Numbers 21

“The people then came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that He will take the snakes away from us.’  And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake image and mount it to a pole. When anyone looks at it, he will recover.’  So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it to a pole. Whenever someone was bitten and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.”  Numbers 21:7-9 (HCSB)

I recently flew home from a five-day ministry event. I traveled across the entire nation, literally coast-to-coast, with two other musicians when we received news of weather delays in Dallas. We had already experienced two delayed connections, so it was frustrating to hear our final flight would not depart on time.

When faced with difficulty, people generally have a choice as to how they will respond. Furthermore, our personal responses can set the tone for a whole group of people.  I turned to those traveling with me and said, “Our job is to bring joy to this airport.”

Remembering our overriding mission as believers helped us determine our response to the situation. We set the emotional and spiritual tones for ourselves, and then we went about the task of ministering to those around us: flight personnel, shop workers, and fellow passengers. We even pulled out our guitars and sang a few songs for whoever would listen.

Israel did not have a very good history of controlling its responses to adverse circumstances. Whenever you are around someone negative, almost every comment is like a snake’s bite, full of venom. Did you know that a negative attitude can be a sin?  That’s what God says.

In this chapter, the Lord directed Moses to fashion Israel’s sin as He sees it. It is as if God were saying, “If you want to be venomous with your comments, your judgment will be literal venomous snakebites.” Not until you see your sin, as God sees it, will you recognize your need for healing/salvation.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, a Pharisee who came to him at night during the Passover season, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”  John 3:14-15 (HCSB)

Picture Jesus, bloody, beaten, and crucified. That is what we allow sin to do to us. Only when we see our sin as God sees it do we appreciate His method of salvation and the great value of Jesus’ atonement.