Healer: Whole Through One (Numbers 21:5-9)

“I believe You're my healer. I believe You are all I need.” – Hillsong Worship 👨‍⚕️

Dear sick species,

Your flesh desires to do what God desires for you to quit. You need to be made whole by His Spirit. You need Jesus in your life to heal every part of you – the part that sins, the part that hates, the part that’s blue, the part that’s anxious, the part that rages, the part that doesn’t know what to do. 

Health isn’t just about the physical aspect of life. It also includes the emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual well-being of a person (Roger Williams University). We’re talking about this because this entry is about the story of The Bronze Serpent found in Numbers 21.

My previous post was on the psalm written about how God punished the generation of the Israelites for rebelling against him. They were to wander in the wilderness for 40 years and were to die there without entering the Promised Land, Canaan, except for Caleb and Joshua.

Now we’ll read of a significant event that will be referenced in the gospel.

Numbers 21:5-9 (NKJV)

⁴ Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. ⁵ And 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 our soul loathes this worthless bread.” ⁶ So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.

⁷ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Fiery serpents scene portrayed in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

As the Israelites were going around the land of Edom, they got impatient and discouraged and complained about their situation. It’s their fault for rebelling, so they had to wander for the rest of their lives. It should have been only 11 days, and they’d be in the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 1:2). Now we see here the frustration the Israelites have because they’re stuck in the desert.

They were complaining that there’s no food and water. They said they hated the manna God had been raining down for them, calling it “worthless.” I remember the New International Version, which says “we detest this miserable food!” I, too, might have called it “miserable” if that’s all I’ve been eating for 40 years, which was the case for the Israelites (Exodus 16:35), but I wouldn’t say it’s worthless. If that’s the thing that would keep me alive, then it has use for me.

What is manna anyway? Well, manna literally means “What is it?” in Hebrew (Got Questions Ministiries, 2022). Exodus 16:31 describes it as something “like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” I don’t know about you, but honey wafers sound delicious to me! I like some honey flavored cereals like Cheerios and Honey Stars, and if you turned those into wafers, I’d say heaven’s treats don’t disappoint.

However, I understand how we humans can’t be content with eating the same thing for every meal even if that’s the best dish in the world ever. But this is food from heaven, so I imagine it’s better that the best of Earth. Do you know the best there is that came down from heaven? It’s Jesus Christ, but people still reject Him. How much more then would people reject some food they had to eat for the rest of their lives?

The problem is people don’t see how blessed they are. We are well taken care of by God, but we want life to go our way. Now that’s making yourself your own god, and that life is one that would never be satisfied because the God that created our yearning hearts is the only One who can satisfy our yearnings.

That’s why humanity is a sick species in need of the Healer. Again, I’m not talking about a medical condition. I’m talking about our life’s direction. Do you want a life full and abundant? Do you want your motto to say “I shall not want”? Do you want your life saved? Do you want to enter the pearl gates and step into a street with gold it’s paved? (I’m talking about heaven. That’s how it’s described in Revelation 21:21.)

We can have abundant life on Earth. We can feel whole. All we need is Jesus. His love overflows to those who seek Him, to those who welcome Him in their lives with arms stretched wide, to those who make Him their Lord and Savior. He says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10, NIV).”

Through Christ, we’ll have a full, abundant life. He takes care of all the dimensions of health in our life. We’ll be whole through One. I’m alluding to the golf term “hole in one” that means the ball goes into the hole with the first hit. Jesus is the only One we need.

In John 3:14-15, Jesus says, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” This is the allusion to our passage where people were healed from the snake bites by looking at the bronze serpent lifted at a pole. Now Jesus when he was lifted up on the cross to die for our sins and resurrected, He gives anyone who believe everlasting life.

How does God take care of our overall health?

Let’s look at verses showing how God promises to take care of all the aspects of our health.

• Physical Health

            ‘For I will restore health to you

            And heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord

-       Jeremiah 30:17

In our day and age, God has provided as with advance medicine. He uses doctors and their treatment to heal us when we’re sick. However, even in the beginning, God has already provided people with what they need to be physically healthy. He created vegetation. That was the original plan—veganism and herbivory (Genesis 1:29-30). But man sinned, so God had to make clothes out of animal skin (Genesis 3:21). Then after the flood, He allowed them to eat animal meat except for their blood (Genesis 9:3,4). When God gave the law, he restricted eating meat to only what He says are clean animals (Leviticus 11), but then in the New Testament, He tells Peter all animals are now clean (Acts 10:15). (I wrote an entry on this. Click this link to read it.)

• Emotional Health

            Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.

            Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

-       John 14:27

This emotional health is what we now call mental health. It covers concerns about anxiety, stress, depression, anger, trauma, paranoia, and the like. We don’t need to have a disorder to feel these things, for we can normally experience them. When we feel these, let us find comfort from the Prince of Peace Himself, Jesus Christ.

•  Social Health

             For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

-       Matthew 18:20

We’re created to live with people. Back in creation, God said, “It is not good that man should be alone (Genesis 2:18).” That is why it’s good to be in fellowship with people from the Church. The Church is meant to be our family. You could be part of a Bible study group or of what we Christians call a small group where members are accountable to one another.

• Spiritual Health

            If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,

            how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

-       Luke 11:13

Christians need to walk by the Spirit of God, for them not to be overcome by sinful desires (Galatians 5:16). Spiritual health is very important for us to have a full life. Pray in everything that you do that God may be with you.

•  Intellectual Health

             If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally 

            and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

-       James 1:5

Wisdom is one treasure God encourages people to have. That is why He gave us the Bible. He also gives us His Spirit who teaches us what is right. And like in the verse above, when we pray for wisdom, God will generously give it to us. We live in a world where we have to make decisions and where people inform us about things differently. Let us seek Biblical answers in choosing what to do or follow.

Now I made a graphic using the characters from a sitcom my siblings and I like, The Good Place, portrayed in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I chose these characters because they’re diverse, and I tried to pair them with the dimension of health they needed. I paired Chidi with physical health, not because he’s sickly but because he’s a nerd, and I’m just trying to show that stereotype needed to be physically strong.

Let us find wholeness through Christ. He’s our healer, our consolation, our friend, our moral compass, and our source of wisdom.

Whole through One is all we need. It’s His renewal to our souls we must feed. We’ll be strong, not just by what’s seen by the eyes. We’ll be strong in our overall health through Jesus Christ.

With love,

Celina <3

References

Got Questions Ministiries. (2022, January 4). What was manna? From GotQuestions.org: https://www.gotquestions.org/what-was-manna.html

Roger Williams University. (n.d.). Dimensions of Wellness. From RWU.edu: https://www.rwu.edu/undergraduate/student-life/health-and-counseling/health-education-program/dimensions-wellness

Next: Holy Spirit: Being Warmed by the Fire of God's Spirit (Numbers 27:18-23)

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