When God Speaks in Riddles (Numbers 12)
When God Speaks in Riddles (Numbers 12)
When Miriam and Aaron challenged Moses’ authority, God answered in no uncertain terms. “When there is a prophet among you, I reveal myself in visions, I speak in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses… With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles.”
Moses’ voice is unique in clarity — he foreshadows Jesus, the one through whom God’s Word would finally be spoken without distortion or veil. But the question remains: why does God so often speak through riddles, symbols, and partial understanding?
1. To remind us of our limits
Riddles are God’s way of reminding us that we are not God. His speech humbles human knowledge. Western Christians, shaped by Descartes and the Enlightenment, tend to idolise certainty. We crave airtight systems and tidy doctrines. Yet mystery calls us to worship, not control. God is not a problem to solve but a presence to trust. Confidence should rest not in our precision but in the fact that God has spoken at all.
2. To form our hearing
Riddles force us to wrestle — not only with what God says, but with how we listen. We must own our interpretations, test our conclusions, and be willing to have them reshaped. What we believe, we live. Grappling with God’s voice matures us. Revelation becomes formation.
3. To cultivate dependence and humility
If God told us everything plainly, we’d stop listening. Riddles draw us back to Him. Like manna, revelation arrives daily — just enough for trust, not enough for mastery.
4. To engage the imagination
When God speaks in dreams and visions, He awakens the creative part of our humanity. Faith isn’t merely deductive; it’s imaginative, relational, participatory. Riddles invite reflection and prayer, not mere analysis.
5. To reveal safely and sift the heart
God’s veiled communication protects us from being overwhelmed, and it separates the seeker from the scoffer. Those who lean in, listen, and obey are drawn deeper.
In Christ, what was once riddle becomes revelation. Yet even now, God still speaks in ways that invite humility, wonder, and trust. The goal is not perfect comprehension, but deeper communion.