Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / May 28, 2023 | Numbers - The Bronze Serpent

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May 28, 2023 | Numbers - The Bronze Serpent · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Morning, everybody.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's good to be with you again.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new with us this morning, we're going through the book of numbers.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: We've been going through the book of numbers for a hot second.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: And we've still got another month in the book of numbers.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: And uh the length of time we are spending in the book of numbers is nothing compared to the individuals who were wandering for 40 years in the book of numbers, but you might feel like it's pretty similar.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: So um last two weeks ago, I guess it was, uh Jim had mentioned it in his message.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Hannah and I were on vacation.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: We went to upstate New York and we were um because we found dirt cheap flights there, and uh we stayed at this VRBO on a sheep farm.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And um right, we're ready to roll?
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we stayed at this sheep farm and uh it was a lot of fun, and we had a great time.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: We were just kind of hiking and exploring the uh land up there so beautiful and gorgeous.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we were sitting on the um our sort of porch which overlooked this area where the the sheep were grazing one evening.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Hannah and I were, and the sun was setting, and it was just beautiful, and we were watching, I was watching the sheep as they were kind of moving around in this paddock, and they would they would all get together in one clump, even though they had so much room.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: They'd all get together in one clump and they'd graze for like five minutes, and then one sheep would sort of break away, and then within like 30 seconds, the entire group went to wherever that new sheep was, and it kept happening over and over and over again.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: And what was kind of funny is it's not like they were like done munching the grass where they were at.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: They're just like, oh, we have to follow, you know, this rogue sheep that has left.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: And they just kept going back to the exact same spots, they were just rotating on the same area.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I was looking at these sheep, and I was like, man, these sheep are dumb.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like if they just stayed where they were at, like they would be able to, you know, save some time.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: They need a manager.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then I remembered that God loves to use sheep to describe Christians.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: That and the reason why is because sheep have a tendency to be both stubborn and foolish.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um they love to make the same mistake over and over and over again.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And they often need a shepherd, uh, they do need a shepherd, to be able to lead them into the best places and so that they don't get hurt.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: So as we turn to, uh, we'll be in Numbers 21 today, if you have your Bibles with you, um, we're looking at a story that is going to sound familiar at its outset, because it's another story of rebellion, um, but it is different than the rest.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: And what is so interesting about this is that rather than hearing me say, oh, look, another story of rebellion, another situation where God has walked away, or where Israel has walked away from God, where they have um, you know, sort of spoken out against him and all these different things and just, you know, sort of lamented their foolishness.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think what is even better is as we continue to look at these stories of their rebellion, we pick up on a theme that is true both for Israel, but true for us as well, which is that we love to wander away from God.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: We love to make the same mistakes over and over and over again with him, and yet God, in his grace and his mercy, continues to chase after us and continues to provide a way for us to be healed.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so that is in part the message that we're looking at today is that we love to rebel against God, and yet he still loves us.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to turn in Numbers chapter 21 to verses, uh it'll be in verses four through nine.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty short, a lot shorter than the ones that we've looked at in the past, but I'll begin in verse four.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: So then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: But the people became impatient because of the journey.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: The people spoke against God and Moses.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness?
