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MIRIAM   4'0m1f Monologue: Miriam opposes Moses and gets leprosy

MIRIAM -- (enters wearing tunic, sandals and headdress, with
hands hidden in folds of tunic) Moses thought I should talk to
you. Actually, Moses said I should apologize to you.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Miriam. I am a
member of the tribe of Levi. I am the sister of Moses and Aaron.
I'm sure you all know who they are.

I'm sure you other tribes know that we Levites were set aside
from among the twelve tribes of Israel to be caretakers of the
Lord's tent of meeting. Our primary duty is to be servants of
the Lord.

Sometimes we forget that we are servants and we seek after our
own glory. But when we resist humility, the Lord will humble us.
I am a prime example of one who was humbled. When Aaron and I
tried to exalt ourselves above our brother Moses by insulting
his foreign-born wife, the Lord knew that we weren't really
interested in her family tree. He knew we were trying to replace
Moses as your leader. We were jealous. And we paid the price.
Unfortunately, YOU, paid the price with us. And for that, I'm
sorry.

Now, some of you don't know why we still have not gone into the
promised land. And so, I am here to fill you in. It's my fault.
My timing couldn't have been worse. I chose to attack the Lord's
annointed leader, my brother Moses, at the same time the Lord
was preparing to send the twelve men into the promised land to
explore it for us.

Because my humiliation was to last for seven days, the spies
were not sent until a week later than planned. I know that some
of you were concerned that my humiliation included getting
leprosy. But I can assure you that the leprosy the Lord gave me
in punishment only lasted for the seven days I was excluded from
the camp.

(shows hands)

As you can see, my leprosy is completely healed. But the damage
I did will last for years. You see, the twelve explorers all
heard about my attempt to seize power from Moses. They got it
into their heads that people can opposed the Lord's plan and
live to tell about it. So, I suppose it would have been better
for all of you if I would have been put to death for attacking
Moses' leadership.

Looking back, I'm sure that my attack on Moses probably eroded
the confidence of the twelve explorers in the Lord's plan to
enter the promised land. Because, when ten of the twelve
explorers came back from the promised land opposing Moses, I'm
now sure that their lack of confidence was because of my bad
example.

I'm sure that if I had not questioned the Lord's choice of a
leader for our people, the spies would not have been so afraid
of the enemy. We forgot how the Lord humbled the Egyptians with
plagues, how he parted the Red Sea and drowned the Egyptian
army, how he gave us manna to eat and water to drink by
miraculous means.

People of Israel, when we refuse to humble ourselves, we forget
how great the Lord is. And so, I apologize to all of you for my
lack of humility before the Lord. My lack of humility had a
chain reaction that ended with the Lord's declaration that none
of you will enter the promised land. And for this I am deeply
sorry.

It is now too late for us. But it is not too late for our
children. I urge you to remind your children what God has done
for us and what promises God has made for them when they finally
enter the promised land. Remind your children that they have
nothing to fear if the Lord is their leader.

©2013 Bob Snook. Conditions for use:
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