Today's Daily Lesson comes from Numbers chapter 21 verses 4 through 9:
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. 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.” 6 Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 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. 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.” 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.
It is our deepest fears which must be faced square on as we make our way through the wilderness of life. Otherwise what hides in the holes of our subconsciousness manifests itself in anger and resentment and all kinds of displaced forms of negative energy. It can even literally make us sick inside. Our lives become snakebite and we, like the Israelites, get stuck, wandering around and around but not really getting anywhere and alienating all our friends and allies. This is sin at work.
The way out of this wilderness is to dare to take a look at our anxieties and fears and hold it up before ourselves. A good therapist or pastoral counselor can help us with this. It's scary to think about; but it's really the only way to wholeness. We have to see the serpent on the way to salvation; and the snake that poisons us must become the symbol that sets us free.
NOTE: We’re reading the whole Bible together this year. Tomorrow’s Lesson will come from Numbers chapters 23-25.
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