Connecting Though The Word The Look of Faith That Saves Numbers 17-21 Numbers 21:4-9 4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food. 6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. John 3:14-18 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Last week we look and spoke about one of the most dramatic events in the Bible when the earth opened up and swallowed up Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their wives and children. And then the fire of God consumed 250 men offering the incense. Today, we will pick up from there in Numbers 16. We will highlight some of the narrative from these chapters. Even after the congregation had seen this unusual judgement of God fall on their leaders they themselves on the very next day, (Vs 41) begin to
grumble against Moses and Aaron and blamed them for the death of their leaders. God s glory again shows up and then God sent a plague that begin to destroy the people but Moses told Aaron to take a censer and put fire on it from the altar and run into the congregation and make atonement of the people. Amazing verse, 48, And he stood between the dead and the living and the plague was stopped. 14,700 died in the plague plus those who died with Korah. Jesus, our High Priest came to stand between the living and dead on the cross to take the wrath of God for our rebellion!!!! Chapter 17 records a very important event. To prove to the nation that God had chosen Aaron to be the High Priest and his family as priest, the LORD instructed Moses to take a staff from each of the leaders of the 12 tribes and write their names on it. Then Moses laid them all before the LORD in the tabernacle overnight. In the morning, Aaron s staff had budded, produced blossoms and bore ripe almonds. Aaron s staff was then put in the Ark of the Covenant were it stayed as a reminder for all that Aaron and his sons were the chosen mediators for Israel. The rod, a dead piece of wood, comes to life and brings fruit!!!! Jesus, is the Messiah, the Annointed One, The Christ, Who came back from the dead to bring forth fruit that remains John 12:23-24 (ESV) 23 And Jesus answered them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. This also reminds us that now we are ordained or appointed ones to stand between the living and the dead with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. In Chapters 18 and 19, Moses is reminded of the duties of the Levites and the Priest. And also goes over the laws for cleansing and purification.
Chapter 20 Miriam dies and is buried. The people again quarrel and complain against Moses because there is no water and say basically the same thing they have said every time before. We had it better in Egypt. The Glory of the LORD appears and the LORD gives instructions to Moses. Numbers 20:8-9 Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle. And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him. But instead of speaking to the Rock, Moses strikes the Rock twice. This causes him to lose his ticket into the Promise Land. He messed up the type of Christ being smitten only once of our sins Remember in Exodus 17 Moses was told to strike the Rock at Horeb This Rock here was at Meribah. Numbers 20:13 Aaron also dies and is buried at the top of Mount Hor because of this blunder at Meribah. Numbers 20:24 Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. Now Numbers 21 The people had to go around the land of Edom and take a longer route to Canaan. And they again got impatient and complained. Numbers 21:5-7 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food. 6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people. Now even after being fed daily with angels food every morning, they claim there is no food and called God s provision worthless food.
God responds with serpents snakes that begin to bite the people they begin dying. This time, the people come to Moses and ask him to pray for them We have sinned and named their sin. Moses prayed and the LORD gave him instructions to make a brazen serpent and put it on a pole and lift it up. Numbers 21:8-9 8 And the LORD said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. This is an amazing event!!!!! Jesus Himself recalls this event just before the most famous verse in the Bible. John 3:14-18 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Do you see the beautiful illustration and picture here in this passage? The serpent represents of course Satan. In the Garden of Eden, the Serpent tempted Eve, and when Adam ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, they both were bitten and begin to die. Everyone born of Adam s seed is bitten by the serpent of sin and we are under condemnation to die. The solution to the people who had been bitten and were dying a painful death was really very simple. Moses was told to make a brazen serpent. Brass in the Bible always represents Judgment. So Moses puts the brazen serpent on a pole, a tree and lifts it up and sends out a message, Look and Live
Jesus refers to this as He is dealing with Nicodemus and showing him the way of salvation. Sin must be judged!!!! Jesus becomes our sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus tells Nicodemus that He will be lifted up this mean He will be put on a cross and crucified He will take the punishment for our sin!!!!! He will have God s wrath poured out on Himself. 1 John 2:2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That which propitiates; atonement or atoning sacrifice; specifically, the influence or effects of the death of Christ in appeasing the divine justice, and conciliating the divine favor. How is this applied? Some might say this is foolish! Some might say this is too simple! Imagine you were bitten by a serpent there in the wilderness. Someone comes and tells you that Moses has set up a pole outside the camp and all you have to do is come and look up at it. You are dying in pain You respond I need a doctor a hospital I need a psychologist a preacher. I need a drug No!!!! No!!!! No!!!!! All you need to do is come and look at the judgment of the serpent on the cross!!!!!! John 12:32-34 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 34 So the crowd answered him, We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? God s wrath is satisfied!!!!!
Isaiah 45:22 "Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. Today, will you look to Jesus and be saved!!!! The Look of Faith at the Cross of Calvary where Jesus bleed and died will bring immediate salvation into your life. Amen!!!!! Spurgeon s story of his salvation. I knew it was said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved;" but I did not know what it was to believe on Christ. These good men all preached truths suited to many in their congregations who were spiritually-minded people; but what I wanted to know was, "How can I get my sins forgiven?" and they never told me that. I desired to hear how a poor sinner, under a sense of sin, might find peace with God; and when I went, I heard a sermon on, "Be not deceived, God is not mocked," which cut me up still worse; but did not bring me into rest. I went again, another day, and the text was something about the glories of the righteous; nothing for poor me! I was like a dog under the table, not allowed to eat of the children's food. I went time after time, and I can honestly say that I do not know that I ever went without prayer to God, and I am sure there was not a more attentive hearer than myself in all the place, for I panted and longed to understand how I might be saved. I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair until now had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm, one Sunday morning, while I was going to a certain place of worship. When I could go no further, I turned down a side street, and came to a little Primitive Methodist Chapel. In that chapel there may have been a dozen or fifteen people. I had heard of the Primitive Methodists, how they sang so loudly that they made people's heads ache; but that did not matter to me. I wanted to know how I might be saved, and if they could tell me that, I did not care how much they made my head ache. The minister did not come that morning; he was snowed up, I suppose. At last, a very thin-looking man, a shoemaker, or tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach. Now, it is well that preachers should be instructed; but this man was really stupid. He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had little else to say. The text was, "LOOK UNTO ME, AND BE YE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH."
