Snakebite Remedy for National Sin - July 4th, 2021
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· 38 viewsPastor Walker compares Israel's national disobedience with that of our nation today, and describes the common solution God provided.
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Introduction:
Introduction:
4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Note - Jesus’ commentary on the passage of Scripture in Numbers chapter 21:
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.
Note - Clue to understanding the Bible: On every page somewhere is Jesus.
All of the Bible is about Jesus. It is His book. And if you read the Bible and don’t find the story of Jesus, you better go back and reread the Bible. Now He may be there in type, He may be there in shadow, He may be there in illustration, He may be there in prophecy, He may be there in prediction, but Jesus Christ is there. ~ Adrian Rogers
Illustration: Jesus Christ walking on the road to Emmaus with those disciples after His resurrection:
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Main Thought: God’s remedy for a nation’s sin is found in the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
The purpose of the Bible is to show us Jesus.
And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
I. The LORD Sent Fiery Serpents - Jehovah’s Retribution against a Nation’s Rebellion (Num. 21:5-6)
I. The LORD Sent Fiery Serpents - Jehovah’s Retribution against a Nation’s Rebellion (Num. 21:5-6)
And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Quote - As one writer put it, “They didn’t like the way they were led, and they didn’t like the way they were fed.“
Note - They rebelled against the very Word of God which then led them to loathe the very bread of God.
Illustration: The “light bread” was the manna that came down. God fed them in the wilderness with a supernatural food that lay upon the ground, and it was called manna. And they were sick and tired of it. But the manna was a type or picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what they were saying was, “We don’t want God’s Word, and we don’t want God’s Son.”
Application: How many today despise the way God wants to lead our nation and the way God wants to us. We live in a rebellious generation. And the sinner boldly, braggingly, brazenly shakes his puny fist in the face of God and says, “God, I don’t like the way you’re doing things. I want to do it my own way. I want to be my own boss. I don’t want your Word, and I don’t want your Christ.” When you rebel, God has to judge you. God is a holy God, and if you rebel against the Lord, God sends retribution.
In the Bible, the serpent has always spoken of Satan. It was Satan in the form of a serpent that beguiled Eve. Even as you say the word sin, you can hear the hiss of the serpent. God sent a serpent to bite the people, and these fiery serpents that bit the people remind us of the sure judgment of Almighty God upon sin.
A. They Were “Fiery Serpents” (Num. 21:6)
A. They Were “Fiery Serpents” (Num. 21:6)
6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
הַנְּחָשִׁ֣ים הַשְּׂרָפִ֔ים
Transliteration: “ha-na-cha-shim ha-se-ra-phim,” or “The Serpents, the ones on fire” from Nachash (serpent) and Saraph (like a glowing Seraphim angel). These really are miraculous creatures as seen in this instance.
These were serpents, or snakes, and they were burning, they were “fiery.” I’m not prepared to limit their description any more than Moses did with his adjective. I was not there. Whether they were literally on fire, or just looked like it as the burnished brass of God’s divine judgment glistering in the hot desert sun, or whether their venom was such as set his victim’s insides on fire as from hell itself, I’ll let you decide. One thing is clear, they were a divine retribution on this nation’s sin of murmuring against the God who had carried them and sustained them, despite their rebellious hearts. The text states very clearly that these serpents were sent by Jehovah. It may be that He had already prepared them in His divine omniscience to have their brood right there where Israel would be on this given instance, much like we read elsewhere about a great fish that Jehovah had prepared to swallow up His wayward prophet. Nonetheless, the fire speaks of the retributive judgment of Jehovah on their sin.
