Was the archangel Raphael lying?

 

The name Azariah means “God has helped” and

Hananiah means “God has shown mercy”.

  

In the Book of Tobit, angel Raphael pretends he is Azariah, the son of Hananiah the elder. Why did the Angel lie? Isn't it a sin to lie? - Catholic Cafe

 

Chris Cammarata has well explained the archangel’s resorting to subterfuge:

 

 In the Book of Tobit, angel Raphael pretends he is Azariah, the son of Hananiah the elder. Why did the Angel lie? Isn’t it a sin to lie?

 

It is a sin to lie, but the angel isn’t exactly lying. In this situation it’s more like he isn’t revealing the whole truth–at least not yet.

 

The nature of St. Raphael’s mission required that he keep his angelic identity hidden. Other angels in the Old Testament did this as well. Angels are fearful, powerful, and glorious creatures–that’s why they often begin their messages with “do not be afraid!” Masking their angelic nature serves a practical purpose–and it also emphasizes that God is the one who deserves the glory, not the angel.

 

The reason St. Raphael gives the name Azariah to Tobit in the first place is because he urges the angel to tell him where he is from.  So Raphael gets around it with a funny trick: he gives Tobit and Tobiah the name “Azariah, son of Hananiah.” The name Azariah means “God has helped” and Hananiah means “God has shown mercy.” So basically Raphael is disguising his identity while at the same time secretly hinting at it–his whole mission, as revealed at the end of the story, began because Raphael brought their family’s prayer before the Lord and so was sent to help them (see Tobit 12:11-20). He calls himself a “kinsman” and an “Israelite” as a way of showing that they belong to the same spiritual family–the people of God.

 

So you can sort of think of Azariah as the angel’s “codename” for the mission!

 

And just to clear up any confusion on lying, the Catechism notes that “the right to the communication of the truth is not unconditional” (CCC 2488). We have to judge in particular situations whether it is the right time and circumstance to reveal the truth. Being truthful requires prudence, too. Also, “no one is bound to reveal the truth to someone who does not have the right to know it” (CCC 2489). In the case of St. Raphael, Tobit and his family didn’t have the right to know his true identity–but in the end, he reveals it to them to “declare the works of God with due honor” (Tobit 12:11).The irony in the story of Tobit is that when St. Raphael first enters Tobit’s house and greets him, he tells him: “Take courage! God’s healing is near; so take courage” (Tobit 5:10). What does the name Raphael mean? “God’s healing” (or “God heals”)!

 

 

Book of Tobit provides template for the geography of Job-Tobias

 

 

 

by

 Damien F. Mackey

  

However, apart from the seeming advantages – but also the difficulties,

e.g. the “midway” factor – the Book of Tobit gives no indication whatsoever that Tobias had dwelt anywhere other than Nineveh, for the duration of his long life, except that he had headed to Ecbatana in Media after the death of his parents,

where he had lived out the remainder of his life (Tobit 14:12-15).

  

 

1.     Born in the land of Naphtali

 

If Tobit 1 is following a strict chronological sequence, then young Tobias was born in Naphtali shortly prior to the tribe’s captivity by Shalmaneser ‘the Great’ (who is my Tiglath-pileser, cf. 2 Kings 15:29). Thus Tobit tells in his Autobiography (1:9-10): “When I became a man I married Anna, a member of our family, and by her I became the father of Tobias. Now when I was carried away captive to Nineveh …”.

 

Tobias, who is my Job, may have been too young to have recalled much of this. 

 

2.    He travels to Media

 

Tobias, now a young man, and of marriageable age, will embark upon a journey to Ecbatana in Media, in obedience to his recently blinded father, and despite his apparent nervousness (5:2): ‘…. I don’t know how to get to Media’.

 

The Book of Tobit will not only determine the geography of the prophet Job (presuming that I am right in identifying Job as Tobias), but it also radically corrects the conventional geography.

