The Bronze Serpent
Moses and The Brazen Serpent, William Blake
Sometimes I get headaches which last for days. They are not as extreme as the migraines which afflict some of my friends. For the most part, I am able to push through them. I can do household chores, but I find it hard to write, or to focus on complex conversations when my head hurts. It is the length of these headaches, rather than their intensity, which I find trying.
A couple of weeks ago I was on day 5 of a headache and deeply discouraged. I felt unproductive. I knew that writing would be an exercise in futility, so I turned my attention to a stack of clean laundry which needed hanging. I tucked a few shirts under my left arm and carried the rest to the closet in my hands. Unfortunately, there was a scorpion lurking under one the shirts. After a few steps, I felt a sharp sting on the underside of my left arm. When I realized I had been stung, I dropped all of the clothes and shuddered. I brushed myself off to make sure the offending creature was gone. Then I prayed. To my surprise, these are the words which came out of my mouth. “Lord, please use this scorpion venom to heal my headache.” And so it happened. My headache was cured
I could not help thinking of this recent event in my own life when I read Numbers 21 a few days later.
4 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” 6 So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
Once again, I was moved by the language of Numbers. “The soul of the people became discouraged.” How is it that the soul of a nation can have a mood? Does America, have a soul, I wonder? Or was Israel, by nature of her calling, a different kind of nation? If Israel has a collective soul, then I think the Church must have one as well. How does God see the state of our collective soul, I wonder?
In the case of Israel, we know at least two things about this national depression:
1) Israel brought it on herself through lack of faith. At the time the nation was complaining about sore feet and heat, they should have been battling in Canaan, feasting on grapes. That was God’s plan. It was His promise. He had shown Himself more than able to defeat the most powerful nation on earth. He had led His people tenderly through the desert, guarding them from the sun, warming them at night. But they would not believe His promise to fight with them in Canaan. So they were sentenced to wandering in the wilderness.
2) Israel knew there were consequences for complaining. They had seen the earth open up to swallow Korah and his rebels. They had suffered plagues for their whining. They had seen the LORD strike Miriam with leprosy. But the human heart is stubborn, prone to blame and self-pity.
My heart was discouraged when I had my headache, and not only because of the pain. I was pressed down with worry on several fronts. I never believed that God would abandon me. I did not doubt His goodness - but perhaps I doubted His nearness. Perhaps, in some metaphorical sense, I had become resigned to the hardships of the wilderness rather than preparing for battle in hope.
When Israel complained once again in Numbers 21, the LORD used a new corrective for His people. He sent “fiery serpents” among them. Many died from their poison, but the fear and the horror of the serpents caused Israel cry out to the LORD. It roused them. And in their distress, the LORD sent a great sign. He instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent to raise in the sight of the people. If anyone looked upon that bronze serpent raised on a pole, they would be saved from the poison of their bites.
It is an odd story on a number of levels. For starters, the LORD had clearly prohibited making images which could be used as idols. There is no indication that the bronze serpent was ever revered as an idol - but the story does seem out of character with the kind of reverence YHWH had expected up to that point. What is more surprising, I think, is that Jesus Himself references the bronze serpent as an image of His crucifixion and the salvation He would offer mankind.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:14-15
Jesus, it has always troubled me to think of you associated with a serpent in any form! There is enmity between me and the serpent. Snakes make me shudder, but you are the fairest of 10,000! Yet, You are the one who drew the parallel. I wonder how Nicodemus, a leader among Your people, chewed on those words?
There is so much to this story which I know I am missing - so much which will be revealed when we see You as You are! For now, I see only dimly, in reflection. But I am learning as I age. Judgment is not the same as punishment. Punishment implies the intent to hurt. Your judgement, Jesus, is meant for our good. You intend to make us holy; therefore, You discipline us. Many of the afflictions in this life come as the consequence of our sin - not because You hate us, but because You love us. The pain of our trials causes us to cry out to you. And if we are wise, it will cause us to desire Your holiness.
God sent the fiery serpents to cause Israel to cry out to Him, to repent. And in this judgment, He foreshadowed Your Incarnation, Jesus.. You surprised us all by taking the form of man. For the first time, it became right to worship one of our own. Jesus, You had a form which we could see with our eyes. You still have a form which we will see with our eyes at Your return. For this reason, it is right and good to have Your image before our eyes. You were lifted up on a cross, punished as a criminal, even though You are the rightful Judge of the whole world. All who look upon You, chastened and poisoned by our sin, will be saved, because You absorbed the poison of our sin. You crushed the head of the great serpent, Satan.
The sin of Israel has become a sign of hope to us! That is Your way, my Lord. Even the serpents and demons must obey You. What our enemy means for evil, You will work for good. The mood of Israel’s collective soul was changed after that encounter with You. A few verses later we find the nation singing! That had not happened since the day they crossed the Red Sea.
16 From there they went to Beer, which is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song:
“Spring up, O well!
All of you sing to it—
18 The well the leaders sank,
Dug by the nation’s nobles,
By the lawgiver, with their staves.”
This morning, LORD, I am remembering how You answered my prayer when the scorpion stung me, and I am telling my soul to sing.
I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me
Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see
Opens prison doors, sets the captives free
I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me
Spring up, O well, within my soul!
Spring up, O well, and make me whole!
Spring up, O well, and give to me, that life abundantly!