Relief
In Numbers 21, we find Moses leading the people of Israel out of Egypt. As usual for all peoples, it didn’t take long for their joy at being saved to turn into bitterness about hardship. Here, they begin to miss the “comforts” of their slavery.
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 we loathe this worthless food.”
Numbers 21:5
It’s not that they actually had no food and water. They had manna and just the chapter before he had provided them water from a rock. Their frustration was their total dependence on God to provide these things rather than feeling secure in them. However, there is ultimately no providence outside of divine providence. We all depend upon God for everything, no matter how good our wells or how many crops our land can provide. Those things can always be gone in an instant and we have only God to thank when they’re not.
As judgement, poisonous snakes attack the people.
Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
Numbers 21:6
But God is merciful and no sooner have the people repented than God provided for them a blessing to protect them from the venom of the snakes.
And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Number 21:7-9
Many Centuries Later
The bronze serpent Moses made at God’s instruction traveled with the people of Israel through a great deal of their history. For many hundreds of years, they kept it. It had the potential to be a great reminder of God’s mercy and miraculous salvation. However, as we see if 2 Kings 18, rather than being a constant reminder of the people to worship God they had begun to worship it as a god!
He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).
2 Kings 18:4
This “Nehushtan” took on a mythology all its own. Rather than being an object representing the salvation of God, they were looking to it to meet their needs. This object of blessing had become another snare to the people. They had incorporated it into their rebellion against God!
What Are Your Blessings?
We all have blessings God has given us. Maybe great friends. neighbors, and family. Perhaps it’s a job or property. Whatever means God is using to provide for us, we cannot allow ourselves to imagine that it is the means God has chosen to use, rather than God himself, who provides for our needs! In the time of Hezekiah, it took the absolute destruction of the object of their worship to repent from their idolatry.
It’s common today to hear people say they are forced to do this or required to do that against their will. We need to nurture a stronger will! There is nothing in this life that we need besides God and those other things he knows we need he will provide.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33
He even said we ought to be ready to give up every earthly relationship in order to follow him.
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:26
Obviously, he’s not meaning that he will only accept disciples who hate everyone! He means that our relationships even to our own families should be as long compared to our commitment to Christ!
So the next time you feel trapped like you must compromise and do what you know you shouldn’t because of fear of losing friends, possessions, jobs, or comfort. Remember that those things are things God can provide, but they can never take the place of God. It is better to have him and trust him for the rest, than to have the whole world and lose your soul (Matthew 16:26).
The only question worth asking is, “What would God have me do?”
