The Bible tells about the people of Israel and their 40 years of wandering in the desert. As they were heading for a place called "the promised land" they would often encounter obstacles.
In the book of Numbers, we read a story about one of these roadblocks. The Edomites would not let the people pass through their land. Instead, they insisted the Hebrews go around them.
That's when the griping started. "We don't like our leaders. We don't like our food. We don't like all this sand." Then the people became mad at God. "He doesn't love us. He doesn't take care of us. We should have stayed in Egypt."
God responds to this impatience and ingratitude by sending fiery serpents to bite the people. In very short order, the same people who were grumbling at God were wailing to him for rescue. That's because they got their focus back.
Then Moses came up with another way to help the people regain their focus. He made an image of a fiery serpent and put it on a pole high enough for all to see. He told the people, "If you are bitten by a fiery serpent, look at this pole and live." And it worked.
God doesn't send us fiery serpents today, but we do often encounter things in our lives that can bite us just as hard. I had three big serpents bite me last year in the deaths of my father, my only brother and my best friend.
Biblical scholars see the serpent on the pole as a prophecy of how Jesus hung on the cross. That tells us how we should respond when we feel the bite. We keep our focus and attention on the Lord, the giver of all good things. We look to the healer.
To see Jesus, a few things are required. First, we have to be pointed in his direction. Second, we have to have our eyes open. Third, we have to look at him – not merely to see him, but to concentrate on him.
One more thing is required: we have to be moving in his direction. And as we're moving, we need to remember this: That the Jordan is deep and wide, but we'll find freedom on the other side.
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