The Serpent & The Cross

Introduction

Well, good morning to everyone. Welcome to our visitors who are with us. We have a little bit more room over here than we had before. Sadly. But it’s good to see all of you today. Sometimes we longingly express a wish to have been present during some of the events that we read about in the Bible. I can only imagine what it would have been like to have been present in the crowd as Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount.

Or what it would have been like, as I’ve often said, to be present when Paul withstood Peter to the face. But there are some circumstances of Scripture that I read about that I want absolutely nothing to do with whatsoever. And the story that I referenced this morning is Numbers chapter 21. Begin reading with me in verse 6. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. I don’t know what the future has in store for me in terms of death and the way I’m going to die, but this would not be at the top of my list. I hate snakes. And I’ve made that clear on more than one occasion. When I was growing up, my dad, I watched my dad kill a number of copperheads, and I always watch from quite a distance.

I hate snakes. So the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you, which they were always prone to do. Both of those things. Intercede with the Lord. Moses was an awesome intercessor, that he may remove the serpents from us. And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard, and it shall come about that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live. And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard. And it came about that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked on the bronze serpent, he lived. So why did God send the fiery serpents among the people?

Why is it that he ultimately has Moses fashioned this pole with a bronze serpent upon it and provide healing then in this manner? This incident is actually referenced in the New Testament in Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus, remember, who came to him by night, and he talked with him about being born again. And as that discussion continues in John chapter 3, Jesus references this story way back in the time of the wilderness wandering of Israel, before they would go and make conquest of the land of Canaan, the land that flows with milk and honey. He references this event in Numbers 21 when he says, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And whoever believes may in him have eternal life.

Well, what is the background of the story in Numbers 21? Go back to verse 4. Then they set out from Mount Hur by way of the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom, and the people became impatient because of the journey. That’s a whole lesson in and of itself, right there. You know why people make shipwreck of the faith? You know why people become discouraged spiritually and stop serving the Lord? They become impatient because of the journey, just as Israel did. It was a long haul. It was difficult to make it all the way from the miraculous deliverance from Egypt to when they ultimately came into the promised land 40 years later because of their grumbling. But even the initial journey was difficult to the edge of the promised land.

And the people spoke against God and Moses. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water. And we loathe this miserable food. Now, which isn’t. We have no food and no water, but we loathe this miserable food. In other words, they’re sick of the manna that God was providing for them from heaven directly every day without them having to work in a field. All they had to do was to go out and gather it. But as I said, Mrs. Moses, better known as Zaporah, her cookbook consisted of 1,001 ways to fix manna. And they had grown tired and weary of the manna. We want some real food. We’re out here, we don’t have enough water to drink.

Of course, God had taken care of that on more than one occasion by providing water from a rock. And of course, that ultimately got Moses into trouble when he said, Must we fetch you rebels water out of this rock? And he struck the rock when he was simply told to speak to it. No food in water. So they were at it again. They were doing what they did really well, and that is grumble, murmur, and complain. I need to be reminded of this story. Do we ever mumble, grumble, murmur, and complain about our circumstances? You know, we’ve had some rain around here, my satellite went out. You know, if that’s all we have to complain about, we’re doing pretty good. Our satellite went out. We weren’t able to watch our favorite TV show.

Boy, we were dealing with some rain in Tampa over the weekend. It was so bad we almost didn’t get our round of golf in that we had planned. But we woke up Saturday morning to move bread into Florida College. Torrential rain. It was, oh, it was a mess. Those of you that have been, you know, everybody’s trying to move in the rain. I saw Ralph Walker just briefly. He didn’t look happy. He was soaking wet. The Garrett girls soaking wet as they were trying to help people move in. It was a disaster. Brett said, I’m not moving in this. And he didn’t move in until later. Last night, I was already on the plane. Took me three hours to fly home from Tabub. Usually only takes two, but there were storms in Houston.

Did you know that? Oh, yeah, you were here. We had to fly up to Birmingham and all the way around. I was getting claustrophobic too long to sit on a plane for three hours. Woe is me. We have so many problems, don’t we? They were continually complaining about their circumstances. And God said, Well, okay, how bad is it? How about some fiery serpents? All of a sudden, the food and water situation didn’t seem so bad. People were d what? Hey, kids, why were these fiery serpents? Were they on fire? Were they literally on fire? That would be interesting. Snakes that were on fire. No, that’s probably not the reason why. Some have postulated that when they were bit, there was fire in your skin. It was inflammation and burning.

