Text: Numbers 21:4-9, John 3:1-21
When we know what to look for, we can find Bible teachers everywhere.
For example, the next time you see an ambulance, look for the blue symbol of a snake wrapped around a pole. Perhaps, like many of us, snakes (and ambulances) give you the heebie jeebies and your eyes naturally want to look away. But pay attention, friend. That obscure little symbol is preaching the gospel.
Smack dab in the middle of the Exodus epic, we find a strange little story. As the Israelites moved from Egypt toward the Promised Land, they developed a chronic grumbling problem. Despite repeated warnings and punishment for complaining against God and Moses (Numbers 11:1, 14:2), God’s people continued to bellyache. God’s judgment for this sin is found in Numbers 21:6:
“Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died.”
The fact that God takes sin so seriously makes me squirm like a snake myself. When I see that He won’t skip judgment for those offenses I’d call “inconsequential”—like grumbling—I squirm even more. But God’s judgment and mercy are inseparable. When you see judgment in His Word, or feel it in your own life, look deeper. Once flipped over, we see that God’s infinite mercy is on the other side of that coin.
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.’”
-Numbers 21:8-9
God delivered judgment, but then He delivered mercy. This wasn’t back-peddling or flip-flopping. It was His divine nature on full display. Because He is holy, He must deal with our sin. Because He is love, He chooses to offer us mercy.
When the grumbling Israelites looked to the bronze serpent held high on a pole, they were saved from the punishment they deserved. Mercifully, God used the emblem of His judgment to draw His people back to Himself. That’s good news for them that points to even better news for us.
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.”
-John 3:14-15
Don’t miss this—it’s too wonderful!
The Israelites looked to a snake on a pole for healing from poisonous venom.
We look to the Savior on the cross to heal us from the poison of sin.
They were given an injunction against immediate physical death.
We’re saved from spiritual death, and granted eternal life instead.
I doubt the Israelites wanted to fix their eyes on a bronze snake while actual snakes were striking at their heels. But God needed them to look hard at His judgment so they could receive His mercy.
Like the snake-bitten Israelites, we’re sinners deserving of God’s judgment. It’s tempting to look away from that truth. But, look! His mercy is easy to spot. God uses the cross, the emblem of His judgment, to draw us back to Himself.
Because of our sin, the cross was necessary. That’s judgment. Yet, from the cross, Jesus took the punishment we deserve, and in His mercy, He overcame the Snake and death once and for all (Hebrews 2:14). What mercy!
Look past God’s servant Moses, and see the God who delivers both righteous judgment and loving mercy. Look past the snake on the pole and see the Savior on the cross.
Erin Davis is an author, blogger, and speaker who loves to see women of all ages run to the deep well of God’s Word. When she’s not writing, you can find Erin chasing chickens and children on her small farm in the Midwest.
What you say is absolute Truth but I think you missed another very important message. The serpent was lifted up for healing not only for our sins but bodies as well. When Jesus quoted this, it was before the cross. Isaiah confirms this.
Really really needed this. I don’t even know why I needed it, but this truth is so beautiful!! I feel like people are always focusing on the feel good parts of God’s nature, but those feel good moments are just not as meaningful if you don’t consider Gods justice, judgment, and righteous wrath first. Praise God man
So thankful for God’s mercy!
Wow!! I’ve never read this before, and I’ve been in private Christian school and church my entire life. Numbers isn’t where I usually go to learn, if I’m being honest, but this is such a wake-up call. I discovered SRT less than a month ago, and it’s been one of the biggest blessings. Thank you, SRT, for your daily dose of Jesus!
Im obliged for the article.Really thank you! Great. http://hudhfgdfg434tgag.tumblr.com/
In my country it is not the ambulances that have a snake on a pole…it is (most of) doctors´s white coats. There is no way to avoid seeing it. So, no matter how hard we try, if we want a doctor to see us…the serpent is there in front of our eyes.
I call that mercy.
As when the cross, the message of the cross, pursue us till can´t help but see it and embrace it.
Thank you, Lord, for your -strange and powerful- Way of salvation.
I never could understand why God told Moses to make the bronze serpent for the people when they where so inclined to worship golden idols etc…. Still confuses me.
I too, wondered why this particular symbol and this is what I found-“This emblem – a brass serpent raised on a pole -The more you examine it, the stranger it appears: brass was the Levitical symbol of judgment; brass was the metal that was associated with fire (as the brazen altar, etc.). The serpent was symbolic of sin, introduced in the Garden of Eden.”-khouse.org
Two thoughts. First, the first verse really hit home “but the people became impatient because of the journey”. How many times do I become impatient because of the journey God has me on? Oh Lord, forgive my impatience. Secondly, there verses remind me of what has been said here multiple times: “take one look at your sins, then ten looks at the cross”. Or something along those lines. Thank you Lord, for becoming sin and paying the price.
Sarabeth that first verse also popped for me. Having gone through these stories of Moses & the Israelites I realize how much I can identify with them and I’m not even stuck in the wilderness per se. But yes, how often do I get impatient on this journey called life? How often do I begin to grumble and express discontentment with my circumstances and ultimately with God?
So much food for thought in that one line.
For all those who say they don’t identify with the Old Testament…this is why we must read it: for the gems of truth we can find there. First judgement….then Mercy! God is constantly looking for ways to bring us into relationship with Him….He gives us so many chances. And then when we are in relationship we still mess up…and he is right there offering us mercy. How can anyone deny how much He loves us! So simple and yet so amazing!