TDH #5
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.”
Numbers 21:8
(ESV)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What is worse: tyranny, or the desert?
In the story of Exodus, Moses leads the Israelites out of slavery and into the desert for forty years. Eventually the people speak out against God and Moses saying, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” And understandably so, as it’s not going so well and their faith in both is being tested.
What does God do when he hears their complaints? Provide better food and water? No. He sends venomous snakes to bite them and many die. Not exactly the kind of merciful response you’d hope from the god you worship after leaving you in slavery for four hundred years and wandering around a barren wasteland for another forty.
But even if you have reason to lose your faith, snakes will still bite you. So is losing your faith going to make things better or worse?
It wasn’t long before the people spoke to Moses admitting they sinned by speaking out against God, so they ask Moses to ask the Lord to take away the snakes once more.
What does God do when Moses prays for this? Take away the snakes because they’ve been bitten enough and learned their lesson? No. He tells Moses to, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
Because there is no getting rid of the snakes in life; they’ve been with us since the garden of Eden (if you believe in such origins). So God offers a solution that allows His people to contend with them, because the reality is, we no longer live in paradise and we live in a world with danger.
The relevant application today may be that confronting the idea of our fears will help us grow braver in the face of the real thing. What we’re afraid of may not disappear, and the fear may never fade, but we can become brave enough to face it.
So what is worse: allowing fear to have control over you (like a tyranny), or conquering the long and barren road that leads to bravery (like a desert)?
I’ll let you decide.
Numbers 21:8
(ESV)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What is worse: tyranny, or the desert?
In the story of Exodus, Moses leads the Israelites out of slavery and into the desert for forty years. Eventually the people speak out against God and Moses saying, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” And understandably so, as it’s not going so well and their faith in both is being tested.
What does God do when he hears their complaints? Provide better food and water? No. He sends venomous snakes to bite them and many die. Not exactly the kind of merciful response you’d hope from the god you worship after leaving you in slavery for four hundred years and wandering around a barren wasteland for another forty.
But even if you have reason to lose your faith, snakes will still bite you. So is losing your faith going to make things better or worse?
It wasn’t long before the people spoke to Moses admitting they sinned by speaking out against God, so they ask Moses to ask the Lord to take away the snakes once more.
What does God do when Moses prays for this? Take away the snakes because they’ve been bitten enough and learned their lesson? No. He tells Moses to, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
Because there is no getting rid of the snakes in life; they’ve been with us since the garden of Eden (if you believe in such origins). So God offers a solution that allows His people to contend with them, because the reality is, we no longer live in paradise and we live in a world with danger.
The relevant application today may be that confronting the idea of our fears will help us grow braver in the face of the real thing. What we’re afraid of may not disappear, and the fear may never fade, but we can become brave enough to face it.
So what is worse: allowing fear to have control over you (like a tyranny), or conquering the long and barren road that leads to bravery (like a desert)?
I’ll let you decide.
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TheDevoutHumorist
Ancient wisdom with a modern application (and an often humorist twist)
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