Do you like snakes? Not many do. No other creature on the face of the planet so universally brings forth a sense of revulsion and disgust. True or not, we think of snakes as icky, slimy, nasty, and as our text reminds, dangerous.

It seems that the children of Israel, in the midst of their wilderness wandering after the escape from slavery in Egypt, had stumbled on to a location south of the Dead Sea that is infamous for its lethal snakes. "Big deal," they no doubt thought. "Why should we expect anything different? This trip has been one big fiasco from beginning to end."

Fiasco? Perhaps. Adventure? Absolutely. You can read all about this extended hike in the book of Numbers. In fact, the Hebrew Bible titles the book more accurately "In the Wilderness." The narrative begins about a year a…