Last week, in The Serpent in the Wilderness, Part 2, we saw that though God doesn’t always “remove” our problems, but He always provides a way out. That “way out” comes by looking to the cross, where Jesus was “lifted up.” We have hope because Jesus laid down His life for us. We can be healed of the fatal bite of the “serpent,” the devil, simply by putting our trust in the One who gave of Himself for all of mankind.
But why would God have chosen a serpent for Moses to put on the pole? I don’t know about you, but I find it strange that when the people were bitten, they were instructed to look at an image of the very thing attacking them. Why wasn’t it an image of–say–the Ark of the Covenant or the Mercy Seat? The place where God met with the people in those days? Or since we know that Jesus would later referred to this incident as being a forerunner of His sacrifice for us on the cross (“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up…” John 3:14, NKJV), why wasn’t the image in the shape of a cross?
These “why” questions bothered me for quite awhile, and I realized God was trying to teach me two important lessons:
1. The very things that we see as our most “negative circumstances” can become our greatest blessings, for when the people looked to an image of the very thing that was killing them, they lived: “…and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Num 21:8-9, NKJV); and
2. When we are brought face to face with our negative circumstances, our job is to lift them up–To give them to God! “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up…” (John 3:14, NKJV). In other words, whatever it is that is our “fiery serpent,” we need to surrender it 100% to God!
What is our attitude towards our negative circumstances? What is our attitude towards illness? Towards the side effects of medical treatment? Towards the fear of the future that always accompanies bad medical diagnoses? What is our attitude towards the job loss? Towards the fact that we don’t have enough money to do ____? What is our attitude towards the fact that our spouse ran out on us, leaving us and the kids stranded? What is our attitude towards governmental issues and persecution?
God is telling us in this story that instead of cursing our negative circumstances, we need to see them with an air of thanksgiving, an air of expectation. We need to lift them up and surrender them 100% to Him. When we do, something beautiful will happen. The “bites” of our “fiery serpents” will not overcome us: “…when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Num 21:9, NKJV).
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.)