The book of Numbers brings us a very interesting story, one that we are all familiar with: The story of the serpent that Moses raised up in the wilderness.
The Children of Israel had once again become disheartened, and they cried out against God and Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” (Num 21:5).
So in the face of the constant grumbling and complaining, God sent snakes, the snakes bit the people, and the people died (vs 6).
The Children of Israel were instantly repentant: “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” (Vs. 7)
Then God had Moses make a snake out of bronze and set it up on a pole. And anyone who looked at the snake would be healed. (See Num 21:4-9, NKJV)
Now we know that this bronze serpent is a symbol of Christ’s death on the cross and of His redemptive power, for didn’t Jesus Himself make reference to this story? “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up…” (John 3:14, NKJV) But are there any further lessons that we can learn from this story that would apply to our lives today that would, perhaps, help us in our walk with God?
The first point I would like to emphasize is found in verses 5 and 6: “And the people spoke against God and against Moses…So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.”
Did you ever ask yourself where all of those deadly serpents came from?
A quick Google search confirmed that there are actually many poisonous snakes in the desert. 18 poisonous species live in the Sinai Peninsula alone, and among them is the carpet viper, which alone is thought to be responsible for causing the most snakebite deaths in the world.
So if the people were living in the wilderness, the home of the poisonous snakes, why does the Bible record that God sent the snakes among the people? Wouldn’t it be expected that snake bites would be a common thing? And that deaths from these bites would not have happened on only this one occurrence?
The inference here, friends, is that all through their desert wanderings, God kept the poisonous snakes from biting the people! The fact that they hadn’t suffered from snake bites prior to this was a sign of His protection over them. Therefore, it could be said that in order to send the snakes, all God had to do was to remove His protection from the people!
Having God “remove” His hedge of protection is a pretty scary thought, and I don’t know about you, but I’d like to know how to ensure that God’s protection stays with me. Fortunately, this story also provides us with important clues on how to keep God’s protection.
Verse 5 of this story tells us that: “the people spoke against God and against Moses…”
Thus, the thing that caused God to remove His protection from the people was that they spoke against Him and against Moses by their grumbling and complaining about the very things that were gifts of God: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” (Num 21:5)
Isn’t it an everyday occurrence to complain? We complain about our jobs, our spouses, our homes, our families, the world politics, the economy, everything. But aren’t all of these things that we grumble about actually gifts from God?
It’s true that things aren’t always exactly the way we want them to be. The desert “menu” was rather limited. But the point is, they had food and water, and when they complained about these things, they were speaking “against God,” the One who had provided them with what they had!
The next time we are tempted to complain, friends, let’s remember this story. Let’s remember that everything we have is a blessing of God. Instead of complaining that things aren’t exactly the way we want them to be, let’s thank God for what we do have, for in so doing, we will ensure that God’s protective power does not leave us, but will stay over us in all things.
Join us next week for The Serpent in the Wilderness, Part 2
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two, Author — “Aboard God’s Train — A Journey With God Through the Valley of Cancer”, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries. Follow Lyn on Twitter @lynchaffart.
(To access the entire “Serpent in the Wilderness” mini-series, please click here.)