Meekness and the Human Heart

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About two weeks ago, I saw a report about three warrant officers from SAF get involved in a brawl in a KTV outlet. They were all drunk. They were intoxicated with alcohol and the primary or the first assailant does not quite remember what happened. He does not even remember that he hit another person. But this is what he remembered. He remembered that someone insulted him. So he kind of remembers that trigger – that he was offended, he was upset, he was insulted and he therefore took revenge. You know, this is very common for all of us. We get very triggered. We get upset quite easily when someone drives in a rude way, or we get very upset when we receive an unkind email in our office. It’s very hard to stay calm, cool, collected. It might be that someone insulted you as well, calls you a loser? This is the modern way, the kids way, “loser”. (A picture of a boy showing a “loser” sign was shown) And we find ourselves lose it quite easily and we want to take revenge. You know, I hear, let me ask you, “Do you know why diabetics cannot take revenge?” Because revenge is sweet. (laughter from the congregation)

We love to take revenge. When someone hits us, hurts us, insults us, we want to hit back because revenge is sweet. You kind of pay off an emotional debt. You want the person to pay. That’s why revenge is sweet. But we do know that in the Scriptures, we are not called to rage and wrath or vengeance, but that we are to be a people of forgiveness and control.

So the question is – How can you and I control that urge to take revenge? How can you and I restrain ourselves to live in temperance and self control?

Miriam’s Confrontation with Moses

Well, today’s story in Numbers chapter 12 is a story about meekness, about keeping calm, having that composure to trust God. And we’re going to see it in the life of Moses. (a picture of three characters Moses, Miriam and Aaron was shown) Moses is going to be depicted in that figure on your left side with the red headband. He’s going to be confronted. He’s going to be attacked by two people – Miriam and Aaron. But there is this comment right at the beginning in chapter 12 and verse 3, saying,

“Now Moses was very meek above all men on face of the earth.”

So today we’re going to learn about control, gentleness, meekness from Numbers chapter 12. And the title is — Meekness, Miriam, Moses and the Messiah. So it’s easy for you to remember, and that will be the outline for our thinking today.

So let’s look first at Miriam, that confrontation started by her. Now Miriam is the lady that is seen right in the middle. Miriam and Aaron, her brother who is the great high priest of Israel. That’s why you have that beautiful garment that you see on him.

“Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses.”

So they are undermining him. They are attacking him. And I think Miriam is mentioned first because she is the “dua tao” (leader). She is the instigator. She is the leader of opposition. And I know she is the leader because later on she is the one who will be punished with leprosy. So Miriam and Aaron would come and undermine Moses’s authority.

Now this is very interesting, because Miriam is no ordinary woman. Miriam is actually the sister of Moses. You may remember long ago when Moses was born, Pharaoh would want to kill all the baby boys. So the mother has no choice but to kind of hope for the best and place Moses into a basket. That’s why he’s called Moses. And his sister, Miriam, will be helping mum. She would watch what is going to happen with baby Moses. As the basket floated down the river now, she probably followed along until she saw that the princess of Egypt, Pharaoh’s daughter would see the baby, take a fancy, would love the baby, pick up the baby, and then Miriam would very, very cleverly go up to her and said, “Do you need a Hebrew lady to take care of this baby for you?” And she would go and get her mum to take care of Moses. It’s a loving scene. It’s a touching scene, a sister who cares for her brother. But somehow, eighty over years later, things have changed.

Now there is sibling rivalry in the family. Now there is a very sad family field because Miriam and her brother would speak against Moses. They said there is something that they don’t like about Moses’ wife because of the Cushite woman whom he had married.

“For he had married a Cushite woman”.

Now a Cushite woman is not a problem according to God’s Word because God forbids them from marrying Canaanite women, but not Cushite or Midianite women. But somehow Miriam is finding this offensive, or at least she uses this as a smoke screen, as an excuse to attack Moses. The real reason, however, is seen, I think, in a subsequent statement –

“Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?”

