The ushers are coming forward. They have a Bible for you if you didn't bring one. And then also an outline for you for the sermon as well. You might have noticed if you were paying attention to the worship guide that things are a little bit different this morning than what they were printed out. We had to call an audible on Friday and so we didn't have time to reprint all those. Hopefully that's not a big deal. I don't think it is. We're going to be in Numbers 21 this morning rather than Romans 8. Numbers 21. If you're not sure where Numbers is, it's near the beginning of the Bible. It's the fourth book. If you see Deuteronomy where our scripture reading was, this morning you've gone too far. So just back one chapter and you're going to be there. So let's hear from God and His Word and then we'll pray asking for the Spirit to illuminate our minds and our hearts. And we'll start reading at verse 4 in Numbers 21. God's Word says, From Mount Or 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 bits anyone, he will look at the bronze serpent and live. That ends the reading of God's sufficient, certain, and infallible word. May he grant us understanding and apply it to our lives. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we do thank you for your word, your faithful preservation of it over these many years, especially as we consider an Old Testament passage this morning. the great amount of years in which you have caused your people to carefully preserve your words, that we might have it this day to point us to Christ. And we ask that you would do that today, Lord God, that you would soften our hearts, that you would give to our eyes and our ears understanding, not just simply the logic and the rationale of the word, but spiritual understanding, God, that we might honor you and we might have our faith increase. And we pray this all in Jesus' name, amen. Now, I think a lot of people might have the wrong idea about this book, Numbers. We tend to assume when we come to this book, when I hear people talk about it, that it's a lot of census counting, that it is a lot of naming of the tribes of Israel, and there is a lot of numbering of the tribes as they make their way to the promised land. I mean, the book is titled Numbers after all. But I think it gets a bad rap in that. It's as if this book is something that only an accountant would appreciate, because that would actually be so wrong. It is a book filled with gospel promise. It is a book that is filled with rich examples of God's character, His patience, His faithfulness, His mercy, His wrath, and His love as well. And it's a narrative. the type of literature that is, it's narrative, and that means it tells a story, it's a true story about Israel's wandering through the wilderness, but Contained in this true story are a number of what we would call shadows and types that reveal the person in the work of Christ. There is this divine story of redemption that is unfolding in the Old Testament that is brought to light in the New, and those are there by divine appointment, Church. They are there because God intends for them to be so, for us to see Christ in the text, or to get to him from every text, even in the Old Testament. Whatever What you never want to do is you never want to read the Old Testament in such a way that it would be read in a synagogue that hates Jesus. Because it is all, from Genesis all the way through Revelation, it is all about our glorious Savior, Jesus. He is the inspirer of scriptures. He says in Psalm 47, Behold, I have come in the scroll of the book, it is written of me. St. Augustine famously said, the new covenant or testament, those are same words, really interchangeable words, he says that the new is in the old concealed, and the old is in the new revealed. And so it is our privilege then, friends, that every time we are in an Old Testament book, to pull back that veil, like we just sang a moment ago, and to see our Savior there in the text. And that means this book that we call Numbers. It is a book that ultimately points us and tells us about Christ Jesus and the redemption that He would accomplish. And the text that we just read here in Numbers 21, I mean it's a fascinating text, isn't it friends? Very, very interesting story. Now of course, the story doesn't exist in a vacuum. And that is, of course, that this is Numbers chapter 21, and so there are 20 chapters preceding it. Backstory here, and even more than that, this specific story arc in the history of Israel, Old Covenant, national Israel, begins back in Exodus with God defeating the false gods of Egypt and freeing his people. And that's really where this event kind of starts at, it's boiling up to this point here and now. God is leading his redeemed people from Egypt out of that land to his covenant land that was a promise. And along the way, they are met over and over and over again with the reality of their sin and their need then for mercy and for grace. And in that regard, we have a lot in common with them. We have a lot in common with Israel, even more We are the recipients of a better covenant, with better promises, as we'll soon see explicitly in Hebrews. We have the covenant of grace, that is the new covenant which was made in Christ's blood. Then we are reminded, for example, in Romans 8-1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. Now the covenant that God made in the past, all of them, They progressively reveal the covenant of grace, but they were never it specifically. They were not even an administration of it, even though some people like to call it that. Nobody, you see, was ever saved. No one was ever forgiven of their sins and united