Monday, March 2
Read: Psalm 128; Numbers 21:4-9; Hebrews 3:1-6
What a chaotic scene we find in Numbers 21:4-9… The Israelites are grumbling and whining because they are wandering in the wilderness, they are surrounded by enemies, and there is no food or water (but really there is, they are just fed up with it—pun intended). Then, God sends some serpents (which we all remember how unwelcomed those creatures are) to resolve this? Sure, it’s God and God can do as God pleases. But this seems extreme. Eventually the people repent and God… makes them look at a serpent on a pole to be healed. Of course this is not the most outlandish story in Numbers, but it also is not the most logical. So, we must lean into what the season of Lent does: slows us down, unsettles us, and calls us to honest self-examination.
If we are willing to look at this story in the full context of Numbers, and of the story of the Israelites, we can start to see that this is not a story about snakes. This is a story about attention. Since the moment of the Exodus, the Israelites have been grumbling, unable to see the big picture of what God is doing (see Exodus 14:11). And, each time, God makes a way. The people then praise God until something less than ideal happens and then the cycle repeats: grumbling, deliverance, praise, repeat. Eventually, the cycle takes us to this point in Numbers where Israel’s grumbling has led to a real “Snakes on a Plane” situation. Their grumbling turns to fear and then we hit the deliverance portion of the cycle. It would be quite the undertaking to try and outline this situation as either literal or metaphorical and then explain God’s logic here, but that is not what the texts asks of us. Instead, our task is to pay attention where the Israelites did not.
God is trying to do something amazing with this people, but they keep getting in the way! In fact, the only reason the people are still wandering in the wilderness is because they were too afraid to enter the Promised Land (see Numbers 14). So, when we get to Numbers 21, we receive the implicit response to “pay attention to that which is poisoning you!” The people receive healing when they look up to the serpent that Moses crafted. What could easily be seen as a moment of idolatry can instead be viewed as a powerful rhetorical device. “Pay attention!” says the Lord. Take a close look at the real problem. The people have routinely been short-sighted while God has been laying the stepping stones for generations to come. If they could only see beyond their current circumstances, placing their trust in God, then perhaps they would stop grumbling long enough for God’s faithfulness to unfold before them.
This season of Lent gives us the opportunity to reflect, to see where we have been standing in God’s way with our own priorities. God did not take the serpents away from the Israelites, like they had asked. Instead, God had them reflect on the real poison among them. Where might God be calling you to pay attention? What chaos might be a result of us getting in God’s way? And what might God be asking you to reflect on this season?
Prayer: God of healing and order, when we stir up chaos with our own priorities, when we poison ourselves and others with our short-sightedness, challenge us. Make us uncomfortable until we recall that you are the only source of peace, and we find our trust in you. Amen.
The Reverend Micah Wright ’15 serves as associate pastor at Foley United Methodist Church in Foley, Alabama and is a Licensed Professional Counselor.
