Today we will look at the fourth "Covenant of Promise" from our Old Testament readings. This comes from Number 21:4-9. The first three covenants we have seen (Noah and the Rainbow, Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the 10 Commandments) are fairly familiar and easy to understand. But not this one. People complaining in the wilderness. Biting snakes. A bronze snake lifted upon on a pole. This is all pretty strange stuff.
What makes this significant is that Jesus himself refers to it in John chapter 3, verse 14. If you're not sure just how to interpret the Bible, here's one thing we can know for certain. If Jesus quotes it, we should pay attention to it! Jesus says that just as this bronze serpent is lifted up on a pole and the people of Israel are healed, so will the Son of Man be lifted up. He is, of course, referring to his being lifted up on the cross.
In this Old Testament story, strange as it may seem, we see sin, judgment, repentance, and healing. The covenant is the promise that if the people looked up on the bronze serpent, they would be healed. For us, Jesus is the one lifted up on the cross for all people. We also experience sin, judgment, repentance and healing. We don't have to physically see him on the cross to be healed of our sin, we simply need to believe. As John writes just after Jesus speaks about being lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life." May God give us such faith today and always.
Dale had alerted us to the value of your teaching about this strange Old Testament passage, so I took notes! It was indeed a very helpful sermon today...and your "Cliff notes" above make it all seem so clear. THANKS!
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