to Christ in faith. properly through the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, or the Mosaic Covenant, none of those. Those that lived in those times who were saved, they were all saved by virtue of the Covenant of Grace, which is the new covenant which was first promised in the Garden of Eden and was revealed in further steps through the biblical covenants. And just like Old Covenant Israel, who are also journeying at this time to a promised land, we now are journeying to a better promised land, one with no sin, one with no trial, one with no death. God has freed us from our slave masters, not slave masters in Egypt, but the slave master of sin, from death, from the lie that we are our own masters. And of course in this journey, because we have not yet arrived in that promised land, though it is guaranteed for all those who are truly in Christ, we are also met with our sin and our continual need for mercy and grace here in this age. And thankfully, Christ is a fountain of mercy and grace. And He bids us to drink deep of Him. So we have potentially a lot to learn here from this account. Now Israel here, they're having a hard time. I think we can give them that. I mean, it is all their own fault, of course. They can't blame God or anything like that, but they're having a hard time and sometimes we do suffer and it isn't really our fault. It's simply the result of living in a world plagued by sin. It's simply a result of the inherited guilt that we have from Adam. But for the nation of Israel here at this point, that's not really their situation at this time. It's more than that. They are dealing with it at this time, the death of the high priest Aaron, just a chapter before. But right before that specific event, God had just given them victory over the Canaanites. And now we read that they leave Mount Or and they take a way that leads around Edom because because of God's directing them and that's kind of where this trouble starts. That's where we see a familiar pattern. I say familiar because literally, by my count, this is the 14th time that Israel has complained on this journey. And we need to think about that, friends, in our own lives. Are you thankful for the Lord's patience in your life? You should be. Are you thankful for his patience with your sons and your daughters? Do you thank him for that? Because this is really a wonderful testimony to the patience of God. These 14 times of complaining here in the wilderness, not to say that there isn't judgment here, because certainly there is, but even when there was judgment, as we'll see, there is mercy and grace that was offered to them by God for the group, and God never destroys the whole group. So are you grateful for the patience of God in your life? Peter writes that it's the Lord's patience which slows Christ's return. the New Jerusalem. And sometimes we want that to come soon. I know, but it is His patience for His children that delays Him. And we should be thankful for that. We're the church militant until that time, called to work and to glorify God here and now. But we tend to forget how patient God is, church, and how necessary our understanding of this glorious character of God is. I'm reminded of a very popular, well-known sermon by Jonathan Edwards. He titled it, Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God. I remember even in my public school education, we learned about this. It's a rich and biblical testament of the wrath of God and patience with love of God. And there's a quote from that sermon which Edwards notes in such a way where he's describing metaphorically that sinners are in fact like a spider that is being dangled over a fire, and that sinners apart from Christ are like that, but really what you're being dangled over is hellfire. And so the point was to flee to Christ now. The lost people needed to hear that. That sermon really was integral in the First Great Awakening. The lost people need to understand that they are at enmity with the Lord and that time is not unlimited. And that when they're opposed to Him, you can't be reconciled to Him if you don't first understand that you need to be forgiven. And that there is a reconciler who can mediate between you and God. And so people need to repent. And of course, God was pleased to use that sermon by Brother Edwards to save many, many people. Israel would have been blessed to hear a sermon like that because their constant complaining was putting the Lord to the test. And eventually Yahweh acted with regard to their rebellion. He lets go of the spider's leg as it, if you will. Now thankfully, being in Christ prevents that sort of judgment for us because we understand that Christ took that wrath for us. But let me mention these instances of rebellion with Israel. The first one that we see goes back to Exodus 5, so here at the beginning of the story. In 1 through 22, you see Israel starts complaining because Moses has went to Pharaoh and he's pleaded with him to let God's people go. And so Pharaoh gets upset and he ups their workload heavier. And then he causes them to make bricks without straw. It's more difficult, but God nevertheless promises deliverance and he brings these plagues upon Egypt. Then in Exodus 14, 11 through 12, the people complain because they've now been set free, but they see Pharaoh coming and approaching them at the Red Seas before them, and they're stuck, but God delivers them, Moses encourages them, and then God splits the Red Sea, and of course, Israel walks through on dry land, and when Egypt tries to come through, the waters come crashing down on them, destroying their enemies and God's enemies. Exodus 15. Not soon after, they're