2006-09-13 - Look Up

Today I want to let scripture speak for itself.

Genesis 3:14-15 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: ¹⁵ And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Numbers 21:5-9 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. ⁶ And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much 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 thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. ⁹ And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

John 3:14 - And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

John 19:17-20 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: ¹⁸ Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. ¹⁹ And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. ²⁰ This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.

Mark 15:25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. ²⁶ And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. ²⁷ And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. ²⁸ And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. ²⁹ And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, ³⁰ Save thyself, and come down from the cross. ³¹ Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. ³² Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. ³³ And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴ And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

In the wilderness, the people of Israel failed to obey God and were bit by fiery serpents. Their salvation came from an image of their sin hanging from a pole. In the garden, man fell to the deadly venom of the lying serpent. Salvation was promised through the seed of the woman whose heel would be struck. Jesus said he would be lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness. Between the sixth hour and ninth hour it is said that Jesus took on the sins of the world. The poison of sin entered his body as though the serpent bit him. He did not become a mere image but he became sin. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) He took the serpent's bite we deserved but praise God when that old snake bit, God stepped down and crushed its head. He conquered death for you and I.

Like the Israelites, we just need to repent of our sins and look to the cross for our salvation. Will you do as you please until the poison of the serpent kills you or will you acknowledge your sin and turn to Jesus? Will you let others die or will you share the cure?

IHFHBOH
Adam

adam@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org

All scripture references from KJV unless otherwise noted