For Ecbatana in Media, far from being to the east of Nineveh, as we all have thought, is actually to be found to be westwards of Nineveh, with Charan (Haran) said to be “in the midway” (Tobit 11:1) between Nineveh and Ecbatana.

 

This has prompted me, after much trial and error, to re-locate Ecbatana in Media to Adana (Adanya) in Cilicia, perfectly situated with Haran “midway” between Adana/ Adanya and Nineveh (see map).

 

And Richard Erickson has demonstrated, quite independently of all of this, that Elam and Media were, indeed, situated in Anatolia:

 

A PROBLEM IN CHALDAEAN AND ELAMITE GEOGRAPHY

 

(8) A PROBLEM IN CHALDAEAN AND ELAMITE GEOGRAPHY

 

3.    Job’s land of Uz

 

A BIG correction now needed:

 

I, in order, to ‘save’ the western movement of the travelling party: from Nineveh to the Tigris River to Haran to Ecbatana in Media, had eagerly latched on to the Heb. Londinii version of the Book of Tobit according to which the party’s destination was, in fact, “Bathania” in “Midian”. For a long time I was happy with this as being the resolution to the apparent difficulty of a journey to Media (supposedly east) of Nineveh, actually heading westwards.

This had a further seeming advantage of enabling Tobias, as Job, eventually to dwell in Bathania (Bashan), in the fertile Hauran region – {adjacent to the original home of Naphtali} - thought to be Ausitis, that is, Uz, where very strong traditions locate the home of Job.

 

However, apart from the seeming advantages – but also the difficulties, e.g. geographically, the “midway” factor – the Book of Tobit gives no indication whatsoever that Tobias had dwelt anywhere other than Nineveh, for the duration of his long life, except that he had headed to Ecbatana in Media after the death of his parents, where he lived out the remainder of his life (Tobit 14:12-15, GNB):

 

Then Tobias and his wife moved to Ecbatana in Media, where they lived with Raguel, Tobias' father-in-law. Tobias took care of Edna and Raguel in their old age and showed them great respect. When at last they died, he buried them at Ecbatana. Tobias inherited Raguel's estate, as he had inherited the estate of his father Tobit. At the ripe old age of 117, Tobias died, having lived long enough to hear about the destruction of Nineveh and to see King Cyaxares of Media take the people away as captives. Tobias praised God for the way that he had punished the people of Nineveh and Assyria. As long as he lived he gave thanks for what God had done to Nineveh.

 

{There appears to be some confusion concerning the actual age of the prophet, Tobias,

at death, 117 years given here, with other versions of Tobit differing from that

(e.g. 127 years), and with 140 years given in the Book of Job (42:16)}.

 

The Tobit narrative, in one fell swoop, renders entirely irrelevant the identification of Bashan/Hauran (Ausitis), as Job’s “the land of Uz … of the East”, which region has figured most prominently in previous Jobian reconstructions of mine.

 

It also seems to put paid to those traditions, albeit strong (e.g. The Testament of Job) that the prophet had ruled as a king (governor) of Egypt.

 

It would now seem inevitable that Job’s “land of Uz”, his East, was much further away from Israel (than Transjordanian Bashan), in Assyria, and that that is where his trials must have occurred. That “Uz”, in this case, could not refer to the traditional Uz, say, of Jeremiah (Lamentations 4:21), “… daughter of Edom, who dwells in the land of Uz”, suggesting a possible connection or proximity to Edom, south of Israel.

South is not East.

 

Can Uz be an actual outlying ‘suburb’ of Nineveh, say Alquš?

UZ = [Alq]-UŠ.

 

            Nahum and the Alquš (Alqosh) factor

 

A complicating geographical factor for me, when writing my article:

 

A north and south geography for the major prophet Isaiah

 

(8) A north and south geography for the major prophet Isaiah

 

had been the prophet Nahum’s home (Nahum 1:1): “A prophecy concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite”. 

