They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water!
And we detest this miserable food!" Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the 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. 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." 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, he lived.
Snakes. Do you like them? Not many do. However, in some cultures snakes are held in high esteem as powerful religious symbols. Questalcoatl, the mythical " Plumb Serpent" was worshipped as the "master of life" by ancient Aztecs of Central America. Some African cultures worshipped the rock python and consider the killing of one to be serious crime. In Australia, the Aborigines associated a giant rainbow serpent with the creation of life. Other have associated snakes with medical power or rebirth. In India cobras are regarded as reincarnations of important people call nagras. Our modern medical symbol of two snakes wrapped around a staff or caduceus, comes from ancient Greek Mythology. According to the Greeks, the mythical figure Asculapius discovered medicine by watching as one snake used herbs to bring another back to life. However in Judeo- Christian cultures snakes are almost always symbols of evil. In the Garden of Eden it was the serpent that beguiled Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. The devil is call the serpent in Revelations 12:9; 20:2. In our text God sends into the Jewish camp fiery serpents, many were bitten and many died. Why would God do something like that? Well let us examine the context to discover just why. They had just been given the victory over king Arad, by the Lord. But instead of rejoicing they grew impatient and began to speak against God and Moses. They said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
I told you last week that God does not want to here your complaints! He wants to hear praise! They should have been thanking God for all He had done for them and not complaining. Somebody maybe thinking come on now Reverend there are sometimes in life were you just have to complain. Like when you have bills and no money. Like when your factory is closing. Like when your sons on drugs. Like when your daughter is having her third baby and is not married yet. Like when your husband ran off with a girl younger that your youngest child. Like when your wife sleeping with your best friend. Well how about this one you been wondering around in the desert for forty years most of your friends are dead, you had to eat the same food everyday, there is no water and you have on the same clothes and shoes. To me that seem like good reasons to complain! It must have seem so to them because they did. Let us look at this from God’s point of view. God brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. God protected them with a cloud by day and led them with a pillar of fire by night. God provided food and water for them as it was needed. As their bodies grew God grew their clothing and shoes. God was leading them through this place to a better place. A place that they could have been living in for forty years if they had only put their trust in Him! God sent the fiery serpents into their camp because they refused to be a people of praise! Also because He wanted to give us an example of what will happen in our life if we refuse to become a people of praise! The fact is that many of us are snake bitten right now! God has been good to us but we wont stop complaining. He kept us alive a long time but we want stop complaining. He has opened doors that were closed in our faces but we wont stop complaining. He put bread on our tables but we wont stop complaining. He blessed us with a place to live but we wont stop complaining. We are snake bitten! This text has some good news for us. The narrative give us an equation for the cure of a snake bite.
Confession + Intercession = Hope
Confession:
"We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us."
In their sin they confessed. If we want hope we too must confess. Now confession is not complaining! Complaining is talking about somebody else, confession is talking about ourselves! Notice they did not say we made a mistake but we sinned. If you want the cure you are going to have to confess your sins before each other and God. James talking to those who are snake bitten says, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."(5:16b) John speaking to the snake bitten says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness"(1 John 1:9).
We need to stop complaining and confess our sins before each other and God! When you confess you move things out of your hands into God’s hands. When you confess you tap the refreshing waters of God’s grace mercy and forgiveness. That why a sinner like me can stand before you today and say, "I’ve found a savior and He sweet I know, storm clouds may rise strong winds may blow but I‘ve found a Savior and He sweet I know! I want complain! God has been good to me! Confession is the first part of the equation. The second part is…..
Intercession
In the narrative we are told, "So Moses prayed for the people." That is what Intercession is. Intercession is the job of every blood washed, Spirit filled child of God. It is not telling God about what somebody did to you that would be complaining. It is asking God to heal, forgive, restore, uplift, bless, lead, comfort and or keep them! Moses was a great example for those of us in leadership in the area of Intercession. The fact of the matter is he often Interceded for the people even when they did not ask. Sure Moses got feed up with their attitudes and got tired of hearing their mouths. But he was always willing to stand in the gap for them! As children of God we don’t have the option of persecuting those who persecute us we must bless them! God has forbidden us to repay evil with evil. Right here Deacon Big Saul Minor would have me tell you that in order to do this you got to grow in grace! Intercession is the work of the Body of Christ. In James 5:13-16 we read: "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." That is Intercession! How many of you want to be like Jesus? Well let consider His life while He walked on earth. Did people talk about Him? Yes. They called Him a glutton, a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners"(Matthew 11:19). Did they lie on Him? Yes! We are told in Matthew 26:60b; that many false witnesses came forward to speak against Him. Did they kill Him? Yes! They nailed Him to a Roman cross! What did He do? He cried out words of Intercession from that very cross! I can hear Him saying, " Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing". That is Intercession! Now let us talk about what Jesus is doing right now In 1 John we are told, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world"(1John 2:1-2). Right now Jesus is speaking to God the Father in our defense. That is Intercession! He is not only making Intercession for us but the whole world. Being a Christian means being like Christ. As people of praise we to must become Intercessor for each other and the community we live in. For
Confession + Intercession = Hope.
Hope
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." 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, he lived.
That is Hope! If you get bitten by one of the snakes just look up and live. Some of you may think like me I wondered why God did not do what they ask Moses to ask Him to do. They ask Moses to ask God to get rid of the snakes. Why did God leave the snakes? Note this is the last time they complained. They would now go on to posses the Promise Land. However, the snakes did not leave until they move across the Jordan. I believe that every time somebody started to complain they were bitten by a snake then they looked up at the snake on the pole God had Moses to make and lived. God did not remove the snakes for two reasons. One so they would have a reminder of what happens when they complained. The second is that the serpent on a pole was a type of a future event that would give hope to all mankind of every generation who had been bitten by the serpent of sin. Everybody in here has been bitten by that serpent! But we have hope! In John 3 John records a conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus. In that conversation Jesus tells us the second reason that God had Moses to make a pole and put a serpent on it. He said, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up". It was a prophetic symbol of the cross of Jesus Christ. On the cross He who new no sin became sin for us to give us Hope. Because He died I have been justified. Because He died I have been forgiven all my sin not part but in full. Because He died I have peace with God. Because He died I have Hope! It did not stop there when they got to the Promise Land they took the serpent on the poll and placed it in the Ark of the Convent. This is symbolic that Jesus would not stay on the cross. They took my Jesus and laid Him in Joseph of Arimathea tomb. They took my Rock and laid Him on top of a rock, inside of a rock and sealed Him up in a rock. But early Sunday morning My Rock got up off that rock, walked around inside that rock and stepped through that rock. Saying "I am He who was dead but am alive for ever more". I got hope because Jesus is alive! He declared that all power in heaven and earth is in His hands! I got hope because Jesus got the Power! There is no need to be in despair just come to Jesus He will give you Hope. Just look and live!
