Why were you not afraid?

Numbers 12:1–16 is one of those stories that doesn't seem like very significant until you think about it. We have Aaron and Miriam bad-mouthing Moses because of the woman he married, and the Lord disciplines them for it.

There are a lot of questions I have about this story. Is Moses' Ethiopian wife Zipporah (Numbers 12:1)? Or is it someone else? When the Lord comes and stands at the entrance to the tent of meeting (Numbers 12:5), what did Miriam, Moses, and Aaron see? Was God literally standing there, like He did in Exodus 24:9–11?

Of course the real question about Numbers 12 is the question God asks, "Why then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?" (Numbers 12:8). And when I contemplate that question, I find myself under some conviction.

I am convinced that we soft-peddle the fear of the Lord. And by "we" I mean all Christians, but I think some of the most egregious offenders are people like me: people who believe in "free grace" and  God's unconditional love. (We can discuss "free grace theology" another time. It gets uncomfortably close to being an "-ism", and I'm not really excited about that. And of course there are some places I'm pretty sure the "free grace" crowd goes off the rails. But for the most part, I think "free grace" correct.) We've gotten pretty comfortable with saying things like "fear of God means fear of displeasing God" or "fear of God means reverential awe." The more I read about the fear of the Lord in Scripture, the less I think those statements measure up.

It seems to me that Numbers 12:8 is almost a type of Philippians 2:10–11. There is coming a day when God will point to His Son and ask, "why were you not afraid to speak against my Son?" 

John 5:19ff mentions again and again that our Judge in the Last Day will be Christ. It's a sobering thought that people who went around using His name as a curse word will find out that He's their Judge.

But the question isn't merely for unbelievers. We who know the Lord frequently live like we don't. And maybe the question we ought to be asking ourselves is, why we're not afraid to do that.