on the other side now of the Red Sea. Now they complain because the water is bitter, they say. And so Moses intercedes for them again. Exodus 16, now they're complaining about being hungry on the way. God gives them bread from heaven. Exodus 17, the fifth example, they complain now about being thirsty on the way. And they even at this point threaten to kill Moses. Moses prays to God for them and he gives them water from the rock. And then after this, the Lord takes his rod out. Because in the sixth example, in Exodus 32, they complain that Moses is taking too long on the mountain of God. with God, and God uses the Levites to judge about 3,000 men, and then Moses intercedes for them and he makes atonement for them. In Numbers 7 and Numbers 11, the people complain about the food again, and so now God sends a great plague. In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron complain about Moses' leadership. They wonder if they should have some of the recognition and Miriam ends up getting leprosy. And then Moses intercedes for her and God relents. Numbers 14, the people complain about the report from the spies at Kadesh Barnea. Moses intercedes. He stops this plague, but God ends up cursing them with 40 years of wilderness wandering, which is where we're getting to here now. And number 16, of course, is the well-known Korah's rebellion which takes place. And then God opens up the earth to swallow those who are in rebellion to him. Number 16 at the end of the chapter, people complain again and accuse Moses of killing the people. And so God sends another plague, now wiping out 14,700 people. Then Moses intercedes and has Aaron stand in the way of the plague to make atonement. 13th time in Numbers 20, getting up to where we are very soon, the people contend with Moses for not having water again. And Moses, you know, in his flesh, he gets fed up. He becomes embittered towards them and he strikes the rock without going to God. God didn't tell him to strike the rock and then he loses his right to enter into the promised land. And then the 14th time, which is our text here this morning, Verse 4 says, they became impatient on the way. And then verse 5, they spoke against Moses and against God and once again complained about the food and the water. Now, to us that sounds crazy, doesn't it? I mean, don't they realize that Moses is the mediator of the Old Covenant? Don't they know that God is God? Don't they remember the parting of the Red Sea, the ten plagues, the pillar of fire, the pillar of cloud, all these other past judgments that came upon them after the many times of complaining and testing and trying the Lord? Well, I think of course they remember those things. I mean, how could you forget those things? But nevertheless, the collective hardness of their hearts, which was such that they became ungrateful. And so they complained once more, and in such a way that they've even complained already, even. And really, you know, think about it. I mean, it's not that hard to believe. Those of us that have children, we know what that's like. Those of us that are honest with ourselves, we know what that's like. We know what it's like for people to go on with the same pattern, receive correction, and then go about that same pattern again, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat. And even more than that, those of us who seek to make our calling and election, sure, those of us who examine ourselves as we're instructed to, we should realize that when Israel does this, They're acting just like us. They're acting just like we do. Just like me. This passage speaks of me and my sin. It speaks of you and your sin. And we're never very creative in it. It is not uncommon to go back to the same patterns over and over again. However patient and however gracious God is in His dealings with us, we repeat the same old cycles of sin over and over and over again. And yes, God is gracious and yes, He does grant us victory over our sin and grace to mortify it, to put it to death. But then guess what? we realize that there's still some other sin that needs to be killed. So every day, friends, we need grace. Every single day we need to live a life of repentance depending upon God's grace. We need to live in this pattern of true repentance. Now when is the last time you ever repented of anything, I wonder? When is, I mean, I hope you know. It should be recent. It should be very, very recent. It would be perfectly normal if it was this morning even. You see, every day we need the Gospel. And actually we'll see that in the continuation of this passage of Scripture. But we need to go over some other things first. We're going to break this passage down to four parts and try to understand it a little bit better. And so the first two verses, we've already touched on this a bit. The first is the weight of Israel's sin. You see that in verse 4 and 5. of chapter 21. The second thing is the just judgment of God. You'll see that in verse 6. And the third thing is the response of the people to God's judgment in verse 7. And then in verse 8 and 9, you have God's merciful and gracious provision. So first up, Israel's sin. Let's look at the weight of Israel's sin. What is Israel doing here? They are displaying a lack of trust and a rejection of God's provision. They virtually, I mean literally, they blaspheme God here in this passage. They are ungrateful in the face of extraordinary generosity and provision for them in this passage. And we see something of the seriousness of Israel's sin. We have to understand just how egregious this is. At the end of verse 4 you read, Now there are five things Israel does here in this little