As the book of Exodus opens, life was bitter for the Hebrew people. They were treated harshly and cruelly, dreaded by the Egyptians who enslaved them. Only two sympathetic midwives stood between the Hebrew baby boys and death, and now came Pharaoh’s edict to all Egyptians – throw the Hebrew baby boys into the sacred Nile. It was a risky time, an awful time, to bring a child into the world.
Yet that is just what happened in Miriam’s family.
Our stories shape us. What we experience, and how we interpret what we experience, shapes how we see the world, see ourselves, and what we’re going to do try to survive and even thrive. And Miriam’s story shaped her as well.
I Protector, Exodus 1:15-2:10
II Prophet, Exodus 15:19–21, Micah 6:4
III Purified, Numbers 12:1-16, 20:1
Miriam’s life can teach us that even when you and I do not see it,
- the Lord is always there, working for the good of God’s beloved.
- Each person has a calling from God, and matters to God.
- “Counsel [motives] in a person’s heart is deep water; but a person of understanding draws it out.” Proverbs 20:5 (CSB)
I think Miriam’s story also shows us how trauma can warp us in ways we might not even realize, until God draws out what has been festering within. In God’s wisdom, Miriam experienced both the pain of exposure, and the deep and abiding joy of healing, restoration, and reconciliation.
We don’t hear much about Miriam after her bout with leprosy, but I think it is because she was now fully right with God, and her ministry now had shalom, that healthful, fruitful, wholeness that comes from God.
Each video is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study.
The “Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful” video series is a companion to the book, available on Amazon, and published by Wipf and Stock.