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them, so that many Israelites died.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: So, uh, this was a couple weeks ago now, but we have to remember where we're at in the narrative of the book of Numbers, which is that we have gone to the promised land, and they have been rejected because of their lack of faithfulness in God's plan.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And therefore, everything else from that point in time should be viewed from the understanding that these are people, at least if they're over the age of twenty and are not Levites, are destined to die in the wilderness.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: They are going to be wandering and they are going to fall at some sand dune or rock, and they are not going to make it into the promised land.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And it's important to remember that because there's a level, I mean, honestly, when you're reading the text, there should be kind of a psychology that you're looking at this with, where you say, what would be the attitude of somebody who knew that they were not going to make it into the promised land yet was still following after God.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Even if they didn't make it into the promised land, God was still, as always, worthy to be followed.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: But the sort of carrot on the end of the stick, if you will, the thing that they were heading towards, it's been taken from them because of their rebellion.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so these are individuals, these ones who are grumbling, who are destined to die.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it is in five years or 25 years, they're not going to make it.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And really the younger generation is waiting for them to pass away over the 40 years, because once the last one falls, is when they're able to enter into the promised land.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyhow, when we see this rebellion, it's different than some that we have seen previously, because, for instance, when they say, Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's a claim that they have thrown against God from the very beginning.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Why did you take us away?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: The land of milk and honey was Egypt, where we were slaves, the land where we could eat whatever we wanted and however much we wanted, and so on and so forth, right?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: They love to idolize Egypt, even though they were being tortured there and being killed, and their children were being murdered.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: But this claim that they throw against God, why have you taken us into the land, into the wilderness to destroy us, now rings a very sad tune because they actually are going to die in the wilderness.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: That was not necessarily a part of their journey beforehand, but because of their unfaithfulness, that is proving to be true.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so then they go on and we see their claim.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in this case, it's that once again it has to do with food and water, and we detest this wretched food.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: They're probably talking about the manna that God brings to them every single day.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And uh they are rejecting his providence.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I find myself um feeling so attached to Israel here because there are so many things that are I can relate to in my own nature that Israel does that I would like to think are not a part of my nature.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is I I recognize that like Israel, I continue to fall oftentimes into the same exact uh pitfalls that I have fallen into previously.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: I find myself when God has not necessarily brought about the thing that I have most hoped or desired.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: I've looked at his other blessings and I've stripped them down to nothing and acted as if he has not been gracious to me.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's what Israel's doing here, right?
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: They have all the food they could eat, and they say, we hate this detestable, wretched food.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: So we find ourselves, like I said, in a situation we've been in before.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: They are rebelling against God.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Israel is also taking the long route.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um when you're wandering 40 years in the wilderness, it doesn't really matter what route you take.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but they had a route that they wanted to take, which was going to lead them through the land of Edom.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: And Edom is kind of uh, uh, if you will, like posted in contrast to Israel, because if we go back to Genesis, it was Jacob's brother Esau who uh ended up being the father of the land of Edom.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: So now you have wandering Israel, which is Jacob's descendants, going up against their, if you will, like long-lost brotherly kin.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: And Edom not only says, No, you can't go through our land, but if you do go through our land, we're gonna fight you.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so they're like, all right, never mind.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: And they go around the outside, and it's in that wilderness off the main road where they're having these problems, right?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So the last thing to point out here is um we've gone through rebellions in the past, and there have been long conversations, right?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like they go to Moses, Moses goes to God, God speaks to Moses, Moses goes back to the people, we repeat this process, and I think it's almost as if Moses, who's writing here the book of Numbers, is like, you get the drill by now, right?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like you get rebellion results in judgment.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Rebellion results in judgment.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so in these three verses, we kind of get this truncated Israel rebels against God, they misunderstand his goodness, they attach lies to him, they rebel against him, and therefore God is going to bring judgment upon them.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: And at this point in Numbers, if you're new with us this morning, um God's judgment might not be something that you've uh talked about very much, but we've talked about it a lot in the book of Numbers, and and I've done my level best to try and explain why the judgment of God brought upon Israel in numerous occasions is righteous and justified because he is good and we are not.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: But at this point, if you're still hung up on the fact that God brought death to Israel, really what's going on is there's um there's a misunderstanding in our hearts between who we understand the creator to be and the created, and the rights of those two, uh, well, the rights of God and his creation, and really the gulf that separates the righteous God from the unrighteous creation.