statement. You probably caught some of them, or maybe all of them, but first, Israel becomes impatient. And you know, maybe we can relate. They've been having a rough go at it. They have to go around and eat them when Canaan's not that far away. They know that some won't make it into the land. Aaron had recently died. And remember, he was the one who would speak from Moses, who spoke from God to them. And so it's understandable, maybe we could be gracious to them that they're impatient, but it's not excusable. I mean, after all, this is in large part due to their own sin. The spies had gone into the land, they told them of the good of the land, but the majority of the spies feared and they didn't believe God. Two spies had been faithful, though, and nevertheless the children of Israel followed the majority of those unbelieving spies. And so the mess that they're in now comes after the rejection of God's command to go into the land. It's a mess of their own making. And so it's understandable, maybe we could think of them, humanly speaking, that they're impatient, but it's not inexcusable. They are reaping what they have sown. Secondly, notice how profane, how they profane and dishonor God and Moses. So first, they are impatient. They're not trusting in God's plan, God's will for their lives. They think they know better. And then secondly, they profane and dishonor God and Moses. Who do these people actually think they are? Moses is God's personally appointed mediator. And God is, well, I mean, again, He is, He's God. He's the God who brought them out of Egypt. Don't they remember what happened to Miriam and Aaron when they started questioning Moses and his right? They knew of all of that. He's the God who, part of the Red Sea, He's the only God. And they speak against Him. And they speak against Moses. Of course, we would never do such a thing, right? I mean, we've never questioned God, have we? We've never thrown a question back in God's face. What exactly are you doing, Lord? Do you know what you're doing in my life? We've never questioned God that way, that He has mediated His Word to us. No, of course not, right? Maybe not today, at least, but maybe, for some of us, maybe even today that's happened. And so they speak against God and Moses, and that's a big deal. That's not a small thing. We never have the right to question who God is and what God does. All that God does is right. He is good. And so they're in great danger here with their comments towards God and Moses. And thirdly, Specifically, they call into question the plan of God's redemption. Remember why they're in the wilderness, why they're going to the Promised Land? God has redeemed them from Egypt. And basically what they're doing now is they're accusing God of having a lousy plan. They think they're wiser than God. They're clearly missing the fear of the Lord because we know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and their knowledge right now is lacking. So they speak against God and Moses and they say, why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There's no food and water here. In other words, you've got a bad plan, God. This is not a good plan. This is not a good path. It's not a good plan. You should have left us back in Egypt. It's amazing, isn't it? I mean, how sad is it when people that are in covenant with God desire to turn back to their lives before God rescued them? It happens to us, though. It happens to people. And God's Word convicts us, and sometimes He'll chastise us because He loves us. Those who are His, He won't fully let go back to our old life. He perseveres us. He preserves us. But those last, you know, these are very important points to understand as we go into these further steps. Because fourthly, what they end up doing is doubting God's ability to provide for them in the wilderness. They say there's no food and water here. This is perhaps like the most middle-class American thing we read in all of scripture. It's like, you know, the person who has a refrigerator and cabinets that are filled with food, and they open it up and they say, oh, there's nothing to eat. Again, we never do that type of stuff, right? But here he is, he's providing for these people. He's given to them water through the rock. He's provided for them bread from heaven. He's provided for them quails, food to eat. They could have meat, and yet they say there's no food and water here. they doubt God's ability to provide for them in the wilderness, but there's a bigger issue here. Because in a way, what they're doing in rejecting God's provision is they're rejecting Christ. They're rejecting, in a sense, what these gifts from God pointed to. Both the bread from heaven and the water from the rock are types of Christ. They pointed to Him, they revealed Him. In John's Gospel, Jesus calls Himself the bread of life. the bread from heaven. And he says that if we come to him, then we'll never hunger and we'll never thirst. Then he also, in John's Gospel, he interacts with the woman at the well, and he tells her that whoever drinks of the water that he gives, that they shall never die. Even more, the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10, 3-5, and again we just sang this a moment ago, that all ate the same spiritual food. He's speaking of the wilderness generation here. All drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. So, friends, with New Testament eyes, the eyes that have been opened to see what is concealed in the New Testament, or in the Old Testament, we can know then that what Israel was in fact rejecting here, when they were rejecting God's food and drink, was in fact Christ. Christ is God's provision