Last night I hear a speaker, Beth Guckenberger, who spoke on something I had never thought about. After the account of exodus from slavery in Egypt, we read in Exodus 15:20 that “Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing.”
Beth set up the scene: God has freed the Israelites; it’s time to go! They don’t know where they’re going, how long the journey will take, or even what to pack. They gather their things as quickly as they can, and they follow God’s leading.
And Miriam packs her tambourine.
She packs a tambourine in anticipation of worshiping God. She anticipates a miracle. She’s ready to see the astonishing provision of God.
I picture Miriam scurrying around her slave-shack as she packs up her life. Whatever she chooses, she knows this: she’s going to worship.
So she always has that tambourine!