Angry Wanderers, Bronze Snakes, and a Way in the Desert

Oh my gracious. I do apologize, its been a while. Wendi and I have had quite the last few weeks, including a trip to Missouri surprising the elder Moon's (wink) with a cruise in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary.

Anyway, onward and forward. This weeks post comes from the book of Numbers, Chapter 21, Verses 4-9. Now, calm down, I know you're thinking, "NUMBERS! Mooney, are you nuts! Ain't that the book with all the genealogies in it? There ain't nuthin' in that book!" Well, calm yourself, I assure you there is.

Our scene is the Children of Israel aimlessly following Moses around in the desert, and they are not happy. They cry out to Moses wanting to know why God has them out in the desert starving (which God had already provided them with manna AND quail), dehydrated (God had Moses provide them with water), and hot (God shaded them with a pillar of cloud to block the sun). Now, to me, it sounds like they weren't that bad off, and let's be honest, this sounds much better than slavery, but that's just me.

Anyway, God has enough of their foolish complaining and sends poisonous snakes to kill the people (many do actually die). The people cry out to Moses to intercede (which he does) and God tells Moses to make a Bronze Pole with a Snake on it. And if the people simply look at the snake after they are bitten, they will live. Pretty strange but simple stuff.

Now, you're thinking, "Why look at it? Why not touch it, or rub it or something?" Well, this is because God wanted the Israelites to show some faith. You see, the Snake Pole was a picture of what Jesus would one day come to do for you and me. The pole represents the cross, and the snake represents Jesus taking upon himself the sin of the world. All that's left is for you to have faith that he did this for you, and you can be saved from eternal death, just as those bitten Israelites were saved.

If you would like more information, open up your bible to John 3 and read the whole chapter. Its good stuff. Please let me know if you have any questions, or you are also free to leave comments on the page.

I would also like to give credit to my pastor John Blair for the idea for this post.