Breadcrumb: Bite me

In Num. 21:4-9, the people complain... again. Yet again, their perpetual complaint is that they have no food or water. God once more becomes annoyed at them and sends serpents in the camp, which bite and kill many people. The people, properly chastised, ask Moses to intercede for them, and he does. God tells him to build a "fiery serpent" (Moses opts for brass), put it on a pole, and any bitten person who looks at it will be cured. Moses does so and thus saves many of his people. This is just another reminder that God works in mysterious, and sometimes material, ways.