Don’t Forget the Scorpions

When we think of deserts and wildernesses, we usually think of tumbleweeds, cacti, and endless stretches of fine sand. But when Moses described the wilderness that the Israelites passed through, he called it “great and terrible”

He pointed out that the desert was not just inhospitable, but also hostile. It wasn’t just dry, it also had “fiery serpents, and scorpions” (Dt 8:15).

Now, no thanks to their rebelliousness and ingratitude, we know that that wilderness had fiery serpents (Num 21:5-6). However, but for Moses’ declaration, we would never have known that it had scorpions as well.

Because, the whole point of being delivered from scorpions is that you don’t actually see them! When 3 million odd persons pass through a wilderness with not as much as one person being bitten by a scorpion; you don’t conclude that that means the desert had no scorpions, or that the scorpions were on a forty-year hibernation. No! You conclude that God must have kept them away.

This is also true of their clothes and shoes. Moses says in Dt 8:4, “Your clothing grew not old upon you, neither did your foot swell, these 40 years.”

He didn’t say they got NEW clothes, or that their swollen feet were miraculously healed; he just pointed out that they didn’t need new clothes, and didn’t need healing for swollen feet.

These types of blessings are hard to detect: I call them “the miracle of NOT needing a miracle”. It’s easy to thank God for something; it’s harder to notice when you didn’t need to ask for it. That’s why Ps 103:2 says when you’re blessing the LORD, you should FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS.

When thanking God, remember the Manna, remember the water from the rock, even remember the fiery serpents. But while you’re at it, don’t forget the Scorpions!

“But we never saw any scorpions?” An Israelite may counter. And the LORD’s reply would be:

“PRECISELY!”

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN