HEBREW WORD STUDY – DARK SECRETS – CHIDAH – הידה  

Numbers 12:8-9: “With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

God now has the attention of Aaron and Miriam, He has them alone and now He will explain why Aaron and Miriam were mistaken try to convince Moses to rejoin his wife.   God explains that he speaks to his prophets in dreams and visions.  It is understood by Moses and Miriam that prophets often remain unmarried or separated from their wives when God is revealing to them His message which he does in dreams and visions.  However, these dreams and visions are locked in mysteries and hence the prophet must be so focused on God to understand these messages that they cannot let a spouse distract them.  Yet, with Moses he does not play this cat and mouse game, God is much more direct and hence he is more than a prophet and if a prophet must separate from his spouse for a while, how much more must Moses. 

It is interesting to note that Moses is never called a prophet by God and yet he functions in that role.  Moses was much more than that, he was a leader, a king, a judge and a prophet and wrapped up in one.  Then God says that He speaks.  The word is debar which are word spoken from the heart.  God speaks to Moses’ mouth to mouth so this is an exchange of one’s heart with each other.  They share their intimate secrets like a husband and wife, things that they would not share with anyone else.   This is literally rendered as “Mouth to mouth speaks His heart in Him.”

When someone shares their heart with you they are sharing a very sacred trust.  They are literally saying that they have complete trust in you.  They would not share their heart if they did not have that trust.  Thus, God is not necessarily advising Aaron and Miriam that He speaks to Moses but that He has the utmost trust in Moses.  

Then he says: even mare’eh (apparently).  This is literally rendered as from seeing as it comes from the root word ra’ah which means to see both physically and spiritually. In other Semitic languages, this word is used to express the idea of a spectacle or as an impressive site, something to look at.  In the Syriac it has the idea of an appearance with human features.   So possibly God took on the form of a human which would mean Moses was speaking to Jesus that human manifestation of the God head.   Coming in as fire and smoke would have been too intimidating for Moses to share his heart so for Moses He took on a human form to put him at ease.  I believe He appeared to Moses as the Son of God.  The word son ben is an adjective which has a wide range of meaning. The very Semitic root has the idea of being built upon.  As a son is a part of his father in the sense he has his genes.  Right now I am looking out of my window and I see the sky is entirely covered by clouds only it appears to be one massive cloud filled with some dark spots.  One dark almost appears to be the image of a human. Let’s just say for illustration that this cloud which covers the entire sky for as far as I can see is God,  It is all-encompassing.   Let’s say I enter that cloud and I am now surrounded by the entire cloud. If we picture that like God that is what it is like in worship.  Then I approach that dark figure that looks almost human, that would be in this poor illustration God taking on a human form to converse with me.  Jesus is that personal link to the entire presence of God. Poor illustration I am sure but the best I can come up with.

Here is the key, God then says he does not speak to Moses in chidah.  What a strange word. The lexicon will say it means riddles, enigmas, mysteries, parables, puzzles or tricks.  This comes from the root word chud which comes from an Akkadian word meaning to speak in mysteries.  Rabbis teach in chidahs to help one think and meditate.  When teaching in the sciences you are giving facts that someone writes down and memorizes.  In the arts, you teach in chidah, words that one must meditate on and think and reason through.  God is admitting that He does speak in mysteries.  Why does He not speak plainly to us as He did with Moses?  Sometimes He does like in Moses’ case.  Most of the time, however, He speaks in mysteries.  Why?  I can only guess but my guess is that He is like that wife who does not tell her husband directly what is bothering her. The man is totally exasperated.  Why not tell me what it is directly?  Perhaps she wants him to see it in her heart, not in words. For it is more than words can express.  

Discovering the heart of God is a mining operation, not a turkey shoot. In a mining operation, you discover gold, silver, and diamonds which lasts forever. In a turkey shot, you just get dinner.

TOMORROW PART 4 AGAINST MOSES – BEMOSEH   

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