Snake Bitten: Because Disobedience Hurts

And Yahweh sent among the people poisonous snakes; they bit the people, and many people from Israel died.

Numbers 21:6

What happens when the people of Yahweh grumble, complain and are disobedient? Typically they are thrown into some type of tribulation. What better example of this is there other than when Yahweh sent poisonous snakes to bite His disobedient Israelites?

Num 21:5 The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the desert? There is no food and no water, and our hearts detest this miserable food.”
Num 21:6 And Yahweh sent among the people poisonous snakes; they bit the people, and many people from Israel died.

It was Yahweh that sent the poisonous snakes, not “the devil” or some evil ruler. Once the people realized their sin, they repented and asked God to forgive them. Yah gave them a way out of their dire situation by having Moses put a serpent on a pole for them to look at to be healed.

Num 21:7 The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh and let him remove the snakes from among us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
Num 21:8 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Make for yourself a snake and place it on a pole. When anyone is bitten and looks at it, that person will live.”
Num 21:9 So Moses made a snake of bronze, and he placed it on the pole; whenever a snake bit someone, and that person looked at the snake of bronze, he lived.

Jesus referenced this “snake on a pole” event in regards to His own situation, being the way to inherit eternal life. He also tells us no one has ascended to heaven. This is ignored as much as the sign of him being in the grave three days and three nights. Our theology says we go to heaven when we die, yet Jesus told us no one ascended to Heaven other than Himself. Our theology says he died on Friday and rose Sunday, when there is no way to get three days and three nights if that were true.

Joh 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
Joh 3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Deuteronomy has a lot to tell us concerning the latter days, even if you were told by your pastor it doesn’t apply to you. It will take tribulation for the people of Yah to turn from their disobedience. Once people realize they have been breaking the covenant, turn from their rebellion and repent, Yahweh will listen.

Deu 4:23 Watch out for yourselves so that you do not forget the covenant of Yahweh your God that he had made with you and make for yourselves a divine image of the form of anything that Yahweh your God has forbidden,
Deu 4:24 for Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
Deu 4:25 “When you have had children and grandchildren and you have grown old in the land and you act corruptly and you make a divine image of the form of anything and you do evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God, thus provoking him to anger,
Deu 4:26 I call to witness against you today the heaven and the earth, that you will perish soon and completely from the land that you are crossing the Jordan into it to take possession of it; you will not live long on it, but you will be completely destroyed.
Deu 4:27 And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations to where Yahweh will lead you.
Deu 4:28 And you will there serve gods made by human hands, of wood and stone, gods that cannot see and cannot hear and cannot eat and cannot smell.
Deu 4:29 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 4:30 In your distress when all these things have found you in the latter days, then you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice.
Deu 4:31 For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; he will not abandon you, and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your ancestors that he swore to them.

It is we that are in the dispersion. Peter wrote to us, and it is arguable if we ever left the government run, pagan temples of Greek and Rome.

1Pe 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen who are residing temporarily in the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
1Pe 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew, told us we would be thrown into tribulation for tolerating Jezebel and the ways of the Nicolaitans. It was only a matter of time. Reading the Bible is much like reading the newspaper these days.

Rev 2:20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
Rev 2:21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
Rev 2:22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works,
Rev 2:23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
Rev 2:24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.
Rev 2:25 Only hold fast what you have until I come.
Rev 2:26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,
Rev 2:27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.

When it comes to the authorities imposing their will, it has taken me many years to understand what Paul was talking about in Romans 13. He is basically describing today’s church landscape. Yahweh puts rulers in place to punish those disobedient to the covenant.

Rom 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except by God, and those that exist are put in place by God.
Rom 13:2 So then, the one who resists authority resists the ordinance which is from God, and those who resist will receive condemnation on themselves.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a cause of terror for a good deed, but for bad conduct. So do you want not to be afraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it,
Rom 13:4 for it is God’s servant to you for what is good. But if you do what is bad, be afraid, because it does not bear the sword to no purpose. For it is God’s servant, the one who avenges for punishment on the one who does what is bad.
Rom 13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.
Rom 13:6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are servants of God, busily engaged in this very thing.
Rom 13:7 Pay to everyone what is owed: pay taxes to whom taxes are due; pay customs duties to whom customs duties are due; pay respect to whom respect is due; pay honor to whom honor is due.

Paul is referring to breaking the commandments of God. “For it is God’s servant, the one who avenges for punishment on the one who does what is bad”. The churches have been more and more rebellious toward the holy covenant in recent years. Is it any surprise that Yahweh will use plagues and the ruling authorities to punish His people? Are you wondering why churches are being affected so greatly by current events? What is the solution?

Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a cause of terror for a good deed, but for bad conduct. So do you want not to be afraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it,

Forget about fighting the authorities. Focus on repenting and doing what is good. You are where you are at due to disobedience. The only things that are good are what Yahweh told us to do, and Yeshua showed us in person. Yeshua told us we would be thrown in tribulation for sexual immorality and pagan idolatry. Worse than that, our kids are going to die unless we repent. Isaiah told us there was supposed to be a refreshing, but the people would not listen.

Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

Peter told us about this too.

Act 3:18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Act 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
Act 3:20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
Act 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

Isaiah told us there would be a refreshing of the covenant, and Peter told us it was through Jesus. Since I like this picture from Unsplash so much, I am using it again. “Yet they would not hear” You are here!

What is said about those who want to fight in the flesh what Yahweh has ordained to punish his people for disobedience? It is not good.

Mat 26:52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
Mat 26:53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?
Mat 26:54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”

We are watching prophesy be fulfilled in our life time. No one can change the hand of Yah with a political rally, resistance or complaining. The solution is to repent, give up pagan idolatry and start following the commandments. Even then, we are not guaranteed a happy ending in the flesh. Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell”. We have gone too far!

Rev 13:9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
Rev 13:10 If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The only way the church has convinced people the verses in Revelation are not for them is by one, omitting Revelation from sermons and two, by telling people they will be raptured, watching from heaven. Is Yahweh going to rapture a rebellious people breaking all His commandments? It is spelled out for us that we have to have faith in Jesus and keep His commandments, and these have to be the same as the Father’s commandments.

How can anyone say our deeds don’t matter if they follow us when we die? What deeds would matter to Yahweh other than what He told us to do? You have been lied to and deceived with your pop culture gospel. This is prophesy being fulfilled. You will also go into tribulation. My hope is someone remembers these words when they find themselves in tribulation. Ideally, we wouldn’t wait until it gets worse.

Deu 4:30 In your distress when all these things have found you in the latter days, then you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice.
Deu 4:31 For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; he will not abandon you, and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your ancestors that he swore to them.

Jer 23:19 Look, the storm of Yahweh has gone forth in wrath, even a whirling tempest. It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.
Jer 23:20 The anger of Yahweh will not turn back until his doing and until his keeping the plans of his mind. In latter days you will look closely at it with understanding.

The priests and the prophets are telling us nothing bad will happen. They say they have a word from Yahweh, when Yahweh didn’t speak to them. “Burden of the LORD!”. They are not speaking words from Yahweh unless they are saying to repent and follow the holy covenant. In other words, do righteousness.

Jer 23:32 Look, I am against those who prophesy dreams of lies,” declares Yahweh, “and tell them, and they caused my people to err through their lies, and in their recklessness, when I myself have not sent them nor commanded them, so they profit not this people at all,” declares Yahweh.
Jer 23:33 “Now when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, ask you, saying, ‘What is the burden of Yahweh?’ then you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will forsake you,'” declares Yahweh.
Jer 23:34 “And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, ‘The burden of Yahweh,’ I will punish that man and his house.
Jer 23:35 Thus you shall say, each one to his neighbor and each one to his brother: ‘What has Yahweh answered?’ or, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’
Jer 23:36 But you shall not mention the burden of Yahweh, for the burden is to each one his word, and so you twist the words of the living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God.
Jer 23:37 Thus you shall say to that prophet, ‘What has Yahweh answered you?’ or, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’
Jer 23:38 But if you say, ‘The burden of Yahweh,’ therefore thus says Yahweh, ‘because of your saying these words, “The burden of Yahweh,” then I will send to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of Yahweh.'”‘
Jer 23:39 Therefore look, here I am, and I will surely lift you up and forsake you and the city that I gave to you and to your ancestors from my presence,
Jer 23:40 and I will bring upon you an everlasting disgrace and an everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”

“For the burden is to each one his word, and so you twist the words of the living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God.” This sounds similar to the words of Jesus.

Mat 12:35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
Mat 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
Mat 12:37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Yahweh is using the situations at hand to at least wake up some of His people. Some will awake and repent, but many will not. They will be given over to an reprobate mind and strong delusion.

2Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
2Th 2:10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
2Th 2:11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
2Th 2:12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Forget the lies you have been told and look at what Paul is saying. “They refused to love the truth”. Paul is talking about the righteousness found in the truth spoken by Yahweh that people will refuse. This is prophecy in our face right now.

Psa 86:11 Teach me, O Yahweh, your way, that I may walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name.

Psa 119:142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is truth.

“Pleasure in unrighteousness” is doing what you want to do and not what Yahweh says to do.

Rev 2:26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,
Rev 2:27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.

We must follow the instructions Yahweh gave us if we want any chance of things to go well. It wasn’t until the people repented in the desert, that He gave them a way to be saved from the poisonous snake bites. Unless we repent and start doing what Yahweh said to do, we will face this plus much harsher punishment; such as the sixth seal.

Rev 6:12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,
Rev 6:13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
Rev 6:14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Rev 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
Rev 6:16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
Rev 6:17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”