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess what I'm trying to just reinforce before we go on, because it's almost just taken as a given that Israel is going to fall down dead because of their rebellion, is that God was good to do that because in punishing evil, he makes himself to be, proves himself to be rather, a good God.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: In this rebellion, if he did nothing to it, then he makes himself out to be not a good God, one who doesn't punish treason in his kingdom.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Nevertheless, it is still a severe punishment.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Venomous snakes come in, um, God using the natural environment like he did in the quail previously, and they bite the Israelites and they die.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a uh story I mentioned to you, though, it's a little bit different than the rest.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: The people came to Moses and said, We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: And Moses interceded for the people.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's different.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: We don't normally get that in the rebellion stories.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Normally, they're mad, okay?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: God, like Korah's rebellion, God uh punishes the rebels and all the leaders that had uh tried to overthrow Moses and the government, and uh everyone goes, You killed them, why?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and they get all up in arms about this stuff.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: This is kind of new.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: And the fact that Israel now, and it's going to be unique, and they're not going to do it very often, but they come and they say, Hey, we have messed up.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: We have made a mistake, we have sinned against the Lord, right?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: They say we have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: They now recognize that they haven't really previously, or at least verbally, stated that when they rebel against Moses, they're rebelling against God's appointed leader, which is tantamount to still rebelling against God.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so they say, intercede, basically, go on behalf of us to the Lord.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Moses, you are the only one who is able to do this kind of thing, so that he will take the snakes away from us.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so Moses, who is so faithful and so good to Israel, has on their behalf, without them asking, interceded so many different times for Israel.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: But now they go to him and they say, Will you do it again?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Will you go before the God of armies?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Will you go before the Lord in the tent of meeting?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: And will you ask him to take the snakes away from us?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: But what ends up happening, though, is as Moses goes to intercede, God does not take away the snakes.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't take away the righteous punishment for their sin.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: What he does do is provide a means for them to be healed and a means for them to be rescued from the punishment that they deserve.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we finish in the final three verses up to, or two verses to verse nine.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Then the Lord said to Moses, make a snake image and mount it on a pole.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever someone was bitten and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so God, like I said, God doesn't remove the snakes.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: The snakes are a righteous judgment upon the sin of Israel.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: What he does do is he says, but if you he provides this means for them to be able to look upon this thing and be healed of this punishment.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: What might strike you though is, I mean, it's kind of interesting, right?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Moses is instructed to make this bronze snake, right?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Is a reminder almost of the thing which is bringing judgment upon them.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so Moses constructs this snake, this bronze snake, casts it out of metal, places it in the camp, and then God gives a very simple instruction.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: He says, if anyone gets bit by these poisonous snakes, okay, they may look upon this image, they may look upon this thing, and they will be healed.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Not because the image itself has any power whatsoever.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: It is a cast uh snake, okay?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: It is a metal thing.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: But what God is showing is that by looking upon this, by having faith in his creation, having faith in this Moses' creation here, that he will heal them.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: But a very, very important lesson, though, is found in the words that God uses to describe their action.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: He says, you must look upon this thing, and not to like get into it.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: But the Hebrew word for look here is not like, oh, and moving away.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's not glancing at something.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's the same word that God uses in Genesis 1.31 that says that the Lord saw that all that he created was good.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's the same word that uh the prophet Micah uses later on to say that he sees the salvation of God.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: It is beholding something, it is focusing on it, it is training your mind and your heart upon this thing.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: It is not just a glance.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so the point is not that this thing can be in the camp, and whenever they get into trouble, they're like, oh, and then look back and they're good to go, but that they understand what is happening by faith that God provided this means for their rescue through this bronze snake.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Make a snake image and mount it on a pole.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: He will overcome the righteous punishment for the sin that they have willingly committed.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: So this image of a snake, I'm gonna kind of digress for just a little bit because it's interesting.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: This image of the snake on a staff is one that uh throughout history and even today has become an image, a symbol of healing.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you might recognize it.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, on the left is uh the blue cross blue shield shield, and on the right is the emblem for the World Health Organization.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, um this symbol, though, is called now the rod of Asclepius.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, why is it called that?
