The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

24 Their immediate complaint concerned Moses' wife, but the significant issue (based upon the response of God) was the freedom they felt to criticize Moses, apparently based upon a feeling of equality with him as channels of revelation. They reasoned that since God had spoken through them as well as Moses, they could take issue with him, "and they said , 'Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?' And the Lord heard it" (Num 12:2) . This situation provided the foil for God ' s answer concerning his channels of revelation. Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly , and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant against Moses? (12:6-8). The central issue was the man Moses and his uniqueness as a bearer of revelation. Moses wa the quiJitessence of one who received God's words directly and then delivered them to the people . Thus, if the author's allusion in Hebrews is to Numbers , then his comparison i between Jesus and Moses as the greatest bearer of revelation in the Old Te tament. Of all of the passages to which the author could allude , this one clearly delineates Moses a the mo t direct channel of revelation in the Old Testament. The official title 8Epanwv , "servant ," which occur only here in the T, i deri ed from the LXX, where the word is u ed of Mose not only in Num 12:7 but el ewher ( xod 4 :10; 14:31; Num 11 :11; Deut 3:24; Joh 1:2, 8:3 1, 33; 1 hr 16:40; Wi 10:16; 18:21) . In context it carrie overtone of dignity and honor and de rib a relationship of intimacy and tru t between Mo e and Yahweh . 39 That th author' u e of the incident in Numb r wa for th purp ff: u mg channel r lati n i r infor ed by hi m h pt r thr . H further plain th nc M ' f ithfuln ( :5), " M f ithful in 11 Hi w Ol 4' mh O we; 0 panw , 1 nl und m t t f umb r 1 . 9 L ne, H br i · , 7