God is amazing. He created the universe and everything in it. He guides the universe according to his plan. So why doesn’t he make the lives of all Christians easy? If we follow him, we should get an easy life, correct? No. In fact, God says our lives will be hard, but heaven will be worth it. That seems a bit harsh from such a powerful being.
The bronze snake incident
Reading through Numbers, I came to the bronze snake incident in Numbers 21: 4-9. It’s a small incident, but I think it teaches us something. This incident took place just as Moses was getting ready to die. That means that for over forty years, God had been feeding the Israelites manna and quail. In Deuteronomy 8 it says that their clothes hadn’t worn out during that time as well. They had a daily reminder that God was helping them. The beginning of Numbers 21 says that God saved them from an attacking army. They were almost at the end of their journey, but they started complaining against God. They had lived most of their lives with daily miracles, yet they complained. Anyways, God sent venomous snakes into their camp and many died. The people apologized to Moses and Moses prayed to God. “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 made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked to the bronze snake, he lived.” (Numbers 21:8-9) Then it says that the community moved camp.
What I learned
This story is a direct foreshadowing of Jesus on the cross, anyone who looks to Jesus is saved. It’s a pretty obvious instruction and example. I’ve heard that all my life, but that isn’t what struck me about this section this time. God didn’t remove the snakes.
Think about it. When God sent the plagues to Egypt, they stopped as abruptly as they started. It was part of the miracle. God sent the snakes into camp. He could have sent them out again just as easily. But he didn’t. Instead he had Moses build the snake on a pole. People had to actually trust God and look to the pole to live. Anyone who didn’t trust God’s promise, didn’t look and died.
Deuteronomy 8 says that God uses problems in Christian’s lives as discipline. “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” (Deuteronomy 8:2) “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.” (Deuteronomy 8:5)
What we may see as massive life changing events today, God has already provided a way through. He’s given us the cross to look at and trust. We need to remember to trust God whatever happens in life. Someday we’ll look back and see God’s guiding hand in this event and understand what he was teaching us.
