Day of Rest Dragon Quest!

I will probably take most Sundays off blogging but may from time to time post thoughts and feelings as in my mind Sunday is a day of rest. I do think and ponder on the Sabbath and often like to share with others the thoughts I have.

Today, I was reading in the bible in Numbers 21:6 and it referenced 1 Nephi 17:41. Both scriptures talk of a fiery serpent and one of a "flying fiery serpent" and it made me wonder if this is where "dragons" come from in mythology. I googled this and in this breakdown the author thinks it is a snake red in color and whose bite "is fiery" and burns. Also, they are "flying" fast and strike quickly where as the Cobra is a slow moving snake.

Funny true story from my past...
Once, I was looking at an old church in New England to possibly buy to renovate for a house. It had been empty for years. We were measuring the outside using the belt my ex had been wearing to measure the length. Halfway through the measuring a VERY long black snake came up (I don't know that "reared" is appropriate for a snake) waist high and lunged at us which made it look like it was "flying." Our "Laurel and Hardy" streak from the yard with faces of terror while my ex's pants are falling down must have been a sight from a black and white movie.

We must have looked so funny as a cop pulled up just as we were tearing out of the yard. He stopped us and asked what we were doing. We were so freaked out we couldn't tell him. We just stood there holding up a belt with big eyes. He tried not to laugh as we calmed enough to tell him of the flying black snake.

Here is what the expert had to say: "What Fiery Flying Serpent Symbolized Christ? It would not be expected to find one snake which fits all of the possible criteria because there are only a four or five species of venomous snakes that live in the Arava valley, and the Egyptian cobra is not one of them. The candidates are the Israeli saw-scale viper, the black desert cobra and the horned viper and its relatives. Surprisingly, one of those choices, the Israeli saw-scale viper, fits all the criteria. Hence, it is the clear front runner and most likely was the serpent which attacked the Israelites." Here is a link to the whole article. http://www.meridianmagazine.com/sci_rel/000609serpent.html

So, having my "flying black snake" experience from the past, I can see why a reddish color snake could be considered a "flying fiery serpent" However, I do like the dragon idea. Kind of painted a nice picture from a fairytale movie thinking these fire breathing snake like creatures with wings moving through the camps of Israel. It would make a great epic movie..... Happy Sabbath!