We May be Calling God Stupid and Not Realizing It

Have you ever felt jealous of God’s choice of someone to fill a position you wanted? I have.

Have you ever felt disappointed because God chose a different path for you than you wanted? I have.

Have you ever felt angry because God allowed someone inferior to you to become your boss? I have.

I think everyone has felt jealous, disappointed, or angry at some time or another, and yet I doubt any of us would have concluded we were calling God not very smart. Well, maybe I must confess I did realize it at the time—now that I think about it.

In Numbers 12:1-9, God reprimands Miriam and Aaron for being jealous that he chose Moses instead of them to be the primary leader for the Israelites. In effect, they were saying God was unwise to pick a man who had married a Cushite woman.

God questions Aaron and Miriam, who have been Moses’s right-hand man and woman, starting soon after Moses argued with God at the burning bush. They also are Moses’s siblings. Miriam, his older sister, was a part of the plot to save baby Moses’s life as she watched over him as he floated down the river.

But a lot of water has floated under the bridge since then, including this brother and sister complaining about Moses’ leadership and choices. And the fact God seems to be making him the more prominent leader when their spiritual skills and gifts aren’t being given the credit they deserve fuels their jealousy, criticism, and anger.

They speak against God’s wisdom and believe God is making a mistake. They don’t recognize the grievous attitude of their hearts is based on a lie about God’s nature. They are believing God is stupid. He isn’t wise. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. In reply, God says they should be afraid to make such conclusions about him.

God asks them, “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?” Interesting that he doesn’t say they are speaking against himself, but against God’s wise choice.

God identifies through his question the motivation for their grumbling and complaints against Moses. They have the wrong kind of fear. They aren’t awestruck by the wonder of God’s glorious being - he is in charge of everything. Instead, they are afraid of losing status and self-glory. God lovingly reaches out and calls them to account. He knows their hardened hearts are not good for them. Their criticism questions God’s wise choices.

Like them, we don’t recognize how our grumbling, criticism, and complaining result from believing God is not very smart. We aren’t in awe. We think we are speaking against a person or our circumstances, but we are actually criticizing and mistrusting God’s wisdom and sovereign control.

Fear is a very strong motivation either toward God or away. Every single one of us is energized by what is most important to us and what we consider valuable for meeting our needs. The potential of losing what has become an “idol”—what we are in awe of most and fear surrendering—can diminish acknowledging him as supremely wise. All we have to do to correct our thinking is to remind ourselves of the truth of Psalm 147:5, “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure” (ESV). “Understanding” (t-buna in Hebrew) is synonymous with ability, insight, skill, wisdom, and discernment. Aaron and Miriam are not thinking of God in those terms because it seems positions of influence and power are Aaron and Miriam’s idols. Miriam and Aaron said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” (Numbers 12:2). God questions their values because he knows their jealousy and envy is eating them alive.

In those moments when it seems dangerous for us to abandon our idol, let’s allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the reason why we are doubting God is ultimately wise. His very nature is total wisdom. He invented wisdom!

The next time you feel disgruntled, critical, disappointed, or jealous, examine your heart. Is there doubt about God’s wisdom? Let him show you how smart he really is.

Kathy Collard Miller is the author of more than 60 books, thousands of articles and blog posts, and has spoken both internationally and in over 30 US States. She and her husband of 53 years are parents, grandparents, co-writers, co-speakers, and lay counselors. They live in Boise, Idaho.

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This article is adapted from Kathy’s book God’s Intriguing Questions: 40 Old Testament Devotions Revealing God’s Nature, co-written with her husband, Larry. Copyright, 2023.