Bible Lesson: Miracles Of The Old
Testament: Judgment Of Fiery Serpents, And Their Cure.
Occasion: Ingratitude Brings
Judgment.
Location: Desert of Zin.
Bible Text:
Numbers 21:4-9 NLT
(Weary)
4 Then the people of Israel set out
from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land
of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey,
(Ingratitude, A Sin.)
5 and they began to speak against
God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in
the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here
and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”
(Judgment)
6 So the Lord sent poisonous snakes
among the people, and many were bitten and died.
(Conscience and confession.)
(Confession)
7 Then the people came to Moses and
cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against
you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed
for the people.
(Remedy)
8 Then the Lord told him, “Make a
replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are
bitten will live if they simply look at it!”
9 So Moses made a snake out of
bronze (Bronze speaks of judgment.) and attached it to a pole. Then
anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and
be healed!
Numbers 21:4-9
KJV
4 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.
5 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.
6 And the Lord
sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and
much people of Israel died.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
(Weary)
Numbers 21:4 NLT
“...the people grew impatient
(discouraged)
with the long journey,”
John Bunyan, was
right, it is a pilgrims progress. The journey, may indeed be long,
and the way uneasy, cluttered with snares, laid by the enemy.
Yet, the Apostle
maintains...
Philippians 3:14
KJV
I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Strength Promised The Child Of God:
Psalm 28:8 KJV
The Lord is
their strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed.
Psalm 46:1 KJV
God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psalm 73:26 KJV
My flesh and my
heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion
for ever.
Isaiah 40:28-31
KJV
28 Hast thou
not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator Of the Ends Of The Earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?
there is no searching of His understanding.
29 He giveth
power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth
strength.
30 Even the
youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly
fall:
31 But they
that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount
up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they
shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 41:10 KJV
Fear thou not;
for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will
strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of My righteousness.
Daniel 11:32 KJV
"...but
the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits."
Ephesians 3:16
KJV
That He would
grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened
with might by His Spirit in the inner man;
(Ingratitude, A Sin.)
Numbers 21:5 NLT
5 and they began to speak against
God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in
the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here
and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”
What a dark and
hideous sin, that of ingratitude.
And what a
commentary on not only ancient Israel, but our people today!
Deuteronomy
32:3-6 NLT (Moses)
3 I will proclaim the name of the
Lord; how glorious is our God!
4 He is The Rock; His deeds are
perfect. Everything He does is just and fair. He is a faithful God
who does no wrong; how just and upright He is!
5 “But they have acted corruptly
toward Him; when they act so perversely, are they really His
children? They are a deceitful and twisted generation.
6 Is this the way you repay the
Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Isn’t He your Father who
created you? Has He not made you and established you?
Nehemiah 9:26
NLT (The Levites.)
“But despite
all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They turned
their backs on your Law, they killed your prophets who warned them to
return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies.
Ezekiel 16:17-19
NLT
17 You took the very jewels and gold
and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and
worshiped them. This is adultery against me!
18 You used the beautifully
embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my
special oil and my incense to worship them.
19 Imagine it! You set before them
as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given
you, says the Sovereign Lord.
Luke 17:17,18
KJV
17 And Jesus answering said, Were
there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18 There are not found that returned
to give glory to God, save this stranger.
Romans 1:21,22
KJV
21 Because that, when they knew God,
they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but
became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools,
II Timothy 3:1-5
KJV
1 This know also, that in the
last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful,
unholy,
3 Without natural affection, truce
breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those
that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, high minded,
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
(Judgment)
Numbers 21:6 NLT
6 So the Lord sent poisonous
snakes (fiery
serpents) among the people, and many were bitten
and died.
Sin is a fiery burning venom unto spiritual death.
I Samuel 15:23
KJV
For rebellion
is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and
idolatry..."
Proverbs 11:19
KJV
As
righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it
to his own death.
Ezekiel 18:4 KJV
Behold, all
souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the
son is mine:
the soul that
sinneth, it shall die.
Can God, send
destruction, to individuals or to nations, in answer to sinnful
rebellion?
Answer, yes, and He
lovingly does it to stop sinners, before it is too late!
Psalm 119:67 KJV
Before I was afflicted I went
astray: but now have I kept thy word.
Psalm 119:67 NLT
I used to wander off until you
disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word.
Hebrews 5:12-14
KJV
5 And ye have forgotten the
exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise
not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of Him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth He
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of
our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we
not much rather be in subjection unto The Father Of spirits, and
live?
10 For they verily for a few days
chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we
might be partakers of His holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it
yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are
exercised thereby.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which
hang down, and the feeble knees;
13 And make straight paths for your
feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it
rather be healed.
14 Follow peace with all men, and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
(Conscience and confession.)
Numbers 21:7 NLT
7 Then the people came to Moses
and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and
against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So
Moses prayed for the people.
Ezra 10:11 KJV
Now therefore
make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do His
pleasure..."
Psalm 66:18 KJV
If I regard
iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Proverbs 28:13
KJV
He that
covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and
forsaketh them shall have mercy.
I John 1:9-10
KJV
8 If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us.
9 If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say
that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in
us.
(Remedy)
Numbers 21:8,9
NLT
8 Then the Lord told him, “Make
a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are
bitten will live if they simply look at it!”
9 So Moses made a snake out of
bronze (Bronze speaks of judgment.) and attached it to a pole. Then
anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and
be healed!
The Israelites were to look at the serpent of bronze, and live.
Now, this was “more,” than just looking and living! This meant
that by looking in Faith, to
The Promise given, then they would be healed of their deadly
wounds.
What was the promise?
Numbers 21:8,9
KJV
8 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.
9 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.
One had to look in
Faith, believing The Promise, to live!
By
looking, one was believing in The Promise for deliverance!
These actions were
but a prefiguring, a type of the ultimate remedy for sin, the
Lord Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians
10:9-13 NLT
9 Nor should we put Christ to the
test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites.
10 And don’t grumble as some of
them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death.
11 These things happened to them as
examples for us. They were written down to warn us who
live at the end of the age.
12 If you think you are standing
strong, be careful not to fall.
13 The temptations in your life are
no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He
will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you
are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.
(Look and live!)
John 3:14-18 KJV
14 And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must The Son Of Man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in
(Looketh on) Him (The
Promise) should
not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that
He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in (Looketh
on) Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not His Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be
saved.
18 He that believeth (Looketh) on
Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed (Had
Faith) in the name of The Only Begotten Son Of God.
