The Monmouth inquirer., 1926-06-03
Great Personages
of the Bible
BY
REV. LEONARD A. BARRETT
Miriam

Miriam
hTIRIAM was the sister Of Moses.
AVA She impresses the reader OF her
biography as woman OF unusual
strength of character, shrewd and
brilliant. AS very little girl she first
attracted attention by accomplishing
what would ordinarily be considered
an impossible achievement. The Egyp-
tians were at war with the lsraeiites.
They desired TO prevent further en-
largement of the population of Israel,
and therefore decreed that every male
| child should be exterminated as soon
| as he was born. This decree con
vinces one that Egypt feared the
strength of the Israelites. While the
scheme of the war lords of Egypt was
far-reaching and promised apparent
success. all their brutal plans were
brought to naught through the shrewd-
ness of one little girl, Miriam. The
mother of Noses rather than part with
her son, as commanded by the Egyp-
tians, hid him in an ark of bulrushes.
A princess of Egypt, while bathing IN
the waters of the Nile, saw the float
ing ark Upon discovering the babe
of rare beauty and strength, she de-
cided to adopt him as her own child.
Miriam, who was hiding on the banks
of the river, saw the incident and i'm
mediately went to the princess with
the suggestion that, being of Israelit-
ish blood, one of their own race whom
she knew could be secured as nurse
for the child The suggestion was i'm
mediately accepted by the princess,
and Miriam brought as nurse her own
mother, the mother of Moses. This
act revealed an intellectual shrewd
ness very unusual in that day.
Throughout her entire life Miriam
was known for her songs. The intro
spective note is very pronounced in
all the music she sang. The theme of
Miriam's songs was "the past Her
songs are all interpretative of MEM
cries of the heart of Israel. She led
the Israelites with her songs. When
the forces hesitated at crossing the
Jordan river, it was the music of Mir
Jams songs which gave them new
vision and hope. Miriam, however,
had another side to her versatile ma
ture. Latent energies needed only the
torch of national pride to flame them
into action. very unexpected com
bination Of circumstances which
brought this about reveals Miriam as
national leader and heroine of re-
markable power. Moses had married
woman of heather faith. Miriam
felt that she faced two problems be-
cause. Of this marriage, the evil inf1u-
ence of her sister-in-law in the career
of her brother; and the responsibility
she owed to her people. Rather than
see Israel suffer defeat in an hour In
which the zeal and plans Of Moses
were very much misunderstood, she
went to the headquarters of the camp
of Israel and offered herself as lead
er in the place of her brother Nothing
less than a great faith In the future
of Israel and deep and unquenchable
love for her race could have given
Miriam sufficient strength to prompt
her to such an act This Is the earli-
est record we nave OF woman Qe-
handing political rights as a citizen
Of community.
1t Is impossible to measure the in
fluence of the music of Miriam's soul.
Had it not been for her songs of mem
DRY, doubtless courage would have
failed the Israelites many times. The
influence Of her songs in the career of
her brother, Moses, is beyond esti-
mate. Had it not been for the songs
of Miriam, the influence Of the heather
religion of Egypt would perhaps have
taken its toll from the brilliant and
heroic career of Israels leader.
No one can estimate the value which
music contributes to the moral prog
ress of a nation. If we would only
take time to sing, and those who have
no voice to sing '.heart the tune" we
shall make one Of the most important
contributions toward solving our eco
nomic and moral problems When peo-
pie sing together they grow to under
stand each other. Music draws hearts
and minds together It clarifies the
vision and motivates the heart.
90 1926. Western Newspaper Union)