for sinners and in Him alone we have life. And all of these things were pointing to Him. It's as if they were rejecting Christ Himself. And then fifth, based off what we know from point four, they show themselves to be spiritually blind. And think of what they say. Because now they kind of acknowledge that actually God had provided for them. But they say, we loathe this worthless food. You remember, my friends, that some of this food would be taken up before the children of Israel go into the land and it would be put into the Ark of the Covenant. This is the bread of heaven. It pointed to Christ. It existed by divine appointment. And yet they speak of it as if it is worthless food. Could you imagine? I mean, could you imagine saying to God, you have a worthless Christ? It's unbelievable, isn't it? That's essentially what they've done here. They're ungrateful. They ungratefully deny God's provision for them in the wilderness. And in that, they are, in fact, rejecting His offer of salvation. So what do they do? They don't acknowledge God's power. They don't appreciate His generosity. They don't recognize His mercy. They don't accept His sovereignty. And they don't trust His Word all rolled up into one. That is how sinful their sin is. But, my friends, understand that every time we sin, we do the same thing. Again, we're not all that different than Israel. Every time we sin, every time we decide that we're going to do it our way and not God's way, we're doing the exact same thing as Israel. So don't point your finger at them until you realize that when we seek to do it our own way, we're doing the same thing. And may we never try to do it our own way. So that's the weight of their sin. Secondly then, we see the just judgment of God. It's the just judgment. God is not out of line for the way that He responded to them. In fact, He's actually gracious. He's actually kind in doing it the way that He did. You see it in verse 6, He sends fiery serpents. And maybe it probably should be translated as poisonous snakes. Some commentators note that the bite that a person would get from one of these reptiles would feel like it was on fire due to the poison. I've never been bit by a poisonous snake, praise the Lord. Regular snake, sure. And it hurts, but not that bad. But I can imagine, though, how the poison would make the bite feel like you're literally on fire. Your insides are giving up. And so we read in verse 6, That is the just judgment of God, friends. The people sin. They sin in rejecting God's provision, which was pointing to Christ. The people sin, complaining about the adversity of their circumstances. And so what does God do? There's a lesson here. He sends them more adversity. He sends them more adversity. And this now can only be remedied by another type of Christ. The very thing that they were rejecting in the first place. We'll get there soon enough. Essentially though, the complainers in Israel here at this junction, at this point, they're saying things are bad. Things are bad, God, and God says, oh yeah? Well, do you want to see how bad things could get? You don't think things could get worse? Well, watch this. And so they complain toward God because things aren't the way they want them to be because they are the way that they are because of their decisions. And so He sends just judgment. You know, sometimes the reality is that we only learn the lessons that we ought to learn through small trials by facing greater ones. I can remember my parents often telling me this encouragement on a number of occasions growing up. And they'd say, Paul, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. And now the hard way always entailed some form of punishment. In the end, though, I was going to do whatever my parents had instructed me to do. The choice was, was I going to do it with punishment the hard way or the easy way without punishment? And in a way, that is like Israel in the wilderness. They're going to do what God says. The question is, will they do it the easy way or the hard way? And they chose the hard way. They chose the hard way at least 14 times. And mind you, God was patient, wasn't he? He's much more patient than any of us would ever be. It wasn't until the sixth act of rebellion that he began to bring upon them punishment. very often the lesson that we ought to learn in small trials we only end up learning by facing greater ones and there's a great irony in that too, one that we should pay close attention to. Their complaints about their adversity, their complaints about things not being the way that they think they should be, their complaints about their trials, it led them not to relief but to a greater adversity when the judgment of God rightly came upon them for their sin. And just think of how normal that is, actually. I mean, young people, kids, you hear me, especially here for a moment, when you complain to your parents about things being the way that they are, about doing the things that they, as loving and providing parents, have instructed you to do, when you complain about the situation that you find yourself in, does that ever lead to relief? Does your complaining ever cause your parents to say, oh yeah, you know, I'm being unreasonable. I mean, very rarely would that ever happen. You just end up making the situation worse for yourself, don't you? And certainly, you know, that would never happen with God, where we could point something out to Him and then God somehow discovers that He's in the wrong. That will never happen. And so what do we do when we face adversity? when we face trials? Do we complain and moan and gripe and get frustrated? Or do we trust the sovereignty of the