The Blessing and the Curse
Numbers 21:5-9 (KJV)
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for [there is] no bread, neither [is there any] water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
It is truly amazing how God used the most infamous cursed beast of the bible to bring a blessing to the people that He had set aside to be His chosen people.
This is one of the reasons that I love God so much because no matter what situation I find myself in I can always say that God has control and all I need to figure out is what is it that He wants me to learn from this experience.
To put this theory into context let’s first explore the difference between the meaning of a person being blessed versus a person being cursed
According to google.com:
"To be blessed" means ’to be favoured by God’. Blessings therefore are directly associated with God and comes from God. Therefore to express a blessing, is like bestowing a wish on someone that he/she will experience the favour of God.
"May you have a blessed Christmas", therefore can also be translated as: "May you experience the favor of God during this Christmas period."
A curse, at least in its most formal sense, is the opposite of a blessing. Compare charm.
In the Christian holy book, the Bible, blessings and curses are related; the book of Deuteronomy prescribes that obedience to the Torah brings God’s blessing, while disobedience brings a curse. The Priestly Blessing is set forth at Numbers 6:24-26:
A curse is the effective action of some power, distinguished solely by the quality of adversity that it brings. A curse may also be said to result from a spell or prayer, imprecation or execration, or other imposition by magic or witchcraft, asking that a god, natural force, or spirit bring misfortune to someone.
Above info came from google.com
For most of my life I had always associated the serpent to be the devil and everything about the serpent I thought was evil and I wanted nothing to do with it.
It is amazing how God can use the beast that permanently damaged mankind to be a blessing to them in a time of need
In today’s study we must realize that the children of Israel are facing what they have determined as to be some very trying and difficult times
Many of us have considered our present situations to be trying and difficult but all we need to do is look back
Although they had just escaped the most difficult slavery and worse bondage known to man they somehow looked at the situation they were in now and wondered if they were in a better place when they were in Egypt
This is like many of us today God has stretched His hand to bless us and deliver us out of certain situations yet we look back on what He delivered us out of and wonder if where we came from is better than where we find ourselves now
The children of Israel were certainly blessed yet they were struggling; they were struggling with their blessings
Though they realized that they were blessed and delivered (Numbers 20:16) they had come to a point where they depended on man to allow them to pass (Numbers 20:17)
And just like the obstacle that they are facing now (Numbers 20:18), as they escaped Egypt, they faced a barrier that seemed impossible to cross (see RED SEA)
How many of us are facing obstacles and barriers in our lives right now that seem like there is no possible way to cross them. We need to think back to the last time that God delivered us and learn to trust in Him. He has our best interest in mind
The next scripture is truly an interesting fact in that for many years I like many other people thought that the children of Israel were poor and unable to afford food and clothes and this is why God had to totally and miraculously sustain them while they were in the wilderness
However contrary to what I thought to be true these people had money and were willing to pay their way (Numbers 20:19). But in this case just as in many cases that we are in right now, their money could not deliver them
After all that God had done for them in their delivery from Egypt the children of Israel still had the audacity to say that they were discouraged because of the way that God had operated in their lives.
This is like so many of us today. God has truly been a miracle worker in our lives and brought us through many situations that had the ability to and were supposed to literally take us out but yet we have the mind to stand and say that we are discouraged because of the way that He had operated
The children went further than to just be discouraged but they were even brave enough to speak against God - their heavenly Father and Moses - their Spiritual leader (Numbers 21:5)
This really brought on the wrath of God on these people of God because immediately without warning or sign God sent fiery serpents among the people.
Have you ever wondered why things in your life seem to all of a sudden go wrong when just a minute ago it seemed that you were in such good condition that you even had the right to complain about your situation?
Maybe you are experiencing the wrath of God without warning or sign
It is interesting how God used the serpents. He did not attempt to warn or frighten the people but the mission of serpents was to kill the people
I don’t know about you but I watch enough criminal TV to know that this is a very steep penalty for such a crime as this. I mean people commit much worse crimes under daily basis than to just complain
Imagine how you would feel if the next time that you complained about anything God sent fiery serpents to kill you and your family
If God were to judge us like this constantly we would get a new and better respect for Him immediately
This is truly a curse from God
However, this is not how the story ends because in (Numbers 21:7) the people had a change in heart. They began to feel differently about their complaints especially with the added measure of persuasion that God was now applying
They admitted to be sinners and wanted to pray unto the Lord to take away the serpents. I am convinced that many times we only make matters worse when we never admit our shortcomings.
The bible declares that we all and I mean all which is to include you have sinned and fall short. What do we do when we find ourselves in the midst of our shortcomings?
God felt compassion towards his people and certainly not pity because although in verse 8 he gave a way for the people to stop being killed by the serpents He did not say that the serpents would stop biting the people neither did He say that the serpents went away and never came back.
This is where many of us are right now. God has stopped his wrath and has allowed his healing to begin but because we are suffering from the pain of the bites from the spiritual serpents we are allowing our service to God to be hindered.
God is so awesome to take the very beast that caused the destruction and use his symbolism to heal. God wants to take that very situation that is hindering you right now and heal you with it
We must be careful to notice that God symbolically used the serpent. He told Moses to make a brass serpent not a real one.
We have to be careful that we don’t walk into traps trying to handle situations and walk in our delivery.
There should be no need for you to go to the club to deliver the people in the club. God has another way.
There is no need for you to be in the drug house to deliver the drug user. God has another way.
There is no reason to call your extramarital affair partner to explain your change of heart. God has another way.
CONCLUSION
Saints I understand how painful it may be to deal with the bites and I understand how discouraging it may be to possibly face the serpent the next time we want to go outside but we absolutely must be willing and able to move forward on the word from God immediately and with confidence and trust that He is who He says that He is and can do what He says that He can do. We must always and I mean always be able to accept and move in our blessings.
Let’s Pray,
Dear Lord thank for your many blessings that you have bestowed upon my life. I am careful to always give you the praise and worship that you deserve and desire in my life. My life would not be the same without you. Lord God there have been times when the enemy was all around and out to kill me but you watched over me and kept me safe and I want to say thank you. Lord God there have been times when I wasn’t even aware of the danger that was all around me but never the less you kept me safe and I just want to say thank you. Lord God I want to thank you from the very bottom of my heart for the rest of life. Please continue to bless me and keep me. In your son Jesus name I pray. Amen
Thank You
May God continue to bless you and keep you. Amen
Minister Juan D. Lane Sr.
