“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” (Numbers 21:9 ESV).
This is one of the more bizarre stories in the Bible. The Israelites were once again grumbling against God and Moses because of the lack of water and variety of food in the wilderness, so God sent poisonous snakes among them.
God hates grumbling. Grumbling is the opposite of thankfulness. Grumbling itself is like a venom that infects everyone that hears it with a spirit of ingratitude.
When the people repented and cried out for forgiveness, God instructed Moses to make an image of a bronze serpent and to put it up on a pole for people to look upon and repent of their sin for healing. Strange that the symbol of their suffering would be God’s provision for their forgiveness and healing.
Yet, this is exactly what God did when He sent Jesus to die in our place. For on the cross we see the death that our own sin deserved. Jesus took on our sin, our separation and death on the cross. The cross is like a symbol of our sin and suffering, just as the bronze serpent was in the wilderness. As Jesus told Nicodemus, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).
PRAYER: Dear Father, we thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus to die on our behalf. He became sin who knew no sin, so that we might become Your righteousness. We look to Him by faith and we are set free. In Jesus’ name, amen.