Open Heavens Friday 4th Septemeber 2015: Know Your Place

Memorise:
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he
himself is judge of no man. 1st Corinthians 2:15

Read: Numbers 12:1-10
1 AND Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses
because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had
married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken
only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?
And the LORD heard it.
3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all
the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
4 And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and
unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three
unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they
three came out.
5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the
cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and
called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came
forth.
6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a
prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself
known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto
him in a dream.
7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all
mine house.
8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even
apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the
similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore
then were ye not afraid to speak against my
servant Moses?
9 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against
them; and he departed.
10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle;
and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as
snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold,
she was leprous.

Message
Although Miriam was Moses’ elder sister and
leader of the women of Israel, she was a casualty
of God’s judgement in the wilderness. It is
instructive to note that an individual occupying
such a sensitive position could not escape God’s
judgement when she goofed. For speaking against
Moses, God struck her with leprosy. It took the
intercession of Moses to reduce her sentence to
one week; otherwise she might have died a leper
(Numbers 12:13-15). From this example, every
man should know their place and learn never to
speak against God’s servants. The more anointed
they are, the more dangerous it is to offend them.
If Psalm 105:14-15 is anything to go by, God does
not permit anyone to harm His anointed. If God’s
anointed offends you, apart from telling the fellow
directly, you can report the fellow to God who
anointed him or her, and God surely knows how to
deal with His anointed. Never take it upon yourself
to speak evil of God’s anointed, and never attempt
to cause such a fellow harm. If you do, God may
have to defend His anointed against you. Anyone
fighting God’s anointed is fighting the God who
anointed him or her and with God, this can get
very personal.
Our God is a God of structure, order and
government. From the example of Miriam in the
wilderness, we understand that God follows the
spiritual order of authority when judging His
anointed servants. To this end, God expects his
younger ministers to be submissive to higher
spiritual authority. We should also learn that our
God is a God of justice who will judge any highly
anointed person who tries to take advantage of
those under him or her. Are you highly anointed of
God? God has placed you as a role model to those
under you; you should therefore not misbehave
because you are occupying a high ecclesiastical
office. Don’t abuse your spiritual authority by
cruelly lording yourself over your subordinates and
making unreasonable demands. If your subordinate
is right in a matter, God will judge you, the
superior who has done wrong. This can be inferred
from the case of David and Uriah (2nd Samuel
11&12). Today, many believers are suffering in
several ways for fighting, opposing, obstructing
and gossiping about God’s anointed. It is
unfortunate that most people affected by this are
not even aware of it. It’s time to deal with your
problems at their root. Consider your attitude to
God’s anointed today.

Action Point
Examine yourself to see if you are suffering in any
way as a result of your attitude towards God’s
anointed. If you are, repent and restitute your ways.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : EXODUS 10-11 and ROMANS 7
Pst E. A ADEBOYE