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's because back in Greek times, the god of healing, Asclepius, um, had a staff that was entwined with a snake.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so from Greek culture is where we get this image, well, we say this image of a staff that has a snake entwined about it that it can be looked to for healing.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: But um Mr.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Asclepius came about 800 years after Moses.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we know, and this is I'll get into it more in the podcast, but we know that there is a massive transference from uh Jewish history into Greek mythology and ultimately the stories that they ended up creating.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we know when we see this kind of thing, this symbol of healing, that really it's pointing back to this thing back in Numbers chapter 21.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: It is not some Greek god that looks like he just got out of the gym, right?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: So this image, though, and if and if you're kind of playing along in the pews and the seats, um, you might have picked up already on where this story is going, right?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh because of how clearly it illustrates the foundational concept of the cross of Jesus Christ.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, it's in the New Testament where this theme of a the bronze snake is picked back up again in John 3, verses 14 through 16.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is speaking, and he says, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then the most famous verse comes along, preceded by our bronze snake.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus is speaking here with Nicodemus, a Jewish scholar, Jewish ruler, uh, who came to him under the cover of night, asking questions, because he knew that his peers would not be pleased with his interest.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus had a long conversation with Nicodemus and said many wonderful things and shared with him the truth about the gospel.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: But one of the things that leads into, I just think this is so neat, this is why you should know you need to learn your Old Testament so that you can better understand your New Testament, that the foundational principle of John 3.16 was shown in Numbers chapter 21.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus says, as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: Why does Jesus compare himself to the bronze snake?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Is it because Jesus is a snake?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: No, he's not a snake.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: He's not at all.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: But he says, what must be shown is that it was lifted up, that it became this symbol of God's ability and willingness to heal his people from the righteous judgment of their sin, right?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is a core, this is the core concept for your relationship with Christ is that you willingly and I willingly sin, and Jesus willingly died on the cross to save us from the righteous punishment for our sin.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: That is what the bronze serpent represented.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: The snakes did not go away, but the venom coursing through the veins did.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, today, when we look upon the cross of Jesus Christ, we are still facing judgment because of our sin, but it is the blood of Jesus Christ that covers us because he paid the punishment that we deserved.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so we see these things being so connected to each other, right?
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we almost go back to the appeal that Israel made to Moses, right?
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because you say, what does it mean to look upon the cross today?
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's I'll be honest with you.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's basically going to be the thing I focus on for the next until I'm done.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to look upon the cross, to look at it as God told the Israelites to look upon the bronze serpent?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to see it and perceive it?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: And not just glance at it and turn away, but to truly understand the cross and behold it in such a way that it changes your life.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because if Jesus is comparing the bronze serpent to himself as he was crucified on that cross, then what it also means is that we can't just look at the cross as something that exists.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's a piece of metal around our neck, right?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: It is a thing that we put hanging on the wall in our home.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: It is in the Bible that we never open, right?
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: It is something to be studied and to be focused on.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: A.W.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Tozer, one of my favorite authors, and over time we'll become one of your favorite authors too.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: He says this in the knowledge of the holy, he says, what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, because your relationship with Christ, the most important relationship in your life, is based upon this foundational idea that many people in the world reject, which is that we are sinners and that Jesus saved us from our sin.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: The cross is not first and foremost a symbol that you might have success, that life might be easy, that you would be happy, that you would get what you want, that your business would succeed.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: The cross, first and foremost, is a recognition that we have sinned.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: That is what the new later on when Paul is going into all these communities and he's like, hey, it's kind of hard to tell people about the gospel because it begins with me saying that they are all sinners, right?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Which is not something that we love to hear.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: But that is where the gospel begins.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that is where the gospel bases itself upon.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: So the image of the cross, what it means when you look at it, is something that can be lost.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: The cross, it is possible for it to become something that you know about, that you understand, and you have lost your love and care for.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: You've twisted it into something that suits your own desires and is not the thing which grounds you in the hope of the future and the resurrection of the dead.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: See, I have one more passage to look at here, and it is going to show us what happens when we lose sight of what God has set before us.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, about 900 years after Moses created that bronze snake, lots of things have happened.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's 900 years.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um they've entered into the promised land, right?
