The Israelites started complaining again. They complained bitterly against God and against Moses. Such was their anger and bitterness that they were going to need a wake-up call.
God sent venomous vipers among them and many Israelites died.
This brought about genuine contrition and the people asked Moses to pray that the serpents be removed. The answer to Moses' prayer was different than they expected...
The snakes were not removed.
Instead, Moses had to make a bronze image of a snake and "lift it up" on a pole. As people were bitten, they could look at the snake and they lived.
It would have been cleaner solution if God had simply removed the snakes, but the cycle of coming across the snakes, being bitten and then being miraculously healed served to remind the people of God's holy wrath and His amazing grace. It nurtured faith as they looked to the "symbol of their suffering."
More than a thousand years later, Jesus Christ would become much more than a "symbol of suffering" - He would carry the full weight of human brokenness to the cross of Calvary and be "lifted up" and as we look to Him in faith, we are healed.
Jesus Himself explained this to Nicodemus in John 3:14-15 "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
And, like the Israelites, we keep falling back into brokenness and we must keep looking to Christ to be healed!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