Lord? Do we believe in His providence that He is working all things together for good? That is what His Word says, after all. Romans, again, 8.1, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Or 8.28, For we know that those who love God, all things work together for good, for those are called according to His purpose. The Puritan Thomas Watson, he said about trials, he said, I could say amen to that. Sometimes the lessons that we ought to learn in lesser trials, we end up only learning through greater trials. And sometimes our very complaints of adversity only lead to more adversity. And the trials that we're enduring aren't lifted. They're made heavier. And so we need to be aware of that. Thirdly, the people respond to God's judgment. So God's judgment has its intended effect. God's just judgment comes to the people in the form of poisonous snakes, fiery serpents, and people are dying. And this leads to an extraordinary response by the people. It's a response of repentance and prayer. The third thing we should see in this passage. You see it in verse 7. There the people come to Moses, he's the mediator for them, and they say, See, they want him to mediate. Pray to the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. So God in His mercy uses trials to move the people to what? To repentance and to prayer. To the condition or state that their heart should have already been in at that point. The fact that they acknowledge their sin, the fact that they seek God's forgiveness, that they go to God personally, His personally appointed mediator, and ask Him to intercede, is an indication for us that God in His mercy has used even this new trial for their spiritual well-being. for their good, and they respond in repentance and prayer. God has used the trial to press them to a point where they recognize their need. And isn't that a glorious thing, friends, when God does that for us? Maybe you were in the church for a while, but then, you know, you wander in the wilderness, as it were, and stop attending church, living in sin, then boom, all of a sudden everything hits you and everything falls apart and then you have this desire again to seek God, to get back in church, to repent. Sometimes God in His grace uses trials to press us to the point of seeing our need. And Israel here, they've responded to their need and repentance for sin. They specifically confess their sin, and they seek God's relief and forgiveness and prayer. Notice, it's not just, I'm sorry, is it? It's specific. True repentance, friends, is specific. If you are wanting to truly repent, you need to be specific and clear to God about what you are repenting about. It's not just, I'm sorry. They bring to God their offense, agreeing with Him through grace and humility. That is true repentance. And so Israel, they acknowledge that Moses is God's appointed mediator, and they ask Him, pray to the Lord that He may take the serpents from us. We shouldn't have spoke against you, God, and against Moses. Now it's true, God doesn't exactly give them what they ask for. He does something better than what they ask for, and something that teaches us as well. In this life, we will deal with sin. There is no not dealing with sin in this life. There is no escaping sin and its effects at all. Monks in the Middle Ages, they thought they could do that, and so they would go outside the city to live in isolation, and they retreated out there to be pious, to be holy, to get away from temptations. But guess what? The snakes were there with them. Sin was there with them. John tells us, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. The snakes, they remain here with us, but God does provide the remedy. And so Israel, even in that request that they make, they acknowledge that only God can give them the relief that they need. And so the Lord has used this trial now in order to move them to repentance, to look to God for help. So fourth we note, God's merciful provision. We see the fourth thing here in verse 8 and 9, this merciful, gracious, loving provision of God. Life for only a look. Verse 8. I want to draw your attention to a couple things here with the help of pastors Nick Batzig and Robert Murray Michan. There's a couple things that we should be seeing here that really show you the depth of the typology in this one little account. First of all, God's solution is different than what the people prayed for. I would argue that it's actually better. His solution is actually better than what they asked for. We ask for God, God is able to give us far more abundantly than what we even know to ask. So they ask God to remove all these poisonous snakes, but that is not what God did. Instead, he instructs Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. The snakes are still there, presumably even. They are still biting people. But brothers and sisters, there's provision now, isn't there? There's a way to escape the punishment. The bite from the serpent is deadly only if People don't look in faith to God's provision and then live. The snakes are a physical representation of the penalty of their sin. They bring death. They are the sign of God's judgment for their sin even. But then he instructs Moses to lift a snake up, a bronze one though. One that is similar, but different than the snakes that were biting the people. And guess what would be missing from the bronze snake? I mean, obviously, I think, right? Most definitely the poison, right? There's no poison in that bronze snake. It's made out of metal. No venom. In essence, what you have is a sinless representation of sin being left up, being lifted up. And isn't that what Christ Jesus is? He is a sinless representation of sin who was lifted up. He descended from heaven, He took on flesh, He lived a sinless life, and then He was lifted up on the cross so that anyone who looks to Him may live. He will live. because He became a curse for us. He bore the wrath that we deserve. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says that He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. You see, they needed this grace every day. If God took all of the sin out of the world, I mean, sounds good, right? Sounds good. We know that's what glory will be like. And so we like that. We look forward to that. But you know what would happen if He took all the sin out of the world today and right now? I mean, we'd all be gone. So instead, He and His patience, because we commit sin, He allows sin to remain, but He gives a way out through looking to a sinless one in faith. This true story that we read here in Numbers 21 is here by divine appointment, friends. It's because God's plan of redemption was always going to find its height in Christ, its fulfillment in Him. You see, salvation, it comes from God. It's by His plan alone. And His plan was revealed increasingly from the Garden on. And the plan is, of course, Christ's substitutionary death on the cross. That is why Jesus Himself will point to this very passage when He's trying to explain how faith and regeneration are all caught up in salvation to Nicodemus. You remember that story? Probably turn to John 3 and see it for ourselves. We're probably all familiar with John 3.16. But right before you get John 3.16, you have Jesus recalling this exact scene here in Numbers. Verse 14. This Numbers 21 account is exactly what Jesus is referring to. So in all of this, there are 14 points which can deepen our understanding of the Gospel and how the lifted up bronze serpent is a type of Christ. I didn't plan for this to match numerically with the complaining that Israel did, but again with the help of McShane and Batsig. These points, I think, are just wonderful. The typology that is contained here in Israel and how it points to Christ. And so we'll go through these kind of fast. And I hope that when I start getting into these, I mean, you would like it even if there was more of these. Because really, that's what we should desire when we read through the Old Testament, to see Christ there in the text. And so the first thing we point out is the bronze serpent was God's means of salvation for the Israelites who were bitten by the serpents in the wilderness. And Jesus Christ is crucified as God's means of salvation for everyone who has been bitten by the deadly venom of sin in the wilderness of this fallen world. The serpent Sin, the bronze serpent lifted up, God's means of salvation. In this world, sin leads to death. Christ is the means of salvation. Christ was lifted up. Number two, the bronze serpent was God's only way of salvation for Israelites. There was no other provision for them. There was no other thing they could do. They had to look to the bronze serpent if they wanted to live. It was look and live or don't look and die. And Jesus Christ, friends, is Him crucified and risen, is God's only way for salvation for Jew or Gentile. There's no plan B. He's the only way. The bronze serpent, third, was a visual representation of the wrath of God against a grumbling and complaining people. and Christ crucified is a visual representation of the wrath of God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man. Fourthly, the bronze serpent represented the propitiation of the wrath of God. It was the satisfying of the wrath of God. Whoever looked at the serpent would know that the wrath of God had been turned away. And the cross of Christ displays the wrath of God as well, and the turning away of that wrath if we look to Jesus. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the whole world, John says. Meaning not just Jews, but Gentiles as well. Fifthly, the bronze serpent was a symbolic representation of the venomous serpents that bit the people and brought deadly consequences on account of their sin. However, it was without the venom that caused their death. And Christ represents those who were ruined by sin, taking to himself the body and likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin. that He might through His death save those whose own sin has poisoned them to death. He was made a curse for us that we might receive the blessings of God. Sixth, the bronze serpent was meant to remind the Israelites of the cause of their sin. It was meant to carry their minds back to the Garden of Eden where Satan came in the form of a serpent to tempt the first parents. The punishment for sin brought into the world through the temptation of that serpent of old was laid on Christ Jesus at the cross. Remember, He's the snake crusher. The penalty for our sin fell on Him so that He became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Seventh, with respect to the serpent in the wilderness, the healing was dependent upon the word of God concerning His means of salvation. If Moses just lifted up a serpent and said, hey look at this, it would mean nothing if God hadn't told them that this is the plan to do it. With Christ crucified, salvation is dependent upon God's word concerning His means of that salvation as well. We can trust that we'll be saved by looking to Christ. Why? God has said so. Number eight, as the poison Israelites were called to believe God's command. and the bronze serpent was made the object of that command, we see that both the means and the instrument of God's salvation are typified. In the account of Jesus' interaction with Nicodemus, both the means and