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A Sign of Healing and Life
Scripture Reading — Numbers 21:4-9
Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
— Numbers 21:9
Israel had a lot to learn about being the people of the holy and faithful God. In our story today the people grew impatient with God again as they traveled through the wilderness.
They spoke against God and against Moses, saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” Sometimes the Lord was merciful when the people acted so rebelliously, but other times, when they had gone too far, the Lord sent punishment. This time the consequence for their actions was a plague of venomous snakes, and a number of the people died from snakebites.
What would happen next? How would salvation appear for these unfaithful people?
In what is a preview of the saving work of Christ, a bronze snake became an instrument of healing and life. Moses made a bronze snake and lifted it up on a pole, and the people were told to look at this snake and live. Many years later Jesus explained that this miracle in the wilderness pointed to the gift of his own life for us all (being lifted up on a cross—John 3:14-15). Through this act of faith, we are freed from death!
In the coming week, as we focus on the time of Jesus’ suffering, death, and rising to life again, let’s remember that, like God’s people in the wilderness, we are lost without God’s faithfulness.
Lord, we can be so rebellious and stubborn in our resistance to you. Help us to look to you and believe in Jesus, who was lifted up for us. Amen.
About the author — Jul Medenblik
Rev. Jul Medenblik is a former attorney who was called to pastoral ministry and became the church-planting pastor of a congregation in New Lenox, Illinois. Since 2011 he has served as the seventh president of Calvin Theological Seminary, which, together with Calvin University, is celebrating 150 years of God’s faithfulness in their history as the educational institutions of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (see calvinseminary.edu/150th). Jul and his wife, Jackie, have been married for over 40 years and are blessed with two adult children and a son-in-law.
Scripture Reading — Numbers 21:4-9
Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
— Numbers 21:9
Israel had a lot to learn about being the people of the holy and faithful God. In our story today the people grew impatient with God again as they traveled through the wilderness.
They spoke against God and against Moses, saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” Sometimes the Lord was merciful when the people acted so rebelliously, but other times, when they had gone too far, the Lord sent punishment. This time the consequence for their actions was a plague of venomous snakes, and a number of the people died from snakebites.
What would happen next? How would salvation appear for these unfaithful people?
In what is a preview of the saving work of Christ, a bronze snake became an instrument of healing and life. Moses made a bronze snake and lifted it up on a pole, and the people were told to look at this snake and live. Many years later Jesus explained that this miracle in the wilderness pointed to the gift of his own life for us all (being lifted up on a cross—John 3:14-15). Through this act of faith, we are freed from death!
In the coming week, as we focus on the time of Jesus’ suffering, death, and rising to life again, let’s remember that, like God’s people in the wilderness, we are lost without God’s faithfulness.
Lord, we can be so rebellious and stubborn in our resistance to you. Help us to look to you and believe in Jesus, who was lifted up for us. Amen.
About the author — Jul Medenblik
Rev. Jul Medenblik is a former attorney who was called to pastoral ministry and became the church-planting pastor of a congregation in New Lenox, Illinois. Since 2011 he has served as the seventh president of Calvin Theological Seminary, which, together with Calvin University, is celebrating 150 years of God’s faithfulness in their history as the educational institutions of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (see calvinseminary.edu/150th). Jul and his wife, Jackie, have been married for over 40 years and are blessed with two adult children and a son-in-law.