 

Nahum, I had identified with Jonah, following the Book of Tobit’s (14:4) interchanging “Nahum” (GNT) and “Jonah” (WEB). But Nahum was also the great prophet Isaiah. This, however, was leading me into geographical complications, e.g. with Nahum being connected to Elkosh (“the Elcesite”).

 

It has long been suggested that this Elkosh was, in fact, Alqosh in Assyria.

 

Alqosh

Town 40 km. north of Mosul in Iraq. Seat of a Chald. bishopric. It now numbers around 5,000 inhabitants. Many families and individuals migrated from Alqosh to larger Iraqi cities (Mosul, Baghdad, etc.) or abroad, especially to the USA and UK. The town’s economy is based on agriculture (wheat, barley, chickpeas, lentils, beans, cucumbers, gourds, melons, grapes, and figs) and animal husbandry (sheep and goats). Traditional trades included weaving and dying cloth. Alqosh is a major spiritual center. Jews used to go on pilgrimage to the tomb believed to be that of the prophet Nahum, who, according to an interpretation of Nah 1.1, may have come from Alqosh.

Two important E.-Syr. monasteries lie close to Alqosh: the Monastery of Rabban Hormizd, founded in the 7th   cent., used to be one of the patriarchal residences of the Ch. of E., later moved to Mosul, then Baghdad, and the more recent Monastery of the Virgin, also known as ‘the Lower Monastery’ or ‘of Our Lady of the Seeds’. From the 16th cent. the cultural life of the village flourished thanks to the so-called School of Alqosh. Alqosh was pillaged several times, by Murād Bey (Bar Yak) in 1508, the Pasha of ʿAmadiyya in 1740, the Persians in 1743. People sought refuge on the mountain, in the Monastery of Rabban Hormizd, but there were rapes and casualties. Around the mid-16th cent. some of the population supported Yoḥannan Sullaqa, the first Chald. patr. elected with official approval of Rome. In 1767, around 100 of the 500 families were Catholic. Literary sources and annotations made by European travelers record recurrent cases of pestilence and famine, caused by draught or locusts, which devastated the region during the 19th cent. In 1832 and 1842 the village was attacked and pillaged by Kurds.

 

Obviously, Nahum in his various guises (Isaiah, Jonah) could not have originated from the Assyrian Alqosh. But he could have, as the prophet Jonah, dwelt there for a period of time during his Nineveh campaign, perhaps writing his book there, and thus being known for that period of time as an “Elcesite” (Alqoshite).

 

It would have been fitting for Jonah to have spent some time with his beloved Israelite people, exiled in Nineveh.

Obviously Tobit knew of him, having made reference to Jonah/Nahum in 14:4.

And it would not be surprising if Jonah had dwelt with, or close to, this Tobit family, presumably in Uz/Alquš.

 

I had this well in mind when I wrote towards the end of my article, “A north and south geography for the major prophet Isaiah”:

 

However, in a future article, perhaps, I may entertain the possibility that Elkosh was actually the Alqosh in Assyria, near Nineveh, and that that is where Isaiah, as Jonah-Nahum, would sojourn for a time during his mission to Nineveh. 

 

There may be a further clue.

When young Tobias (Job) was returning with his new wife, Sarah, the angel Raphael (and the dog), from Ecbatana (to Haran) to Nineveh, an unknown place called Kaserin is mentioned in close proximity to Nineveh (Tobit 11:1): “As they neared Kaserin, which is close to Nineveh …”.

 

This, I now suggest, was the family’s actual place of abode at Nineveh, nearby Kaserin, Alqoš (Kas- Qosh). It may be the much sought after Jobian “land of Uz”.

 

            Comparisons of Uz and Alqosh

 

While much work can now be done on drawing comparisons between Assyrian Alqosh and Job’s “land of Uz”, I can immediately see, at least, a few obvious similarities.

