Snake!

O. T. #344  "Snake!"
August 15, 2014
Numbers 21-Part 2
And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.  Numbers 21:6

LET IT GLOW

Snake! One morning my granddaughter and I were headed out the back door for her to play outside. She opened the door, standing in front of me and yelled it out, "SNAKE!"  I looked down in the corner where the door meets the wall in time to see a blue-tailed lizard come in under the door. Her yelling must have scared the little thing because it turned right around and exited the same place it entered. We have yet to see it again! Thank the Lord it was only a lizard! Two snakes this summer for me to encounter by the house is enough for me.
I know, that is not the same thing as being bitten by a snake, as some of the Israelites were. Read on to find out what happened to them.

Perhaps a victory dance in verse 3? Then Israel is back on the road again. The new generation is headed to their Promised Land. Only thing is, it is an extra 50 miles around Edom. The king wouldn't let them pass through his land. Israel does not do well on road trips, I have discovered.
(I know, here I am reading this in my comfortable chair under air conditioning and judging them.)

Verse 4 tells us that the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. (KJV)

NLT says, But the people grew impatient with the long journey.

In the Hebrew, discouraged means to dock off, curtail, especially to harvest, cut down, much discouraged, grieve, lothe, mourn.

So what happened?

The people spake against God and against Moses in verse 5:
*Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness? There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna! (NLT)
*Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! and we detest this miserable food! (NIV)

Honestly, are these slow learners or what? Every time they grumble and complain, they pay for it. God didn't put up with it with their fathers and He won't put up with it with them.

Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.

The MacArthur Bible Commentary explains:

The people's impatience led them to despise the manna (11:6). These snake bites inflicted a fiery inflammation. The people confessed their iniquity and asked that they might be released from the judgment God had sent. (verses 5-7)

Is that us written here in black and white? When I have to go out of my way, I complain. Even when it puts me on the King's highway, doing His will and work. Am I a slow learner of life's lessons or what? If we are stuck in traffic or on a detour, do we pray for others?

LET IT GROW

The people spoke against God and Moses. Because of this, they were dying. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death.

Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the Old Testament says:

Here we have the two aspects of the Law of God: behavior toward God and behavior toward one another. Because of sin, death is in the world and all are condemned (John 3:16-18). Every person born into this world has been bitten by the fiery serpent of sin and is destined to die. God could have ignored his people's plight, for they deserved to die, but in His love and grace He provided a remedy. the intercession of Moses in verse 7 reminds us of the prayer of Christ, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).

The people admitted that they had sinned. Next, they ask Moses to pray for the LORD to remove the snakes. Scripture does not say God removed the snakes immediately, does it?
The LORD told Moses to make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live. And so it happened. Moses did and Israel was.

The serpent of brass pictures Christ, who became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). Brass is the metal that speaks of judgment, and on the cross, Christ bore our judgment for us. Christ had to be crucified, lifted up (John 3:14, 8:28, 12:30-33).

Jesus said in John 3:14-15: 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.
Jesus said in John 12:32, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

The sting of death was removed from the Israelites by faith, an act of will. Looking and living. It wasn't by ignoring the bites, beating the snakes, applying medicine, or running away that healing came. Salvation came through looking by faith to the uplifted serpent in the center of the camp
(Is. 45:22). (Wiersbe)

If we will look to Christ, believe He is the Savior, we will we. Just believe and live.
People are still dying in sin. The only answer is the cross of Jesus Christ, the uplifted Savior.
Have you, friend?

LET IT GO

Look to Jesus and live.

Thank Jesus for being my Savior.