Numbers 21:4-9
Israel was tired of the journey. Again. Numbers 21 says the people became impatient and started complaining against God and Moses. They complained about the food, the water and the wilderness. They even complained about the manna God had been miraculously providing every day. Apparently, after eating bread from heaven long enough, you can start leaving a one-star review.
Then poisonous snakes entered the camp and suddenly manna was no longer the biggest problem. People were bitten and many died. Israel realized their sin and came to Moses saying, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you” (Numbers 21:7, NLT). Moses prayed for them and God provided an unusual solution. He told Moses to make a bronze snake and attach it to a pole. Anyone who had been bitten could look at it and live.
Think about how simple that was. God did not tell them to earn their healing. He did not give them twelve steps, a complicated ritual or a wilderness obstacle course. They simply had to trust what God provided enough to look. Centuries later, Jesus explained that this strange moment in Numbers was pointing toward Him. “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life” (John 3:14–15, NLT).
The Israelites could not heal themselves from the poison running through their bodies. We cannot heal ourselves from the poison of sin running through ours. Their hope was not found by looking inward and trying harder. Neither is ours. Our hope is Jesus. Yet we spend an amazing amount of energy looking everywhere else. We look at our circumstances, our failures, our fears, our accomplishments, other people and occasionally Google, because apparently we believe page three of the search results may contain the secret to life.
The gospel invites us to look somewhere better. Look to Jesus. The cross reminds us that God has already provided what we desperately need. We do not save ourselves. We trust the One who was lifted up for us, died in our place and rose again. Whatever has your attention today, lift your eyes. Stop staring at the wound and look toward the Savior. Healing, forgiveness and eternal life are found in Him. Look up and live.