Snakes...Why did it have to be SNAKES...

 Snakes…Why did it have to be SNAKES…

 

Numbers 21:4-9
21:4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way.

21:5 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."

21:6 Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.

21:7 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.

21:8 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."

21:9 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.

 

 

Indiana Jones…need I say more? Of course, I will. It becomes clear in the opening action of “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” that our fearless hero DOES have one abiding fear—of snakes. And when he eventually finds the “Well of Souls,” the resting place of the ancient Ark of the Covenant, the place is literally crawling with every manner of viper one can imagine. Filmmakers George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg masterfully shoot this scene in such a way that most of us who ALSO hate snakes imagine them crawling all around us, even in the theater or our living rooms. Even as I write this, I can STILL see those darned snakes! Of course, after peering down into the “Well of Souls” with a torch and seeing all of those snakes, poor Indiana falls onto his back and utters, “Snakes…WHY did it have to be SNAKES…” Today’s text might suggest that God knows.

 

Genesis was not a good setting for snakes. The Adam and Eve Bible myth has Eve being “seduced” by “the serpent,” a reptile usually viewed as a snake. Interestingly, nowhere does the text say that the “serpent” is the devil, or Satan, or any supernatural entity. We have added that to the myth. Prior to the “act of disobedience” we have also dubbed “the fall,” we have an indication that humans and members of the animal kingdom could communicate. The creation myths say that Adam “named” the animals, and clearly was able to live among them, without any threat to his well-being, or theirs. When the serpent communicates with Eve, she appears not to be surprised at all, and when she tells Adam about the encounter, neither does he. The myth would lead us to believe that one of the results of being ejected from the Garden of Eden because of their disobedience (eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) was also that they no longer had the kind of “fellowship” with members of the animal kingdom that they once did. Since this is a Bible myth (meant to communicate a truth, not necessarily be an historically “true” account of an actual event), we come away with two lessons: humans commit acts of disobedience against God and suffer the consequences of this “sin”; and snakes are the bad guys. The narrative of the myth itself talks of God “putting enmity between ‘you’ and the serpent,” so is this meant to be punishment for the serpent, or us? Frankly, I do not feel chastised by the fact that I prefer to have nothing to do with snakes, and they don’t seem to be too upset by having nothing to do with me. I guess it is a kind of object lesson? 

 

I guess we can also infer that the Genesis metaphor of the serpent is meant to stand in for whatever humans did to put themselves in such mortal (and moral) peril. Snakes get the bad rap because most of us don’t like snakes. There are two kinds of people who “like” snakes, though—herpetologists, and the rare and unusual “snake-likers” who want to keep them as pets and try to convince the rest of us how “beneficial” they really are. Good luck with that. As for me, I agree with the late comedian, Richard Pryor, who said, “SNAKES make you run into TREES!” (Meaning that when we encounter a snake in the wilderness, most of us take off running, and running quickly, in the opposite direction, putting us in risk of rapidly encountering an unmovable tree.)

 

There’s generally not a lot of meaty stuff in the book of Numbers, but this week’s lectionary passage has both some substance AND warning for “the people of God,” doesn’t it? As the text says, “The people spoke against God and against Moses…” And they got SNAKES. The moral of the story is, BITCH, and you get snakes! Snakes…why does it have to be SNAKES? Couldn’t God (and his emissary, Moses) just have offered a “Don’t make me come down there!” warning? And these “serpents” were of the poisonous variety, and thanks to their bitey tendencies, the Israelites started dying, as a penalty for their own bitey critique of both God and Moses. That’s sure a hard way to find out these were poisonous snakes, don’t you think? I’ve always gotten a kick out of the “snake-positive” folk who preach that snakes are GOOD, and that it’s “easy” to tell the dangerous ones from the “good” ones. “Just look at the head,” they’ll say, “Poisonous snakes have a triangular head.” I don’t know about you, but as a “snake-negative” type, I’m sure as heck not getting close enough to take stock of the geometry of a snake’s HEAD! When I see a snake, first of all, I notice two things: How BIG is it? And What’s it doing HERE? (Or maybe more wisely, What am I doing HERE, where there are snakes?)

 

The Numbers text directly states that God is responsible for the deadly snakes. While this runs quite counter to my understanding of the nature of God, the forgiveness of God, and the grace of God, I must allow for the fact that the Jewish author or authors of this text were strict monotheists. This means that they must locate ALL causality in either the primary or the permissive “will” of God. Monotheism doesn’t allow for a strong “devil” figure, and it doesn’t even give much room for humans being able to too seriously screw up their OWN lives, unless God allows it. Hence, if there are poisonous snakes as a form of “correction,” warning, or even retribution, then God is responsible. We shouldn’t read too much into this. It’s like if you are reading a Spiderman comic book, you can expect that the story will be about Spiderman and the kinds of things Spiderman gets into. If you’re reading Numbers, then you will read pretty much the view of God that ancient Israelite monotheists would have. It’s their story, and it may not seem to jibe with the view of God modern Christians get from reading about Jesus, although there was a herd of pigs and a few temple hucksters who DID pick up on this nastier streak in the divine personality, at least according to a couple New Testament authors. 

 

I think the “serpent on a pole” was a nice touch. God told Moses to “make a poisonous serpent and put it on a pole” (I’m sure Moses was certain to give it a triangular head when he cast it out of bronze), and that when the people who were bitten looked up at it, they would live. Brilliant. Why? Well, three reasons:

 

1.They had to look at the snake, reminding them of WHY they were getting attacked by snakes in the first place (remember the bitching?);

 

2.They had to look UP, remind them that God is their salvation, the source of their healing, AND the reason they were out here in the wilderness in the first place;

 

3.And while they would be prevented from dying from the poisonous snake bites, the text doesn’t say they would be without the PAIN of the bite, which would remind them to refrain from BEING such a pain, in the first place!

 

This story obviously made an impression on the people of God, for centuries later, Jesus compared HIMSELF to the snake on a pole: 

 

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:14-15)

 

Most scholars believe that with the phrase “lifted up,” Jesus is referring to his pending crucifixion, kind of a “Look up to ME, when I am ‘lifted up on a pole’ (the cross) and you will not die from the ‘bite’ of sin.” It may be a gross oversimplification of the culmination of the Christ Event, but it certainly is a poignant metaphor.

 

Here we are, deep into Lent. So, what are the snakes nipping at YOUR heels? While we no longer believe God “sends” punishment for our shortcomings like those early monotheists, we DO understand that Jesus taught us that we “reap” what we “sow.” And while God-in-Christ FORGIVES us of our infractions, like the Israelites and the snake bites, we may still have to endure the temporal consequences of our bad choices. God may forgive my breach of the law when I get a speeding ticket, for example, but I will still have to pay the ticket. Or much worse, if my sinful behavior causes a breach in a relationship, God can forgive me, but I must ask forgiveness of the OTHER whom I’ve harmed, and work to rebuilt trust in the relationship. God doesn’t make the “hurt” go away, magically, for it serves as an important reminder of how hard it is to mend a broken relationship, kind of like the nagging pain of a snakebite, even when the consequence of death is removed.

 

So, let’s summarize:

 

--We BITCH, we get snakes. God DOES have a sense of humor.

 

--Jesus is our “snake on a pole;” because he was “lifted up,” we, too, are lifted up from the eternal consequences of our sins. However, we may still have to work through the mess we make in committing them in the first place.

 

--There are a few good reasons to read NUMBERS, and this story is one of them.

 

The Lenten journey continues, Dear Ones. Stay out of the “snake pits” of life! Amen.