He did not even pronounce the words rightly, but that did not matter. There was, I thought, a glimpse of hope for me in that text. The preacher began thus: "My dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed. It says, 'Look.' Now lookin' don't take a deal of pains. It ain't liftin; your foot or your finger; it is just, 'Look.' Well, a man needn't go to College to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look. A man needn't be worth a thousand a year to be able to look. Anyone can look; even a child can look. But then the text says, 'Look unto Me.' Ay!" said he, in broad Essex, "many on ye are lookin' to yourselves, but it's no use lookin' there. You'll never find any comfort in yourselves. Some look to God the Father. No, look to Him by-and-by. Jesus Christ says, 'Look unto Me.' Some on ye say, 'We must wait for the Spirit's workin'.' You have no business with that just now. Look to Christ. The text says, 'Look unto Me.'" Then the good man followed up his text in this way: "Look unto Me; I am sweatin' great drops of blood. Look unto Me; I am hangin' on the cross. Look unto Me; I am dead and buried. Look unto Me; I rise again. Look unto Me; I ascend to Heaven. Look unto Me; I am sittin' at the Father's right hand. O poor sinner, look unto Me! look unto Me!" When he had gone to about that length, and managed to spin out ten minutes or so, he was at the end of his tether. Then he looked at me under the gallery, and I daresay, with so few present, he knew me to be a stranger. Just fixing his eyes on me, as if he knew all my heart, he said, "Young man, you look very miserable." Well, I did; but I had not been accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit on my personal appearance before. However, it was a good blow, struck right home. He continued, "and you always will be miserable miserable in life, and miserable in death, if you don't obey my text; but if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved." Then, lifting up his hands, he shouted, as only a Primitive Methodist could do, "Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothin' to do but to look and live." I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said, I did not take much notice of it, I was so possessed with that one thought. Like as when the brazen serpent was lifted up, the people only looked and were healed, so it was with me. I had been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard that word, "Look!" what a charming word it seemed to me! Oh! I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away.
There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that moment I saw the sun; and I could have risen that instant, and sung with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith which looks alone to Him. Oh, that somebody had told me this before, "Trust Christ, and you shall be saved." Yet it was, no doubt, all wisely ordered, and now I can say, "E'er since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die." The clock of mercy struck in Heaven the hour and moment of my emancipation, for the time had come. Between half-past ten o'clock, when I entered that chapel, and half-past twelve o'clock, when I was back again at home, what a change had taken place in me! I had passed from darkness into marvellous light, from death to life. Simply by looking to Jesus, I had been delivered from despair, and I was brought into such a joyous state of mind that, when they saw me at home, they said to me, "Something wonderful has happened to you;" and I was eager to tell them all about it. Oh! there was joy in the household that day, when all heard that the eldest son had found the Saviour, and knew himself to be forgiven, bliss compared with which all earth's joys are less than nothing and vanity. Yes, I had looked to Jesus as I was, and found in Him my Saviour. Thus had the eternal purpose of Jehovah decreed it; and as, the moment before, there was none more wretched than I was, so, within that second, there was none more joyous. It took no longer time than does the lightning-flash; it was done, and never has it been undone. I looked, and lived, and leaped in joyful liberty as I beheld my sin punished upon the great Substitute, and put away for ever. I looked unto Him, as He bled upon that tree; His eyes darted a glance of love unutterable into my spirit, and in a moment, I was saved. Looking unto Him, the bruises that my soul had suffered were healed, the gaping wounds were cured, the broken bones rejoiced, the rags that had covered me were all removed, my spirit was white as the spotless snows of the far-off North; I had melody within my spirit, for I was saved, washed, cleansed, forgiven, through Him that did hang upon the tree. My Master, I cannot understand how Thou couldst stoop Thine awful head to such a death as the
death of the cross, how Thou couldst take from Thy brow the coronet of stars which from old eternity had shone resplendent there; but how Thou shouldst permit the thorn-crown to gird Thy temples, astonishes me far more. That Thou shouldst cast away the mantle of Thy glory, the azure of Thine everlasting empire, I cannot comprehend; but how Thou shouldst have become veiled in the ignominious purple for a while, and then be mocked by impious men, who bowed to Thee as a pretended king; and how Thou shouldst be stripped naked to Thy shame, without a single covering, and die a felon's death; this is still more incomprehensible. But the marvel is that Thou shouldst have suffered all this for me! of living water springing up unto everlasting life. As I saw Jesus on His cross before me, and as I mused upon His sufferings and death, methought I saw Him cast a look of love upon me; and then I looked at Him, and cried, "Jesu, lover of my soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly." Truly, Thy love to me is wonderful, passing the love of women! Was ever grief like Thine? Was ever love like Thine, that could open the floodgates of such grief? Was ever love so mighty as to become the fount from which such an ocean of grief could come rolling down? There was never anything so true to me as those bleeding hands, and that thorn-crowned head. Home, friends, health, wealth, comforts all lost their lustre that day when He appeared, just as stars are hidden by the light of the sun. He was the only Lord and Giver of life's best bliss, the one well