Wisdom 16:1-16: a reflection

1For this cause, they were deservedly punished through creatures like those which they worship, and tormented through a multitude of vermin. 2Instead of this punishment, you, giving benefits to your people, prepared quails for food, a delicacy to satisfy the desire of their appetite, 3to the end that your enemies, desiring food, might for the hideousness of the creatures sent among them, loathe even the necessary appetite; but these, your people, having for a short time suffered lack, might even partake of delicacies. 4For it was necessary that inescapable lack should come upon those oppressors, but that to these it should only be showed how their enemies were tormented. 5For even when terrible raging of wild beasts came upon your people, and they were perishing by the bites of crooked serpents, your wrath didn’t continue to the uttermost; 6but for admonition were they troubled for a short time, having a token of salvation to put them in remembrance of the commandment of your law; 7for he who turned toward it was not saved because of that which was seen, but because of you, the Savior of all. 8Yes, and in this you persuaded our enemies that you are he who delivers out of every evil. 9For the bites of locusts and flies truly killed them. No healing for their life was found, because they were worthy to be punished by such things. 10But your children weren’t overcome by the very fangs of venomous dragons, for your mercy passed by where they were and healed them. 11For they were bitten to put them in remembrance of your oracles, and were quickly saved, lest, falling into deep forgetfulness, they should become unable to respond to your kindness. 12For truly it was neither herb nor poultice that cured them, but your word, O Lord, which heals all people. 13For you have authority over life and death, and you lead down to the gates of Hades, and lead up again. 14But though a man kills by his wickedness, he can’t retrieve the spirit that has departed or release the imprisoned soul. 15But it is not possible to escape your hand; 16for ungodly men, refusing to know you, were scourged in the strength of your arm, pursued with strange rains and hails and relentless storms, and utterly consumed with fire.

Reflecting on how God preserved his people even as they were bitten by serpents in the wilderness, the book of Wisdom makes a striking point about what truly saved them. When they looked to the bronze serpent lifted up and were healed, the writer says, he who turned toward it was not saved because of that which was seen, but because of you, the Savior of all. The outward sign, the thing they looked at, did not itself save them; God saved them. The sign pointed them to God, but it was God, the Savior, who healed. It is neither herb nor poultice that cures, the writer adds, but your word, O Lord, which heals all. What truly saves is not the outward means but God himself, to whom the means points. The sign directs us to the Savior; but it is the Savior, not the sign, who saves. God himself is the Savior of all, and the outward signs point us to him. This foreshadows the One lifted up for us, Christ, to whom we look and are saved, not by the sign but by him.

Notice the point the writer makes: it was God, not the sign, who saved. Those who looked to the bronze serpent and were healed were not saved by the bronze itself, by the thing they looked at; they were saved by God, the Savior, to whom the sign pointed. The outward means was not the source of the healing; God was. This is an important distinction, for we can put our trust in the outward means, the sign, the ritual, the object, and forget that these only point to God, who is the one who actually saves. It is not the herb or the poultice, not the sign or the means, but God himself, his word, who heals and saves. The signs God gives are real and God-given; but they direct us to him, and it is he, not they, who saves. To trust the sign rather than the Savior is to mistake the pointer for the destination. God is the Savior; the signs point to him. And this points forward to Christ, lifted up for us, to whom we look and are saved by him.

That is worth resting in, for it is God himself, the Savior, who saves, and the outward signs only point to him. We can put our trust in outward means, in signs and rituals and objects, forgetting that these only point to God, who is the one who actually saves; but the writer reminds us that those who looked to the bronze serpent were saved not by the thing seen but by God, the Savior of all. The signs direct us to God; but it is God, not the signs, who saves. When you are tempted to trust the outward means, look past it to God himself, the Savior. Look past the outward signs to God himself, the Savior of all, who alone saves, as those who looked to the bronze serpent were healed not by the thing seen but by God, foreshadowing Christ lifted up for us; for the outward means God gives are real and point us to him, but it is God himself, not the sign, who saves, and to trust the sign rather than the Savior is to mistake the pointer for the destination, so that our trust belongs finally in God, the Savior, to whom every sign directs us and who alone heals and saves.

Lord, reflecting on how you preserved your people even as they were bitten by serpents in the wilderness, the book of Wisdom makes a striking point about what truly saved them. When they looked to the bronze serpent lifted up and were healed, the writer says, he who turned toward it was not saved because of that which was seen, but because of you, the Savior of all. The outward sign, the thing they looked at, did not itself save them; you saved them. The sign pointed them to you, but it was you, the Savior, who healed. It is neither herb nor poultice that cures, the writer adds, but your word, O Lord, which heals all. Show me the point the writer makes: it was you, not the sign, who saved. Those who looked to the bronze serpent were not saved by the bronze itself; they were saved by you, to whom the sign pointed. This is an important distinction, for I can put my trust in the outward means, the sign, the ritual, the object, and forget that these only point to you, who actually save. The signs you give are real and God-given; but they direct me to you, and it is you, not they, who save. To trust the sign rather than you is to mistake the pointer for the destination. And this points forward to Christ, lifted up for us, to whom we look and are saved by you. Let me rest in that, for it is you yourself, the Savior, who save, and the outward signs only point to you. I can put my trust in outward means, forgetting that these only point to you; but those who looked to the bronze serpent were saved not by the thing seen but by you. When I am tempted to trust the outward means, help me look past it to you yourself, Lord, the Savior of all, who alone heals and saves, foreshadowed in Christ lifted up for us.