“Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.” (Numbers 21:6-8)
The Israelites who wandered in the desert for 40 years were, for the most part, a rebellious bunch of complainers. Despite the Lord’s provision of daily food and safety they constantly grumbled against Him and Moses. They grew tired of what God had given them without considering the alternative. In the barren wilderness they could never have survived. They could not supply food for themselves let alone the vast multitude of the nation of the Israelites.
Consequently, because of their lack of faith, the Lord punished them with a plague of deadly serpents. The Lord also provided the means of healing the deadly bites: a bronze serpent on a pole. It was not the statue itself that saved, it was the act of faith as the dying person obeyed the Lord’s command to look and live.
In this pandemic how would people react if we were told that if we looked to a bronze statue of the COVID-19 virus we would be healed of the virus itself? A neat idea if you think about it, but many would reject the idea as unscientific and absurd.
But daily people are dying of a disease that is far more deadly that COVID-19: sin. Sin destroys the lives of all those who are enmeshed in it. They pretend that their lives are happy and fulfilling, but deep within they are already living in hell for they are slaves to their passions, lusts, and selfishness. Their selfishness and pride prevent them from receiving the vaccine that heals sin: faith in the saving work of Christ on the cross. The offer is there, open to all. What a great relief it is to look on that cross and believe that Jesus bore the sins of all mankind. Only He has reconciled us to God and given us peace and joy.