Fiery Serpents

Mark Dunagan
11/07/10 - Sunday Evening

Fiery Serpents
Numbers 21

When I revisited Numbers chapter 21 recently I finally realized that Israel had fought a battle against the Canaanites before they entered the Promised Land. Numbers 21 begins with the statement, “When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim (ath ah rim), then he fought against Israel and took some of them captive” (21:1). Not only was Arad was an important city some 20 miles from Beersheba, the enemy had captured some of their friends, family and fellow Israelites – this battle was from the heart! Seeing there’s nothing like hardship to drive one to God, they essentially made a vow to the Lord, “Help us win and we will follow You fully in completely destroying Your enemy and now our enemy”. It is healthy when one realizes that those who want to destroy the truth about God – are the very ones who want to destroy us and our families. Thus Israel was successful, and experienced the sweet taste of victory (21:3).

The Let Down

“Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey” (Numbers 21:4).

From the previous chapter we were already told that Edom would not let Israel pass through its territory (20:14-22), even after Israel offered to pay for whatever water and food they drank during that trip. This necessitated a detour, which step by step took them south and east, rather than north and west. “They had been so very near the land... But now they were wandering again, and in their wanderings they seemed to be as far away from ‘real’ food as ever” (The Expositor’s Bible, Ronald B. Allen, p. 874). I have seen this pattern so often: I have a victory, then it seems like I am back-tracking; life is not cooperating with me, or I take a step forward and then it seems like two backward. At such a moment it is tempting to do exactly what Israel did – tire, complain, and start passing around blame. Next time we see this coming, let’s decide instead to maintain a more optimistic outlook.

The Old Worn Out Complaint

“And the people spoke 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 we loathe this miserable food” (Numbers 21:5).

This is exactly the same type of complaint offered by the previous generation. As if God does not know what He is doing, Moses is a poor leader, the food is terrible, and they never asked to be delivered from Egypt (See Numbers 11:4-6).

• Observe how Satan is so successful in getting even God’s people to attack the good guys (God and Moses) and idolize the bad guys (life in Egypt).
• The next generation was making the same complaints that they heard from their parents – let us make sure that we are not passing on any accusations against God, His blessings or His godly leaders (1 Thessalonians 5:11-12). Let’s honor at every opportunity, for one cannot attack God’s faithful leaders without attacking God Himself.

Another Step

“We loathe this miserable food” (21:5). We must not sympathize with the Israelites on this point and say something like, “Yea, I would have gotten tired of that diet as well”. This complaint is more serious that we might think. “The Lord Jesus speaks of the manna as a type of Himself, that He is the true Bread from heaven (John 6:32-35; 48-51,58). A rejection of the heavenly manna is tantamount to one spurning the grace of God in the Savior” (Allen, p. 876). Added to this, the Bible refuses to allow this to be the last word on the manna. They said it was miserable food – that is the way they wanted to spin the facts. The Holy Spirit says that it was “the bread of angels” (Psalm 78:24-25), that God gave them food “in abundance” and that he “rained meat upon them” (78:26-27).

Applications

• In our generation we must speak up when people are trying to rewrite the past.
• Let us defend God’s blessings and especially those found within His church.
• Beware of murmuring, for “There is a pattern to complaining; it is habit forming. The tendency among people is to go beyond where one left off the last time, to become ever more egregious, ever more outspoken. Rarely does a complaining person become milder in his complaints” (Allen, p. 876).
• If I am prone to complaining – I need to take a good look at myself and see where I am. Would I ever have thought that I would be saying the things I am saying about God, the church, a mate, parents, etc.?

Something Else from Heaven

As the manna had come from heaven, now God sends something else. “And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died” (21:6). God is not at a loss for new judgments. This time it was snakes, fiery snakes, many snakes – whose bites were painful and deadly. As the Israelites spewed out the poison of murmuring and blasphemy, God sends poisonous snakes among them. Remember, snakes deserve snakes! Use your words to express gratitude and praise for all the good in your life.

Getting Your Fill

“We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us” (Number 21:7). Like the Israelites, when we are punished the first thing we want is for the punishment to be removed, and yet often it is not instantly removed. As with the Quail, Israel must put up with the serpents for a while and eventually got their fill of them. The snakes were not removed, rather a cure was offered after one had been bit (21:8).

The Cure

Is completely unexpected. Observe that God obviously does not panic, and He expects the same of Moses. People are being bit, people are dying, and yet Moses is expected to take the time to see to it that his serpent is fashioned. “Sometimes even in a crisis one needs to move purposefully” (Allen, p. 877). “The people had called the bread of heaven detestable. Moses is now commanded by God to make an image of something truly detestable and to hold that high on a pole as their only means of deliverance” (p. 877).

John 3:14

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up”

• Jesus endorses the historical accuracy of this particular chapter and event, just as He likewise endorses the historical reality of the flood (Matthew 24:37); the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Matthew 11:24), Jonah and the great fish (Matthew 12:40), and Adam and Eve (Matthew 19:5-8).
• In both instances, the serpent was the only cure for Israel, and Jesus was the only cure for our sins. There is only one cure offered. Man could not provide his own remedy
• Faith was necessary, and faith had to do something, even if it was nothing more than “looking”.
• The cure was accessible to all; God did not require the impossible.
• One has to be very stubborn or very foolish to reject the cure. Just image some Israel being doubled-over in pain and yet arguing with the command to look at the serpent! Imagine them watching a son or daughter suffer and yet refusing to bring them to the serpent. This would be ridiculous! So how crazy is it to be suffering from the affects of our sins and yet refuse to come to Christ – who has cured so many in the past, who has the credentials of being the Son of God, and added to this, the complete inability of any man-made cure to repair us!
• The cure is understandable, and the language is clear.
• God did not give the Israelites a detailed medical explanation of how looking at the serpent could cure them. God does not answer every “how” and “why” (Deuteronomy 29:29). Nicodemus asked, “How? How? How?”, “Did they demand an explanation of the scientific and medical relationship between a bronze serpent and cure of snake bite?” (Gospel of John, Butler ,p. 109). When God offers a cure, He does not necessarily answer all our questions concerning why any given cure was selected. The person who was a skeptic, and who demanded that someone explain to them or prove to them the connection between looking at this serpent and a cure for snake-bite would have died! In like manner, the person who wants every possible question answered to their satisfaction before they believe in God – will end up lost. Why? Because God wants from us hearts that love Him enough to trust, like a child, His cure for the disease of our sin, rather than trusting in our own wisdom.

It All Comes Back to Christ

Both the manna represented Christ, and the serpent represented Christ. One cannot get away from one picture of Christ after another. This is the world He made (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16), and it was not only made by Him, it was made for Him. So, know this. Expect to hear a lot about Him and expect to be facing the truth about Him all your life and in eternity. He is not going anywhere. You were made to know Him, love Him, praise Him, and serve Him.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net