They're Still Here!

“Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” Numbers 21:8

They're Still Here!
By Rev. William Dohle

Imagine, for a moment, that you had to hire an exterminator for an infestation of scorpions in your apartment. Those dreadful little monsters with their frightening appearance and their poisonous sting. (Those of you in the midwest might not realize that this is a REAL problem in the southwest...like Arizona!) The exterminator comes with all of his equipment, checks out your place. Then, this is what he says...

"Yup! You've got a problem!"
"I know! It's terrible!" you say.
"Yup." he says simply.
"So, what are you going to do about it?"
"Well..." he muses. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" you shout. "But can't you kill them?"
"I could," he says. "But I'm not going to."
"Okay..." you say.
"Instead I'm going to give you this anti-venom. Whenever a scorpion stings you, just take this anti-venom and you'll be okay."

Sound absurd, right? Totally crazy?
But this is what happens in this story from the book of Numbers.

Once again the people of Israel are stranded out in the desert. And once again they're complaining.
"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 detest this miserable food.”(21:5)

God tires of their complaining AGAIN so, Numbers tells us, "Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died."(21:6)

Pretty harsh punishment for complaining, huh? (No wonder people keep most of their complaints to themselves. If they knew this story, they'd be afraid!)

So the people repent. They now know they've been wrong. "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.” So Moses prayed for the people."(21:7)

Pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us. Sounds reasonable, right? After all, the people did repent. God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Surely he'll listen and like a great divine exterminator rid the people of Israel of this dreadful curse.

But no. He doesn't. Instead, this is what Moses is instructed to do.
"And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live."(21:8-9)

God doesn't remove the serpents or kill them. He doesn't get rid of the pest problem the Israelites now have. Instead, God provides an antidote for them. An anti-venom. All they need to do is take it(look at the serpent of bronze) and then they'll be okay.

That's the story...
Now, there are many interpretations of this story. One Christians are most familiar with. The New Testament(particularly the gospel of John) interprets this passage and focuses on the bronze serpent.
" And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."(John 3:14-15)

In doing so, the Gospel of John likens Jesus lifted up on the cross to the bronze serpent that everyone who looks upon him and believes may have life. This passage becomes one of many prophecies to Jesus and what will happen to him on the cross.

That's how Christians are use to hearing this story. But here's my question...and one I've never heard asked or wrestled with.
Why doesn't God remove the serpents in the first place?

It seems kinda odd to me that Moses is instructed to make a bronze serpent and set it on a staff and tell the people to look upon it when they get bit to live. Wouldn't it have been easier to just get rid of the snakes like they prayed would happen to begin with? After all, they weren't there in the beginning! They were sent by God as a punishment for Israel's disobedience and when Israel repented, surely those snakes could have been dealt with. Why would God provide such an odd anti-venom with no end to the trouble at hand? Why not just dispose of the snakes?

Well maybe, just maybe, the ever-present serpents' presence in the story has an even greater meaning. Maybe it speaks to life today.

We have, among us, the same serpents that we've always had. Hatred abounds in our world. One people is set against another people. Military occupations abound. Wars are everywhere. Intolerance is everywhere. In a way, you could say, we haven't really changed much since the times of Moses. People do just what they did back then. Those pesky serpents are still among us. Still biting us and poisoning our lives. And we still need to look to God to rid us of their poison.

But there's something else here too. A solution to the serpent problem that isn't spoken about in the text itself but might be implicitly there. Maybe instead of living with these snakes and dealing with their constant biting presence, maybe the people are being implicitly told to kill them themselves.

Maybe God is saying: "I'll provide you with the anti-venom. You won't die. Gaze upon me and you will live. But getting rid of the snakes is your problem. I know you can do it. I'll remedy its poison, so it doesn't darken your life, but as long as you just stand there, those serpents will always be a problem for you."

And so God sets the task of exterminating the serpents to us and gives us the strength to deal with their poison. And it has happened. The serpents of this world have met an end by the hands of ordinary people. An ordinary businessman, Oscar Schindler, worked to kill the serpents of hatred and save over a thousand Jews from the hands of the Nazis. A simple nun, Mother Theresa worked to kill the serpents of poverty in the streets of Calcutta. Another businessman, this time a Jew, Steve Maman, is working to free sex slaves of ISIS one girl at a time.

And the list goes on and on.

We are called, each and every one of us, to cut off the head of the serpents at our feet. To kill the hatred and the bitterness, the war and the violence, the pride and the selfishness that we see. To do our part at changing the world for the better. The task seems impossible. Those pesky serpents aren't easy to kill and sometimes have a hard time staying dead. There's more snakes then you can possibly kill alone too. But together, and with God's help and strength, we might rid the world of the snakes around us, work against the poison of this plague and finally live in peace with one another.

Holy God, thank you for providing an antidote to the problem of our serpents. Give us strength to face down our snakes, to fight against hatred and violence and all the rest of the serpents that nip at our heels. Amen.