Please give your attention to the Word of God. Numbers 21, from verses 4 to 9. 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. 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. Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 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. 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. 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. It says in Romans 15, whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction. So that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. This is a very short passage, but it covers, briefly, quickly, the human condition and the typical sinful response and the judgment that gets. But then it gets us to a blessed response, and it gets us to God's gospel. So this is an encouraging passage for us in our endurance. We begin with the human condition. We have various trials. And here God's people had a hard trial. And they had the hard trial because of other sinful people. I'm not sure either. They had asked, through diplomatic channels, Edom, can we go through Edom? That's back in chapter 20. And there's a very polite note, diplomatic note, that we're your brother. You know our hardship. Please let us go through. We'll stay on the road, and we'll pay for everything. And Edom said, no. And Israel sends back a second note, please. And Edom says, no. And they come out with the army. And the Lord said to them, you have to go around. I've not given you their land. That's their land. And so you can't fight them. You need to go around if they won't let you through. And around Edom evidently meant an especially difficult stretch of wilderness. So here they are, they're taking a nasty detour, which meant further delay on getting to the promised land. Now, how do you handle detours and delays? I know, I'm terrible. Last five minutes before we finally get going on a trip is just the worst. But this is worse, because this is days, maybe weeks, of really hard going over nasty and dry terrain. And it's because Edomites wouldn't extend some basic courtesy. There's a road right through Edom. That's what they wanted to take. You know, life has that. It has detours. It has delays. It has them by acts of God. It has them by acts of men. It has them by acts of sinful men. And people get impatient. So you should become cognizant of your own feeling of impatience. You should have a little warning light that goes off to say, you are entering the danger zone. You are becoming impatient. So we have the human condition. They're facing a detour and a delay. Now we come to their sinful response. They become impatient, and they speak against God and against Moses. This is the last complaint story in Numbers. Not the last rebellion, but the last complaint story. And it's one of the worst. Because it's not just against Moses, it's directly against God. And it comes right after the victory. If you look at what we didn't read right before it in chapter 21, they had just gone to battle, and they had been given victory. And that should have encouraged them. God is with them. That should have given them hope. We can take the promised land. God is with us in our battles. But they're on a nasty detour. So they speak against God and against Moses. And you can imagine why. Why won't God let us go through Edom? Why won't God let us, you know, win the first battle and knock them out of the way? And then we don't have to do anything else. We'll just go through and they can still have their lands. So they speak against God, but God, of course, is always out of reach. So sometimes it's not satisfying to speak against God. Moses, however, was not out of reach. So they speak against Moses. Hardly his fault, hardly fair, but Moses is the representative of God who's within reach. And so it's worth knowing that people who want to attack God will attack those associated with God. Our vertical relationship, that is our relationship with God, has a powerful effect on our horizontal relationships, that is our relationships with people. If you are filled with bitterness against God, you are likely to take this out on people. All people, certainly those whom you associate with God. So it's against God, but that's not enough, it's against Moses. And it happens all the time. Psalm 2, the rulers take their stand against the Lord, but that's not all, and against his anointed. That's why the Hallelujah Chorus picks out these words from the book of Revelation. The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. It's not just that God will win. God will vindicate His people as well. But you gotta know, if you are associated with God in people's minds, and you should be, then those who wanna lash out at God may take it out on you. And it won't be fair, but it often happens. 2 Timothy 3.12 says, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. So we need to acknowledge Him and trust Him, to watch over us, Protect us. He protects Caleb and Joshua, as we saw last week. Takes care of Moses and Aaron here. So we have the human condition of detour and delay and a test of patience. We have the typical simple response of complaint. What was their complaint? Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? Just stop right there. Okay, so why have you brought us up out of Egypt? That's actually a good question to review. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? Oh, to bring us out of slavery. Thank you. to bring us into a special relationship with you so we can worship the one true God, not imaginations. Thank you. And to bring us into the promised land. All right, two down, one to go. That's a good question if you just stop and look at the big picture. Why have you brought us up out of the land of Egypt? You might stop there yourself when you start asking that kind of question. Just stop before you get to deciding on what the future is. Just stop at the big picture. But here, of course, they don't stop. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? And they're probably towards the end of the 40 years here. So most of the older generation has died. The rest of that generation would die. There's some truth to what they're saying. They have been brought up, and they are dying in the wilderness. But why? Well, because they've rebelled. Because they've rebelled and refused to go into the promised land when they were told to. And then they get contradictory. There's no food, and we hate the food. Right, okay, well if the food's that bad, you have something. Yes, we're told the manna was like coriander seed. It tasted like wafers made with honey. You could bake it, you could boil it. Sounded like it was pretty good. Later generations celebrated it. Psalm 78 calls it angel's food. I don't think angels eat, but you get the point. Food directly from God to them. But let's be realistic. If you had anything three times a day, every day, you would get tired of it. I don't care if it's steak, mango, chocolate, whatever it is, you would get tired of it if you had it. And so it was with the manna. They were tired of it. It's God's provision for them, but they're tired of it. And we would have been tired of it. So how do you respond to those good things that God has given you? that you are now tired of. Well, Deuteronomy 8 contains some reflections on the manna. Deuteronomy 8, God humbled you and lets you hunger and fed you with manna to make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Why the hunger? Why the overdose of manna? So they realize it's not all about food. It's all about God who takes care of both the body and the soul. And we go back to that in Deuteronomy 8. Later on, he fed you with manna that he might humble you and test you to do you good in the end. Israel had to go through the wilderness to get to the promised land. It's the only way there. And so God uses the geographical necessity for a spiritual purpose of humbling and of testing. And He did it for a good reason, to do you good in the end. And so we also must continue to believe that God is good, even through detours, even through an overdose of good things. So we've seen the human condition and the typical sinful response. And of course, then we get God's judgment. He sent fiery serpents. The Hebrew for poisonous is fiery, because when a poisonous snake bites you, it feels like you're on fire. And so we have this reminder that the wages of sin is death, and that while often we get quite a while to deal with our sins, sometimes sin is punished faster. Here it is punished quickly. And as with the 40 years of wandering, the punishment fit the crime. You said you would die in the wilderness? OK, we'll speed that up for you. Presumably, some of those bitten were the younger generations. They would have gone into the Promised Land had they not complained. But they grumbled against God and doubted His goodness. The punishment fit the crime. Paul preaches to us from this, 1 Corinthians 10.9, we must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents. When you spit in God's eye and dare Him to respond, that is testing Him. And they did it, and God was not mocked. But after the judgment, now comes the blessed, sanctified human response, a good response. The people came to Moses and said, we have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Now, this is new. It's only the second time they've said this, and the first time was shallow. After the spies, they said, we have sinned, now we'll go up, and Moses said, wait a minute, you're still being disobedient. So here you can say it's the first time they actually repent. Second time they use the words, first time that they have the follow through. We have sinned. And so since this is the first time they actually repent, it's worth studying. What are the ingredients here of this good repentance? Well, first, they own the genuine moral dimensions of what they did. They said, we have sinned. They didn't say, we're sorry that God is touchy. They didn't say, we're sorry, silent parenthesis, that God has touched you. No, they lay it out. We have sinned. Now, if someone comes to you and says that they're sorry, you should probably accept that and not demand perfect wording on their repentance. But if you want to do it right for yourself, we see this here. They don't hide behind words. They don't excuse the behavior. They don't shift the blame to someone else. They own up to it. We have sinned. And then they name it. They get specific. For we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Which is everything that we're told that they've done wrong. What they did wrong, we get the same wording, here it is again. That's what we did wrong. It's a good sign when a sinner gets specific. Because we sin specifically. And so we should repent specifically. We often need to make specific plans for how we're not going to sin in that specific way again. And so a specific confession is good to do. Again, I'm not counseling you what to make other people do. I'm counseling what you should do. Confess specifically. And then they make their request. Pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us. They're going to the right mediator, Moses, seeking the right God, the Lord, with a clear request, please take away the serpents. And that shows their faith. They are not saying, huh, we grumbled against God and we are getting bit by serpents. I'm sure that these are unrelated events. No, they have faith. God sent them, but we believe that God may take them away. And believing both the power of God and the goodness of God. Which leads us to the gospel and the passage, Moses prayed for the people. We see here that we need a mediator. We need someone to intercede for us. That's why people want to ask the priest to pray for them. You're closer to God than us. Pray for us. The instinct is partially correct. We do need someone to speak for