Today’s Scripture Reading
(November 7, 2018): Numbers 21
The book that we call the Bible
is actually a collection of books,
letters, and other writings, originating
from many authors and crossing over several genres. These books were collected
and placed in one book sometime in the first three centuries of the Christian
or Common Era. The Bible is divided into
two significant sections. The first section centers on Jewish history and
beliefs before Christ and is commonly referred to as the Tanakh (which is
an acronym for the Torah or teachings and is
comprised of the first five books of the Tanakh, Nevi’im or Prophets,
and the Ketuvim or Writings). The second
major section of the Bible begins with the life of Christ and continues by
telling the story of the first generation of Christian believers.
And yet, even through the writings of various authors, genres
and centuries, there are some common themes and threads, and some of the
threads are quite unexpected. This story of the bronze snake, located in the
Torah section of the Tanakh, is one of the unexpected ones.
Admittedly, there is a note of
lunacy in this story. First of all, there seems to be no possible connection
between the bite of a viper and the act of looking at a snake as a means of
salvation, except that God commanded it. Second, the snake itself seems to be a
step toward violating the commandment in the Decalogue that prohibits idols,
except that, once again, God commanded it. Historically, the author of Kings
asserts that Moses’s bronze snake did
become an idol in Israel and the people burned incense to honor the snake for
centuries after its creation. It was called the Nehushtan, a derogatory term,
by Hezekiah, and he commanded that the snake be
cut to pieces and destroyed (2 Kings 18:4). But wouldn’t it make more sense for
God to put the focus on the Tabernacle, the spiritual center of the nation? Why
wouldn’t God say “Look at the Tabernacle in the center of the community,
remember that the God of the Heavens and the Earth is your God, and you will be saved.” Looking at a snake makes no spiritual
sense. Third, snakes or serpents, are often used as the imagery of evil in the
Bible, which confuses an already confusing situation even further.
Yet, the story still stands. And in a plot twist,
Jesus picks up on the story of the Nehushtan in the Christian Testament. In fact, Jesus compares himself to the
Nehushtan. “Just
as Moses lifted up the snake in the
wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that
everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:14-15).
Maybe, in considering the story
of the Bronze Snake, we need to note that it was Moses who decided to make it
out of bronze. And bronze is connected in the Bible with judgment because it
has to be passed through the fire. It is
quite possible that the bronze serpent was intended to be evil, but evil which had been
passed through the fires of judgment; it was evil that had been judged. Similarly,
Jesus took on the sins of the world, and
he was judged on our behalf. It is
possible that Jesus makes the connection with the Bronze Snake because
sometimes we have a hard time seeing the evil in the Jesus of the Cross, no
matter how many times we are taught that
he took our sin there. In the Bronze Snake, the evil is simply there for all to see.
In the end, salvation at this
point in history did not depend on anyone’s actions. Rather, they could simply look at the snake and live. Similarly, our salvation does not depend on our
actions, but instead on our willingness to look and accept the Cross of Christ.
When the Son of Man is lifted up, all who
look upon him will be saved.
Or as Isaiah phrases it – “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God,
and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22).
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 22
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