Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Why the Fiery Serpents?

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 21:9

"During the journeyings of the children of Israel through the wilderness, Jesus Christ, enshrouded in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night, led them on their way.

Christ guarded them from all the beasts of the wilderness and from the poisonous serpents.
This they had reason to know; for when God removed His restraining power from the serpents, great was the affliction in the camp of the Israelites.


Their murmuring was a constant offense to God. He saw that they had thrown off all fear of Him, and He permitted fiery serpents to attack them, that they might realize how in the past His power had guarded them from untold dangers
 
Those bitten by the serpents cried out in their dying anguish, entreating Moses to call upon the Lord for deliverance.
Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord heard him, and told him to make a serpent of brass, and lift it up in the sight of all the people. To this serpent the people were to look, and those who looked were healed. 
 
--God desires men and women to awaken to a sense of His great mercy and lovingkindness.
--Every blessing we receive comes from Him.
--The Governor of the universe, He takes cognizance of the words and actions of human beings.
--He knows whether His children are deserving of praise or of condemnation.
--Each human being will be rewarded or punished according to his works."
E.G.W.