process, Miriam still had to endure being isolated from the others for seven days. (The law in Leviticus 13 required this as a part of dealing with skin diseases.) By God s grace, Miriam s condition was not fatal and it was not final. Miriam was confined for a short season outside the camp, but she was eventually restored and reunited with her family. Ultimately, Miriam was remembered not for her critical spirit, but for her leadership. Micah 6:4 identifies her, along with her brothers Aaron and Moses, as part of God s plan to rescue His people from Egypt and redeem the Israelites from the land of slavery. People often isolate themselves through a critical spirit. What steps can we take to restore them to the community? QUESTION 5 Just as Miriam and Aaron s failures in this area were not the final word, neither does it have to be in our lives. God also can redeem us from a critical spirit. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 89

8 THE POINT A critical spirit damages our lives. LIVE IT OUT What can we learn from Miriam s experience? It s best to deal with a critical spirit swiftly. Evaluate your habits. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being always and 10 being never ), how would you rate yourself as being critical? Change your patterns. For one full week, avoid saying anything critical to anyone. After the week is over, take note of any differences you noticed in yourself and your relationships. Own your critical-spirit moments. Refuse to let them control you. Think about someone with whom you ve been extremely critical. During the coming week, confess your critical spirit and apologize for your words. The cure for criticism is celebration. If you want to kill the critic inside you, begin celebrating the success of others. Ask God to redeem you from a critical spirit and move forward in the plans He has for you. My thoughts 90 SESSION 3