Redemptive Riddle: Snake on a pole
Introduction
Scripture communicates God's message using thought provoking figures of speech, parables, proverbs and even riddles. (Psalm 49:4; Ecclesiastes 3:11; 7:1-2; Proverbs 1:5; John 25:16-30; Matthew 13:10-13, 34-35) Indeed, the gospel is described as a mystery that we need to explain clearly to unbelievers. (Colossians 4:2-6)
First Corinthians chapters 1-3 presents a paradoxical puzzle: the world's wisdom is foolishness to God and God's wisdom is foolishness to man. Human wisdom cannot comprehend how the long awaited Messiah, God's deliverer, was crucified on the cross as a criminal! It makes no sense to Gentiles and is offensive to Jews. “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18) Indeed, according to Hebrews 2:15 Christ's death on the cross was the key to break “the power of the devil, who had the power of death. … (and) set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”
In Psalm 49 the psalmist posed a riddle about eternal life. The impetus behind this riddle is the universal human fear of death and the riddle is resolved by understanding God as redeemer. These verses, like the Corinthians passage, interweave the contrasting themes of wisdom and foolishness.
I listen carefully to many proverbs and solve riddles with inspiration from a harp.
Why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me? They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches. Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God. Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough to live forever and never see the grave.
Those who are wise must finally die, just like the foolish and senseless, leaving all their wealth behind. The grave is their eternal home, where they will stay forever. They may name their estates after themselves, but their fame will not last. They will die, just like animals. This is the fate of fools, though they are remembered as being wise. Interlude … But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave. (Psalm 49:4-20)
Interestingly, Jesus also posed a riddle with eternal life as its reward!
And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Although these verses don't exactly mention the word 'cross', it is strongly implied by the phrase 'lifted up'. “As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.” A careful comparison with John 12:23-33 (where the same words “lifted up” occur) clearly shows that Jesus was referring to his impending death on the cross.
A curious cure
It is no secret that the emblem of a snake wrapped around a pole has curative connotations as it appears on ambulances world-wide and is featured on the flag of the World Health Organization. Yet for thousands of years serpents have evoked fear or hatred. Why? I started asking some puzzling questions, “Considering the ancient serpent was cursed by God in the garden of Eden why was Moses instructed to lift up a bronze snake on a pole signifying a remedy for fatal snake bites?” “Perhaps Moses could have lifted something less sinister, such as an image of an innocent lamb?” (echoing the rescue motif of a Passover Lamb as well as the lamb as prophesied by Abraham)
Last month, in an article, Look snake!, I explained how an unusual traffic delay put me beside an ambulance for almost two minutes. As I stared at the Asclepius emblem on the emergency vehicle it kick-started a series of thought-provoking questions. The article also explained the backstory behind why Jesus compared himself to the serpent Moses lifted up in the wilderness: https://tinyurl.com/45exbshd
Several weeks after that strange experience, I had another puzzling encounter with Asclepius. I was forced to a stand-still in traffic next to an ambulance at a red light – not once but three times! (all within 1500 meters) “Was God trying to get my attention again?”
During the weeks prior to this memorable moment I had invested many hours delving into the theme, Serpent to Savior, and published two pieces about it – an 8 pg article and a 2 pg article. Not only so, I was sharing glimpses of these insights with a number of unbelieving friends (especially Muslims). The topic of a snake on a pole is somewhat strange, yet I was encouraged to see how often it sparked seasoned-with-salt conversations pointing people to Jesus. (Colossians 4:2-6)
What was God trying to tell me through this weird triple encounter? I believe he was saying, “Don't lose heart, keep pressing on. Everyone needs to hear these vital truths, including John 3:16, the most well-known verse of the Bible, declaring God's love for the whole world.” As such, this message is NOT JUST for 'marginalized' Yezidis and Muslims; it is for the whole world!
Just last week I had another experience confirming this. A certain man saw me knocking on an apartment door. He saw that I wasn't having any success rousing the tenant, and he knew that the occupant has hearing difficulties, so he offered to help by knocking very loudly. During our brief encounter I noticed this friendly guy had an Asclepius tattooed on his shoulder which prompted me to make a friendly remark. This, in turn, led me to offer him a riddle about Asclepius. (see appendix)
In conclusion, let me encourage you to pluck up courage and venture outside your comfort zone, like I'm doing. Why not try to share the gospel by offering neighbors and friends an interesting riddle (brain teaser)?
All Bible quotes are from the New Living Translation.
