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Have you ever been caught up in a detour you weren’t planning for or expecting? It was one of those unexpected or unforeseen events that came to you from out of the blue. It could have been related to a situation at work, or at home. It could have started with people you didn’t even know, or it could have started with those who are the closest to you. But the further you got down the road of that particular detour, the more agitated you became.

A number of years ago, as i was driving to pick up my then-teenage son, i encountered an intersection that had just been closed overnight to accommodate work on a new overpass. My only option was to retrace my steps in the opposite direction and make a lengthy detour around the blocked intersection. It was late and i was ready to be in bed; and i was not a happy camper. i could not get over how inconsiderate this construction company was – the miles they were adding to my journey, my time they were wasting, and ultimately the rest deprivation they were causing me. And the further i drove out of my way, the more agitated i became.

To a much greater degree, that is what happened to the Israelites, as recorded in Numbers 21.(1) Because of the refusal of the Edomites to grant them access through their land, the Israelites were now headed south toward the Red Sea in a giant detour, when they should have been going north toward the Promised Land. And just like i did in the car that night, they began to murmur. It was one of those murmurs that the further you go, the more agitated you become, and the more things you find to become agitated about.

i mean the further i drove, my murmuring expanded beyond the “inconsiderate” construction company to now include the “inconsiderate” man driving in front of me who was going two miles below the speed limit. But my murmuring didn’t stop there! It went on to include my loving, “inconsiderate” wife who was back home asleep in our bed, completely unaware of my plight. It quickly moved on to my “inconsiderate” son – the “real source” of all my troubles – who had simply wanted to go bowling with his friends that night. Are you getting the picture? i’m certain you have never experienced anything like this, or felt that way yourself!

For the Israelites, it started with the “inconsiderate” Edomites, and grew to the rocky, sandy wilderness through which they were walking, to the absence of a varied diet, to “this wretched manna!” “So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among them!” i must hurriedly acknowledge that i am overwhelmed by God’s graciousness toward me that there weren’t any poisonous snakes around the night of my detour!

You see, my agitation that night really didn’t have anything to do with my “inconsiderate” son, or my “inconsiderate” wife, or the “inconsiderate” driver, or even the “inconsiderate” construction company; it all had to do with me. My response had everything to do with what was already in my heart! And the issue that day as the Israelites traveled from Mount Hor didn’t have anything to do with manna, or their diet, or the wilderness, or even the Edomites; it had to do with what was in their hearts.

When will we learn that other people or circumstances cannot “make” us angry or agitated or bitter or whatever. That person or those people or that circumstance may have jostled our cup, but whatever came spilling out of it was in there to begin with! That anger, that bitterness, etc. was there long before we encountered this person or circumstance. God was dealing with what was in the people’s hearts that day, and had been in their hearts for quite some time.

So He sent poisonous snakes. It is interesting to note that the wilderness was and always had been infested with those snakes. In Deuteronomy we read, “Do not forget that He led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry.”(2) To that point in their journey, for almost forty years God had protected His people from them, but on that day, He allowed the snakes to invade the camp. The anger and bitterness of their hearts was met with the bite of the poisonous snakes – all of which was there in the wilderness long before that day.

That happens in our lives also; anger or bitterness or sin of any kind that remains unchecked in our hearts, even if it has lied dormant for some time, will eventually poison our entire self – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. It will literally eat us up from the inside out. Now before you start jumping to the defense of the Israelites and wondering why God zapped them with snakes “just for murmuring,” God’s plan was for their cleansing and their redemption. Yes, He would not tolerate their sin, and the price of their sin was death; but God made a way in the wilderness for them to be cleansed. He made a way for the redemption of their sin.

God instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and lift it up on a pole above the people, and He told the people that those who turned toward it and looked upon it would recover. You have to admit that from a human perspective the plan doesn’t make much sense. First, it’s too simple. All they had to do was look at the bronze snake. They didn’t have to go through protracted acts of contrition; all they had to do was turn toward it, believing that God would enable them to be made whole because of it. i wonder how many Israelites died because they wouldn’t turn to look because it seemed too simple to be true.

Second, the cure was formed in the same shape as the cause. It reminds me of the words of the apostle Paul, “He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin's control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.”(3)

Third, the bronze snake was lifted up before all the people. And, yes, Jesus was lifted up as the redemption for us all, so that whoever turns to Him might be saved. That bronze snake was a picture of the incarnate Lord Jesus.        

Jesus said, “And when I am lifted up on the cross, I will draw everyone to Myself.”(4) Jesus was lifted up for our salvation, our cleansing from sin, our sanctification. As children of the Living God, He has permitted the detours in our journey to surface the dross – the sin and bitterness – in our hearts. We must not let that dross remain to fester and poison us just like the bites of those snakes. Rather, we must learn to turn to the One who has been lifted up and experience the cleansing, the healing and the life that only He can bring.

Yes, it all started with a little detour, but even that detour led to His cleansing, His healing and His forgiveness – and so will ours … if we will but turn to Him.

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This post is adapted from The Wandering Years, chapter 29, entitled “It All Started With A Little Detour.” This second book in the Lessons Learned In The Wilderness series is available through Amazon in print or for your e-reader. Click HERE for more information on how you can obtain your copy of the book.

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(1)  Numbers 21:4-9 (NLT)

Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient along the way, and they began to murmur against God and Moses. "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?" they complained. "There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this wretched manna!" So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among them, and many of them were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes." So Moses prayed for the people. Then the LORD told him, "Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to the top of a pole. Those who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!" So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to the top of a pole. Whenever those who were bitten looked at the bronze snake, they recovered!

(2)  Deuteronomy 8:15 (NLT)

(3)  Romans 8:3 (NLT)

(4)  John 12:32 (NLT)

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