The last message in the series

Pastor Devon Ortiz closed his series on the tongue with Numbers 12. The series has covered encouraging with our words, avoiding negativity, and speaking Christ, and he said it all comes back to one thing: the source of what we speak is the heart. If someone's speech is always sour or mean-spirited, that is a heart issue, and no amount of editing the tongue will change it until the heart changes. A bad attitude and bad speech go together. This week's question was what happens when the tongue goes unchecked.

Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses

In Numbers 12:1-16 Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman he married, and ask whether God has not also spoken through them. The Lord hears it, calls all three to the tabernacle, and defends Moses as His faithful servant who speaks with Him face to face. Miriam is struck with leprosy, Aaron pleads for her, Moses cries out for her healing, and she is shut out of the camp for seven days while the whole people wait.

Pastor Ortiz said the warning is not simply "do not talk rudely to the man of God." The warning is about not checking your mouth, which means not checking your heart and not checking with God. Miriam was a prophetess and a worship leader with a platform and influence, so what she said mattered. He said who you are matters because God created you, and no one can excuse their speech by saying their role is small.

Four errors in Miriam's speech

She made it personal. She did not like who Moses married, and her complaint was tied to the woman's ethnicity, not her character. It was an attack on the man, not on a decision or on his leadership. People do this when they have no real argument, Pastor Ortiz said: when someone loses an argument about church, they say all pastors are liars, or when a coworker is promoted they criticize how he dresses. Proverbs 11:12 says a man void of wisdom despises his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his peace.

She hid jealousy behind spiritual words. "Hath the Lord not spoken also by us?" sounded like defending God, but it was an attempt to lift herself up. He gave modern translations: "God uses different people in different ways" often means "I deserve what they got," and "let's just hope it's real" can mean "no one made a fuss about me." Satan did the same in the garden with "Yea, hath God said." Proverbs 14:30 says envy is the rottenness of the bones, and he said comparing yourself to others only makes you more rotten, because God made you to be a unique instrument.

She spoke against what God had established. God had put Moses in that place. Pastor Ortiz was careful to say that asking questions is fine, but this was a criticism of character that questioned God Himself. He tied it to honoring parents (Ephesians 6:2), working for your boss as to the Lord (Colossians 3:23), and obeying those who rule over you in the church (Hebrews 13:17), which he described as a submissive rule and not a monarch's. It is possible to disagree without dishonoring. He said he is glad when his staff tell him they disagree.

She forgot the Lord heard it. The last phrase of verse 2 is "and the Lord heard it." A complaint whispered to a friend, a criticism in a private group chat, or a late-night text feels contained, but God hears all of it, and Ecclesiastes 10:20 says what is said in private will come out. He said he has had messages written about him screenshotted and sent back to him. He also noted that negativity in the heart will eventually show in actions, as parents see when children hold resentment.

The cost

Verse 3 calls Moses very meek, and Pastor Ortiz explained that meekness is not weakness. It means holding authority and strength under control. Moses never defended himself in these sixteen verses, because God defended him, and God dealt with the wrongdoing directly and not in secret, the way a father calls his children out together. He said the speech of believers reflects the kingdom they represent as ambassadors of Christ, and that God took Miriam's discrimination all the way to its end: leprosy, being shut out, and Aaron, the high priest, having to tell his own sister she could not stay.

Proverbs 18:7 says a fool's mouth is his destruction. In real life, he said, gossip at work can get a person fired, trash-talking a spouse costs respect, and criticism at church always gets back to the person. Everyone else paid for Miriam's tongue too, since the whole people did not move for seven days. He pointed to Moses' answer, "Heal her now, O God," and to Jesus on the cross saying "Father, forgive them." Forgiveness is not a human thing but a supernatural one, and just because someone has spoken ill of you does not give you the right to speak ill of them. God healed Miriam but she still faced the consequence, and then she was restored, because spiritual people restore.

What to do

Stop making things personal. You can disagree without hurting the person (James 4:11).

Stop using spiritual words to hide your carnal nature. If you hear gossip, say "stop gossiping." If you want to pray about someone, go to the people involved, and if you do not want to deal with them directly, keep your mouth shut.

Stop speaking against what God has established. You do not have to agree on every decision, but if you cannot pray for someone, you have no business speaking about them.

Stop thinking your words are private. What you say in private, consider public, and if you would not say it to their face, do not say it.

Pastor Ortiz said the goal is not just to be nice but to love each other, because God made us one body, and a left arm that hated the right arm could not carry anything. He closed by asking whether our tongue is checked, and urged everyone to check their heart.