THE BRONZE SERPENT

The children of Israel witnessed the plagues that afflicted their slave masters in Egypt. They walked between towering walls of water as the Red Sea parted before their eyes (then watched it collapse on Pharaoh's army). 

They ate bread that miraculously appeared each morning, drank water from a rock, felt Mount Sinai quake, and saw it glow with fire. 

But this was a rebellious nation that refused to trust the Lord. Numbers 21:4-8 reads as follows ...

The people became impatient, because of the journey. So they spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, nor is there any water, and we loathe this miserable food.” 

Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and many Israelites died. So they came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, so that He will remove the serpents from us.” 

So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten will live when he looks at it.”

This story illustrates the Gospel message; the bronze serpent on the pole and Jesus Christ on the cross ... both objects of faith and deliverance to those who are dying in their sin.

Mattoon - Each man had to look for himself. No man could look for the benefit of another. It was not enough to know about the serpent. You had to look upon it. Each person must come to Christ in faith on the Lord's terms. You cannot get saved by another person's faith. You must personally put your faith in Christ. Knowing about the Lord is not enough to save you from your sins. This serpent on the pole was a picture of Jesus Christ.

People were healed when they looked upon that brazen serpent. After they entered the promised land, it became an object of worship. Years later, King Hezekiah finally got rid of it ... He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (2 Kings 18:4) 

Know this, pilgrim ... revering relics and symbols (seen in Catholicism) is not acceptable in the eyes of God. 

Jesus knew that it was a 'type'; a harbinger of what was to take place on Calvary ... And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him. (John 3:14-15)

To 'look and live' seems too easy, yet that is what we are called to do ... Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

Don't stumble at its simplicity.