BY OLIVER JACQUES

"And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though . . . thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks" (Eze. 2:6). "Behold,I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19).

T HAD NOT BEEN AN EASY NIGHT. LYING on the ground in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, I'd found comfort for neither my body nor my tired brain. It was camp meeting time, and with Suji Mission director Ken Webster and Pastor Hnytyshyn, another church official, I'd hiked some 20 miles from Webster's mission home, perched high against precipitous mountains separating it from an Edenic valley north of the village of Kihorio. The valley was inhabited by Adventists belonging to the Pare tribe, and they'd come joyfully seeking spiritual renewal and fellowship.

The sleeping bag I occupied was zipped up to keep out the cold, but aching muscles conspired with a tortured brain to deny me sleep. I'd been wrestling, praying for parables and stories to reach the minds and hearts of those precious people. Experience had taught me that abstractions, even of the most elegant sort, are seldom remembered. Finally, with a parable defining God's kingdom taking shape in my mind, I fell asleep.

But as dawn broke, I felt something on my leg. Not a snake or rat! Cautiously I slipped out of the bag. Nothing! Zipping open the bag completely, I was greeted by a magnificent scorpion, its stinger arched, ready for business. Grabbing a shoe, I gave it a taste of the heel.

A kindly Pare pastor came by shortly thereafter and examined the remains of my bedmate. "Mbaya sana. Kali sana!" he exclaimed. ("Very bad. Very potent!") I shuddered.* Webster, who'd slept safely on a cot in the tent, made an appearance. "You may wish to join us in the tent tonight," he said with a wry but kindly grin. The native pastor, for his part, spoke of God's protection: "Mungu anasaidia. Atatubariki!" ("God is helping! He will bless you!")

"It meant no harm," I laughed.

"It was lonesome and cold." But to myself I gratefully whispered: "I'm safe, thank God, and I think I have another parable."

And in the Bible study that followed, I was ready: "Does not Shetano tempt us and beguile us when our conscience sleeps? Does he not attack our brains so that we forget God's commandments or even His Son, who died for us? With much skill and power he gets into our minds and hearts. Yes, he even gets into bed with us! But does he not carry deadly poison? He ruins our lives."

The believers got the message. "Beware of Shetano. Watch for his scorpions!" I said to a young man as we left. "Ndio, Bwana. Ninasikia," he responded. ("Yes, Bwana. I am hearing!")

Scorpions on Our Tails
In the decades since that camp meeting at Kihorio I've thought about Satan's efforts to invade my spiritual life. There has been complacency. And there have been some scary times when deadly scorpions seemed to have stolen into my bed.

Like the sting of a scorpion, Satan, with diabolical cunning, attempts to poison us, undermine our Christian experience, and deaden our minds to the very heart of the gospel. He is furious, desperately angry, determined to wreck God's plan for our salvation. And he doesn't mind giving us personal attention.

Dealing with a worldly, spiritually indifferent church, the apostle Paul identified for believers the essence of the gospel: "For I am determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). The believers in Corinth knew about crucifixion. It was a slow, hideous, and utterly shameful way to die. Paul focused his ministry on the life and crucifixion of Jesus--particularly on His shed blood.

Saying goodbye before going to Jerusalem, Paul reminded local pastors that Jesus "purchased [the church] with his own blood" (Acts 20:28), and his letters to the churches confirmed the emphasis. We are "justified by his blood" (Rom. 5:9). "We have redemption through his blood" (Eph. 1:7). We are "made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Eph. 2:13). We have "redemption through his blood"; "peace through the blood of his cross" (Col.1:14, 20).

We may ask, Why must we read so much about blood? Was it "poured out" to please or change God? Or was it intended to convince us and the universe of the terrible results of sin--to move us, to transform us, to rehabilitate us? Like Cain who in his worship substituted bloodless fruits and vegetables for the life of a lamb, many just don't get it. God wants us to witness the bloody experience of the cross, because just looking at His Son on the cross does something to us--and in us.

Specialists who treat alcoholics say that changes in the brain are essential to success. One of them says that among other things, a picture can be the deciding factor. A mental picture can transform a life.

And it's a picture that the apostle Peter means to create for us in 1 Peter 1:18, 19: "Ye were . . . redeemed . . . with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish or spot." Thus he links Christ's crucifixion to Israel's ancient faith centered in bloody sacrifice as the remedy for sin. John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus, cried out, "There He is! Look at Him!" "Behold the Lamb of God" (John 1:29). "The Lamb of God!" Devout Israelites in his audience would get the meaning. The Messiah has come! The One who gives His blood, His life, to forgive and atone for sin.

To His disciples and to Nicodemus Jesus explained how one is "born again." "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14). "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die" (John 12:32, 33). Snakebitten Israelites had only to look, only to gaze, at the serpent. "Many are unwilling to accept of Christ until the whole mystery of the plan of salvation shall be made plain to them," says Ellen G. White. "They refuse the look of faith, although they see that thousands have looked, and have felt the efficacy of looking, to the cross of Christ" (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 432).

So, as one who has sinned, and as one who hungers for forgiveness, I envision the Lamb of God with the eye of faith. I see Him in Gethsemane, crushed by the world's sin, dreading death by crucifixion and separation from His Father and, in anguish, sweating blood. I see Him in obedience submitting His will to the will of the Father. In total surrender He groans, "Not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). In the end He is betrayed and arrested, mocked, spat upon, cursed. A vicious scourging shreds His flesh. A crown of thorns is pressed onto His head. Not a pretty sight! As Isaiah describes it: "There is no beauty that we should desire Him" (Isa. 53:2).

Finally they take Him to Calvary. The soldiers seize Him, remove His clothing, and stretch His naked, bleeding body on the instrument of death. Large nails are driven through His hands. A third is skillfully driven through both feet.

A half dozen laborers raise the cross and drop it into a deep hole. The Man groans as His flesh is torn. "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). I think of Isaiah's words: "The chastisement of our peace [our sense of self-satisfied "wholeness"] was upon him" (Isa. 53:5).

Darkness descends upon the scene. The heart of Jesus breaks under the strain of it all. And He utters a cry that resounds throughout the universe: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46). There is a violent earthquake. His bruised and bloody head drops to His chest, and He moans, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46). Blood and water flow as the soldiers pierce His side.

In my mind's eye I see it all, and I am stunned, shocked, sick. But something deep within me moves. Trembling, I know that I really am pardoned. I also know that the clinging, besetting sins that drove me to despair have been abandoned. I loathe the things that once seemed so attractive. Never again! I say to myself, Never again! With dear, struggling Paul I now can say, "I am crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20). The willful, tricky, self-righteous man that once controlled me has died. He's finished! The brain-numbing complacency from Satan's scorpions is gone! God's will, not mine, will be the governing factor in my life. The shed blood of my dying Savior has cleansed me from both sin and its allurements.

As I gaze at His lifeless form, I sense the depth of Christ's sacrifice and love for me. The scene is indelibly burned into my consciousness. The living picture has changed my heart and my brain. God's new covenant (Jer. 31:31) is written on my heart! And a spring of wonderful peace wells up within me. I am one with Him.

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14). "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. . . . Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in Heaven" (Luke 10:19, 20).

Praise be to God!

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* From a recent television documentary on scorpions I've since learned that in parts of Africa 95 percent of accidental deaths are caused by scorpions. The venom goes for the brain and shuts down the heart, causing death.

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Oliver Jacques writes from Fallbrook, California.