Grace Gives Hope

John 3:14-16 says, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  Because Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler in Israel, he had intimate knowledge of this allusion.  It is likely Nicodemus never attached any future significance to what transpired in the wilderness over 1,000 years previous--but Jesus did.

After God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, they became discouraged because of the way He brought them.  They complained against God and Moses for their disappointment and accused God of plotting their demise.  Their biting words were returned in kind by the fangs of venomous snakes God sent among them.  Numbers 21:6-9 reads, "So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the 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 you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived."

The people realised their guilt before God and came to Moses in repentance. Moses prayed for the people and was given a strange command by God:  make a bronze image in the shape of a snake, lift it up on a pole, and all who look upon it will be healed.  The people asked for the snakes to be removed so no additional people would be bitten, but God made a way for those who were bitten to be healed and saved.  On the surface it seems odd God would command to do something forbidden by Law, as Deuteronomy 4:18 expressly forbade crafting an image of a creeping thing or fish lest they worship the image they had made (which later came to pass concerning the bronze serpent in 2 Kings 18:4).  It is no sin for God to make an image, for He created man in His own image.  The fashioning of the bronze serpent was divine foreshadowing of how Jesus Christ would become the express image of God in human form, be lifted up on Calvary, and provide salvation for those under the curse of sin and death.

It is amazing how God created man in His own image, and then humbly put on human flesh to provide atonement for sinners.  The grace of God through the Gospel cost God everything and offered forgiveness and salvation freely to all who will receive it because of His great love.  The children of Israel had given up hope for those already bitten by venomous snakes, but God was not willing for them to perish.  All had the chance of salvation if they would respond in faith to His gracious offer.  Most of those who were healed of their snake bites would fall in the desert, but those who trust in Jesus Christ have eternal life!