Year of the Bible: Part Four of Twelve ናሙና

A Bronze Snake.

The Israelites are on the long way around to the promised land. God detoured their path away from Edom in their best interest because of previous conflicts with them. Unfortunately, the Israelites began to complain. Again. They felt inconvenienced by the limited menu for their diet, presumed they were better off as enslaved people, and blamed God for their troubles. In response to their complaining, God sent poisonous snakes into the camp. Yikes!

Though this was a form of punishment, and some died, it was still full of God's mercy because it wasn't until this experience that they realized their sinful behavior. This form of punishment wasn't the end of God's plan. He asked Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole so that anyone who looked directly at it would be healed. At this point, the Israelites acknowledged their sin and began to rely on God once again because it required faith for them to trust Moses' instructions about the snakes.

To help our understanding, in the tabernacle, we can identify the bronze altar as the place where they offered the atonement for sin, and the bronze laver was the place for the cleansing of the sin offering. The bronze material refers to the judgment of sin. As for the snake, it typically refers to sin, death, and deception. (The snake deceived Adam and Eve.) How then does this point to Jesus?

When Jesus talked about salvation, He said, "As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life." (John 3:14-15)

Today, we can look directly at Jesus to heal our infirmities and, ultimately, for the healing of our eternal lives with Jesus.

Question: Complaining can quickly distract you. How are you thankful for the work of Jesus in your life today?

Prayer Focus: Your circumstances are real, and God wants to work in and through them. Take a moment to surrender, once again, to God's ways. Tell Him that you are still willing to trust Him, even if you do not understand.