"And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." Numbers 21:4-9

Have you ever quit too soon? Have you ever felt like dreams and promises weren’t coming true, so why not try something else? Ever get tired of the "same old thing" and forget God’s Promises to bring you to a new place? Ever feel like it is someone else’s fault that you are where you are and not somewhere else?

Have you ever been on a 40-year journey and are ready to bail in the 39th year? Have you ever thought that the grass really was greener on the other side? Often when these kind of feelings come, it is good to step back and see if you are doing what God said to do. The Children of Israel had been wandering since their deliverance from Egypt for about 39 years. They had a Prophet, they had Provision and they had a Promise! They did not realize how close they were to victory. Dissatisfied and discouraged led to a dim vision and they were "much discouraged"! This led to...

SINFUL REBELLION

The rebellion began with bellyaching! ACHES

Despised God’s Prophet — They turned on the preacher. Blamed it all on him. Yesterday’s Prophet became today’s Punk. Sure they were weary, probably not as weary as Moses. They didn’t have a clue what they wanted or needed they just wanted something different than what they had. The sinful rebellion caused them to...

Doubt God’s Promise Wow, that’s asking for trouble. If you look at this passage a while you will see a deliverance parallel. Doubting what God says is to believe a lie, believing a lie leads to bondage. When the Word says that God sent fiery serpents among them, do you suppose there were already fiery serpents throughout the wilderness that He had been protecting them from? Of course! But now sinful rebellion opens a doorway, gives permission for serpents to do what they always wanted to do. Then, they ...

Disdained God’s Provision CAKES Griped about the food. Miraculous provision from God. They complained rather than give thanks. They not only griped about it they said they hated it!

SURE RETRIBUTION

The retribution was Fitting. It was Fiery and it was Fatal. Just as sin bites everyone with a fatal sting, everyone in the camp was subject to a fatal snake bite.

SAVING REMEDY

Look at John 3:14-16 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Those are the words of Jesus! The saving remedy is Sovereign. It was and is God’s Plan for man sin stricken and under the sentence of death. Jesus being "lifted up" is Sufficient and is Sure. Not just the best way...ONLY way. They had no snake bite kits. The only way to live was to look!

SIMPLE REQUIREMENT

Easy - God made it easy, any & all could be healed

Essential - because it’s easy doesn’t mean it’s unimportant. Don’t make the mistake of thinking there is another way...there is not.

Evidential - how did they know they were saved? You know because THE STING IS GONE.

Elective - Sadly today not all will look and be saved.

Dr. Felix Ruh knew the importance of finding a cure. His granddaughter had died of the dreaded black diphtheria and many more children lay sick and dying. Dr. Ruh and his partner, Louis Pasteur, were among the few who believed that these deaths were caused by what was then unseen germs. While the medical establishment forbid their experimentation, Pasteur and Ruh secretly carried out their clandestine research.

They brought 20 healthy horses into the lab. Ruh then opened a steel vault and took out a large pail filled with black diphtheria germs, which he had cultured carefully for months. There were enough germs in that pail to kill everyone in France. The scientist went to each horse and swabbed its nostrils, tongue, throat, and eyes with the deadly germs. Every horse except one developed a terrific fever and died. For several more days this final horse lingered, lying pathetically on the ground. While Ruh and Pasteur slept on cots in the stables, the orderly on duty had been instructed to awaken the scientists should there be any change in the animal's temperature during the night.

About 2 a.m. the temperature showed a half degree decrease, and the orderly wakened Dr. Ruh. By morning the thermometer had dropped two more degrees. By night the fever was entirely gone, and the horse was able to stand, eat, and drink. The horse was the only one who could withstand the disease.

Then Dr. Ruh drew blood from the veins of this animal that had developed the black diphtheria but had overcome it. The scientists drove as fast as they could to the municipal hospital in Paris. They forced their way into the ward where three hundred babies lay, segregated to die from black diphtheria. With the blood of the horse, they forcibly inoculated every one of the babies. All but three lived and recovered completely. They were saved by the blood of one who overcame the disease. Just as the Israelites were healed, Jesus revealed to and thru Nicodemus that salvation to man would come in similar fashion. Looking to Him! By grace and thru faith in the finished, complete work of His shed Blood, glorious death, burial and resurrection. Any and all who look to Him for redemption from the sting of sin will be saved!

Just for Jesus,

Don