Application: And let me say this about sin: Sometimes people get the idea that sin is fun. Don’t kid yourself. There’s no real fun in sin. There may be some temporary pleasure. But sometimes people get the idea that it’s easy to be a sinner and that it’s hard to be a Christian. You used to believe that. Some of you believe it right now. You say, “Well, one of these days, I’m going to have to be an ol’ Christian,” like being a Christian is like taking bad medicine in order to get well when you are sick. Let me tell you something, sweet friend: It is not hard to be a Christian; it is hard not to be a Christian. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” (Matthew 11:29) And Jesus said, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30) That’s what Jesus said. Jesus said, “It’s sweet—it’s easy—to be a Christian.” Somebody says, “Oh, it’s hard to be a Christian.” No, it’s hard not to be a Christian. The Bible says, “The way of transgressors is hard.” (Proverbs 13:15) That’s right. You know, I’ve been preaching a long time, and I’ve met a lot of Christians: I’ve never met one who said, “I’m disappointed in Jesus”—not one! Not one! And I’ll tell you something else I’ve never met: I’ve never met somebody who has said, “I want to tell you how much the dear, sweet ol’ devil means to me.” No, I haven’t met that either. Oh, there are people who want to make out like it’s so hard to be a Christian. No, friend, it’s wonderful to be a Christian. I’d be a Christian if there were no heaven. I’d be a Christian if there were no hell. ~ Dr. Adrian Rogers
B. Their Bite Was Fatal
B. Their Bite Was Fatal
Verse 6 says, “And much people of Israel died.” (Numbers 21:6)
4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Illustration: Notice the order of temptation: Lust, Sin, Death. That is the progression. You cannot sin and get away with it. Just as God has built into the universe the law of gravity, the law of centrifugal force, thermodynamics, and other such laws of nature, God has built into the universe the law of sin and death. They are inseparable. You say, “Well, I don’t like that. I want it like Burger King, I want it my way. I want to sin however I please and never have a consequence, or, to not have to give an account for it.” Then friend, as kindly as I know how to say it, like J. Vernon McGee used to say on his Bible Radio, when commenting on part of Hannah’s Prayer,
The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up [1 Sam. 2:4–6].
...God does not apologize for what He does. Why? Because this is His universe; we are His creatures; He is running the universe His way.
Not long ago [Dr. McGee] talked to a young university student who had received Christ as Savior but who was still unwilling to accept many things. [Dr. McGee] said to him, “If you do not like the way God has worked out His plan of salvation, and you don’t like the things He is doing, you can go off somewhere and make your own universe, set up your own rules, and run it your own way. But as long as you are in God’s universe, you are going to have to do things His way.” It is a most wonderful thing that you and I can bow to Him and come under His blessing if we are willing to do things His way.
[J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., vol. 2 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 126.]
Transition: We’ve seen how Jehovah sent those serpents as a divine Retribution for their Rebellion: Fiery Serpents with a Fatal Bite. The Sting of Sin is death, and the strength of sin is the law. But notice,
II. The People Made Supplication for Salvation - God’s Remedy for Their Sin (Num. 21:7-8)
II. The People Made Supplication for Salvation - God’s Remedy for Their Sin (Num. 21:7-8)
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Note - where they started :acknowledgement and agreement with God about their sin.
Note - They made supplication, but it was not their prayer that brought them salvation. You cannot get saved by “praying.” You get saved by “believing.”
Note - God did not answer the way they asked. He did not take away the serpents.
Explanation: The serpents were not the picture of sin, please get that clearly. Their murmuring and rebellion was the sin. Their unbelief was the sin. God was not going to remove their judgment from them. That’s not how He works. So many times we ask God to take away the consequences of our sinful decisions, but God’s way is so much better. He doesn’t just take away the judgment, His plan was to take away the sin itself. That’s the picture you need to see here. As one writer put it, “God raises up a solution in the midst of the pollution.”
Here is the type - the LORD basically said to Moses, “Moses, I want you to take some brass, and then melt it down, then form it into the shape of a writhing serpent. Then, I want you to impale it upon a pole, and I want you to lift it up in the camp of Israel. Once that is done, then you tell the people to ‘Look and Live.’” This was God’s remedy. They prayed, but God didn’t remove their judgment, He gave them a way through it to find healing by faith. They had to believe the Word of God through Moses that if they simply obeyed God, and looked to His solution for sin’s judgment, then they could be saved!
The serpents were a picture of Jesus. The first time He came, it was for judgment upon the sins of the world. The next time He comes, it will be for the eradication of sin’s presence altogether from this old wicked world. For Jesus Christ Himself said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man …”—referring to Himself—“even so must [Jesus] be lifted up” (John 3:14)—just like that brass serpent so long ago.
That Brazen Serpent was also a picture of Jesus. Why use a Brazen Serpent to paint a picture of Jesus? Remember, when Adam sinned, he was given a promise that the Seed of the Woman would crush the serpent’s head. It is an amazing paradox that God would choose the same creature as what the devil used to deceive the woman. But is that not the ways of God? Did He not also provide a remedy for restoration for the woman in that it would be through her seed that the Savior would come? Can he not provide a remedy to restore the fallen image of one of His most amazing creatures? Paul promises us that one day, the very creation that groans and travails until now will finally have its own promise of resurrection fulfilled, when Jesus comes again.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Note - That serpent is a picture of Christ with the sin of the whole world upon Him. Brass speaks of judgment.
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
Note - The Brazen Serpent is a picture of sin being judged. Can you think of a clearer Old Testament picture of Christ on the cross?
