Thus much as to the typical bearing of our chapter. Let us now look at it in its moral and practical bearing. “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, ‘Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath He not spoken also by us?’ And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) 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. 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. 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. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all Mine house. 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?’ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and He departed. 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.” (Ver. 1-10.) It is a most serious thing for any one to speak against the Lord’s servant. We may rest assured that God will deal with it, sooner or later. In the case of Miriam, the divine judgment came down suddenly and solemnly. It was a grievous wrong, yea, it was positive rebellion, to speak against the one whom God had so markedly raised up and clothed with a divine commission; and who, moreover, in the very matter of which they complained, had acted in full consonance with the counsels of God, and furnished a type of that glorious mystery which was hidden in His eternal mind, even the union of Christ and the Church. But in any case, it is a fatal mistake to speak against the very feeblest and humblest of God’s servants. If the servant does wrong—if he is in error, if he has failed in any thing—the Lord Himself will deal with him; but let the fellow-servants beware how they attempt to take the matter into their hands, lest they be found like Miriam, meddling to their own hurt. It is very awful to hear, at times, the way in which people allow themselves to speak and write about Christ’s servants. True, these latter may give occasion; they may have made mistakes, and manifested a wrong spirit and temper; but we must confess we feel it to be a very dreadful sin against Christ to speak evil of His dear servants. Surely, we ought to feel the weight and solemnity of these words: “_Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against My servant?_”