Page 62 - Living Light Autumn 23

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE INSIGHTS ARE BY:
Peter Cockrell and are based on Numbers 21:4-9 (NIV)
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE ON THIS WEEK’S MAJOR THEME:
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
4 They travelled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go round 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 7 people and many Israelites died. 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.
Sunday November 12 - Look and live
So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole...anyone was
bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. Numbers 21:9
Perhaps there is no stranger episode in the long leadership career of Moses than this. The narrative of Numbers records one round of grumbling after another from the ungrateful, malcontent Israelites. The Lord rightly judges their impatience and unbelief, by the drastic measure of sending venomous snakes into their midst, resulting in many people dying.
Moses intercedes before the Lord on their behalf. God’s gracious intervention is to command Moses to make a serpent of bronze and lift it up on a pole so that all who look at it will be healed: “Anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” Remarkable! But Jesus picks up on this event in his famous conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:1-21. Having explained the necessity of new birth for eternal life, Jesus concludes this exchange with his interpretation of the Numbers story: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (vv 14-15).
Embedded throughout the Old Testament scriptures are foreshadowings of Jesus and the gospel, the fulfilment always surpassing the prophetic hint. Here, physical looking is upgraded to believing, and physical healing is superseded by the gift of salvation. Have you looked upon the crucified Jesus in a saving way, trusting him to forgive your sin and grant you eternal life?
Lord Jesus, thank you that you offered up your own life to save me. Help me to always keep looking to you. Amen.
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PRAYER FOR TODAY