A. Jehovah Alone Provided the Way for Salvation
A. Jehovah Alone Provided the Way for Salvation
Note - There’s only one way—God’s way. There’s only one remedy: God’s remedy.
Illustration: It’s like that old preacher who, somebody said to him, “You’re one of those narrow-minded people who only think Baptists are going to heaven.” “No, I’m a lot more narrow-minded than that: I don’t think a lot of Baptists are going to make it. And then I know a lot of folks who are not Baptist who are certainly going to heaven. But I tell you, if they go, they are going God’s way.” To which they replied, “Well, I’m looking for a religion that suits me.” And the preacher then lovingly reminded them, “Well, you’d better start looking for one that suits God.”
Note - This is not a matter of personal opinions, it is a matter of what is forever settled, “The LORD said....”
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Note - It was the same for all: rich, poor, ignorant, or educated. All came the same way. God’s way.
B. Jehovah’s Way of Salvation Was “Enough”
B. Jehovah’s Way of Salvation Was “Enough”
Note - Whosoever could “Look & Live.” No matter how many times a person had been bitten, or where, God’s remedy was always enough.
Application: It doesn’t matter what kind of sin you’ve committed; it doesn’t matter what your problem is. You say, “That sounds good, but preacher, you don’t realize what I’ve done, I’ve done such-and-such a thing: I don’t believe God can forgive me.” Friend, “the blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Note - His forgiveness is all encompassing, complete, eternal, and final.
Illustration: The blood of Christ so thoroughly blots out all our sins that it becomes a greater sin to even keep bringing them up to God, He already knows what bit you. If you will but “Look & Live, Look to Jesus Now & Live,” then your sins can be gone forever. As Eliza Hewitt put it, “I need no other argument, I need no other plea; / It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me.”
Note - Every person that looked was healed. If you really want Christ to save you, and if you will really trust Christ to save you, I will guarantee you on the authority of this Book that He will save you. If you trust Him, He will never fail you. Jesus Christ said,
37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
III. To “Look” Was God’s Only Requirement for Their Salvation (Num. 21:8)
III. To “Look” Was God’s Only Requirement for Their Salvation (Num. 21:8)
8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
A. Salvation Was Personal & Individual
A. Salvation Was Personal & Individual
Note - No one could look for someone else. Each “one” had to look for his or herself.
Application: How many mothers are here today who would give the last ounce of blood in their veins if they could make a decision for their daughter, for their son—but you cannot. This spiritual matter is your own personal responsibility. Maybe some churches after COVID are taking in members ONLY through Facebook, who have never even darkened the door of the congregation. Perhaps some would even try to baptize a photograph of someone over Zoom. No, friend, following Jesus must be a personal decision, not a digital decision. Not a proxy decision. You know the Mormons think they can baptize by proxy. But friend, that’s not how the Bible explains it. This was a personal decision that the individual had to make for themselves. Whosoever had been bitten, when he looked, he would live.
B. Salvation Was Not Overly Complicated, It Was Simple
B. Salvation Was Not Overly Complicated, It Was Simple
Note - Like one preacher said, “You didn’t have to be Professor Sounding Brass or Dr. Clanging Cymbals to understand this.” The Lord just simply said, “Look and live.” (Numbers 21:8)
Application: How many cemetery, I mean, Seminary graduates stumble over this simplicity, when a little child knows exactly how find it.
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.
Quote: “I’ll tell you something about the way of salvation: it’s simply glorious, and it is gloriously simple!…Just because the river is muddy, doesn’t necessarily mean it is deep.” ~ Dr. Adrian Rogers
37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.
Note - The way to salvation is plain. It is so plain the Bible says,
8 And an highway shall be there, and a way,
And it shall be called The way of holiness;
The unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those:
The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
C. Salvation Was Not Difficult, It Was Easy
C. Salvation Was Not Difficult, It Was Easy
Note - It is not difficult to be saved; it’s easy to be saved.
Illustration: People take more pains to go to hell than they do to heaven. I mean, if you go to hell, you work your way there. “The wages of sin is death;”—you see, you’re collecting your pay—“but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
Note - You cannot work for salvation. There’s no way for you to pay for it yourself. You cannot pray enough to get it. You cannot become religious or good enough to possess it on your own. No, it was just so amazingly easy. How good is our God? How wonderful is the name of Jesus?
Quote - “There’s much to learn, but there’s nothing to earn.” ~ Dr. Adrian Rogers. It is the gift of God.
