Look and Live

As the 40 years of wandering in wilderness came to an end, Moses and the Children of Israel began to make their way into the Promised Land. This part of their journey became extremely difficult.  They were tired of eating manna, they were beginning to have other Nations who lived in the area come to battle against them or not allow them to travel through their land.  The Israelites were 4 million strong and a huge threat to other nations.  These struggles caused the Children of Israel to begin to murmur against the Lord and Moses again. Because of their murmuring “the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.” (Num. 21:6).

 Recognizing their sin, the people begged Moses to ask the Lord to deliver them from this trial. Rather than simply taking the serpents away, the Lord chose to teach His people about faith and salvation through Christ.  Isn’t that what he does with us many times as we wander in this wilderness of life our journey can be difficult and hard and we pray to our Heavenly Father to deliver us from our struggles and trials. But in his wisdom he chooses to teach us about faith and salvation through Christ.

The Lord told Moses to take a brass serpent and put it on a tall rod, and “if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” (Num. 21:9)  The Savior likened Himself to the serpent of brass when he said: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14–15).  According to Jesus, the serpent was intended to be the symbol of himself and his atonement. In many ancient cultures the snake or serpent was seen as a form of deity with creative powers and anciently it was a symbol of healing still seen today as the Physicians Symbol.  This is the rod of Asclepius, a deity associated with healing.

 Book of Mormon prophets used this story over and over in their efforts to persuade their people to repent and believe in Christ.  They understood the ultimate meaning behind the symbol of the serpent was the Lord Jesus Christ being lifted up with healing power to save.   In Ancient American culture the “serpent motif” is reflected in much of the art and architecture and even the legend of a great white God who appeared out of the sky and who would return is named Quetzalcoatl which means “bird-serpent” or “feathered-serpent.”  Listen to Nephi’s description of the Savior.  “Behold, they will crucify him; (serpent)and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings(bird); and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name.” (2 Ne. 25:13)

Feathered Serpent head at the Ciudadela complex in Teotihuacan

 

Vision Serpent depicted on lintel 15 from Yaxchilan

 Alma taught this account of Moses and the Brass Serpent, he said:

“Behold, he was spoken of by Moses; yea, and behold a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live.  But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them.  O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?  If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be judged at the last and judgment day, according to their works.” (Alma 33:19-22) 

How can we look and live so we do not perish…we need to look to the scriptures because they testify of Christ?  “And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.” (2 Ne. 33:10) Interesting that Moses was told to place a brass serpent on a Rod and hold I up.  Think of the Iron Rod which is the word of God.  The scriptures will help us believe and have faith in Christ that he is the Savior of the world and through his atonement he can actually heal us spiritually and emotionally and through his resurrection he can heal us physically. 

 Nephi reminded his brothers of this Story:

“And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.” (1 Ne. 17:41)

 The only Labor we have to perform is to look, “Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39) As we search the scriptures we can find answers to our questions, feel of his love, and have our minds opened to what the Lord would have us do.

Nephi explains that because of the simpleness of the way or the easiness of it many perished!  Do we sometimes discount the power that comes from studying the scriptures especially the Book of Mormon.  Because it is so easy or simple do we overlook the power and protection that comes from the reading, studying the scriptures?  When we are faced with a problem is that the first place we turn or the last?  President Benson said, “It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path.” (Book of Mormon, The Keystone of our Religion, Ezra Taft Benson)

 Satan wants to deceive us, Nephi warned “And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, …and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.” (2 Ne. 28:21) We cannot forget that Satan is the master deceiver and ultimate  counterfeiter.  He actually used an emblem of the Savior and his atonement “the serpent” to beguile Eve in the Garden of Eden. The scriptures say he put it in the heart of the serpent and spake by the mouth of him, “And the serpent said unto the woman: Ye shall not surely die; For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Moses 4:10-11) Satan came to Eve clothed in the signs and symbols of the Messiah, using the language of the Messiah, promising things that only the Messiah could rightfully promise. 

 

"Dr. Nehama Aschenasy, a Hebrew scholar, said that in Hebrew the word which is translated as beguiled in the Bible does not mean "tricked" or " deceived" as we commonly think. Rather, the Hebrew word is a rare verb that indicates an intense multilevel experience evoking great emotional, psychological, and/or spiritual trauma. As Aschenasy explained, it is likely that Eve's intense, multilevel experience, this " beguiling" by the serpent was the catalyst that caused Eve to ponder and evaluate what her role in the Garden really was." http://thegiftofgivinglife.com/the-book/read-excerpts/we-are-each-eve/

 Satan will stop at nothing to lead us away, he has done it from the beginning and will continue to attack us because he wants us to be as miserable. He certainly does not want us to look in our scriptures, or cast our eyes upon the teachings of Jesus Christ.  He does not want us to look and live, and will do whatever it takes to harden our hearts.  “he stireth up the hearts of men to contend with anger one with another.” (3 Nephi 11:29)

Alma taught about the easiness of the way.
“O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.  And now, my son, see that ye take care of these sacred things, yea, see that ye look to God and live.” (Alma 37:46-47) The scriptures have been prepared for us.  The Book of Mormon especially was written for our day.  All of the scriptures have been prepared and preserved, translated and protected for thousands of years.  The Savior said, Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life. (3 Ne. 15:9)

NEPHI SON OF HELAMAN also taught this story and of Moses said….

“Yea, did he not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come.  And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal.”  (Helaman 14-15)

The Scriptures give life, not just sustain us in this life through our many trials but they teach us about faith and salvation through Christ who is the only one who can promise eternal life.  “there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.”  (Mosiah 3:17)

Other thoughts on the symbol of the serpent
Moses and the Pharaoh showdown….We can see this symbolism also in the scriptures when Moses and Aaron first went before the pharaoh. This scene dramatically illustrates the duality of serpent imagery in the scriptures.  “And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.  For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” (Exodus 7:8-12)

 

The serpent of Jehovah swallowed up the serpents of Pharaoh.  I think it is important to point out that the very first thing the Lord commands Moses to do when he asks Pharaoh to let his people go, is to cast his staff before Pharaoh and it became the very symbol of Christ, the promised Messiah.  The pharaoh would have recognized this power and symbol of deity, as the great creator as most ancient cultures worshipped and was seen as a connecting link between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The serpent could give life or take it and is the perfect model of regeneration and immortality as it sheds its skin.

Hezekiah

At some point the symbol of the serpent ceased to be a pure symbol of the one true God to be worshiped as Moses intended and became an idol, the object of worship.  When Hezekiah, one of the righteous kings of Judah, “removed the high places and idols of the people he also broke into pieces the brass serpent.” (2 Kings 18:4)