Numbers 12:6-8
What is written? (ESV)
And he said, Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. 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. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
What does it say?
God told them [Aaron and Miriam] that with the prophets, He would speak to them in a vision and dream and in riddles. But with His servant Moses, since he is faithful in all things, He would speak to him clearly and face-to-face as it were, so that he could see the very form of God. How was it that they had the nerve to speak against His servant Moses?
What is its immediate context?
Moses has led the children of Israel out of Egypt, and Miriam and Aaron (his sister and bother) are questioning Moses’ authority with Miriam’s statement, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” (vs 2) God hears this and is not at all pleased with them.
How Numbers 12:6-8 is applied across Bible answers
What distinguishes a prophet of God?
God reveals Himself to true prophets in a vision or dream, and it is only these whom He will tolerate to speak on His behalf.
Who are the messengers of God?
God is acknowledging Moses as a prophet of significant distinction. As the Creator puts it, He talked with him "mouth to mouth" and not in a vision as with other prophets.
Why did Jesus teach using parables (Matthew 13:10-13)?
God, the Father, spoke through His prophets in riddles.