I would love to hear from you, especially if you have had some meaningful conversations with friends on the themes in this article. Please write me here.
Other articles that can help to explain the mystery (or riddle) of the gospel include:
Life's Great Riddle: A Heart for Eternity
Timeless Truth Encrypted in Ancient Wisdom
What every Christian needs to know about sharing the Gospel with Muslims
Appendix
It is no secret that the emblem of a snake wrapped around a pole has medical connotations as it appears on ambulances world-wide and is featured on the flag of the World Health Organization. Yet for thousands of years serpents have evoked fear or hatred. Why? I started asking some puzzling questions, “Considering the ancient serpent was cursed by God in the garden of Eden why was Moses instructed to lift up a bronze snake on a pole signifying a remedy for fatal snake bites?” “Perhaps Moses could have lifted something less sinister, such as an image of an innocent lamb?” (echoing the rescue motif of the Passover Lamb which the Hebrews were familiar with) I've discovered some amazing things while considering these thought-provoking questions. Here's an interesting article you might like to check out titled, Look Snake! It explains the backstory behind why Jesus compared himself to the serpent Moses lifted up in the wilderness: https://tinyurl.com/45exbshd
Postscript: Lamb in Scripture
The truth of God as redeemer (Psalm 49:15) is rooted in two epic stories embedded in Judaism, Christianity and Islam: The Exodus from slavery in Egypt and Abraham's test whereby God ransomed his son through providing a lamb. Down through history Jews, Christians and Muslims have deeply struggled to make sense of God's command to Abraham to sacrifice his first born son, illustrating what is perhaps, the most mind-bending riddle in the Bible. However, to 'unlock this riddle' (or 'crack the nut' as one friend said) it is necessary to carefully examine Abraham's prophecy about God providing the lamb. Indeed, the imagery of a lamb plays an important role in the unfolding message of the prophets (e.g. Exodus 12, Leviticus 4, Isaiah 53) and then climaxing with John the Baptist in John 1:29 where he points to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Not only so, the Lamb is mentioned 19 times in the book of Revelation which further underscores its importance. John Gilchrist has written a brilliant piece, titled, Isaac: The Reflection of the Father's Love, showing how Abraham's prophecy about God providing the lamb was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Another helpful article is, The Mystery of Abraham's Sacrifice by Roland Clarke.
Postscript: Redemptive riddle aptly illustrated
Our neighbor, Dan, is one of the most talkative and helpful guys and he's even visited my wife and I in our apartment on a number of occasions. Sadly, however, he's very uncomfortable talking about spiritual things even though he has a serious medical condition and is afraid it will kill him. Recently he jokingly suggested, “It's about time you brought over some of those delicious muffins” (he was recalling some goodies we gave him several months ago). Turned out his wish was our command!
Several days later my wife made the muffins as requested. A still small voice prompted me to share something with my friend, Dan that would gently stir his heart to think about spiritual things. A couple years back I had shared with him a proverbial saying of Solomon, “God has planted eternity in the human heart” and coupled with it, a puzzling statement about “the day of death [being] better than the day of birth.” (Ecclesiastes 7:1-2) I wondered if perhaps, now Dan would be willing to ponder an interesting riddle drawing a comparison between the serpent that Moses lifted in the wilderness and the Asclepius symbol as depicted on ambulance doors. I printed out the riddle and put it on top of the container with the muffins and went to knock on Dan's door.
His wife answered; so with a big smile on my face I said, “Here's a few of Dan's favourite muffins – good food for the body,” and then, handing her the piece of paper, I added, “And here's some good 'brain' food.” Our prayer is that she and Dan will ponder the riddle and try to figure out what it means.
We'll continue praying for God to open Dan's eyes. Hopefully one of the next times I meet him walking his dog I'll ask if he read the riddle and perhaps have the chance to give him a clue for how to solve it.
Riddles are often mentioned in the Bible. In Psalm 49 the psalmist used his harp to solve a riddle explaining God as his redeemer. A couple weeks ago I discovered an inspiring song on youtube titled, Hymn of heaven. It has a beautiful melody and lyrics that resonate with the psalmist's testimony in Psalm 49 bringing a message of hope. Hope is what my neighbor, Dan, needs and it is our prayer that we will have the opportunity to help him discover that, indeed, Jesus was lifted on the cross for our spiritual healing, not unlike the bronze serpent was lifted up on a pole so that those who were fatally bitten could be saved. Perhaps I will also tell Dan how much I enjoyed listening to the Hymn of heaven as sung by Phil Wickham.