Numbers 21 - Once Again...

Look up to Christ and live!

SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... The LORD continues to set forth regulations for His people, whom He sentenced to wander in the wilderness until the current generation who had doubted His providence had died. Korah, Moses' cousin, led a rebellion that came to an end when the earth opened up and swallowed him and his co-conspirators.

Later, the Israelites once again grumble about their lack of water, and once again God will provide water from a rock, but rather than speaking to the rock as the LORD had commanded, Moses struck it because he was angry with the rebellious people. But Moses' temper cost him. Because of it, he would die before entering the Promised Land.

Numbers 21:4–9 (NIV)

⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,  to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; ⁵ they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

⁶ Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

Heidelberg Catechism

Q&A 127

Q. What does the sixth request of the Lord's prayer mean?

A. “And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one” means,

By ourselves we are too weak

to hold our own even for a moment.

And our sworn enemies—

the devil, the world, and our own flesh—

never stop attacking us.

And so, Lord,

uphold us and make us strong

with the strength of your Holy Spirit,

so that we may not go down to defeat

in this spiritual struggle,

but may firmly resist our enemies

until we finally win the complete victory.

Summary

Sometimes as we read through the accounts of God's people wandering in the wilderness it seems like we keep reading the same things over and over. That's because we keep reading the same things over and over. Once again they bellow out the same bickering chorus: Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! But this time, they add a line, specifically complaining about the manna God continued to provide: we detest this miserable food! Notice how often (almost always!) the Israelite's attitude is controlled by their appetites!

And once again we see that although the LORD is compassionate, gracious and slow to anger, there comes a point where His patience does run out and He gets angry. Very angry. So without warning, the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.

It doesn't take long for the people's attitude to change. The confess their sin against the LORD and Moses, and once again they beg Moses to intercede for them. But the request they want Moses to ask for on their behalf is short sighted and myopic. They don't ask to be forgiven for their lack of faith or for insulting God's provision for them. They don't request that the LORD would align their appetites with His will. They just want the snakes to be taken away from them.

We are so quick to complain about our circumstances. Our appetites are never satisfied with the amazing blessings God provides; we always want more. From time to time, God interrupts our incessant whining by allowing (sometimes even sending) bad things to happen to us in order to recenter our attention back upon Him. But when those bad times finally become bad enough to cause us to pray, we too often lift up short sighted prayers like the Israelites - just praying that the bad things be taken away rather than praying like David in Psalm 51 that the LORD would create in me a pure heart, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

  Dig Deeper  

Once again God answers His complaining people's prayer which had been offered through their intercessor, Moses. The LORD instructs Moses to make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live. So Moses did exactly as he was instructed, and relief came to those who in faith looked at the bronze snake.

Today's passage is so much more than just another episode of a continually complaining people experiencing both the justice and mercy of God. This passage happens to be one of the most theologically important in the entire Old Testament, so much so that Jesus used it as He explained who He was to Nicodemus, one of the most learned men of Israel.

In John 3, Jesus told him,

¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

So just like God's wandering people looked to a bronze snake to find relief, look to the One who was lifted up, that you may have eternal life in Him.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Don't just pray for relief from worldly afflictions, pray that the LORD will grant your strength to look away from temptation and towards the One who was lifted up so that you may have eternal life;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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