You see, Miriam is known as the prophetess in Exodus 15 and verse 20. But she does not feel satisfied with that. She doesn’t want just to be a Prophetess. She wants to be the Prophet. So she says, “Does God speak only to Moses? What about us?” And so the Cushite woman thing, I think, is just a smoke screen, an excuse, a convenient way to try to bring down Moses. “We don’t like your Cushite wife”, but the reality really is – “How can you have all the power here, Moses?”
(a cartoon picture of Miriam and Aaron was shown) So the cartoonist would draw it as such – “It’s always Moses and God!…God and Moses. Well, what about us?” Miriam and Aaron would say.

Moses’ Meekness and God’s Response

So Miriam is a picture of envy, of insubmission, of challenging the authority that God has set. Moses is being undermined. Moses is being attacked. What will he do? Well, we are told in verse 3, “He was very meek” Now this is really interesting, because who wrote this verse? Moses. He wrote the Pentateuch. He wrote the first five books. So Moses would say,

“Moses was very meek above all men on face of the earth”.

A bit self-praise lah. We always say self-praise is international disgrace. But I don’t think Moses wrote this to bring glory to himself. Not at all. I think he wrote this so that others would learn. Just as Israel complained against God, complain, complain, complain in chapter 11, Moses was different even when he was provoked. Now he did fail in Numbers 11, but at least in this incident, he didn’t. He responded well in meekness. So I think this is meant to be a picture of contrast. He’s going to teach us what meekness looks like. So two things about what Moses did and did not that I think teaches us a lot about meekness or gentleness or control.

Moses Opened Not His Mouth In Silence

First of all, we notice that Moses did not open his mouth. That’s important. Because when someone scolds you, the immediate thing is to scold back. The faster you scold back, the better, because if you pause, they think you stupid, so you better speak fast. But Moses did not open his mouth not at the beginning at least. Now I think that’s the inference, because the Bible says,

“And the Lord heard it, and the man, Moses, was very meek.”

The implication must be that the Lord heard it and Moses also heard it. But Moses did not respond in a wrong way but right way. He was very meek. He did not speak back. He did not counter accuse Miriam nor Aaron. He was silent. There was no recorded words from Moses. I think this is a picture of the New Testament passage that says,

“Repay no one evil for evil.”

He did not strike back. He did not avenge himself. He left it to the wrath of God. He left it to God to deal with, if I may say, his enemies, just as Romans 12 would tell us. And God absolutely did that because now God would call Aaron and Miriam to Himself.

“Suddenly, the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam.”

So before Moses said anything, God acted. God acted on Moses’s behalf, saying,

“Come out, you three to the Tent of Meeting.”

“And the three of them came out. And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.”

You know how scary this is? This…This is the “siao liao” (crazy) moment. “Sei lei, he gai sei lei”. Is meet, meet the police, meet the judge, meet the teacher, meet the principal, meet God moment. Three called and then two are called to step forward (jialat). I think they must be trembling as they fell down before God on their face.

“And God said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD myself, or I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.”

If it’s a prophet, I can give him my revelation through a dream and a vision.

“But not so with my servant Moses. He is greater than a prophet, because he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD.”

“He saw me not my face, but my back”.

As we learn in Exodus 33,

“God passed by and Moses saw the back of God.”

My servant, Moses is greater than a prophet. So how dare you?

“Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, Moses?”

I am the one who called Moses. Are you challenging me? Authorities are established by God. That is the principle that the Bible teaches, including this.

“So the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and He departed. And when the cloud removed from over the tent, Look! Miriam was leprous, like snow.”

So she was stricken, she was punished for her impudence, for her challenging of authority, for envy against her brother. But let’s not forget, I think the point here is not just that God will deal with our enemies, but that Moses was meek and opened not his mouth in silence.

Moses Opened His Mouth In Supplication

But that’s not all about his meekness, his non-retaliatory response, but it’s also important for us that to note that he eventually opened his mouth. But what did he open his mouth about? Well, if the first was a principle of silence when under provocation. The second is supplication when under provocation, because he prayed,

“O God, please heal her – please.”

I love the double entry of the word “please”. It speaks perhaps of his sincerity and deep desire. He doesn’t really want any harm to come upon Miriam, who opposed him. He really wants her to be well, so “Please heal her, Lord – please.” And again, I think this is a principle that we see perhaps in Matthew 5, that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Not easy. But that’s what is called for. That’s what it means to be the children of our Father. We would love those who attack us, and that’s what Moses did.