the instrument of God's salvation are pointed out. A crucified Savior is the means of God's salvation. Faith, or looking to Him, is the instrument of that salvation. So, God gives you faith, that's how you lay hold of the salvation that Christ made for you there upon the cross. Ninth, the plagued Israelites were externally called to look upon the bronze serpent in order to be healed. And sinners are externally called to look upon the crucified Son of God to be saved. You don't look within yourselves to be saved, friends. You don't look to find some Savior inside of you. You look to the Savior who is outside of us, who lived for you and died for you, and then He gives you His Spirit to indwell you. Number 10, the serpent was lifted up before the Israelites in the midst of the camp, so those who were bitten might look and be healed. That was unique. and specific to Israel. It's within the camp, right? Imagine if some Canaanite got bit by a serpent. Well, they wouldn't know to look to that lifted up bronze serpent. Well, remember how Christ was crucified. He was lifted up first on the cross outside Jerusalem, then in His resurrection, then His ascension, and finally through the preaching of God's Word, the Gospel, so that sinners everywhere might look on Him and be saved. Number eleven, the bronze serpent of the staff was the central and all-sufficient means of healing for the Israelites. And friends, the cross of Christ is the central and all-sufficient means of salvation for the chosen people of God. You don't need to add to it. It's just that. Twelve, just as God chose a man, Moses, to lift up the bronze serpent on a pole so that men might look ahead and be healed. God has chosen ministers to hold up Jesus in the preaching of Christ crucified that men might look to Him and be saved. And that's not just referring to preachers and pulpits, but that's to every spirit-filled believer who might point people to Christ. I mean, no one in the world apart from faith would think that would actually work. And so looking to a crucified Savior, a publicly executed man, is a foolish means in the world's eyes for the salvation of sinners condemned to death. But that is how God has chosen to glorify himself, using something that confounds the world and that must be received through faith. And then lastly, The bronze serpent was held up for many for salvation from the wrath of God and from the deadly consequences of sin. And Christ was lifted up for many for the salvation of men from the wrath of God and the deadly consequences of sin. You see here how God was pointing to Christ from this event here in Numbers. Only those who looked were saved from the poison of the serpent bites. Only those who look in faith to Christ are redeemed from the deadly bite of sin. The bronze serpent, if you follow along through the Old Testament, you might remember and know that it eventually becomes an object of false worship. of work's salvation, essentially. Hezekiah ends up destroying it. The people make an idol out of it, and they called its name Nahushatan, at 2 Kings 18. The people we read there, they were making offerings to this bronze snake of work's salvation, and they were bringing strange fire to it. They were worshiping, attempting to worship God through a way that God had no longer called them to do. They weren't following the simple plan of God, of just looking and living. They started bringing their own things to it. And they were bringing something from themselves and not just their sin and repentance and faith. It was their work by the time we get to 2 Kings 18. Their efforts that they were counting on. And we need to be sure, friends, that we don't do that to Christ. that we do not do that to Christ. Do not, I plead with you, make an idol out of your good deeds. Do not look to what you can bring to Christ. I compel you, I urge you, just simply look to Christ. That is it. People look for salvation in many different ways, many different places these days. You know, their bank accounts, their relationships, careers, families, and so on. There is, however, only one place where salvation can be found. Only one place, and that is in Christ Jesus the Lord. To search for rest and ultimate fulfillment in anything else, friends, is to commit idolatry. Are you trusting Christ alone today, or are you looking for hope elsewhere? That's the question before us. When trials come, do you moan and complain? There's a better way. Are you lost and unconverted this morning? Are you like a spider hung over the fire, not knowing when the Lord may let go? Well, there's a better way. Leave all your effort, leave all your self-dependency behind and look to Christ and live. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we're so grateful for your wonderful and perfect provision of salvation. I can't imagine anyone calling it loathsome food, worthless food. What you give to us to sustain us in Christ is exactly what we need, we confess. And we pray, Lord, that you would prevent us from ever trying to bring something to you in order to gain favor from you. Instead, might we do good deeds for Your glory's sake because of the righteousness and the gift of grace that You have given to us in Christ. May we ever be reminded, Lord, to look to Christ, not just simply for that first time, but every day as we contemplate the sinful choices that we make and repent of them and we look to You for forgiveness. Remind us that it is Christ who took the wrath that we deserve, and that He is our sure hope and our steady foundation. And so may He be exalted in our lives. We pray that You would bless us for His great sake, and it's in His name that we pray. Amen.