09 Jan Minute Meditations of Hope and Encouragement #4
Here’s how the story played out in Numbers 22. After wandering in the desert for the best part of 40 years following their Exodus from Egypt, the nation came to the borders of the ‘promised land.’ Unfortunately, more complaining and rebellion affected the camp. A plague of venomous snakes invaded the camp. Many Hebrews recognized this as a judgment from God and pleaded with Moses to pray on their behalf. When he did, God instructed him to make a brass snake, put it on a pole and parade it before the camp of Israel. He was to declare that whoever looked at the snake on the pole would be saved from their snake bite! Those that looked to the snake on the pole, as instructed, were saved; those who didn’t weren’t. They did not need to understand the why’s and the what-fore’s, they just had to do it. (The medical profession still uses this symbol today for healing.)
When Christ was lifted up, He assumed His official position with regard to sin! He was “Made to be sin…” 2 Cor 5:21 There are three distinct truths that come from this story. Firstly, Jesus was treated as the serpent. He was treated as a sinner because He took our place.
Secondly, the Hebrews did not have to understand it, they just had to look and live. We do not have to understand why Jesus was crucified, we just have to look and live. Understanding will grow the more we look. Thirdly, we have all been bitten by the serpent of death and we are doomed to succumb one day to its bite. In case you haven’t noticed this world is an orbiting cemetery. Because of this hopeless situation, salvation is a gift. There is only one way of escape from our dilemma, and that is in the uplifted Christ. That is why Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
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