Snakes

Why would God send poisonous snakes to his people?

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. 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." Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 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. 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." 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. - Numbers 21:4-9

I have to admit, if I was walking around the desert going nowhere for forty years, I would get a bit impatient, too.

Come on, God, have a heart.

Did Moses not know the way to go? Was this a test for everyone to make sure no one survived the journey?

According to AI, the trip should have taken several weeks to several months, depending on conditions, and yet they wandered for a lifetime.

So, maybe, god, you would send snakes to poison me for saying this, but I don't think getting angry at them for losing faith in you makes sense.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus references the raising of the serpent by Moses as a way to save them from death. He says he is that serpent when he is raised on the cross.

So, we are supposed to see God as loving for saving us from death, and that makes sense. But creating the circumstances for death, like the snakes, doesn't.

So, one of the questions I have on my list when I meet God is going to be "Why create the problem to solve it?"

He may laugh at me for asking, and that's OK. It wouldn't be the first time.

More to come...