7 The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
Numbers 21
Just before scripture’s most famous verse – John 3:16 – Scriptures refers to today’s story from Numbers 21. Therefore, strange as this story is, it must be important!
John 3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Here’s the story: Israel is journeying through the wilderness. The King of Edom denies them permission to pass through his territory. Thus, Moses turned the people in a roundabout way. But when he did, the people of Israel begin to complain against Moses … and against God. The result? In judgment upon their grumbling, God sends poisonous snakes into their midst.
Now, how did the people respond as snake bites were claiming the lives of many? For once they repented! They acknowledged their sin. They asked Moses to intercede for them. In response to their prayers, God told Moses to craft a serpent out of bronze and put it on a pole. Everyone who looked at the serpent would be saved.
Here’s the point, and here’s why it’s connected to Jesus in John 3 …
We may think that this story sounds harsh, but isn’t this the story at the heart of the Gospel: Because of sin, the curse of death is upon us all. The rebellious Israelites didn’t deserve to live. Neither do we.
God provides, however, a remedy to sin. Yes, in grace, God provides. Now, if I alone compared Jesus to bronze snake that Moses hung on a pole, you might think I was teetering on blasphemy. And yet this was Jesus’ own analogy! And the key was this: First, God himself must provide the remedy.
Second, the remedy must be lifted up – lifted up in the physical sense of hoisting the remedy high on a pole (on a cross), but also lifted up in terms of being exalted.
Our freedom comes from …
· Acknowledging that there’s no hope for us without God’s remedy.
· Repenting of our sins.
· Looking upon the one who is lifted up.
· And highly exalting him in worship that lifts him higher in praise.
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who deserves
to be strung up
… instead the one
who was lifted up,
keeps lifting me up
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