And of course, there was poison, and you were going to die. But most probably it was because of the bronze nature. The color of the serpents themselves. And people were dying. Moses. Pray for us, intercede for us. Now, I want to talk to you this morning about this incident of the serpent being sent in the days of Moses and the reference Jesus makes regarding this incident in the New Testament and some lessons that we can learn from this. Let’s look at now the Old Testament account and the remedy that God provides in Numbers chapter 21. Why did he do this? Could he not have dealt with this problem another way? And what was it about this serpent on a pole that made it effective for healing?

Well, I don’t understand how that works, someone might say.

But simply to accept what he tells us, follow his instructions, and reap the glorious benefits of having done so. I could stop right now in this sermon. We’ll have been good if we get that. Stop questioning. Well, why does God want me to do this? Why did he choose this particular means of doing this? Why does he want this in worship? If we would just listen to him and do what he says, we receive all the glorious benefits of being wise.

1. Effective Because of Its Author, Its Source

So, what is it about this serpent on a pole? Well, there’s several things that I want to look at with you this morning. Number one, it was effective because of its author, its source. This was God’s prescribed means of being healed. This was divinely appointed means of healing. And it didn’t matter if they had learned some very fancy medical skills from the people in Egypt and maybe some physicians that they knew down there, it didn’t matter what kind of knowledge or wisdom they might have had access to because of their time in Egypt. None of that was going to help them here. This was a God prescribed means. There was no plan B. You didn’t like this serpent on a pole thing. No.

I’m going to do it my way. You can have your way. I’m going to do it my way. No, there was no plan B. Plan A was all there is. If you get bit by the poisonous serpent, you don’t look at the pole, you die. It was that simple. And it was no respecter of persons. It didn’t matter if you were old or young, you got bit by a snake, you better look at the pole. It didn’t matter whether you were a priest or a slave. It didn’t matter whether you were a part of the tribe of Judah or the tribe of David. Male or female. It didn’t matter. If you were bit, the only way you could survive was to look at the pole. And regardless of the seriousness.

You may have just been bit, and there’s the pole. You look at it, you’re healed. You may be away on the other side of the camp. You get bit, you better get all the way over to the pole, but if you did, you could be healed. It didn’t matter whether you were bit one time or a hundred times. Can you imagine being bit several times? Perhaps some of them were. Regardless of the seriousness. The healing. All without fail. You look at the pole. Heal it. Instantaneously. No more poison. Healed. Completely. Awesome. And when you look at the pole. Oh no, you can say, I really believe that if somebody looks at the pole of the snake, they’re going to be healed. I really believe that, but I’m going to lay here in my bed, having been bitten by the snake.

You die. You could believe it all you want to. But unless you went and looked. Now somebody may have to drag you. You may not be in a condition to walk, but I guarantee you, family members were dragging people where they can see the snake on the pole. And when you were healed, you said, look what I did. I looked at the pole. I earned my healing. Oh, no. You realized you were completely dependent upon God’s remedy. There wasn’t some kind of special power in that bronze serpent that was fashioned on the pole. I tell you, it would be interesting to know how long it took them to make it. It’s not like you could just whip this up in 30 minutes. It took them some time.

2. God's Remedy for Sin: The Son of Man Lifted Up

People were already dying. These fiery serpents, man, there’s a lot of snakes. They were everywhere. And so while they’re making it, somebody gets bitten. Hurry up, get it done. Completely dependent upon God. Well, what about God’s remedy for sin? And the reference that Jesus makes, remember the comparison Jesus makes in John chapter 3, verses 14 through 16? The serpent on a pole, Jesus on a cross. This is not the only reference in the book of John to a lifting up of the Son of Man. In John chapter 12, in speaking to his disciples, Jesus says, if the Son of Man be lifted up, he will draw all men to himself. Now they were a little confused as to what he was saying there. They thought the Messiah was going to live forever.

I can understand why they came to that conclusion, but not live forever the way they thought. He was going to die first on a cross. He was going to be lifted up on the cross. If the Son of Man be lifted up, he will draw all men to himself. Well, again, God’s remedy for sin. I don’t have to understand why God thought the cross was going to be the central part of man’s spiritual healing. Why he chose that particular means and everything that goes with Jesus dying on the cross. Why didn’t he choose some other means of dealing with man’s problem of sin? I don’t have to know God’s wisdom in all of that. Sometimes we can look at the things God prescribes for us to do, and perhaps we can see some of the wisdom, and we’re going to be talking about baptism in just a moment.

And I see some things involved in that, like as it pictures the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, we die to sin, we rise to walk in newness of life. I can see that. I can see that water we often use to wash and cleanse things. And we’re being washed and cleansed spiritually, so I can see that. But do you think that represents the totality of God’s reasoning for why he chose baptism? What about the idea you have to humble yourself? Well, that could be involved too. You’re going to have to have faith to believe that being baptized in water, that this act is going to cause you to be cleansed, and heaven’s going to recognize your salvation. But even that may not constitute all of God’s wisdom.

