“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 fact that the Lord had miraculously delivered them out of the slavery of Egypt and provided them with food and safety out in the wilderness, 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 nor could they defend themselves without God.
I suppose most of us would feel the same way if we were in their situation. But the irony is that their complaints only made things worse. Because of their grumbling, a sign of their lack of faith, the Lord punished them with a plague of deadly serpents. They then called out to Moses who prayed to the Lord for mercy. He then provided the means of healing the deadly bites: a bronze serpent on a pole. How could such a weird object heal them? It was not the statue itself that saved anyone, it was the act of faith of the afflicted the person who obeyed the Lord’s command to look and live.
I wonder if, during the past time of 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? Many would reject the idea as unscientific and absurd as looking at a snake on a pole or a dead man on a cross.
Daily people are dying of a disease that is far more deadly than COVID-19, cancer, or heart disease: 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 living in hell for they are slaves to their passions, lusts, and selfishness. Their selfishness and pride prevent them from acknowledging that they need any help at all. They reject 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 know that as Jesus bore the sins of all mankind, He has reconciled us to God and bestowed eternal peace and joy on us.