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: Kingdoms have been founded.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: We've had great kings, we've had bad kings.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: The nation of Israel split into two, a northern and a southern kingdom.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: And about 900 years after Moses made that bronze snake, Israel is not doing so hot.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that has marked the failure of the nation of Israel over time, as we might expect based upon their prior history, was idolatry.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Idolatry and work worshiping these pagan idols.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and they they came from everywhere.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them were homegrown, and some of them came from the surrounding nations.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: But that that is the context to which I'll read from 2 Kings chapter 18, verses 1 through 4.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: In the third year of Israel's king Hoshea, son of Elah, Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, became king of Judah.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: His mother's name was Abi, daughter of Zechariah.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: He did what was right in the Lord's sight, just as his ancestor David had done.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the ashera poles, all remnants of idolatry.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: But he broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made, for until then the Israelites were burning incense to it.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: It was called Nehushton.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: So what had happened was in these 900 years, the bronze serpent had become a relic, essentially, of mystical power.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: And over time the teaching of what that symbol represented truly was lost to the nation of Israel, and they began to worship it as uh and associating this name with it, which sort of uh Nehushtin, it literally means like a thing of brass.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of this, not derogatory, but it's this dismissive name.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's not something that you would name, you know, something you are very proud of or put in high regard, but it is almost this worthless thing, but yet they are sacrificing incense to it, assuming that they might be able to get some kind of power from it or what have you.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: But according to Hezekiah, right, he saw this as a place where they had drawn to the side and were no longer worshiping the Lord, but were worshiping something that the Lord had created but had taken on man-made considerations.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is the danger here.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Because it is possible for the cross, even though the cross itself, the one that Jesus died on, has never lost its power and will never lose its power, the way you see the cross has the ability to lose its power based upon what baggage oftentimes we bring to the situation.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many of us, and it's not this binary thing where either you get it or you don't get it.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's a shade of gray.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because so many of us in our sin and our brokenness, we don't fully understand the cross of Christ, or else, if we did, we would be a lot better at sharing the gospel with people.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: If we truly understood on a day-to-day basis what it meant to be saved from our sin and the power of the cross to save people, and the necessity of the gospel and the purpose of the Great Commission, we would be a lot more active in what it means to have conversations about Christ with people and fulfilling the Great Commission.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: But instead of that, it's some sort of shade of gray where the cross, in a lot of our minds, has become something we appreciate.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's awesome.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're thankful for it, right?
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: But it's more about being associated with it.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's this thing that brings a significant purpose to our life, maybe.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it brings community.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's that we just love to be, have the feeling of security by thinking about the cross and knowing that we are saved.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's we just want joy or we don't like the idea of going to hell.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so we think about all of these things.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: And some of us have even more based notions of the cross.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: I mentioned before, but we see it as the key to success.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: We think that we're going to live the life that we've always dreamed, that it's going to be the prosperity gospel, that we're going to get money or fame, or that God is going to finally answer our prayers if we just do this thing.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: But first and foremost, the cross is a sign that you are a sinner and God has saved you from your sin.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: It is so important that we keep these things in mind.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: I um I obviously I mentioned we were on vacation two weeks ago, and uh, one of the things that you have to do when you fly, right, is go through the security checkpoint.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: So we brought Dan with us, and so we're going through the TSA, this is in JFK, and um Hannah's got Dan, and I have got the carriage of luggage that we are carrying with us, right?