And in the things that God instructs us to do, some people, well, I want to know why. I want to know why God did things this way. That’s not our business. That’s not our concern. Our concern is simply to listen to God as he says, this is how you can be rescued. He is the source. There is no other name under heaven by which a man can be saved. Acts chapter 4 and verse 12, other than the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And whatever he meant in Acts chapter 4 and verse 12, that works with John chapter 3 and John chapter 12 about the Son of Man being lifted up. Unless we believe in him, unless we look to him, we cannot be saved. There’s no plan B.

And I keep coming back to that, young people. When my circumstances get difficult, and when I get shaken, and when I get discouraged, and when I wonder if all of this is going to pay off one day, I keep coming back to what I know about Jesus. He died on a cross. I know that. I believe this record is true. That he rose from the dead, and that baptism is in likeness of his death and resurrection. And that when I was baptized into Christ, I rose to walk in newness of life. I keep coming back to that. There’s no plan B. That’s it. And if I reject this and throw all of this away, we are to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 4 verse 2. If we’re going to throw all that away, where are we going to go? What are we going to do? And that’s why Peter said, when Jesus said, hey, you guys gonna stick around, or are you gonna leave like everybody else? And he said those words. To whom shall we go? Peter certainly didn’t understand a lot of things. To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. He knew that. Where else are you gonna go? No respective persons. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ, in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male or female. We are all one in Christ Jesus. As Corneas, the first Gentile convert, was told, God is no respecter of persons in every nation.

He who fears God and does what is right is welcome to him. And it’s regardless of the seriousness. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve committed one sin or a thousand. It doesn’t matter to whether we think those sins are more serious than other sins. Sin is a sin, and it requires God’s remedy of Jesus’ death on the cross and looking to him. And we sometimes want to think that our sins are not as bad as someone else’s. There’s a story about that, by the way, that Jesus told in Matthew chapter 21 about the fellow who owed a debt 50,000 talents, and he was forgiven the debt, and yet he went and tried to exact payment out of somebody who owed him far less. And then he was called back to his master.

You forget what you were forgiven. How much should I forgive my brother? Seven times? Seventy times seven. That’s the statement that prompted the story. In Matthew chapter 21. It doesn’t matter how much you’ve sinned, how often you sin, you need this remedy. And everyone who comes to Jesus by faith is healed without fail. Anyone who believes in him will not be disappointed. You know, if someone responds to the gospel of Jesus Christ, looks to him as the source of truth and the answers for their salvation, and comes to him believing in him, repenting of their sins, confessing him before men, and being baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of his or her sins, that works every time. There’s never been a time that didn’t work.

Just like there was not one exception in the camp in Israel. If you were bitten by the fiery serpent, you didn’t look, you’re going to die every time. You looked, you lived. God’s remedy for salvation always works. And at the end of the day, when you’ve responded appropriately and looked at looked to Jesus in the way that he is prescribed. You don’t say, well, look what I did in earning my salvation. It is the gift of God. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10. This bronze serpent on a pole. It was the gift of God. It was by the grace of God that they received healing. It’s by the grace of God that we receive healing, and we are forever indebted to him. Well, that’s a short lesson on how salvation works.

3. All in the Plan in the Mind of God

Do you think this was an accident back in Numbers 21? Oh, I could use this, God says.

I can use this to mirror salvation in Christ. I think I’ll try this. Oh no. Oh, this was all in the plan in the mind of God. Like Naaman’s cleansing. Dipping seven times in the Jordan by faith. Do you think that was an accident? I’m going to choose this one guy in history, and I’m going to give him a unique way to be cleansed of leprosy. I just sort of like Nahman. Oh, God knows how he’s going to use that story. God knows how he’s going to use this story. Just as they have to look to him in faith, we’re going to have to look to Jesus in faith, this one who was lifted up to die for us. We’re going to have to look to him in faith to be saved.

It teaches us what we need to be taught. And who am I to question how it works? Is there anything special about this water back here? Is this holy water? Did it come out of some kind of special tap somewhere? Do we bring it all the way over from the Jordan River in Palestine? Like it was special. It’s just ordinary tap water. What makes it effective? What God says. What God regards is what makes it effective. Just like this serpent on a pole. Okay, so we have this story in Numbers chapter 21. Jesus quotes it in John chapter 3. That’s all we know about it, right? There’s actually another reference to this bronze serpent on a pole in the scripture. After this incident happened, the fiery snakes, serpents go away.

