Have you ever asked yourself, "Why does the medical symbol have two snakes on a pole?"?
Some say it's from a Greek legend. Others say it's from China. And yet another group says it came from India. Not everyone is totally certain about it's origins.
But Last Sunday, Pastor Prince (That's really his name) shared about faith again and this time, he touched about healing. He went to Numbers 21:4-9 and recounted the story of The Bronze Snake. For those who do not have a bible, this is what it's all about;
Before we begin, here's a little introduction;
A few months ago, Moses and Aaron had already lead the Israelites out of Egypt, surprisingly being urdged by all the Egyptians to get out. They even gave away anything the Israelites asked for on their day of departure (Exodus 12:33-36)! (Well, once an entire nation looses their first born sons, what else could they do?)
Then once they reached the Red Sea, the pharoh and his officals changed their minds and decided to chase them and claim them back as slaves again. So as everyone knows, the people thought that they were gonna die, but Moses told them to take heart and, as instructed by God, parted the Red Sea. God also used the pillar of fire and cloud (that He used to guide the Israelites through the desert) to drive the Egyptian armies into disorder and confussion. (Hey, what would you do if you were driving down the expressway when out of the blue, a flamin tornado slammed in front of you?) He even jammed the wheels of the chariots so as to give the riders a really hard time to move (Duh). And when the whole of Israel crossed over, God told Moses to stretch his hands over the sea, which he did, and the waters crashed over the entire Egyptian army that dared to go into the Red Sea.
From there on, they will voyage for many years until they reach the Promised Land, getting themselves into surprise attacks, wild creatures and more surprises, but with the Lord behind them all the way (Unless, of corse, his people turned away from him...).
Now here's something you need to know before I begin with the story; the people of Israel were again walking in the desert to towards the promise land after the shocking day of seeing God's miracles. But they were starting to loose out on their food supply drastically, so they told Moses, "Oi! Why you bring us out here to starve? When we were at Egypt, we kenna pain wan, but we can still makan on meat, bao and other food as much as we wan!" So God, who heard everything, told Moses, "Psst, tell them that I will rain some food for everyone. They will have to go out everyday angd gather enough for themselves for that day. This way, I can test them and see if they will follow my instructions. On every sixth day, they are to bring in double the usual amount of bread and prepare it."
So Moses and Aaron told the instructions to the people, and they then had all the bread (Manna) they wanted in the morning, and had meat (Quail) at twilight.
(For those who do not know why they called the 'bread' Manna, well it's because the stuff isn't bread at all; Early in the morning, dew would fall around the area where the people were camping. When the dew evapourated, something thin and flaky was left behind on the surface of the desert. The stuff was as delicate as frost, but when the Israelites saw it, they didn't know what it was and asked each other, "What is it?". Moses later explained to them that this was the food the Lord has given to them to eat, but anyway the word 'Manna' sounds like Hebrew for 'what is it?'. Understand so far?)
Okay, now on with the story...
The Bronze Snake
The Israelites had just left Mount Hor via the road that leads to the Gulf of Aqaba so as to make a detour round the territory of Edom. But while they were travelling, the people lost their patience and spoke against God and Moses. "Alemah!" they said. "Why you bring us out here to starve to death? No food, no water, why like dat? We keep on taking Manna and Quail, Manna and Quail, Manna and Quail! Now we look like Manna and Quail! We kenna sick of this lousy food oledi, lah!" So the Lord, who again heard them complain against Him and His servant Moses, stopped protecting them, and immediately poisonous snakes came towards the people. Many of the Israelites were bitten by these snakes and died. So all the people went to Moses again and said, "Eh, Moses, ah. We soli we scou you and God. Can please pray to God to take these snakes away?" Moses then went to pray for these people, and God's reply was for Moses to make a metal snake and put it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten could just look at it and be healed. So Moses made a bronze snake and placed it on a pole as instructed. And many who were bitten only had to look towards the figure, and they were instantly saved and healed!
When I come back from Japan, I'll explain certain parts of this small story and it's significance to healing with Christ.
May God be with you all while I'm gone! =)
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