Schoolmaster to Christ
NUMBERS CHAPTER 21
Schoolmaster to Christ
NUMBERS CHAPTER 21
Scripture Reading: Numbers 21 (KJV)
This chapter prominently brings before us the familiar and beautiful ordinance of the brazen Serpent – that great evangelical type. "And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 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" (vv. 4, 5).
It is the same sad story, over and over again – "The murmurs of the wilderness." It was all well enough to escape out of Egypt, when the terrific judgments of God were falling on it in rapid succession. At such a moment, there was little attraction to the flesh pots, leaks, onions, and garlic, when they stood connected with the heavy plagues sent forth from the hand of an offended God. But now the plagues are forgotten, and only the flesh pots are remembered. "Would to God we had died at the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full."
What language. Man would rather sit by the flesh pots in a land of death and darkness, than walk with God through the wilderness and eat bread from heaven. The Lord Himself had brought His glory down into connection with the very sand of the desert, because His redeemed were there. He had come down to bear their provocation – to "suffer their manners in the wilderness." All this grace and exceeding condescension might well have called forth in them a spirit of grateful and humble subjection. But no; the earliest appearance of trial was sufficient to elicit from them the cry, "Would to God we had died in the land of Egypt!"
However, they were quickly made to taste the bitter fruits of their murmuring spirit. "The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died" (v 6). The serpent was the source of their discontent; and when bitten by the serpents, their condition was well calculated to reveal the true character of their discontent. If the Lord's people will not walk happily and contentedly with Him, they must taste the power of the serpent – a terrible power in whatever way it may be experienced.
The serpents' bite brought Israel to a sense of their sin. "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" (v 7).
Here, then, was the moment for God's grace to display itself. Man's need has always been occasion for the display of God's grace and mercy. The moment Israel could say, "We have sinned," there was no further hindrance. God could then act, and that was enough. When Israel murmured, the serpents' bite was the answer. When Israel confessed, God's grace was the answer. In the one case, the serpent was the instrument of their wretchedness; in the other, it was the instrument of their restoration and blessing. "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" (v 8). The very image of that which had done the mischief was set up to be the channel through which God's grace might flow in rich abundance to poor wounded sinners – striking and beautiful type of Christ on the cross.
It is a common error to view the Lord Jesus rather as the averter of God's wrath than as the channel of His love. That He endured the wrath of God against sin is preciously true. But there is more. He came down into this wretched world to die on the cursed tree in order that by dying He might open the everlasting springs of the love of God to the heart of rebellious man. This makes a vast difference in the presentation of God's nature and character to the sinner. Only being fully established in the faith and enjoyment of the love of God can ever bring a sinner back to a state of true happiness and holiness. When he assailed the creature in the Garden of Eden, the very first effort of the serpent was to shake confidence in the kindness and love of God, producing discontent with the place in which God had set them. Man's fall was the result – the immediate result of doubting the love of God. Man's recovery must flow from his belief of that love; and it is the Son of God Himself Who says, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him Should not perish, but have everlasting life" (Jn. 3:16).
It is in close connection with the foregoing statement that our Lord expressly teaches that He was the Antitype of the brazen serpent. As the Son of God sent forth from the Father, He was the gift and expression of God's love to a perishing world. But He was also to be lifted up on the cross in atonement for sin, for only thus could God’s love meet the necessities of the dying sinner. "As Moses lilted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." The whole human family has felt the serpent's deadly sting; but the God of all grace has found a remedy in the One Who was lifted up on the cursed tree. Now, by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, He calls on all those who feel bitten to look to Jesus for life and peace. Christ is God's great ordinance, and through Him a full, free, present, and eternal salvation is proclaimed to the sinner – a salvation so complete, so well based, so consistent with all the attributes of God’s character and all the claims of His throne, that Satan cannot raise a single question about it. Resurrection is the God's vindication of the work of the cross, and the glory of Him Who died thereon; so that the true believer may enjoy the most profound repose in reference to sin. God is well pleased in Jesus; and, because He views all believers in Him, He is also well pleased in them.
