In Numbers 21:4-9 we find this peculiar story. The people who came out of Egypt were constantly worried about their future and they were always mumbling and accusing Moses of taking them out of Egypt to starve to death in the desert. With that, God sends serpents to attack them. Then he orders Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole so that everyone who looks at it would live.
In the same way, the Son of Man was lifted up on a cross so that everyone who lifts up their eyes to Him will live!
However, you’ve probably asked yourself “Why did the pure and holy God use the image of a serpent to represent Him, when the serpent was seen negatively since Eden? Why not a Lion? or a Lamb to represent Him?”
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Warren Wiersbe, in his commentary on this text, will tell us that “on the cross, Jesus became a curse”. That was the meaning of the serpent. Jesus took upon Himself, on the blessed tree, the sin which attacks the human race and destroys it with its deadly poison.
Therefore, all you who are afflicted by the serpent’s bites, you who are paralyzed by the poison of sin, look to the Cross! God does not require of them any very articulate and difficult movement for their salvation. Just turn your eyes to the Cross and believe in it. Believe what Christ did there, believe that He became a curse and took sin upon Himself that you might be cleansed and healed! By this faitu you receive salvation. How wonderful is the grace of Christ Jesus. Rest your muscles, lower your arms, stop struggling with your strength. Just look to the Cross and believe and you will be healed from the curse of sin.
Lutheran Ladies Connection 