 

Firstly, no one could doubt that it was to the east of the Holy Land.

 

And the above description of the town’s economy fits well with the livelihood of Job and his family:

 

The town’s economy is based on agriculture (wheat, barley, chickpeas, lentils, beans, cucumbers, gourds, melons, grapes, and figs) and animal husbandry (sheep and goats).

 

It also appears to have an abundance of caves, a feature, too, of the Book of Job (30:6).

 

 

Feasts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

and the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

12-13th^th June, 2026

 

 

 

Plant that gave Jonah shade

 

“Over the years scholars have tried to identify the plant and worm.

While a good candidate for Jonah’s plant has been proposed,

the identity of the worm has proved elusive”.

Kevin Tuck

  

Jonah’s worm · Creation.com

 

Jonah’s worm

By Kevin Tuck

Published 24 Jun, 2024

 

The plant that sheltered Jonah, and the worm that destroyed the plant, might no longer be a mystery. After 2,500 years, scientists may have discovered their identity.

 

The biblical account of Jonah gives us wonderful examples of God’s mercy. First, mercy is given to a recalcitrant prophet, and then to the undeserving city of Nineveh.

 

Jonah had to learn obedience the hard way. The account tells us that Jonah was called to preach to Nineveh, but instead he decided to flee across the ocean to a distant land.

 

However, God’s calling could not be evaded. Events led to Jonah being thrown overboard, where he was swallowed by a great fish prepared by God. His life was spared, and he then went to Nineveh to preach.

Jonah was disappointed that the people repented, and so God showed Jonah his further wrong attitude through the object lesson of a plant and a ‘worm’:

 

Fig. 1. Jonah’s ‘vine’ Ricinus communis

 

Now the Lord God appointed a plant [qiqayon], and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm [tola] that attacked the plant, so that it withered (Jonah 4:6–7).

Olepa ricini

 

Over the years, scholars have tried to identify the plant and worm. While a good candidate for Jonah’s plant has been proposed, the identity of the worm has proved elusive. Now, after more than 2,500 years, it seems scientists may have discovered this.

 

Jonah’s plant

 

Over the years scholars have tried to identify the plant and worm. While a good candidate for Jonah’s plant has been proposed, the identity of the worm has proved elusive.

 

The Hebrew word qiqayon for the plant has been variously rendered as vine, ivy, or gourd in English translations. None of these is accurate. But there is now general agreement that qiqayon refers to the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis, which gains support from Church and Hebrew tradition.¹ In AD 404, the Church Father Jerome suggested the plant was then known to the Syriac people. It was fast-growing and could stand without support, being neither a gourd nor ivy.²

 

The identification of Jonah’s ‘vine’ as the castor oil plant Ricinus is of interest to Bible scholars and entomologists because it is highly toxic. The leaves and seeds are poisonous, and the leaf extract makes a potent insecticide—therefore very few insects can feed on the plant. It is also toxic to people and animals, and ricin has even been used as a chemical weapon! (But castor oil, made from the seeds, is safe. First, because ricin hardly dissolves in oil, and more importantly, the oil is heated to 80 °C (176 °F) which denatures ricin.) So, how could a worm (tola) feed on Jonah’s plant if it is so poisonous?

 

Fig. 2. Leaf of Ricinus communis

 

‘New’ moth species described in Israel

 

Despite this toxicity, in recent years a beautiful species of tiger moth has been discovered in Israel, which in its caterpillar stage can feed upon Ricinus without harm. The moth was at first thought to be new to science and described under the name Olepa schleini.³ However, it has since been found to be the same species as Olepa ricini, which is known in Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.⁴ The caterpillars can cope with the toxins because they have very high activity of a detoxifying enzyme called glutathione S-transferase (GST).⁵

 

The habits of the caterpillars of O. ricini match the account given in the book of Jonah. They normally feed at night, and they can quickly destroy a Ricinus plant. (They also feed on useful plants such as cotton, maize, sweet potato, and banana.)