D. To “Look Upon” Was Absolutely Necessary In Order to Be Saved
D. To “Look Upon” Was Absolutely Necessary In Order to Be Saved
Note - To simply “see” something is not the same as taking a long, deep “look” at it. Of the 29 times this word is translated in the Old Testament, only 4 times does it have this flavor of “looketh.” If I could explain it, the verses I would use would be where Samuel saw every one of Jesse’s sons, but it was the Lord who looked on their hearts, and saw that of them all, there was only one of Jesse’s sons that would be a man after His own heart, to be the man that God would raise up to be the next king of Israel.
Application: Oh friend, don’t just look at Jesus for what He can do for you outwardly. Don’t just glance at Him in a cursory manner. No, take a deep look, and stare deep into His wounded heart. Sit down at Calvary, and behold what love He had for you as He bore the crown of thorns upon His brow! Stare so deeply into His compassionate eyes, and notice how He is moved and touched with the feelings of your infirmities. Gaze long and hard upon this man from Galilee, who made the lame to walk, and caused the blind to see. Notice His searching eyes that pan across a sea of humanity, gazing down from His exalted position, looking to seek and save whosoever will lift their eyes to His salvation. Seek Him while He may be found.
Note - To look upon, or to look unto is, “To resort to with confidence or expectation of receiving something; to expect to receive from.”
[Noah Webster, Noah Webster’s First Edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language. (Anaheim, CA: Foundation for American Christian Education, 2006).]
22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
For I am God, and there is none else.
Application:
ETERNAL LIFE Life at its best, having infinite duration characterized by abiding fellowship with God...Eternal life...eliminates the boundary line of death. Death is still a foe, but the one who has eternal life already experiences the kind of existence that will never end. [Eternal speaks of the] quality of life rather than [quantity or duration of life]....
Eternal Life as Experience in the Present This term in John has important implications. The one trusting in the Son has eternal life; the one disobeying the Son has the wrath of God abiding on him (John 3:36). Trusting and obeying go together; they leave no room for neutrality. The one who hears Christ’s message and believes or trusts in the Father who sent Him has eternal life. This person does not come into condemnation but has passed out of death into life (John 5:24). The perfect tense—one who has passed and remained in the state of having passed from death into life—emphasizes eternal life as a permanent, present reality...for the one hearing and trusting (John 5:24).
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
The present tense of the verb “to know” indicates that this knowledge is by experience—not from intellectual facts. Genuine knowledge of God by experience brings eternal life. Such experience transforms life.
[Looking to Jesus by faith brings] healing from something more deadly than snakebite—the destructive effects of sin.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
...Eternal life is given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This future reality, already experienced to some limited degree in the present, involves the Father, Son, and Spirit. Fellowship in life eternal means fellowship with the triune God.
[A. Berkeley Mickelsen, “Eternal Life,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 511–512.]
Illustration: Suppose we were back in this day, and suppose I’m Moses, and I’m talking with a brother, and I say, “Brother, I see you’ve been snake-bitten.” And he says, “Yes, I have, and it sure hurts.” I say, “Well, listen. I’ve got a cure for you. There’s a remedy. I want you to come and look at the brazen serpent upon a pole, and you’ll be healed.” And he says, “No, I don’t want to do that.” And I say, “And why not?” He says, “Because that’s just absurd. That sounds like some hokey hooey-phooey abra-ca-dooey religious superstitious nonsense. That doesn’t make any sense, that all I have to do is ‘Look.’ I’m going to try and reason my way through what I’m going through. I’m going to pull myself up by the bootstraps, and I’ll make it on my own. I’m going to turn over a new leaf, and learn to be a better person. That’s what I think will save me.” Or another person says, “I don’t believe I’ve been bitten.” And Moses says, “But look here, your arm is turning blue. The signs of death are everywhere. Your heart rate is up, and you are sick. If you don’t find help, you are going to die.” But still, they just ignore all the signs and continue carelessly on, until one day, and it will happen, they kill-over graveyard dead.
Note - The Bible says, “Whosoever will may come.” (Revelation 22:17)
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Application: The only remedy for a snakebite is for a person to be treated with anti-venom. The whole premise behind anti-venom is that a subject builds up an immunity to the venom, and then those anti-bodies are given to the one who doesn’t have immunity to the poison. Friend, there is only One who has immunity to death and sin. Because there is only One who has ever been able to say that He has overcome death and sin. O Death, where is thy sting, O Grave, where is thy victory. Jesus promised those who believed on Him, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The Second Adam from above has conquered the last enemy of mankind. The only hope for you, is to have a spiritual blood-transfusion from the Christ of Calvary whose blood can wash away each stain. His is the only blood with the anti-bodies to overcome that old serpent, the devil.
