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The sun was warm, but not too hot. I trekked on the last stretch of the dirt canal road which would take me to the paved country road, back toward our farm. I'm really surprised I noticed them when I did. Two of them - snakes! They weren't right in front of me, but up and off to my left. There was plenty of room between us. My first reaction was a jolt of fear – double trouble! I abruptly stopped to look at them and wanted to shriek, but stayed quiet and watched. Never had I seen two of them together before on any of my walks.
I’m sure these two brown and grey colored snakes might have enjoyed a swim and slithered up the gentle slope of the canal to catch the morning sun. However, my fear told me they were waiting for me! They were not moving or coiled, but were stretched out as if they were ready to slide forward. I didn't know what kind of snakes they were or how fast they could move, but honestly it wouldn’t have mattered. I inherited my mother’s fear of snakes. Personally I have never even liked to look at them – not even behind glass at the zoo. I’ve got to be honest though and tell you that over the years I have learned to no longer scream like I did when I was a child, but I can still shiver at the sight of them.
Avoid them and watch from a distance. I learned that rule, so I pushed back the fear and walked as far away from them as possible at a brisk pace. My walking route changed the following day. A week later I learned that our local irrigation district had destroyed a rattle snake den in that same vicinity –I was on heightened snake alert for a bit. During this same month I was 30 miles away in another area on a paved walking trail and encountered another snake. Yes, this one was positioned right in the middle of the trail, which was great because I was able to see it way before I got near it. Again, I stopped and looked at it, but I wasn’t fearful this time. I watched for a few minutes and hoped it would move on but it didn’t. My time was about up so I turned and walked back the opposite direction to my car. Up until this point in my adult life I don't recall seeing so many snakes in a short period of time.
Both of these encounters instantly reminded me of the snakes from the scene from the Bible. Numbers 21 to be exact. Quite a few women and I had participated in a 9 month study of The Life of Moses and apparently it was still fresh and boggling around in my think tank. The Holy Spirit brought to mind the bronze snake! Can you recall the story? If not, perhaps this will inspire you to read it – journey back. God's chosen people, the Israelites, had started to grow impatient along their hard journey. In verse 5, they spoke against God and against Moses (their leader whom God had chosen) and said "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" In verse 6 it goes on to say - Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. I would say the Lord is strict about complaining, what do you think?
Can you fathom what that might have been like for them, watching many die from snake bites…..it doesn’t say how many venomous ones God sent, but I’m certain that it was more than the few I encountered. An invasion of snakes – the fear of death must have been constant as the death toll rose and they had a front row seat at the scene. I definitely cringe at the thought.
In verse 7, the story goes on to say -The people realized why this tragedy happened and came to Moses and said,” We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed to the Lord for the people. So let's look at verse 8, for this was God's remedy for them at that time in history. Although he punished them for their sin, he in love responds to their repentance. The Lord said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses, in verse 9, made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
It sounds so bizarre that God would use the snake, considered the source of death to drive home his lesson on trust doesn't it? He judged their sin and then the people repented. The Lord provided a relief for them, but they had to trust his remedy at that time - a brass snake positioned up on a pole. Facing death they found healing.
It’s not like I enjoy snakes any more than I used to, but perhaps I got a fresh perspective - a slightly different view (not a loving by any means) of snakes. Maybe it just really freshened in my mind that it was the venom (poison) injected from the snake bite that killed the people. Snakes were created by our loving God, just like people and all the other beasts of the field. I know very little in regards to them as they’ve never interested me because of my fear of them. The timing was right on a newspaper article that landed before my eyes while I was challenging myself to write, share, and encourage others with what I learned through my snake encounters. The basic message from the biologist whom wrote the article was that snakes aren’t bad – they’re often misunderstood. I can agree with that now, but still have no desire to actually hold one.
The beautiful thing was the gratitude that washed over me afresh because in both of these encounters the Holy Spirit brought the visual of the cross to the forefront of my mind. A holy reminder and such great timing as I indulged in the insight given, along with the profound reflections of what Jesus did for us – the penalty he paid for sin. I had never experienced that before by seeing snakes for goodness sake – it was always just the opposite, which was a frantic rush to get the snake out of my thoughts! What a marvel it is to look back into history and see the things God used as instruments to get the people’s attention. He’s still doing the same today. God did not tolerate sin then and He certainly hasn’t changed His mind.
I would say that we could all identify with these people to some extent with the fact that we know how we can become when we are thirsty, hungry, and tired and we can’t tend to those needs within our day. Imagine how Moses felt being in charge. Perhaps someone out there has experienced a bunch of discontented people verbally attack you when you were in a position of leadership? Yes, our Lord Jesus understands that as well. We have the benefit of learning from these biblical accounts, don’t we?! How easy it is to open our mouths and complain when things don’t go our way if we aren’t guarding these hearts. And what about when we don’t like the way our leadership is leading and lash out with our complaints? Ouch, we won’t go there! We easily hear other people, and yes, the very loud ones are easy to pick out in the crowd, but do we hear ourselves at times? We can do it without saying a word. However, the Lord knows our hearts and longs for us to discuss these things with Him. – yes, pray without ceasing. I was so thankful to the Holy Spirit for making me hear myself when even a little complaining came from my mouth. It made me evaluate the why of it so I could remedy it with a humbled heart and a few simple words of “I’m sorry Lord, forgive me. “
The study we did reminded us that complaining is a symptom of sin – a discontented state and distrust. Untreated sin always leads to some kind of death or loss in the spiritual. The remedy – look to Jesus! Jesus has words for us found in John 3:14 – “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Awareness is key (this is conviction), and when we recognize our offenses, our response should be to confess and trust Jesus for healing from it. John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Pray and ask the Lord to search you heart as you ponder the following questions: Is there something that perhaps you’ve been complaining about? Have you taken these thoughts to Jesus? Whom do you tend to look to first, when things aren’t going well or you are unhappy about? How might you encourage someone the next time you hear them complain? Will you ask the Lord Jesus to give you ears to listen, but also to give you His words to encourage them?
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