At the time that the Israelites were in the wilderness with Moses, an epidemic of venom-induced suffering spread through the camp due to an influx of biting serpents. The people were healed not through a cure but through a miracle that came in response to an act of faith:
"The Israelites...became so impatient that they complained against God and said to Moses, 'Did you bring us out of Egypt, just to let us die in the desert? There's no water out here, and we can't stand this awful food!' Then the LORD sent poisonous snakes that bit and killed many of them.
"Some of the people went to Moses and admitted, 'It was wrong of us to insult you and the LORD. Now please ask him to make these snakes go away.'
"Moses prayed, and the LORD answered, 'Make a snake out of bronze and place it on top of a pole. Anyone who gets bitten can look at the snake and be saved from death.'
"Moses obeyed the LORD. And all of those who looked at the bronze snake lived, even though they had been bitten by the poisonous snakes" (Num. 21: 4 – 9, CEV).
We should note how that the serpents were in the first place sent by God in response to the sinful faithlessness of Israel. Thus only when they recognized their sin, and consequently manifest humility and remorse, did God proffer them a miracle. And this was a miracle in the most literal sense of the term: immediate healing with no scientific explanation. The lesson was a clear one for the Israelites: if you turn to God in humility and repent of your sins, he has the power to heal.
I mean, no one was going to believe that the brass serpent—a man-made device—did the healing, right?
Apparently, the Israelites did, at some point, start to believe this. Here's what eventually became of Israel and their view of the brass serpent:
"Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled 29 years from Jerusalem.... Hezekiah obeyed the LORD, just as his ancestor David had done. He destroyed the local shrines, then tore down the images of foreign gods.... He also smashed the bronze snake Moses had made. The people had named it Nehushtan and had been offering sacrifices to it" (2 Kings 18:2 – 4, CEV).
Some 500 – 600 years after the miracle of healing in the wilderness, the Israelites worshipped the brass serpent itself as if it was the one who did the healing. They had unbelievably confused a man-made device with a literal God send of repentance-induced healing. Are we guilty of this type of confusion ourselves? Do we ever thank God that we have something much better than faith for healing our infirmities in the form of antidepressants or antibiotics? Surely God can grant us healing through these things if He wills it, but in the end how do we obtain healing? Is it not through God's intervention and will only?
"All things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul. And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.
"And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments" (D&C 59:18 – 21).
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