I Don’t Like Snakes…

I have never had a particular fondness for snakes. Even as a child, they frankly creeped me out. Rubber snakes, real snakes, snake videos, snake movies, snake pictures; they all give me a start. One time when my son Alec and I were golfing at Hurlburt Field’s Gator Lakes Golf Course, I had an encounter with a snake. I am not sure what sort of snake it was though. We were walking up to the tee, when I tripped over something. I felt it quite distinctly since I was wearing sandals (I no longer golf in Florida in sandals). It was a big snake sunning itself on the rocky step to the tee.  I guess it wasn’t aggressive, because it slithered quickly in one direction and I ran in the opposite direction. I have had other encounters with snakes through the years. The most recent one was the other week when I went out to get the garbage can from its wooden enclosure to take it to the side of the road. It was a harmless garden snake but it still made me jump.

Perhaps that is one of the reasons I truly like St Patrick of Ireland! Yes he is of Scottish descent and became the Patron Saint of Ireland which makes me smile with my mixture of Scots and Irish ancestry. But he is also known for driving the snakes out of Ireland (and we didn’t see a single snake when we were walking around the fields and pastures of Ireland on our honeymoon). I sometimes wish I could get good old Patrick to come back and help us out here!

This blog is not, however, about snakes and Ireland or snakes on the golf course! It is instead about the story from Numbers 21:4-9 about poisonous snakes and the people of Israel. This passage finds the people in the midst of their journey to the Promised Land. They had not had the best of times on their journey. It seemed there had been more bickering and whining by the people than there had times where they were content to be God’s people. The former Hebrew slaves were being “formed and fashioned” into the people of the Promise, the people of Israel. Tabernacle worship was outlined in great detail as are the callings of the specific tribes of Israel. Yet in the midst of this, the complaining continued.

Time and time again, after God handed the people military victory and provided for them in the wilderness (manna and quail, water from the rock, etc. etc.), the people returned to their default position of complaining and making God angry! Chapter 21 is just such an instance of that. After some of the Israelites were captured by the Canannite army, the people made a vow to the Lord. If you give these people into our hands, we will utterly destroy them. I have to admit that I am uncomfortable with such vows to God. It disturbs me deeply that they would ask God to deliver people into the hands of an army in order for the army to annihilate them.

However, I think what we can learn from this little section is of value. The people asked God for something… they promised to do something for God if God gave them what they wanted… and then they quickly forgot about God answering their plea. For no sooner than the people received what they asked for, they became “impatient on the way.” Once more, they complained to Moses and Aaron, “Why have you brought us up  out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” (Numb 21:5-6) The result of this complaining? Snakes!

Soon after the serpents began their fiery attacks, the people confessed their sin – “The people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” (21:7) What I found interesting, as did several commentators, was this little tidbit. The people confessed their sinfulness and God heard their plea and provided a way out of the mess they were in. The bronze serpent Moses fashioned and placed upon a pole provided the healing the people would require. Yet the snakes remained with them. One commentator stated that even though the people confessed and were forgiven, the effect of their sin was not removed. They still had to deal with the consequences of their actions. As a side note to this story, later on in 2 Kings 18:4, the great reformer King Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent which Moses had fashioned. Why did he do this? Because the people of Israel had made offerings to it!  It had become an idol!

So what is the lesson for us today? The lesson it teaches me is that even though I may confess my sinfulness to God and claim God’s forgiveness, the results of my sin don’t simply disappear. Even though an individual in jail or prison may have a true “conversion experience” and turn their life over to the Lord, they still have to finish their sentence which was a result of their actions. Or it could be you have confessed and sought forgiveness, but another person won’t let go of the hurt and forgive you. God doesn’t magically erase that, but God does provide a way for healing despite the action or inaction of others.

The promise and the hope for me remains this:  God forgives us, God offers us a way through the wilderness of our own making, and God is always faithful. We may be still dealing with the snakes/consequences of the sinfulness we confessed, but God provides the healing we need. God is always faithful and for that I am eternally thankful!

Before I close this post, I want to offer you something nice to contemplate after all of this talk about snakes. Okay, I want to offer you and ME something nice to contemplate! This beautiful tree which was across the road from the B&B Denise and I stayed at in Dingle, Ireland greeted us every morning when we headed out the door to explore the Dingle Peninsula. It always made me smile… and it still does today. Enjoy and may God bless you!