4. They Had Corrupted This Symbol

What are they going to do with the statue of the serpent wrapped around a pole? Nothing’s said about that until you come over many years later to the reign of Hezekiah in 2 Kings chapter 18. Hezekiah is following an awful grandfather, Manasseh, wicked king of 55 years, awful father of Ammon who reigned for two years, and now he’s doing a lot of righteous things. And look at this. He removes the high places and he breaks down the sacred pillars and cuts down the Ashura. And then this.

Oh Nehushtan. They had corrupted this symbol, and it had become an idol. They failed to realize that the power was the God behind the symbol and not in the symbol itself. They had this problem before. In the days of 1 Samuel chapter 4, when they were having problems with the Philistines. Remember what they did? We need to bring the Ark of the Covenant. We need to bring the Ark of the Covenant down into the camp. That’ll give us victory.

Was it the powerful symbol they thought it was? Oh, it was a meaningful symbol. The contents, remember there were three things in the Ark of the Covenant? Hold that. We’ll come into that next week. What all of that meant? Powerful meaning in the Ark of the Covenant. But when they treated it as just a symbol and didn’t realize that it had to do with their relationship with Jehovah. They got into trouble. The temple was the same way. When the Babylonian destruction came raining down upon them in the 580s BC, they were running around. Jeremiah said, they’re going to run around saying, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, this glorious symbol of God being in our midst. We’re his people, we’re the covenant people of God.

5. Take Up Your Cross

It’s going to do you no good. The fact that you live in proximity to the temple, God has long since departed from that temple because they have not maintained their relationship with the God of that temple. And so the symbol was corrupted. What a tragic thing. Instead of being a oh, they polished it, preserved it, this beautiful thing that was made in the wilderness, turned into an idol. No longer effective. Do you think people do that to the cross? They plate it in gold, silver plated. And these days it’s vinyl padded. People corrupted the message of the cross. How does the Lord want us to look to the cross now? He wants us to take up our crosses. In Matthew chapter 16 and verse 24. How are we to regard the cross of Jesus?

If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Luke 16. Or Luke 14, rather. Verse 26. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children’s children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. What does the cross mean? I’ll tell you, there was nothing pretty about the cross. It was a means of execution. It was an old rugged cross as we sing. It was an instrument of death. It was blood stained. How does God want us as his people who have taken advantage of his awesome remedy in coming to Christ?

How are we to regard the cross? If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. Take up your cross and follow me. Jesus said. Well, one guy took that literally about 10 years ago. You remember the guy that was pushing a large cross all over the place? All over Texas. I saw him twice. I saw him once in Sour Lake and once in Lyndale. Pushing a huge cross all over the place. Is that what Jesus meant? It was interesting. This cross had a wheel on the bottom. And I’m sure that wasn’t easy pushing that cross around. But Jesus’ cross didn’t have a wheel. I think sometimes that’s what we want to do with the cross. We want to put a wheel on it.

We want to make it, as I said, vinyl padded, make it easier to carry. We must not corrupt the symbol. It was an instrument of death. And our salvation began when we died to sin. And we rose to walk a new life as a new creation, different hopes, different values, different attitudes, a different way of living. And as we have set ourselves on this course because the Son of Man was lifted up, and he has drawn us to him as we have listened to his instruction and obeyed him. Now we live the way of the cross. The way of the cross leads home. What does that mean? What does the cross mean in your life? People that lose hope spiritually and lose their way, forget the meaning of the cross.

The cross stood between Jesus and the accomplishment of his mission. It stood between our lost condition and our salvation. It stood between him returning to be with the Father to know the joy that he had with the Father before the world was. It was the completion of his work. So what does it mean that we take up our cross? It is whatever we have to bear, whatever we have to endure, the difficulties, no matter what shape and size they are, we persevere to the end. Your cross is not mine. I don’t know that any of us will ever literally be put up on a cross. But whatever your hardships are, whatever your struggles are and have been, whatever it is that might keep you from continuing to serve the Lord and persevere in that.

Whatever it is, you’ve got to bear it. You’ve got to take up your cross and keep living the life of faith. Keep looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. You cannot remove the cross from Christianity. Those fiery serpents weren’t any fun. But he did that for the betterment of his people. God chastens us. Don’t know that he sends fiery serpents anymore. But sometimes we face difficult circumstances because the Son that God loves, he chastens. Sometimes in the midst of difficulty, we want to blame God, we want to take it out on God, we get discouraged, and we want to quit spiritually. Those fiery serpents not only helped Israel to again look to God in faith, they gave them the opportunity for eternal salvation as well.

Conclusion

To repent of their complaining and murmuring and groaning. So let us take up our crosses and follow him. It’s the means of salvation. Is there someone in this audience who needs to put on Christ and everything that pertains to being a servant of his? We bid you come and respond in faithful obedience and look to him for salvation while there’s time and opportunity. Come now.