 

The caterpillars usually leave the plant before sunrise, and hide from the heat among dry leaves nearby.

 

Fig. 3. Larvae of Olepa ricini feeding on Ricinus communis (castor oil plant),

September 2017, Glilot, Israel.

 

Supernatural supplementing the natural

 

Jonah 4:10 says that the plant “came into being in a night and perished in a night”. Supernatural action is obviously involved with several aspects of the Jonah account, but in such a way that much of it still happens ‘naturally’:

 

Bible believers should not be surprised that the text of Scripture once again correlates with an aspect of observational science.

 

• Jonah could not naturally survive unharmed for three days inside the belly of any ocean creature. But it may well be natural for one of the marine monsters in creation’s catalogue to swallow such a mammalian morsel.
• A Ricinus plant would not normally reach a size large enough to shade a man within a night—but it is rather fast-growing. Similarly:
• The plant may well have succumbed faster than usual—but the natural destruction this caterpillar wreaks can be very rapid (fig. 3). And its attacks do take place at night, as the verse suggests.

 

It may appear surprising that an insect so destructive to Ricinus should have gone undocumented in the Middle East for so long, but the insect appears to be quite scarce there. While there are fears it may be on the verge of extinction, it has managed to survive for 2,500 years without anyone reporting on its behaviour.⁶

 

Summary and conclusion

 

This caterpillar’s feeding behaviour on Ricinus and its occurrence in the Middle East make it an extremely likely candidate for Jonah’s ‘worm’.¹ Bible believers should not be surprised that the text of Scripture once again correlates with an aspect of observational science.

….

 

 

 

Moses found the Israelites revolting

 

by

 Damien F. Mackey

 

Aaron hilariously (if it weren’t so serious) replies (Exodus 32:24):

“So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’, and they gave it to me.

When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!’”

As if the end result were pure accident.

  

Introduction

 

Once mighty Egypt, now - following on from the devastating Plagues and the Exodus - would cease to be a power for a long time, virtually disappearing from the Bible for roughly half a millennium. And, despite the fact that the Exodus Israelites had, in their first encounter with an enemy, defeated the Amalekites at Rephidim (Beer Karkom), the Amalekites would continue for that period of time to be a dominant power in the land of Canaan.

They may well even have overrun fallen Egypt, as the warlike Hyksos people, referred to by some (e.g. Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky) as Egypt’s “Eleventh Plague”.

 

The great man, Moses, who had been commissioned to leave his settled existence in the land of Midian in order to lead his people out of the House of Bondage (Egypt), now found himself carrying on his shoulders a people who continued to be ungrateful and rebellious.

 

The burden would be eased to some extent by his sage Midianite father-in-law, Jethro, advising him to delegate responsibilities, so as not to exhaust himself (Exodus 18:18): ‘You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself’.

 

Returning back to Mount Sinai, Moses will receive from the hand of Almighty God the Ten Commandments, and he will be given a code of Laws: all included in the Torah.

 

This important set of regulations will be emulated by nations down through the ages.

 

For example, the famous Hammurabi, King of Babylon, wretchedly mis-dated and thought to have influenced Moses - but actually reigning centuries later than Moses, at the time of King Solomon - will depict himself as receiving from the hands of his god, Shamash, the famous Law Code, which includes the lex talionis (“eye for an eye”).

 

The Spartans, for their part, have totally appropriated Moses in their famed Lawgiver, the, albeit fictitious, Lycurgus.

 

The young warrior, Joshua, who had “defeated Amalek and his army with the sword” (Exodus 17:13), was fast becoming Moses’s right-hand man, even accompanying him up the sacred mountain (24:13-14).

Aaron and Hur, and other elders, were instructed to “bow in worship at a distance” (24:1). Would this be taken as a slight, prompting later rebellion?

