As I studied the Bible stories for this week, I discovered something that is simply the basis of terrible nightmares. The serpents that were unleashed on the Israelites after they complained that God did not care about them and left them out in the desert to starve are literally described in the Hebrew text as “fiery snakes.” Having snakes hunt you down as you run for shelter is quite bad enough, but having snakes that are lit on fire hunting you down? Let us just say that I may or may not have had an uncomfortable night of sleep after that discovery. It is not I have a terrible fear of snakes or a terrible fear of fire, but I just may have a terrible fear of snakes on fire.
As the story continues, God had Moses construct a fiery serpent made of bronze and had Moses put it on a pole. The Bible says that “whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.” I really like that God created a way for the Israelite people to be saved from these flame engulfed, slithering creations. All the people had to do was look at the bronze serpent, and they would be healed from their bites or burns or whatever these serpents did. That is great. What I do not like is that these people still needed the cure of the lifted up pole. The fiery serpents never went away as they wandered in the wilderness. They continued to threaten.
Now, there are a lot of things that I do not know. Were these slithering vipers really on fire, or did their fatal bite just burn a lot until you drew your last breath. I do not know. Sometimes the factual and the metaphorical blur in these biblical stories. But, what I do know is that the idea that there are still threats out there in this world is absolutely true. There are still slithering creatures, real and metaphorical, threatening to create chaos and death out there in the wilderness of our world.
Another thing that I do know is that in the Hebrew Bible, the snake is the land companion to the great sea dragon (the leviathan), who was an agent of chaos out in the sea. Just as the sea dragon was envisioned to create monstrous, chaotic storms out at sea, the snake was similarly envisioned to create chaos and death on the land. In fact, people who create chaos and death throughout the Bible are quite often described as having snake like features, or wearing scaly clothes.
Have you ever known anyone who seems to create chaos wherever they go? Now, I do not want you to start saying their names out loud. We do not need any tension in the air as we awkwardly look around at one another. But, you know the type of person that I am talking about. No matter what they say, it comes out wrong and creates hard feelings. No matter what they do, they always end up hurting someone around them. Sometimes, it just happens because that is their personality. Other times, it is a calculated effort to destroy and create chaos in the lives of people around them. No matter who you are thinking about, the ancient writers would have written them in the story as wearing boots made of snake skin.
But, this presentation of chaos in the Bible is true. The forces of sin, death, and chaos are still slithering out there in the world, waiting to strike. Just as snakes strike when you are not paying attention to where you are stepping, so too the fiery snakes of chaos strike when we have let down our guard. When the Israelite people stopped trusting that God would love them and provide for them out in the wilderness, and when they let down their guard and allowed the forces of chaos to linger near, God allowed the fiery snakes of chaos to strike at their heels.
Making a declaration about God’s character, John 3:17 claims that, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” In this story from Numbers, God also had no desire that the chosen people would perish. God had no desire to condemn them. This is clearly evident when the people cried out to be saved from the snakes. God instructed Moses to make that bronze snake on a pole so that people could look at the snake and be saved.
There are so many things that I do not understand in the Bible. Why did looking at a fiery serpent of chaos heal people from fiery serpents of chaos? It does not make sense. However, a wise therapist one told me that you cannot seek to be saved from the chaos of your life unless you are willing to look at the chaos of your life. How can you be saved from a sin that you refuse to see? How can you rebuild your broken heart if you refuse to acknowledge that it has cracks in the first place?
This is hard. I mean it. Maybe, I am a typical male, but it is hard to look at the cracks and sins and hurts and acknowledge that they even exist. I think that this is because, acknowledging that they are there, looking at them, truly seeing them, would then require that I acknowledge that I might need help. And as you know, many of us would rather die in the wilderness of a snake bite, than acknowledge that we need help.
How many introverts does it take to change a light bulb? One, unless they need help – in which case it is still one.
But, if you cannot seek help, then you will not be able to accept help. If you cannot look at the problem, you cannot be saved. “Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live” (Numbers 21:9).
Again, there are a lot of things that I do not know or understand. For example, I do not know why God instructed Moses to create an idol, when God has explicitly stated in the Ten Commandments that God’s people are not to create idols. The Bible clearly says not to create idols, “in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:4). Snakes would be included in that prohibition. But, God wants Moses to do just that in order to save God’s people.
Again, there are lots of things that I do not understand, but what I do understand is that behind God’s rules for us is always a deeper meaning and purpose. The rules are intended to bring more peace and more life into this world. They are intended to allow the life that God created to thrive. God’s rules are not intended to be treated as a god in and of themselves. I do know that even God’s rules can become idols for some people, stifling people and clouding God’s intentions to allow life and love to thrive.
How many Christians have you known who have failed to show love and compassion because they were so caught up in trying to make others follow God’s rules? One of the biggest reasons that those who are unchurched refuse to step foot in one is because they have seen too many followers of Jesus refusing to love like Jesus. They have seen Christians hold fast to rules rather than holding fast to Jesus. But, God has no issues with this. If God needs to create an idol in order to save God’s people, an idol that allows them to trust in God once again, then an idol will be created.
And indeed, the bitten people who trusted that God had created a way to save them from the fiery serpents by gazing at the bronze fiery serpent, were indeed healed and saved. Their lost trust in God had been restored, as a gift from their merciful God.
You know, God does create images. God created us in God’s image. And, God stepped right into an earthly image, when the Word was made flesh and walked and talked and healed us. Jesus is the image of God to whom we gaze when we find ourselves lost in the darkness and chaos of this world.
[Jesus said:] “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15).
Things have not changed since those days of fiery serpents in the desert bringing their chaos. We look around us and people are still hurting. People are still struggling to make a way in this life. People are still seeking answers. People are still lost. People have a hard time admitting that they live in the dark. People have a hard time admitting that they may need some light. As John says, “people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed (John 3:19-20). People are still caught up in the chaos of this world.
But, there is a pole upon which we can gaze to find our healing and wholeness once again. There is a pole upon which we can see humanity, as it could be…as it should be. There is a pole upon which we can gaze in order to be saved. It is a cross shaped pole. And the image it bears is not the serpent.
[Jesus said:] “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes [whoever trusts] in him may have eternal life.”
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world
to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through
him.” (John 3:14-17).
I do not understand a great many things, but I do understand that our world is broken and constantly delving back into chaos, including my own life. I also understand that this cannot change unless we actually see our chaotic life in fine detail. And, I understand that God has no desire that we remain in a life of chaos. Nor does God have any desire to condemn us. We are God’s image bearers. We are not someone to be thrown away. Instead, we are each someone who is worthy of redemption, and worthy to have true life with the eternal.
Look up from the chaos. Look up and see the blood. Look up to the cross and see the one who loves you, even to the point of dying for you. Look up and see Jesus, your salvation.
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