The Gospel in the Wilderness

CONSIDER THIS

Smack in the middle of the exodus story, we find a strange little passage. On their way to the Promised Land, the Israelites start grumbling…again. This results in poisonous snakes invading their camp and many die. Desperate and repentant, the people cry out for help. A closer look reveals God’s judgment and mercy are inseparable. God mercifully tells Moses, “Make a bronze snake, set it up on a pole. Anyone who is bitten and looks at it will live.” 

Talk about a plot twist. To be healed, they have to look at the very thing that’s killing them. It works, but it’s only a temporary fix, a bandaid on their bigger sin problem. Someone greater is needed and anticipated!

This story points directly to Jesus.

We are all “bitten” by sin and desperately need to be rescued. Jesus Himself tells us, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” This verse leads straight into: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” 

Jesus came to take care of our sin once and for all! 

On the cross, Jesus became our sin — the very thing that destroys us — so we can be made right with God. All we have to do is look to Him. And He will save us.