A Snake Story with a Happy Ending

Snakes typically have a negative connotation. After all, it was the serpent who tempted Eve in the garden. But snakes in Numbers 21:4-9 have both negative and positive connotations. 

The people mocked their loving Father God, and He sent poisonous snakes among them.(1)  

But it doesn't stop there...

God is so incredibly forgiving that He healed the people who repented. But He healed them in an unusual way by having them look at a bronze snake on a pole (Numbers 21:9).

If they had enough faith in God to look at the bronze snake, they were saved from the poisonous snake bite.

But it doesn't stop there...

Do you know what Jesus says in John 3:14-15 right before those beloved words in John 3:16?

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

We've all been bitten by the serpent Satan, and we're dying in our sins. But we can look to Jesus and be saved! Yes, this is definitely a snake story with a happy ending.
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(1) God never punished His people without giving them repeated opportunities to repent. If God’s Old Testament punishments offend us, it’s because we forget that God is perfect. He knew exactly who deserved this punishment and exactly who would be bitten by the snakes. And He knew exactly how this punishment would affect the others. When we’re offended by Old Testament punishments, it’s because we put God on the level of a human being. Does any human being have the right to do what God does? No! But we cannot compare the justice of man to the justice of God. See Why did God destroy entire nations?  

Bible Love Notes