“But God said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days?” ”

So in those days, there might be a practice when a father wants to publicly shame his daughter because she has done something wrong, he would spit on her face and she will be under this shame for seven days.

“So God says, “Miriam oppose me, therefore, let her be shamed outside the camp for seven days, and after that she might be brought in again.” So Miriam was shut out the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march until Miriam was brought in again.”

I believe God heard the prayer of Moses, because she’s brought back. I think she was healed. But let’s remember Moses here. Opened not his mouth – Silence. And then he opened his mouth – Supplication. And I think that is why he is a model of meekness for us.

Understanding Meekness

What is meekness? We have looked at this story, but let me be very clear, a lot of us don’t like the word “meek” because it sounds like “weakness”. Just invert the “M” and you have the same sounding word, “meekness”, “weakness”. We think they are the same, but actually they are the complete opposite. A meek man is not a weak man. A meek man is actually a strong man. The word itself really means strength or power under control. A meek man is someone who has great strength to rein him, rein in his emotions. You see, it is natural, it is easy for us to hit back when offended. You don’t need strength to hit back. You can look macho, you can act fierce, but actually it’s a sign of weakness. You have very little self control, and it takes great strength when provoked, not to hit back. It was Martyn Lloyd Jones who would say, “Meekness is not weakness, but meekness does not use its power for its own defense or selfish purposes”. You can, you can fight back. But a meek man does not. He chooses not. “Meekness is controlled strength or power completely surrendered to God’s control.”

The Proverbs would tell us

“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.”

A man who is always flying into the rage of fury, who is easily triggered and provoked, he is actually a very vulnerable and defenseless person. On the other hand, the Bible tells us that

“One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty. The one who rules his spirit is better than he who takes a city.”

We think about war heroes. We think that they are great and powerful, but actually, God says conquering a city is no big deal if you cannot control your own spirit. It’s harder to control your spirit than to control another city. So meekness is great strength under control. A gentle person in provocation is not a weak person. He is a very strong person. It takes a lot of strength for you not to quarrel with your husband or wife, isn’t it? It’s very easy to quarrel with your husband or wife. She says something irritating and blare.…you give it to her. While it takes great control for you to hear all the provocation and say, “Lord bless you. I pray for you.” (laughter from the congregation). Takes a lot of strength. It takes a lot of grace for you to drive along the road and for someone to cut you, and for you to say,“ Hahaha..It’s okay. You go.” We all laugh, because we know how hard it is. How almost impossible it sounds. When someone backstabs you in the office, throws you under the bus, and you say, “No, I’ll still do good to John, even though he betrayed me, even though he slandered me, even though he cut my due, I will still pray for John.” Wow, that’s great control. It takes great control to stand firm in insults and still do good to them.

How does a…? Today a lot of corning jokes. How does a waiter exact revenge on his enemy? He serves him right. (laughter from the congregation). Okay, anyway, bad one. But I want you to be reminded of the fact that great meekness is not great weakness, but great strength under control. Now the question is, okay, I get it. I get meekness is not fighting back, taking revenge, because that’s the easy thing to do, that’s the natural thing to do. Actually, that’s the cowardly thing to do. It takes a lot of strength to be a man of composure and calmness and be collected. But how, how can I do that? What is it that I need to understand in order to do that? I say meekness stems from an understanding that God is in charge.

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Meekness stems from an understanding that God is in charge. Moses knew that God is in charge, and he didn’t need to defend or vindicate himself. In other words, meekness stems from faith, believing that God is sovereign and good. Thea who gives us Thea’s lexicon, the dictionary you use to check out Bible words. He says, “The meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice.” I don’t have to depend on myself. I depend on God. And God says,

“Don’t avenge yourself, but leave it to the wrath of God”.

So I trust Him. And therefore the meek are those who rely on God and not rely on themselves to exact vengeance. Gentleness or meekness stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over the situation.

I think one of the best passages in the Bible for you to understand about control and meekness and so on is Psalm 37. Because in Psalm 37, there’s this important verse which Jesus himself quoted in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5.