Faith is the instrument whereby the sinner lays hold of Christ's salvation. The wounded Israelite simply had to look and live – look, not at Himself; not at his wounds; not at others around him; but, directly and exclusively to God's remedy. If he refused or neglected to look to that, there was nothing but death for him. He was called to fix his earnest gaze on God's remedy, which was placed so that all might see it. There was no use in looking anywhere else, for the Word was, "Every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live." The bitten Israelite was shut-up to the brazen serpent; for the brazen serpent was God's exclusive remedy for the bitten Israelite. To look anywhere else was to get nothing; to look at God's provision was to get life.
Thus it is now. The sinner is called to simply look to Jesus. We are not told to look to ordinances; to organized religious institutions; to churches of men – to men or angels. There is no help in any of these, and therefore we are not called to look to them, but exclusively to Jesus whose death and resurrection form the eternal foundation of our eternal hope. God assures us that "Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." This should fully satisfy the heart and conscience. God is satisfied, and so should we. To raise doubt is to deny the record of God. If an Israelite had said, "How do I know that looking to that serpent of brass will restore me?" or if he had begun to dwell on the greatness and hopeless nature of his malady, and to reason on the apparent uselessness of looking up to God's ordinance; in short, if anything, no matter what, had prevented him looking to the brazen serpent, it would have involved a positive rejection of God, resulting in death.
So, in the case of sinners, the moment we cast a look of faith to Jesus and obey His Gospel, our sins vanish. Like a mighty cleansing stream the blood of Jesus flows over our conscience, washing away every stain, leaving us without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; and all this in the light of the holiness of God where not one speck of sin can be tolerated.
But, before closing our brief meditation on the brazen serpent, it may be well to observe what may be called the intense individuality that marked the bitten Israelite's look at the serpent. Each one had to look for himself. No one could look for another. It was a personal question. No one could be saved by proxy. There was life in an obedient look; but the look must be given. There needed to be a personal link – direct individual contact with God's remedy.
So it was then and so it is now. We must individually have to do with Jesus. An organized religious institution cannot save – no order of priests or ministers can save. There must be a personal link with the Savior, or else there is no life. One bitten by a serpent, beholding the serpent of brass, "lived." This was God's order then; and it is His order now, for "As Moses lilted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." Let us remember the two little words "as" and "so," for they apply to every particular in the type and the antitype. Faith is an individual thing; repentance is an individual thing; salvation is an individual thing. Let us never forget this. True, in Christianity there is union and communion; but we must have to do with Christ for ourselves, and we must walk with God for we can neither get life nor live by the faith of another. There is an intense individuality in every stage of the Christian's life and practical career.
We shall not dwell further on the familiar type of "The serpent of brass;" but we pray God to enable the serious student to meditate on it for himself, and to make a direct personal application of the precious truth unfolded in one of the most striking figures of Old Testament times. May we all be led to gaze with a more profound and soul-subduing faith on the cross, and to drink into our inmost souls the precious mystery there presented. May we not be satisfied with merely getting life by looking at that cross, but seek to enter more and more into its deep and marvelous meaning, and thus be more devotedly knit to Him Who, when there was no other way of escape, voluntarily surrendered Himself to be bruised on that cursed tree for us and for our salvation.
We will close our consideration of Numbers chapter 21 by calling attention to verses 16-18: "And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together and I will give them water. Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it. The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves."
This is a remarkable passage coming in at such a moment and in such a connection. The murmurings are hushed – the people are nearing the borders of the Promised Land – the effects of the serpents' bite have passed away, and now, without any rod, without any smiting, the people are supplied with refreshment. Even though the Amorites, Moabites, and Ammonites are about them; even though the power of Sihon stands in the way; God can open a well for His people and give them a song in spite of everything. What a God is our God. How wonderful it is to trace His actions and ways with His people in these wilderness scenes. May we learn to trust Him more implicitly, and to walk with Him from day to day in holy and happy subjection. This is the true path of peace and blessing.
