I, too questioned why only Miriam was punished when Number 12:1 reads "Miriam and Aaron began to find fault with Moses." The Lord calls both of them out, but only diseases Miriam. Aaron actually says, "My lord, do not make us pay the penalty of sin..." (Numbers 12:11), even though he appears to be untouched. God's punishments seem so fickle. Abraham repeatedly lied about Sarah's not being his wife, and God wasn't angry with him at all; in Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira lie and are struck dead. It frustrates me that there is no "standard."
I always think of sacrifices as the worshipers giving their best to God or the gods to show their dependence and trust that He or they would provide for them, in spite of what they gave up; but, I'm likely reading the later practice of "tithing" into that too much. As we talked about in class, animal sacrifices more realistically had a lot to do with feeding the priests.
I have a question: Why do Jews no longer offer animal sacrifices? I'm certainly glad that they don't, but if the reason why Christians don't is that Jesus was the "ultimate sacrifice," then what is the reason for the Jews? I'm sure there is a very elementary reason of which I'm not aware.
