Broadcast
Lifting Up the Serpent - Part 4
Numbers 21:8-9
05/09/2024
8 And the LORD said to Moses, ``Make a fiery serpent
and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten,
when he sees it, shall live.''
9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a
pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look
at the bronze serpent and live. (ESV)
The children of Israel had grumbled about the food and the
problems of their nomadic life. Because they did not trust God,
they were plagued by many venomous serpents. Finally, they
repented and called upon Moses to intercede for them.
Moses prayed, and God gave him explicit instructions.
And the LORD said to Moses, ``Make a fiery serpent and
set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he
sees it, shall live.'' So Moses made a bronze serpent
and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he
would look at the bronze serpent and live.
God's instructions to Moses were clear. When the people
bitten by the snakes looked at the bronze serpent on the pole,
they believed God's promise that they would not die. They
trusted that this unusual way of dealing with a snake bite would
remove the pain and death caused by the venom. Looking at the
bronze serpent required faith in God's Word and promise. The
very promises that the children of Israel had rejected earlier
were again made by God, with the visible proof that His Word is
true. There was no power in the bronze serpent, the power was in
God's promise of life and redemption.
This becomes a promise for all people, when God speaks in
His Holy Word, we can believe and trust in Him. When God says,
``Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved,''[1] we
know that our only hope for redemption from sin, death, and the
power of the devil is through the Son of God. May our Lord grant
us faith to believe in Jesus as our Savior. Amen.
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1. Acts 15:11