Numbers 21:4b-9 (NRSV)
Read Numbers 21:4b-9 on biblegateway.com
Verse 4From 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. Verse 5The 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." Verse 6Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. Verse 7The 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. Verse 8And 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." Verse 9So 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.
Devotion
Wilderness wandering is filled with anxiety. For those followers of Moses who were freed from the slavery of Egypt this desert trek tested their faith. God knew they needed signs of hope. God instructed Moses to create a bronze serpent on a pole so that everyone who looked at it could be saved from poisonous snakes on the loose.
When the Twin Towers fell a year ago, we knew we were in the desert and didn't know what was ahead. We began looking for signs of hope and salvation. God has given us signs of hope and salvation in a meal, the Word, and the community of faith.
We're still impatient with a life that lacks financial and physical security, but we do have visible signs of God's endless and abiding love.