The poem is wonderfully brave and noble. There is a melancholy desperation woven in it as Arthur accepts his fate but, on top of that, shimmering like a finely woven silk is a grand hope. Not for himself but for the world. Arthur smiles at the rumors he has heard about his greatness, reminisces about his best adventures and challenges his last loyal knight to an emotionally difficult task. This is a selfless act that will free the knight gracing him with a wondrous tale and memory.
But the Devotional was not about Arthur it was about a bronze serpent created by Moses to heal those who were bitten by serpents cast upon them by GOD during the 40 years he and the tribes spend in the dessert. The serpent is named Nehushtan and GOD asked Moses to create it. This story is unfamiliar to me. How had I overlooked it? The referenced Bible verse is Numbers 21 4-9. I have not read it yet this morning. Shall we?
Numbers 21:4-9 New International Version (NIV)
4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;
5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.
7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”
9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
OK, the good custom from the Tennyson verse referenced in the Devotional is that looking upon the bronze snake will heal you. And where/when does good corrupt? The next verse dealing with the snake figure is in II Kings 18:4 where GOD commands Hezekiah to destroy the serpent because the tribes have begun to worship it, burning incense and offering it sacrifices.
2 Kings 18:4 New International Version
He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)
Let me give you a time reference. Nearly a 1000 years passed between Moses creating the serpent and Hezekiah destroying it. It obviously took a while for the corruption to occur. But now the quote used makes more sense.
Arthur's knight shares his fears about his own future and the future of the world with Arthur and the dying King offers this comfort:
And slowly answer'd Arthur from the barge:
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfils Himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world."
Everything changes dear friend says Arthur. Embrace it!
One last, little thing I noticed. The Bible tells us the serpent's name is Nehushtan. It tells us that at the very end, right at it's destruction in II Kings. The snake is not mentioned again in Numbers 21 after its creation. So that is the only time we are told it has a name. The name translates to "little brass one" and was tensed and used as a term of endearment by the people. I think it a touching end, a beautiful reminder of the good the serpent was intended for. A wonderful epitaph.
I can now clearly see how good can lead to corruption and I can see where in my life that has happened as well. Be it relationships with lovers, people, jobs, good became corrupted and changed. These changes catapulted me to more change. I am embracing it.
(However, it sometimes feels like I am embracing a cold wet porcupine.)
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