seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Numbers 21:1 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them. 2 Then Israel made this vow to the Lord: “If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities.” 3 The Lord listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.
4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people 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 for the people.
8 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.” 9 So Moses 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, they lived.
Here's the link to the commentary I use.So the name of that place was called Hormah: It was at Hormah that Israel was defeated in their ill-advised attempt to enter the Promised Land by force after rejecting it by faith. Now God has brought them back to the same place and given them the victory. A real turning point for the nation!
The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people: How were the serpents fiery? Some think they were a red color, like the color of fire. Others believe their bite caused an intense burning sensation, so they were called fiery serpents.
The Lord sent fiery serpents: These came from God, to get the nation’s attention at this critical place in their journey to the Promised Land. If they kept going in the direction they showed in the previous verses, they would never enter in.
Many of the people of Israel died: These victims were mostly those of the older generation of unbelief, and this was God’s final way of fulfilling His promise that they would perish in the wilderness, and not enter the Promised Land.
If a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived: The people were saved not by doing anything, but by simply looking to the bronze serpent. They had to trust that something as seemingly foolish as looking at a serpent on a pole was enough to save them. Surely, some perished because they thought it too foolish to do that.
There weren't a lot of warriors amongst the shepherds and tentmakers of the Israelites. They couldn't take up fighting, because they didn't know how to fight. The Canaanites had to learn they could take on an enemy and survive. After all, they were still wandering around in the wilderness because they were afraid to fight the giants. They had only been in one battle since leaving Egypt. In that battle, two men had to hold Moses' arm up while he held the "stick" over his head so the Israelites could win the battle against the Amalekites.
Some people just don't "get" the Power of God!
God told them to Believe and He would deliver the enemy. They were still focused on the "stick" not God. They were giving the staff all the glory when it was God who led them everywhere. It was God feeding them.... which brings us to the "serpent on a stick".
The Israelites started moaning and groaning again. "It's too hot... It's too far... Are we there yet? Why did we have to leave Egypt? I'm sick of Manna. Can't we stop for KFC? There is no water... blah blah blah".
So, God gave them something to moan about.... snakes... red snakes... bronze-colored venomous snakes.
God told Moses to make a bronze snake and top a "stick" with it. If the Israelites believed what they were told, they would be healed. If they didn't "get" God and didn't believe... they would moan and groan themselves to death.
This kind of reminds me of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. She was wearing those ruby slippers the whole time. They were her ticket "home". She didn't have a clue... and neither did the Israelites. Of course, Dorothy had to do something to get home... tap the shoes together three times and recite a verse. All the snake bitten Israelites had to do was look.
I guess they didn't have to look. They could have said "get away from me with that stupid thing". They could have accused Moses of making an idol, although God was behind it.
If they looked... they would believe. If they believe... they have God looking out for them. If they have God looking out for them... They can take on anyone or anything!
Is this the story of Caduceus?
It is definitely about the "snake on a stick".