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're going through this, we're going through security, and it's New York, it's so busy, and um I'm trying to convince basically the guy in front of me that's upset, you know, as I'm like trying to handle this, that the dude with a stroller and uh a car seat and three bags is not a national security threat, right?
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm going through and we get to the end, I get to the end of the line, Hannah's waiting for me, and I'm trying to what is almost the worst part of security, right, is once you get to the end of the line and all of your items are like in the 17 buckets that you are then having to like hurriedly put your belt on and tie your shoes and grab all of your stuff as like the the car the you know cases are ramming into each other and anyhow.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I get through that, right, and I'm I'm pushing this carriage, and I see there's a sign um as we're leaving the area.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there's a sign that says, Hey, did you forget anything?
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um clothing, bags, phones, children.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth on the list is children.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's not in alphabetical order.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: They say bags, phones, clothing, children.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I went back and I looked, probably to the dismay of the security guard who was standing by it, and I just went back and I stared at it.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: And because I thought of this.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: I knew I was going to be preaching on this, and I thought of this because I was like, how cra I mean, it's kind of funny, but like, how crazy this?
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, do you have your phone?
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have your suitcase?
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have your also do you have your five-year-old?
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how is it that that is not one of the first things, right, that comes to your mind?
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I I think that the cross sometimes can become this idea to us where we're like, yes, like I am a sinner in need of a savior.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but also, right, it is it is where I find like, you know, my purpose because I know that I am loved, and you know, uh that I get to find a good community and fellowship in church, and I get like all of these wonderful things that flow out from the fact that God sent his son to die on the cross for you.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many wonderful things about the cross, so many like ancillary benefits of just being a part of God's kingdom.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: But the first one is that we are rebels.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so my question that I leave you with this morning is what do you see when you look at the cross?
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: What do you see when you look at it?
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, behold it, focus on it, train your mind and your heart upon it.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: What do you see?
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see a savior?
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see a bloody cross and the Son of God nailed to it?
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see him with a crown of thorns?
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see him taking the punishment for your sin?
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you see, like, a get out of jail free card?
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see something else?
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: The most beautiful thing about the bronze serpent was that it was stuck on a pole in the middle of Israel's camp.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: And Moses didn't have to stand by it all day long.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: There was no clinic for people who were getting bit by rattlesnakes where he had to take a number and wait in line.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: Anybody in the camp, if they got bit, was able to look and behold the bronze serpent and they would be healed.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: Anybody, which includes everybody, because we are all sinners, but anybody who recognizes their sin and goes before the Lord is able at any time to accept the gift of Jesus Christ on the cross.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: There are no ten steps you have to go through, but you do have to behold what it means that he died on the cross for your sins.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so finally, I just go back to the question that Israel posed to Moses when they said, Will you intercede for us?
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: But they said, We have sinned against the Lord, and we need one to go before us to take the punishment for our sin away.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that is the exact same message that we say today.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we have sinned, we have messed up.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, will you go before us, your son Jesus Christ, and take away the punishment for our sin.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: Anybody can believe that.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: That is the message.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: I need like nine more amens.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we come before you today.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, as sinners, as people who have fallen short of your glory, like sheep who have gone astray.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we are in desperate need of salvation.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: And we thank you, God, for Jesus Christ, that he died on the cross for our sins.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, so that we might look to that.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: Just as you lifted up the bronze snake, we might now look to the cross of our Savior and see and understand what it means to be saved.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: And God, I pray, first of all, for anybody who does not know you as their Savior, that they would look to the cross and see that they can accept salvation provided by you if they would just believe.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: And God, I also pray for those, Lord, who have accepted this oftentimes so long ago as children, have accepted the truth of the cross.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: But Lord, like myself, have sometimes lost sight of what it truly means to behold the Savior on the tree.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, have lost sight of the tragedy and beauty of the cross.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: And God, that we might remember it more faithfully every single day, and that it might spur us on towards love and good deeds.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we love you and we are thankful.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, everyone.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: You're dismissed.