 

Moses was also given instructions to build the Tabernacle, the model for the later Temple built by King Solomon in Jerusalem, and the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25), and to include other liturgical features and offerings (Book of Leviticus), such as the priestly garments, so beautifully described much later by Sirach 45:6-17:

 

The Lord raised up Aaron, a holy man like his brother Moses, of the tribe of Levi. He made an eternal covenant with him, giving him the privilege of serving as priest to the Lord's people. He honored him by clothing him with magnificent robes and fine ornaments, perfect in their splendor. He granted him the symbols of authority: the linen shorts, the shirt, and the robe with the pomegranates around the hem. Gold bells were also around its hem, so that when he walked, their ringing would be heard in the Temple, and the Lord would remember his people. The Lord gave Aaron the sacred robe with the gold, blue, and purple embroidery; the breastpiece with the Urim and Thummim; the red yarn, spun by an expert; the precious stones with names engraved on them, mounted in a gold setting by a jeweler, placed on the breastpiece to remind the Lord of the twelve tribes of Israel. He gave him the turban with the gold ornament engraved with the words Dedicated to the Lord. It was expertly crafted, a beautiful work of art, and it was a high honor to wear it. Before Aaron's time such beautiful things were never seen. No one but Aaron and his descendants ever wore them, or ever will. The grain offering is to be presented twice a day and burned completely.

 

Moses ordained Aaron to office by pouring the sacred anointing oil over his head. An eternal covenant was made with him and his descendants, that they would serve the Lord as his priests and bless the people in the Lord's name. The Lord chose Aaron out of the whole human race to offer sacrifices, to burn fragrant incense to remind the Lord of his people, and to take away their sins. He entrusted the commandments to Aaron's keeping and gave him the authority to make legal decisions and to teach Israel the Law.

 

As I. Kikawada and A. Quinn would point out in their classic, Before Abraham Was. The Unity of Genesis, 1-11 (1984), Moses was presenting himself here as a ‘new Noah’, an Ark builder, covenant maker, etc.

 

Though no legend supports it, so I believe, it would be a nice symmetry if Karkom were the place where Noah, too, had built an Ark.

 

We read in a previous article, “Brilliant reconstruction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness”, how engineer Flavio Barbiero and his brother were able to reconstruct to exact specifications, from the imprint that it has left at Karkom, the Tabernacle that Moses had built.

 

See Flavio Barbiero’s book on this (2025), and his article:

 

THE CAVE OF TREASURES ON MOUNT HOREB

 

(14) THE CAVE OF TREASURES ON MOUNT HOREB

 

Now the troubles will really begin.

 

Israel’s Revolts

 

(i)      The Golden Calf

 

With Moses spending long periods of time with the Lord on the holy mountain, the briefly gruntled Israelites were now becoming totally disgruntled, dissatisfied and rebellious (Exodus 32:1): “When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered round Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt – we don’t know what has happened to him!’”

 

Joshua, ever staying close to Moses, would have no part in any of this.

 

The story of the Golden Calf is well known.

I would just like to recall the ridiculously lame excuse given by Aaron when confronted by his angry brother Moses (Exodus 32:21): “Then Moses asked Aaron, ‘What did these people do to you that you have led them into such a grave sin?’”

 

Aaron hilariously (if it weren’t so serious) replies (Exodus 32:24): “So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’, and they gave it to me. When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!’” As if the end result were pure accident.

 

For me, Aaron’s comment ranks with two other occasions of Old Testament humour, whether intended or not.

 

One, Gideon, the Israelite warrior, and leader of 300, who has been appropriated into Greek folklore as Leonidas and the 300 (Gid-eon Grecised to [N]id[as]-[L]-eon).

 

Gideon, under fierce pressure from the Midianites and the Amalekites, fires back (though respectfully) at the Lord, who had just said through his angel (Judges 6:12): ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior’, to the effect that, ‘If you are with us, Lord, then why are we copping this shellacking’?