us. But the priests are often not closer to God. So how do we apply this? Well, Jesus ever lives to intercede for us. Being man, he sympathizes. Being God, He can always hear us. And Moses, being God's servant, prayed for them, being then in the flesh. Jesus forever hears our prayers as we pray to Him in heaven. So Jesus is our everlasting High Priest. We don't need another layer. You can ask me to pray for you, and I'll pray for you, but I'm praying as your brother. My prayers are no better than yours. We don't need to do that. Jesus is the High Priest. You don't need a priest, you certainly don't need a saint or the Virgin Mary. And the Lord said to Moses, make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. Now this is unusual. This sounds like sympathetic magic, actually. And the Bible's approach to magic is don't. So this is unusual. What does it represent? Well, they probably didn't know. But they had their instructions. And so having their instructions, there they were. Everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. And that's interesting in a whole bunch of ways. For starters, it doesn't say that God took the serpents away. The plagues in Egypt, when Moses prayed, God would take them away. And the frogs died in heaps, and they swept them away. But here, he doesn't take the serpents away. It's not, OK, no more serpents. Instead of serpent removal, it's a serpent cure. Should you be bitten, then you look to the bronze serpent. That might have to do with the half-repentance that they showed after the spies. We have sinned, they said, that sounded good, but then they kept on rebelling in a new way. And so here, there's that personal application. You've said we have sinned, that is a good response, but each person needs to take their own responsibility. You have to look. Others can't look for you. Should you be bit and you want to gasp and look down and scream in agony, you have to remember, no, I have hope. I have to look up at that thing. And the snake was on the pole for days there for the camp. They all had the reminder, even if they weren't bit, they could see what they should do. So they had their solution for the bite of the snake raised up on a pole. And they had to exercise faith and look to it in time of need. Now where's the gospel in this? We've said Jesus is our greater Moses. He intercedes for us, so we pray in his name. But where else is the gospel in this passage? Well what's the most famous verse in the Bible? The most famous verse in the Bible, often said to be John 3.16. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." All right, that's John 3, 16. What's 3, 14, and 15? Might as well open up and turn to it. John 3, 14, and 15. Take a look. What is in there? Right before, we know the 16, but what's the 14 and the 15? If you turn to that, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, He's talked about being born again. He's talked about being born of water and the Spirit. Nicodemus has said, how can this be? Jesus has said, I'm just using earthly language. How will you believe heavenly language? And then he says there in John 3, 14, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. Yes, as Moses lifted up that bronze serpent, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. They both went on the pole so that people could see it, so that whoever looked on it would live. Looking on the bronze serpent gave a new lease on this life. Looking on Jesus in faith gives you eternal life. So here's the gospel in the passage. The bronze serpent foreshadowed Jesus. And looking at it foreshadowed faith in Jesus Christ, as they were to look at the serpent for life. So we are to look in faith to Jesus for life. If that sounds far-fetched, it's not my exegesis. Just read that again. It's right there, read 3.14, 3.15, 3.16. Notice the four at the beginning of 3.16, that is because. And whatever was written in former days was written for our encouragement so that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. So drink in the encouragement here in this passage back in Numbers. First, there's nothing new under the sun. You have detours and delays, so did the people of Israel. You suffer from the stubbornness of evil men? So do they. You get impatient? So do they. You suffer the wrath of God? So did they. But be encouraged, when they repented, God heard them. And so it is, he hears us when we repent. And he gave them a solution. And likewise, he's given us a solution. But that leads us to how Jesus is better. Not only does Jesus give us, not relief from snakebite, but relief from the ultimate snakebite in eternal life. Jesus is the solution that has come to us first. They had to come to Moses first and say, we've sinned, and then God gave them the solution. But for us, the solution is already there. Already, but long before we're born. The solution is there for us. It predates our existence. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So when you are bitten by the old serpent, Satan, that is, he shows you your sin and misery, and you know death is near or at least deserved, what must you do? You must look to Jesus Christ as he is lifted up, because whoever looks to him will have eternal life, even as he did not remain on the cross but was lifted up still higher to ascend to God in heaven. It's a great passage in numbers because Jesus applies it to himself. Whoever looked at the sign that God appointed, he lived. Let's join together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have so blessed us. We thank you that you have given us a solution to our snake bite, to the sin that afflicts us and the death that stalks us. We thank you that in Jesus there is life eternal. So I pray for each of us. that we would, like the Israelites, lift up our eyes to see the one that you raised up on a stake, the one that you set before us. Help us to look to Jesus for our salvation. We pray this in his name. Amen.