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After reading this passage this morning, I asked Beverly, “If I told you to grab the tail of a snake would you do it?” She said, “No.” So I asked her why; “I’m afraid of snakes,” she said. And I pleaded, “You know I love you and would never hurt you. She replied, “You might be crazy in your thinking.” Ironically, her answers are typical of why we do not obey God as we should: for fear of something or thinking that God is “crazy,” in other words, questioning God’s motive or character. Both are indicative of having no fear of God.
Believers thinking that God is “crazy” is not so farfetched a concept when confronted with the paradoxes of Scriptures, such as, to get I have to let go, to go up I must go down, to live I have to die, love my enemies, forgive that sorry rascal who wronged me, and so forth. Many of us fail to do these very things because they are considered illogical or irrational, along with a fear of getting bit if we do these things! Our negative behavior of disobedience is just another way of saying I am fearful or that God is crazy and untrustworthy though we may not articulate this.
There was nothing wrong with Beverly’s answer of refusing to grab a snake by the tail. Coming from her husband, my question was abnormal. If the roles had been reversed I would have responded accordingly. God’s command to Moses, however, was not irrational, illogical, or absurd. His commands are always sensible, purposeful, and eternal from God’s point of view. Doesn’t faith view the world from God’s eyes?
Moses first response to seeing a snake was he “ran from it” (Ex 4:3, ESV). Moses probably threw his staff down to the ground not very far in front of him. When Yahweh turned the staff into a snake, Moses was out of there in a flash and beyond striking range. He moved pretty well for an octogenarian! Once Moses grabbed the snake by the tail, it turned back into a shepherd’s staff. The staff changing into a serpent and back into a staff was one of three evidences given to Moses that he could be used to convince the Israelis in Egypt that he was truly sent from God (Ex 4:5, ESV); the other two were his hand turning to leprosy and back to normal (Ex 4:6-8, ESV) and turning water into blood (Ex 4:9, ESV).
Often times God will ask us to do something that is off the chart or scale of human reasoning. What is actually crazy for a believer is not that God is asking or commanding us to do something out of the ordinary, but failing to obey Him whether it makes sense or not! For a believer refusing to obey God’s Word is disrespectful, insane, and dangerous. When God speaks, no is not an option. When Moses grabbed the snake by the tail that was crazy and wise all bundled up in one! The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, isn’t it? It is seeing and responding to the great I AM with an Isaiah 6 point of view.
Fear of Him always responds in immediate and complete obedience to God regardless of the circumstances of life. We either grab a hold of all of His commands in obedience to Him or we do not. What “snakes” from the LORD are you avoiding to grab by the tail today for fear of getting bit or thinking you would have to be downright crazy to pick it up and run with it; like giving more than 10% to the LORD in these days and times?! Do something crazy for God like trusting in His Word. <><
