Are You Playing With The Serpent? By Dr. Dave Madenberg

Are You Playing With the Serpent?

During their journey in the wilderness, the Israelites became discouraged, probably because their journey was long and arduous. They were constantly murmuring and complaining against God.  In Num 21:5, it says:

"And 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 our soul loathes this worthless bread (manna).' "

Ever since leaving Egypt, the Israelites complained against God and Moses.  They complained  they had no water and no food. They must have complained  about  having to live in tents without  air-conditioning.

So, God provided  water from a rock for them to drink, and sent manna from heaven for them to eat, which these complainers referred to as, 'worthless bread.' 

They complained  to Moses (which God heard)  why he even led them out of Egypt, where they were prisoners for 400 years.  Though they were enslaved and whipped by the Egyptians  for four centuries, their thinking was: "Well, at least we had enough food to eat in Egypt.  Exo 16:3 tells us:

"And the children of Israel said to them (Moses and Aaron),  'Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full!  For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

Q:  If God arranged for our release from prison after 400 years  of enslavement,  but we had to travel and be deprived of some comforts on the way  to a land having everything we need and desire, would we complain? 

A:  If we were in that situation, I hope, rather than  complain against God  due to a lack of provision, we would  pray to Him  to supply that provision.

C:  Had the Israelites been obedient to God, trusting Him rather than being stubborn and 'stiff-necked,'  God would not have made them wander in the desert for 40 years  until those over the age of 20 died off.

In fact, their journey would have only taken 11 days, not 40 yrs.  In Deut 1:2, Moses told the Israelites:  "It is eleven days journey from Horeb (Mt Sinai) by way of Mount Se'ir to Ka'desh Bar'nea (entrance to Ca'naan, the Promised Land)

God knew  the Israelites would lack water and  food in certain places along their journey to the Promised Land.  God was testing their faith, that they would trust Him to  provide for  their needs. (One of God's names and attributes is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides). 

But, their constant complaining and murmuring against God and Moses caused God's patience to run thin.  So, in Num 21:6,  we read:

"So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.

As the people were being bitten and some dying  from the venomous serpent bites, it says in  Num 21:7-8, 

"Therefore the people came to Moses and said, 'We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.'  So Moses prayed for the people."  (The people repented)

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole:  and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live."

"So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived."

God's mercy and love for His people made a way for them to escape death  from the serpent bites.  How? 

By commanding Moses to erect a pole with a bronze serpent on it.  That, if those who were bitten looked at it, they would live.  But, those who refused to look at the bronze serpent, would die.

Q:  I thought about this, then asked myself:  Why did God command Moses to place the bronze serpent atop a pole?  Why not on the ground, or in a tent?

Why a pole?  Could it be because the people would have to  'look up'  to see it.  So they have to  'look up'  to God  in the heavenlies. (Just my thought)

Q:  And rather than looking up at a bronze serpent on a pole, what has God provided for us to look to, saving us from death  if bitten by the Serpent? 

A:  We look up  at the cross of Jesus Christ  and His shed blood on Calvary.  Faith and trust in Jesus  is the antidote to the Serpent's venom. 

But, if a person doesn't look to the cross, he will die.

Q:  Are any of us playing with the fiery serpent (Satan) to where he bites us, injecting  his poisonous venom  causing us to die spiritually, or even physically?  The venom he injects might be:

-Drug and alcohol abuse;

-Living in sin through adultery and fornication; 

-Lying, cheating, stealing, manipulating people;

-Avoiding church and instead, fulfilling wicked desires of our heart which God's word tells us to avoid.  These are only a few poisons the serpent uses against us.

Q:  So, how do we stop playing with the Serpent, avoiding his bite and venom?

A:  By saying to ourselves over and over again,  "I will not know wickedness."

We need to take  Psalm 101,verses 2-8  to heart  and truly live by them - if we want to avoid  Satan's bite.  It says:

"I will behave wisely in a perfect way ... I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.  I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away (who go back to the pig pen after being cleansed of their sin); It shall not cling to me.  A perverse heart (a heart that  deviates  from God's truth and what is right in His sight) shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness. 

"Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; the one who has a haughty (prideful) look and a proud heart, him I will not endure."

"My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me.  He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house (heaven); he who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.  Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord."

If we're spending time with someone trying to entice us to go back to the pig pen:

--Through drugs and alcohol,

--Sexual sin, Or

--Anything God tells us in His word to avoid,  know it's the Serpent tempting us through that person, so he can bite and inject his poison into our bloodstream.

The bible tells us in Prov 1:10-16, "My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent... Do not walk in the way with them, keep your foot from their path; for their feet run to evil ..."

God's word also says in 1Peter 5:8-9,  "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil (the Serpent) walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  Resist him, steadfast in the faith ..."

And Jas 4:7 tells us:  "Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

And how do we resist him?  By knowing what's written in God's word.  And when we're faced with temptation, know:

It's the 'Serpent' wanting to bite and inject his poison into us!  The same Serpent who deceived Eve in the Garden.  Resist every temptation ... by standing steadfast in the faith, telling that Serpent, the devil:

'No, devil, I rebuke you in Jesus' name.' 'Those days are over!'  'I'm done playing with you in the pig pen.'  'I am now a child of God.'   'And I will no longer know wickedness.'

AMEN.