“Blessed are the meek”,

not the weak, but the meek, those who are controlled, those who surrender themselves to God,

“for they shall inherit the land, or the earth”.

And Jesus quoted from Psalm 37

“the meek shall inherit the land.”

What are the meek people like? Why is it that they can be meek? Let’s look at Psalm 37 very quick run through. It says,

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers.”

Don’t be worried. Don’t be anxious. Don’t be eager to take revenge.

“Be not envious of them.”

But instead, trust in the Lord. Don’t have to do it all by yourself.

“Trust in the Lord and”

instead of taking vengeance,

“do good”,

Serve them right. And then I think you will

“dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness”.

You will feed off the fruit of faithfulness. That’s the idea also in the Hebrew,

“Delight yourself in the Lord.”

Don’t take vengeance, but delight yourself in the Lord.

“Obey Him and He will give you the desires of your heart one day.”

“Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He will act.”

“He will bring forth your righteousness.”

You don’t have to fight for your rights or vindicate yourself or argue your case. He will do that. We say, “Shui Ruo Shi Chu”. (the truth shall be revealed one day) One day the water will go away and the rock will show one day. All those accusations would slip off and the reality will be known.

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”

“Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices.”

If I may say against you,

“Refrain from anger and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself, it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.”

Trust God. You see, it’s a very singular idea in Psalm 37 and then we come to that famous verse – “But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace”.

Don’t worry. Don’t fret. Don’t be anxious. Don’t fight. Don’t care. Do good. Trust God, he will deal with it. And you can go on and on, and I can go on and on until we finish all 40 verses in Psalm 37 but I will just jump to verse 40.

“The Lord helps them and delivers them. He delivers them from the wicked and saves them because they take refuge in him.”

Maybe today you have been accused. Maybe today you have been insulted. Maybe later on, you may be offended, and it’s very natural for the sinful heart, because out of the heart comes forth murders and evil thoughts. It’s very easy for us to respond in the flesh, but the Bible tells us, Well, God has given you a new heart. Let’s obey him. Let’s trust him. Let’s fear him. Let’s not think that we have to take things into our own hands, but let us focus on obeying God. Do good and let God vindicate in my ministry here, I have had many times, well, not many that would be exaggerating, a few times that there were misunderstandings. And I would say, remembering that God is the vindicator is helpful to keep me from trying to overly defend myself. I don’t think there is a need to if conscience is clear. And I think Augustine is right to say, “Lord, please deliver me from the lust of vindicating myself.” You know, we have that desire to always look good before people. Well, I don’t think that desire catered to overly is a good thing. You become overly defensive. You may be harsh on others, and I think the best thing is live right and trust God and do good. That’s the best philosophy.

So the Bible does tell us that this is what God wants to do in your life. He wants you to manifest, to evidence the fruit of the Spirit. And the fruit of the Spirit is characterized by nine things, and one of that is meekness. God wants you to be someone who manifests self-control – meekness. As God’s chosen ones, we are to put on these new clothes. Don’t wear the old clothes of wrath and vengeance anymore. Take that off, put on new clothes. That’s the idea here, including that clothing piece called meekness, not weakness, but strength under control. Titus. Paul would say,

“Be gentle and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.”

As Christians, we are to

“walk in a manner worthy of the calling. God calls you to Himself”

and He wants you to walk worthy. And one of the ways that you are seen to be worthy is when you

“walk with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another, in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

We exist for 37 years, and I think it is in no small part because you have endeavored to preserve the unity in the bond of peace, and you are cognizant of the fact that we should be a people walking with humility and gentleness. Thank God for that.

And then this is for leaders, for servants, for pastors, for disciple makers, for CG leaders, for anyone who is serving God.

“The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”

I think there can be a lot of smart people who can be very harsh when they correct others. Myself, I fall into that trap. There’s always that tendency. “How come you don’t know you’re wrong, lah?” But I think we need to be humbled to say, “Lord, give me grace to correct others with meekness, that I may walk in that meekness.” I pray that our leaders in our church will be not just well-educated people, well informed in the Bible, but meek. How you do it is important. And then this is for the wives. You know. Interesting thing is, when we talk about wives, the men look up. What does my wife need to know?

“Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle”

That’s the same word, Meek prowess and quiet spirit. So ladies, be quiet. Oh no, no, no, that’s not the same idea. Quiet spirit doesn’t mean you stay quiet, all right? But gentle, not naggy, not forceful, not overbearing. I think that’s the idea here and that is in God’s sight, something very precious. So “Blessed are the gentle.” Spurgeon, would say, “Those who are ready to be thought nothing of. They are lowly minded and are ready to give up their portion in the earth, therefore it shall come back to them.” So blessed are the meek, because they are not here to try to look good in front of people. They have given all that up, and they know that they are looking forward to God’s reward in the day to come. And therefore, as they trust Him, God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. And therefore it all makes sense.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

They are not concerned about what this world can give. They’re concerned about what God will give. So A W Tozer, he would say, “Jesus calls us to his rest, and meekness is his method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has, long ago, decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort. I live only for the audience of one God, and therefore, I don’t have to be overly protective of my reputation. I don’t have to be overly defensive. And if I should be persecuted or insulted or offended, I trust my God to be my defender and Vindicator.”

Jesus as the Ultimate Example of Meekness

So we’ve looked at Miriam’s opposition, we’ve looked at Moses meekness. But finally, let me end off to remind you about Jesus, the Messiah. My time is almost up. I’m sorry. So let me hurry this along this passage. Though focuses, though it focuses on Moses. I hope you see that it is not just about Moses, because this is quite a passage where there are overtones about Jesus, the Messiah. There’s an overtone about the Prophet role. There’s this is the whole thing. Miriam say, “Ah, why is Moses the ultimate prophet?” But that prophetic role of Moses mentioned here reminds us of that great prophetic role Jesus will take up.

Moses himself would say, “God will raise up for you a prophet like me.”

Moses is speaking about Jesus here. And I know that’s about Jesus because Stephen, in Acts chapter 7 is referring to this statement as a reference to Jesus Christ. So Numbers 12 has a mention of prophecy, or prophet, and it’s pointing to the great Prophet, Jesus. And then in Numbers 12, we also read about this idea of Moses being faithful in God’s house. And the Hebrews author also talks about Jesus being faithful in all of God’s house that’s in Hebrews chapter 3. So I’m using these two ideas to tell you.

I think this is a passage that should remind us of Jesus and so just as Moses was very meek, Jesus is very meek. He himself said, “I am meek and lowly in heart.” How do we know Jesus is meek? He was accused, he was maligned, he was slandered, He was whipped, he was crucified, and yet the Bible says, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth.” He did not fight back. He did not call down the legions of angels to obliterate the Roman soldiers. He did not do that. He demonstrated meekness, non retaliation, even though he had all the power to a picture of meekness. And the Bible tells us, “when they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he made no threats.” He did not say to God, kill them, but he said to God, the Father, “Forgive them.” That’s meekness, that’s not weakness, that’s great strength. And he did that because he trusts the Father. He entrusted himself to him who judges justly. And therefore, because of his obedience, because of his faith, the Bible tells us “God raised Him and exalted him to the highest place, gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father.”

Today we serve a wonderful, glorious Savior, great not just in holiness and power and might and love, but also meekness. He’s our example, and he lives in us today by His Spirit. May we follow Him. May we be a meek people on this anniversary. Perhaps it’s good for us to be reminded. Send a light in. Preach the gospel. Plant churches. But let’s also come back to the fundamental.  Let’s be the right kind of people, a people who follow Jesus, a people of meekness.

Let’s bow for a word of prayer together. Father, we thank you for Jesus, your Son, who lived a perfect life as a model and example. But more than that, he lives in us today now so that we might live in dependence on him to live out that Christ likeness. So make us holy, make us a meek people. May we follow in his footsteps, and today, we thank you that Jesus went to the cross and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And so we pray that friends here today will also come, turn from their sin and look to Jesus who died and paid for the sins of those who would believe on him. Please grant repentance and faith. May this be not just Gospel Light’s 37th anniversary, but may this also be the beautiful birthday spiritually for those who would turn and believe in your Son. Thank you. Jesus is both meekness and majesty, manhood and deity. We worship Him, we worship You, and we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.