The Yearning of Yahveh

Num. 20

Had all these victories gone to his head? At Kadesh, an old problem recurred—the desperate lack of water. As usual, the nation moaned and blamed Moses for their suffering. To make things worse, Moses’ sister, Miriam, died. His grief made him more vulnerable.

When God told him to speak to the rock to open up water to the nation, a little voice might have whispered in his ear, "It’s stupid to talk to a rock, man! Rather smash it with your stick as you did the last time and so vent your frustration too." Moses’ anger flared up and he yelled: "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" He hit the rock and water came out, but Moses lost something very precious to him.

God did not blame Moses for his anger. God too got angry with that stiff-necked people many times. It was that little word "we" that offended God. If Moses had said, "Must God bring water for you out of this rock?" there would not have been a problem. By replacing "God" with "we" Moses had stolen God’s glory. He was disciplined immediately. He would not enter the Promised Land. Moses could have replied: "Now, is that a way to thank a man for his hard work over forty years?" But Moses wisely shut up, knowing he had screwed up.

There were more disappointments for Moses just around the corner. The Edomites, descendants from Jacob’s brother, Esau, would deny Israel passage over their land, thereby forcing Israel to make a long detour that would break the spirit of many. Moses would also lose his brother, Aaron, who had stood with him for many years except for two occasions. Moses knew the forty years in the wilderness were almost done. As he would not enter the Promised Land, he knew that his own death could not be far off.

Moses must have entered the last part of his ministry with a heavy heart. However, he knew that the successful conquering of the land was not dependent on human power and ingenuity, but on a merciful, almighty God. What he didn’t realize was that God had a big surprise in store for him. He would go to a far better Promised Land to be with God forever.

God told Moses to make a bronze snake and to put it on a pole. Because of the large camp, people would have carried the snake-on-a-pole through the camp so all could see it. All who looked up in faith to the bronze snake were healed from the poison of the fiery serpents. Centuries later this bronze snake was still in Israel’s possession. They began to worship it as an idol; therefore, King Hezekiah destroyed it (2 Kings 18:4).

Jesus showed us the true meaning of the bronze snake. He told Nicodemus that just as the bronze snake had been lifted up, so He would be lifted up on the cross. Just as people who looked up in faith to the bronze snake were healed, so those who would look up in faith to Him would be saved. The bronze snake was a symbolic prophecy about the Messiah.

How could the Son of God be represented by a snake? Isn’t Satan, "that serpent of old" (Rev. 20:2), the exact opposite of Jesus? Actually, the bronze snake was not an effigy of Jesus but of the sins Jesus was carrying as our substitute. The snake-on-a-pole portrayed Satan’s power over us. Jesus turned that negative symbol into a positive one. Jesus-on-the-cross portrayed His victory over Satan, sin, and death. Jesus nailed our debt to the cross and wrote "paid in full" over it (Col. 2:14).

With all His miracles, Jesus turned hopeless situations into joyful ones. He turned the sad picture of crowds who looked like sheep without a shepherd into the glad picture of a plentiful harvest (Matt. 9:36-38).

Moses and his people had no idea that God was using snakes to prophesy to them about the Messiah, the Savior of the world. They thought they were forgotten people in a forsaken desert. Little did they know how bright the light of the gospel was shining on that spot at that moment.

Do our afflictions drive us to God? Do we trust God to turn our "forsaken desert" into a gospel opportunity? Do we take Jesus to people who are dying spiritually, as the bronze snake was taken to the suffering? We must bring the message to them: "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."