Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem for a purpose. That purpose was us. This devotion looks how an Old Testament situation as used to foreshadow His mission.
Nuggets
- The sin the Israelites committed was being vocal in their discontent.
- An image of a snake being lifted up on a pole didn’t save the people; the Israelites had to look at the snake to be saved.
- We have to look to Jesus in the manger and then high and lifted up on the cross.
- We have to look at the empty tomb and to the clouds where our Savior and Redeemer is coming again.
To read devotions in the title series, click the appropriate button below.
This series of Christmas devotions is turning out to be the People of Christmas. We’ve looked at the actors in the story.
We’re going to take a different slant today. These players aren’t actually in the story, but they are for whom the story was performed.
I know. This is a Christmas story? (Iron Man 3 is, so this is too.)
This story is a Christmas and Easter story. It shows how an Old Testament situation was used to show Jesus’ mission.
Let's Put It into Context
“The people spoke against God and Moses: ‘Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!’” (Num. 21: 5 CSB)
Same bat time, same bat channel. The Israelites were biting on Moses — and God — because there was no bread and water. They were tired of manna and quail.
So, they were vocal.
Israel Had Sinned
“Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died. The people then came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.’ And Moses interceded for the people” (Num. 21: 6-7 CSB)
Did you see that? That is all they did — be vocal. They didn’t steal food. They didn’t kill each other to get the food the other had.
They didn’t do any of the “bad” sins. They just complained.
Well, they probably sulked, too knowing them, but it just says complained.
Oh, man. We are so much like the Wilderness Wanderers! They got impatient for God to do things their way — so do we. They didn’t like — and neither do we — what God had given them, in their case, the manna. Water was still an issue.
They were so focused on this world, especially physical things. They just complained about everything!
God hears the complaining, which is a sin. Why? It shows that we don’t believe in His being Sovereign. We don’t believe He will provide what is best for us.
So, He sends us trials to wake us up and punish us.
Ooo, baby. I think a snake bite would be a humdinger of a punishment. It would hurt. It may or may not be quick. There was nothing they could do about it.
God Had the Remedy
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered” (Num. 21: 8-9 CSB)
There was nothing they could do about it, but God could. He went for symbolism here.
An image of a snake was lifted up on a pole. But that didn’t save the people.
The Israelites had to look at the snake. Then they were saved.
They had to look. They had to make a conscious decision to look to God.
Did you catch this? A serpent or snake was responsible for the original sin. “Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?’” (Gen. 3: 1 CSB). Man’s downfall was caused by a snake, and the Israelites were saved by a snake.
Look to the Savior
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’)” (Mt. 1: 21-23 CSB)
First, we have to look in the manger. That is where “God with us” showed up first.
Then, we have to look high and lifted up on the cross, just as the snake was. That is where Redeemer can be seen.
John 3: 14-15 says, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (CSB).
Next, we have to look at the empty tomb. That is where Savior triumphed over sin.
Finally, we need to look at the clouds. Our Savior and Redeemer is coming again.
Making the Connections
One of the sermons I read as background for this made an interesting point. “(1) As looking is the easiest act of the body, so faith is the easiest act of the mind. (2) Man has a propensity for believing; he is a credulous animal; his ruin is, that he believes too much.”
Let’s take those points backwards. Yes, we do want to believe, and sometimes we do believe without having all of the facts.
Yes, looking is easy. Is faith really the easiest act of the mind?
Faith is the belief that the doctrines stated in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them. But we have troubles believing without understanding.
We struggle to give up the control. We think we have to figure it all out, or we can’t believe.
All we have to do is look — search for God to provide the healing; seek for Him to grow us in His grace and knowledge (II Pet. 3: 18). Anyone who has been bitten can look.
We know all of us have been bitten. “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Rom. 3: 23 NLT).
Everyone. Male. Female. Doesn’t matter where you were born. Doesn’t matter how much you have in the bank account. Every single person who has lived and breathed on this earth can look.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3: 16 NLT emphasis added).
“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5: 8 NLT).
How Do We Apply This?
Let’s go back to complaining for a second. We can complain about things great and small.
We need to be like Paul. “… I have learned how to be content with whatever I have” (Phil. 4: 11 NLT).
That means all the way from manna and quail to caviar. That means from janitor to CEO.
That means from manager to blogger.
We have to look to God in everything. Most of all, we have to look to our Savior, that sweet baby that was born and placed in a manger — the One Who came to save us all.
Loving Father. You can’t stand sin. You despise it. But You don’t despise us, even though we sin. In fact, You love us. You loved us so much that You sent Your Son to be born and placed in a manger, to die lifted up on a cross, and to rise from a borrowed tomb. Lord, we not only look at what He did, we believe that He is our Redeemer and Savior. We are still looking — we are looking for His return. Forgive us of the sins we continue to commit. Help us to grow closer to who You want us to be. Amen.
What do you think?
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