LOOK AND LIVE 

NUMBERS 21:5 - 9

            The children of Israel, having been delivered out of Egypt by God through Moses, were always mumbling, grumbling and complaining.  They were never satisfied with what God was doing in their lives.  In the wilderness they complained of being hungry and God gave them bread from heaven to eat.  They soon began to complain about the bread and wanted meat to eat.  So God gave them quail to eat.  Then they complained for water and he met that need.  Here they are grumbling again; this time about the provision in which God has made.  They were tired of eating manna.  Being fed up with their mumbling, God afflicts them with poisonous snake bites.  Seeing those around them start dieing, Israel soon recognized its sin and sought for deliverance.

            Mankind has also been afflicted with a deadly disease.  The disease is called sin (Rom. 3:23, Rom 6:23).  Now mankind is not afflicted with sin because of something God did.  We have this deadly disease because of Adam our forefather. 

Rom 5:15 - 19  - Because of Adam's sin we became sinners and death began to reign in us.

Gen. 2:15-17 - When Adam sinned in Gen. 3:6, he did not die a physical death at that time.  In fact Adam lived at least 800 years after he sinned.  Adam did not die a physical death that day but he did die spiritually.  To understand this you must understand two important facts.

1.  Man is more than just this flesh that we see.  In fact, man like God is a triune being, a three part being.  Man is a spirit, that has a soul and which lives in a body. (Gen. 2:7)  Man's spirit received its life from God.  Man was spiritually alive, and able to fellowship and communicate with God who is a spirit.

2.  Death in the Bible means separation.  Physical death is the separation of body and spirit (James 2:26).  Spiritual death is the separation of Man and God from perfect communion and fellowship.  Here man's spirit is separated from it's life source and thus death occurs.

            If we could think of sin as a tiny germ inside the fruit Adam ate, then when Adam bites and digest the fruit, the tiny germ sin moves into his blood stream and is carried to all parts of his body.  Sin takes over his body and before long it becomes difficult for him to obey God; in fact his body and his mind seem to always be telling him to go against God.  We say at this point that Adam has a nature to sin; a nature unlike God.

            The blood line of the child is derived from the father; the mothers blood and the babies blood never mix.  Since Adam's blood is tainted with sin, then any child born of a human father will also have sinful blood.  Thus as humans we inherited a nature to sin from our forefather Adam.  Therefore as Romans 5:19 said because of one man's disobedience we were made sinners. 

Numbers 21:7

            Having recognized their sin and seeking for deliverance, look at the request of the people.  They wanted Moses to pray that God would take away the serpents.  They did not pray that God would cleanse their hearts and deliver them from the spirit of murmuring and complaining.  They did not ask God to change their nature.  They only wanted to be delivered from their circumstances.

            Like the Israelites, when we sin and are faced with certain undesirable consequences we have little problem in asking God to forgive us.  We beg for forgiveness in the hopes that either we will be speedily delivered from the consequences.  However, asking for forgiveness and repenting are two different things.  Asking for forgiveness more often than not is simply a ritualistic statement that we have been taught to say.  Repentance is an inward change accompanied by an outward action.  When we ask God to forgive us of our sin without first repenting and seeking a change in our nature, we are seeking a quick fix of our circumstances without addressing the long-term root of our sin; a sinful nature. 

Numbers 21:8 - 9

            As the Israelites cry out in their affliction, God makes provision for their sin.  The provision that is made here is to be an example of the eternal provision that God has made for the sins of mankind.

1.  John 3:14-21 - As the brass serpent was lifted up in the wilderness as a provision for Israel's sin, Jesus was lifted up on the cross as a provision for man's sin.

                        Why Jesus; why death?

                        We all know the Christmas story; how Jesus was born of  the virgin Mary.  The Bible teaches that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost.  Thus Jesus did not have        an earthly father.  In fact, God was His father.  Since Jesus did not have an earthly father, then he did not inherit the nature to sin as did the descendents of Adam.  This means that Jesus' blood line was pure, and sinless.  Jesus was and is the only sinless human to be born on earth.  Thus he alone is qualified to pay for the sins of others.

Why death?

                        We read in Rom. 6:23 that the wages of sin is death.  The payment required for sin is death.  Heb. 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.  Blood had to be shed and in order for the debt of the world to be paid, the blood had to be pure and sinless.  Since what mankind owed for its sin was death, death had to be paid.  In death Jesus took on the sins of the world.   

2 Cor. 5:21, I Peter 3:18 - Just as the brass serpent represented the provision of God for Israel’s sin, so Jesus Christ is the provision of God for mankind’s sin.

2.  God provided no other remedy for the Israelites at that time.  Likewise Christ is the only remedy God now offers for man's salvation.  

Acts 4:12, Romans 10:9 - 10 - As the serpent on the pole brought peace and reconciliation with God for Israel, so Christ on the cross, brought peace and reconciliation between God and man.  2Cor 5:19 says that, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself".

3.  The sick in Israel received healing by looking to the brass serpent.  Likewise those who are sick in sin or dead in sin, can look to Jesus and find healing for the soul.  Through Jesus God provides spiritual life for all who choose to come and receive it.  Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again (John 3:3).  Through Jesus the rebirth of the human spirit is possible and the nature of man can be changed.

            Spiritual death enter the world through Adam's sin, spiritual life has entered the world through Christ's death.  If when we as individuals stand before God in judgment, we are not in right standing with him, it will not be Adam's fault.  Just as the Children of Israel had to choose to look to the brass serpent and be healed, mankind must choose to look to Jesus for new life. 

I John 5:10-12 -  Just as God gave only one remedy for the Israelites, He has given only one remedy to mankind for eternal life and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ his son.