When The Cure Looks Like The Curse

Have you ever had to look at the very thing that hurt you in order to be healed?

That sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? We tend to run from pain, not toward it. We avoid the memories that wounded us, the people who betrayed us, the experiences that left us scarred. But what if God invites us, not to avoid those places, but to look directly at them? To see them differently; not as places of shame, but as places where healing might begin?

In Numbers 21, we find one of the strangest stories in the Old Testament. It’s a story about snakes. About pain. About judgment. But also about mercy, healing, and, believe it or not, the gospel.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in the wilderness… If you’ve ever felt the bite of disappointment or failure… If you’ve ever wondered why God allows pain and how He brings healing… this passage is for you.

Let’s walk together through this ancient text and discover how God turns curses into cures.

Numbers 21:4 says: “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.”

By this point in the Israelites’ journey, they’ve been wandering in the wilderness for almost 40 years. They’re nearing the end—but they don’t know it.

All they know is that once again, the route to the Promised Land is blocked. The Edomites, distant relatives of Israel, have refused to let them pass through their land. So instead of taking the direct route north, they’re forced to circle around, again, through the harsh desert wilderness.

Imagine the frustration. Day after day of walking. The heat. The hunger. The uncertainty. The feeling that this is never going to end.

Have you ever been there spiritually? You’re trying to follow God, but it feels like the journey just keeps circling. Your prayers feel unanswered. Your progress feels stalled. You can’t see the destination; just more wilderness.

Verse 5 tells us how the people respond: “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.’”

That last line says a lot, doesn’t it? “There is no food… and we detest this miserable food.” So which is it? No food; or food you don’t like?

Of course, they had food. God had been providing manna, bread from heaven, every day. But they had grown weary of it. They were tired of depending. Tired of trusting. Tired of being in-between. And their spiritual fatigue turned into bitterness.

And here’s something to notice: This isn’t the first time they’ve complained. In fact, this is at least the fifth time we’re told they grumbled against God and Moses.

But this time… something different happens.

Verse 6 says: “Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.”

Let’s sit with that for a moment, because it’s hard to hear. God sends serpents?

In Hebrew, the phrase is?seraphim nachash—literally, “fiery serpents.” The word “fiery” likely refers to the burning pain of the venom. These were deadly snakes. Real, physical, painful. And they infiltrated the camp.

Now, we struggle with this. Why would God do that?

There are a few possible interpretations. One is that this is an act of divine judgment.

A wake-up call for a people who had repeatedly rejected God’s provision. Another possibility is that God didn’t so much send the snakes as withdraw His protective hand, allowing the dangers of the wilderness to affect a people who had pushed Him away.

Either way, the result is terrifying. The people are being bitten. Some are dying. And suddenly, the thing that seemed so frustrating, God’s daily provision, now looks like a lifeline they desperately need.

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains.” In this moment, God’s people hear the shout.

Verse 7: “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.”

This is the first time in the book of Numbers that the people confess without making excuses. No blame-shifting. No denial. Just: “We have sinned.”

The snakes, painful as they are, become the catalyst for repentance. The people recognize their rebellion. And they do the right thing—they go to Moses and ask for help.

Now remember, this is the same Moses they had been criticizing for decades. The same Moses they accused of trying to kill them. The same Moses they slandered and gossiped about. But in their moment of need, they turn to him.