 

Two, the remark made by the Philistine king of Gath, Achish, ‘… am I so short of madmen …?’, when David, who had been forced to flee the wrath of King Saul, feigned madness, dribbling and scratching at the doors of Gath.

 

“Achish said to his servants, ‘Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me?’” (I Samuel 21:14-15).

 

After Moses had, by the agency of armed Levites, slaughtered about 3000 of the rebels, the Lord weighed in by sending a plague upon the Israelites (Exodus 32:27-35).

 

Moses will be consoled not long afterwards by encountering the Glory of the Lord (Exodus 33:18-23).

 

When, in Deuteronomy 18:15, 18, Moses states to Israel that:

 

‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you’, he was not, as certain Moslem apologists hopefully insist - to deflect from its proper fulfilment in Jesus Christ (Acts 3:22) - referring to natural similarities, such as being married, having children, leading battles, and so on.

No, Moses was referring to his being empowered to speak “face to face with God” (Exodus 33:11).

 

Mohammed was unable to do this - well, for one, because he never actually existed!

See e.g. my article:

 

Zakir Naik’s apologetical tactic meant to embarrass Christians

 

(14) Zakir Naik's apologetical tactic meant to embarrass Christians

 

After all of the liturgical items (Ark of the Covenant, Tabernacle, vestments, etc., etc.) had been completed, the Glory of the Lord (popularly known as the Shekinah) filled the Tabernacle.

Later it would fill the Temple in Jerusalem built by King Solomon (2 Chronicles 7:1).

 

The new Israelite liturgy was soon in full swing.

 

(ii)    Miriam and Aaron oppose Moses

 

Numbers 12:1-3

 

Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. ‘Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?’ they asked. ‘Hasn’t he also spoken through us?’ And the Lord heard this.

 

(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

 

Joseph of Egypt, likewise much favoured by the Lord, had experienced the same sort of jealousy from his older siblings.

 

For this, the Lord struck Miriam leprous.

Moses immediately interceded for her and she was healed (vv. 10-15).

 

Because Moses had a “Cushite wife” - and perhaps because of legends having Moses leading Egyptian armies into Ethiopia (Cush) - commentators can argue that the wife of Moses, Zipporah, was actually a dark skinned African.

 

We know, however, that she was a Semitic Midianite.

And Flavio Barbiero, again (op. cit.), has explained, with reference to Habakkuk 3:7: “I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish”, that Cush- was also a term associated with Midian.

 

Aaron and Miriam may have been put off by her foreignness. Even though Zipporah’s Midianite people, too, were Abrahamic, their practices did not always conform to those of Israel. For instance, Moses got himself into serious trouble with the Lord for failing to circumcise his son, Gershom (Exodus 4:24-26) - he no doubt bowing to pressure from his Midianite relatives whose practice was to circumcise late, before marriage.

 

(iii) Korah’s rebellion

 

Numbers 16:1-4

 

Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:

 

Here, again, led by a Levite, Korah, are those rotten, revolting, Reubenite rascals, Dathan and Abiram, whom we met already back in Egypt as troublemakers for Moses. They are the Jannes and Jambres (Mambres) whom Saint Paul will much later excoriate as “men of depraved minds” (2 Timothy 3:8).

 

Some of these various opposers of Moses may have been men of high standing in Egypt’s mighty Twelfth Dynasty, so-called.

One or other of the two brothers is supposed to have said to Moses (Exodus 2:14): ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?’ Moses, as the important Mentuhotep, was, indeed, a “ruler” (Vizier) and (Chief) “judge” at this particular time.

 

Like Aaron’s sons (Leviticus 10:1-2): “But Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censor and put fire in it and put incense upon it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. Therefore, a fire went out from the LORD and devoured them. So they died before the LORD”, these wicked men, Korah, Dathan, Abiram, etc. would suffer a terrible, fiery fate.