30th.: The Brass Serpent
2 Timothy 3: tells us that in the last days, men were going to be exceedingly evil.
One of the adjectives used to describe the evilness of men and women was 'unthankful' (2 Tim 3:2).
It is like simply being unthankful is associated with evil (that is something to think about).
Applying this idea to the Israelites, they were again ungrateful.
God therefore unleased fiery serpents.
These serpents bit the Israelites (Num. 21:4-6).
The people then came to Moses for help, admitting their bad attitude.
“‘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.” (Num. 21:7).
The Lord instructed 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 looks upon it, shall live.” (Num. 21:8). "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.” (Num. 21:9).
The Israelites simply had to look at a brass serpent that sat on a pole.
The wording of the text implies that some of the bitten people chose not to believe God.
They died.
But those who believed God, and looked at the brass serpent, lived.
God wanted to see who would believe him
Sometimes, to complement our praying, God may ask us to take action,
even if the specific request may seem foolish.
“Even so, faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.” (James. 2:17)