Spiritual Snake Bites

… And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

What were these fiery serpents sent among the people? They were the direct judgment of God against a rebellious and sinful people. They lost faith in God. They turned on God and God’s chosen leadership, and they looked back again to the land of Egypt. As a result God sent the vipers among the camp.

There were poisonous snakes in the bed rolls, under the seat cushions, in the food storage bins, inside the wagons and under the rocks. There was no safe place. Everywhere that the Israelites went they had to deal with a poisonous snake. The bites were both painful and deadly and there was no medicine to stop its power to kill. The venom would quickly enter the blood stream and invade the nervous system. It was as though the blood was on fire and the pain was unbearable until finally, in a short period of time, death came. Death itself was no relief, because those who died in rebellion, went from the burning and pain of the snake venom to the eternal burning flames of hell and they are still burning today!

One of Satan’s favorite tricks to draw Christians away from Christ is to get them to see only the good times of their past life of sin. They quickly forget the sleepless nights, sin-sick soul, the chains of despair and destruction, and the eternal sentence of death that hung over their heads. They forget the power of sin to control everything they do and they remember only the “don’t worry, be happy” attitudes.

Child of God, don’t turn your back on God and look again at your old life of sin. God will not let you go unpunished. His judgments are always designed to bring you back to him.

If you turn away don’t think it strange when your troubles begin to multiply! Don’t think it strange when God’s hand of correction begins to reach out and pull you back to him! Just what God will do to bring you back is his choice but I can promise you this – GOD’S MERCY, LOVE AND GRACE WILL SEND SOME FIERY SERPENTS INTO YOUR LIFE IN THE FORM OF TRIALS AND TESTS AND TROUBLES!

The fires of sin will burn your life into a life of fear, doubt, dread and death! There is no cure outside of Christ! Your soul will burn and there will be nothing to satisfy you in this life, then in the eternal realms of hell, your soul will ever burn with a fire that will not be quenched, ever!

When the fiery serpents come and your judgment begins, how will you react to them? Will you harden your heart against God and blame him for bringing them in the first place or will you realize that you brought this upon yourself through your own rebellious attitude toward God?

…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.

If there is one thing that I am thankful for, it is the fact that Israel at least knew who was at fault. It was their own actions and not that of God that brought the serpents among them. They called upon God, through Moses, to take away the snakes from their camp.