Would You Have Looked At the Brass Serpent?

Are you familiar with the Old Testament story of Moses and the brass serpent? Here is the story as told in Numbers 21:5-9...

And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

The Book of Mormon provides more information in 1 Nephi 17:41...

[The Lord] sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.

And even more in Alma 33:19-21...

Behold, he was spoken of by Moses; yea, and behold a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live. But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them.

O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?

To summarize: fiery snakes are biting the people of Moses. Instructed by the Lord, Moses creates a serpent of brass, and lifts it up on a pole. Anyone who looks at the snake lives. Yet, many choose not to look and they die -- whether it be because of the "simpleness of the way" or because of unbelief or a hardened heart.

If you're anything like me, when you hear this story, you may be asking yourself, "Would I have looked at the serpent of brass?" It's so easy to look back at the story in full 20/20 hindsight and answer, "Of course I would have looked up. It would have been foolish to not look." 

But then again, we weren't in the midst of the disaster. It's one thing to choose 3000 years later after it's all been said and done, but it's another to have to make this decision when there are fiery snakes biting people all around you -- in the heat of the moment. I can imagine some of the reasoning that was going on:

"How in the world can looking at a brass snake cure me? What stupid nonsense is that?"

"Moses is trying to control us. He made up the Plates and the Law. He brought us into this mess, and now he asks for our faith. Once we are all saved, he'll take all the credit and we'll all be under his control."

"I'm not looking at the serpent of brass. That's a graven image, and the Law is clear -- thou shalt not have any graven images. It goes against my deepest religious convictions."

"Moses is forcing us to look at the snake. What about freedom of choice?"

"I'm way too busy to go over there and look at the snake. Maybe I'll get around to it later."

"I'm waiting to see if my friends survive after they look at the snake. If it doesn't work, then why bother?" 

"I heard that Rebekah fell and tripped right after looking at the snake and then she died. Looking at the snake is killing people."

"Not everyone who gets bitten dies. I'm super-healthy. I eat the best manna and I get proper hydration and sunlight. If I get bit, I'm going to rely on my own ability to survive. I'll be fine on my own."

"What would others think if they caught me looking at the snake? I'm not a sheep like all those other people."

"If I get bitten, I'm going to trust in the Lord. He knows my days, and when it is my turn to die, then it's my turn to die. I'm going to leave it all up to Him."

Would you have fallen into any of these traps? 

By now, you most likely see where I'm going with this, because -- guess what! We currently have a chance in realtime to reenact this very same scenario.

Because ... we're in the middle of a pandemic that has already killed millions, is threatening to kill millions more, and ...

... we have a remedy 

... a set of vaccines with near 100% protection against death, decent protection against spreading the virus, and according to all available data (which grows daily), is proving to be the safest vaccines ever created.

Back in April 2020, the prophet of my church, President Russell M. Nelson, called for a worldwide fast -- such that "the present pandemic may be controlled, caregivers protected, the economy strengthened, and life normalized."

Shortly after that fast was conducted, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson&Johnson entered Phase 3 trials. And then enough data was collected by the end of the year to determine these vaccines were safe enough to be distributed. For an awesome exposé on Covid19 vaccine safety, complete with graphics, check out this news article.

President Nelson along with many other church leaders, including Pope Francis, showed themselves receiving a vaccine, and urged their members to also get the vaccine. This most effective and safest set of vaccines is literally a direct answer to the prayers of millions who joined together in fasting. Just as in Numbers 21 when the people of Moses asked God to have mercy and deliver them, we also asked Him in April 2020, and God listened. He inspired the doctors to create the one best method of ending this pandemic permanently, and start saving lives immediately.

And the result of the vaccine -- countries that are ahead in the vaccine race (particularly those using Pfizer/Moderna/Johnson&Johnson/AstraZeneca) are seeing much, much less death. Over 99.5% of recent hospitalizations have been people not fully vaccinated (two weeks after last shot). There really is no way to spin the numbers except to prove that the vaccines are working MUCH BETTER THAN ANYONE COULD HAVE EVER IMAGINED. There is no doubt in my mind that this vaccine and the mRNA technology that will soon cure a lot more diseases and cancer are a gift from God.

But yet many people are refusing to take the vaccines -- largely (ironically) among the religious. The reasons why they resist are basically the same as what I listed above in imagining the people of Moses.

I suspect a large percentage of people reading this will have their own reasons for not getting the vaccine, and I get it. It does have its risks, and you should definitely do your own research. 

From a statistical and scientific standpoint, the only identified severely adverse reactions to the vaccines have been two-fold: #1) severe allergic reactions in a very small set of people who use EpiPens, and #2) J&J and AstraZeneca (the viral-vector vaccines) have been tied to a very rare blood clot reaction among younger women.

Also, those who have gotten sick from Covid19 are likely to already have the antibodies for at least six months, and possibly longer -- and probably don't need the vaccine so soon.

But other than these situations -- if you're choosing not to get vaccinated, I'm not judging, but I strongly urge you to reconsider: Are you choosing not to "look up at the snake"? Are you refusing because of the "simpleness of the way"? Or is your heart hardened such that you will not get the vaccine -- no matter what?

Just keep in mind that in the next wave, the only people who will die (or 99.9% of them) will be people who choose now not to get vaccinated. Should you end up on your deathbed (which right now is 600 people a day), it will be too late to say, "Dang. I should have gotten vaccinated." Think of your friends, and family, and children, and grandchildren. Are you ready to leave them behind -- especially when many people are already looking up and living? I will definitely miss all of my friends and family who die.

The choice is yours. It is your own life on the line. If you were back 3000 years ago, would you have looked up and lived? Then would you do so now?