Note - This is not something that you can deal with on your own. The only solution, just as in a wilderness experience, GET TO THE DOCTOR AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! And so, today, right now, I beg you, I plead with you, race as fast as you can to get to the Great Physician, who alone can apply the snakebite remedy for your sin-sick soul.
I know, it sounds impossible. This whole narrative is impossible. If I tried what Moses did here in the backcountry if one of our Troops got snakebitten, I’d be locked up for negligence, and rightly so. This just doesn’t happen apart from some miraculous intervention of a supernatural occurrence. But friend, whether you can believe it or not, this was a miracle. It was also just as much a miracle for a young lady to be found with child as a virgin. It was just as much a miracle for that baby to grow up and never once sin in His entire life. It was just as much a miracle for God to robe Himself in human flesh, and then to die. I can’t understand how someone eternal can make Himself mortal. I can’t explain to you how just looking, in simple obedience and faith, up at this brass snake, somehow brought miraculous healing to the one who looked. And I can’t explain to you how, when I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, He saved my soul, but friend, it doesn’t make it any less true.
Note - Jesus Christ is the One you need. And I’m just God’s messenger boy, trying to tell you to look and live, my brother—live.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Listen to how one writer envisioned this scene:
Go back with me in your mind about fifteen hundred years before Christ (about thirty-five hundred years ago). Here we are out in the wilderness. You observe something. You’re watching. Everywhere, eyes are red with crying. Faces are bleached white with fear. Hands are trembling. There are the shrieks and the groans and the moans of the dying everywhere. There are hurried funerals in shallow graves. We stand before an open grave. There’s a mother and her two sons. They’re looking down at the body of the father and the breadwinner of that family. They’re crying. Suddenly, a shriek! They look around, and one of the sons has been bitten by one of the fiery serpents. Oh, there’s such heartache, such anguish! And the people are sobbing. They’re in fear; they’re in terror.
And, suddenly, into that camp comes someone running and shouting at the top of his voice, and he’s saying, “A cure! A cure!” Everybody gets quiet, and they say, “What’s that?” He says, “A cure!” They say, “Man, don’t jest with us. Don’t make fun.” He says, “I’m not making fun! There is a cure! Moses prayed to God. I don’t understand it, people; I cannot explain it, people; but Moses prayed to God, and God said, ‘Moses, if you take a brass serpent and put it upon a pole, then whoever looks upon it will live.’ ” And they say, “Is it true?” He says, “Of course it’s true! I was bitten. Look! I’m perfectly whole!”
This mother, she cannot believe it. One son looks, and he’s healed. She runs back to the tent where another son is dying. She says to him, “Son, listen! Listen to me, son, as you’ve never listened before! I’ve got good news! I’ve got great news! I’ve got wonderful news! You don’t have to die! God has provided a remedy! God has provided a cure! Moses put a serpent upon a pole, and whenever anybody looks at it, he doesn’t die; he lives. Now, come, son—come to the door of the tent.” And she pulls the tent fold back, and he struggles there—his body racked with pain and fever—and he gazes there and sees the shining serpent upon a pole, and he says, “Mother, I see it. There it is, Mother.” And suddenly—suddenly—his temples stop throbbing. The pain stops coursing through his body. The throb of health courses through his body. He sits up. He blinks his eyes. He stretches. He stands. He leaps. He dances. He says, “Praise God! I’ve been cured! Oh, I’ve been cured!” And he runs to tell somebody else that God has provided a remedy.
But I want you to notice another thing. Here’s a wife. She goes to her husband. He, too, is on his deathbed gasping for breath. She comes in with the flush of excitement upon her, and she says, “Oh, husband, husband, listen to me! I’ve got terrific news! He says, “What’s that?” She says, “You don’t have to die! God has provided a remedy!” He says, “Stop right there! Hold it! Are you talking about the brass snake theory?” She says, “Husband, yes, I’m talking about that, but it’s no theory. Others have been healed.” He says, “I’m tired of your religious superstitions, and don’t bother me about this anymore.” And she says, “Husband, there’s no need for you to die.” He says, “Not another word! Don’t say another word! I refuse to believe in such absurd nonsense that there could possibly be any relation to my condition and that serpent upon a pole. I will not look.” And so he dies in his sin.
Do you know what the Bible says about that? The Bible says, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18) You see? There are people around who say, “I refuse to believe such nonsense.” But I want to tell you, sweet friend, the same Jesus who saved me, for a look, will save you.
O Soul, are you wary and troubled, no light in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the Savior, and life more abundant and free! Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace! ~ Helen H. Lemmel
[Adapted from: Adrian Rogers, “The Cure for Snakebite,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), Nu 21:5–8.]