John chapter 3v14-15
Jesus
continues by introducing Moses, and for good reason, for the Pharisees accepted
Moses, at least their own interpretation of him, but they rejected Christ. They venerated Moses but considered not that
Moses said “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst
of thee, of thy brethren like unto me, unto him ye shall harken-Deuteronomy
18v15. He says to them, as Moses, so am
I, and all this gives rise to the amazing story of the
serpent on the pole.
And
as Moses lifted 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.”
“As
Moses…even so”- the inference is clear. He was the prophet like unto Moses! In classic style Jesus now turns the issue of
the personal need of Nicodemus, to the greater need of the whole world. The details are found in Numbers 21v4-9 and symbolise
God’s way of salvation for all of mankind.
“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 loathes this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people and they bit the people and much people of Israel died. 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. And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery
serpent and set it upon a pole, and it came to pass that everyone that is
bitten when he looketh upon it shall live.
And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it in 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.” There we have it told in simple terms
The
whole camp of Israel The
whole world
Bitten
by the serpent Bitten
by Satan
Ready
to die
Ready to perish forever
God
provided the remedy God sent
His Son
A
serpent lifted up on a pole The
Son of God lifted up
Whoever
looked lived Whoever
believes is saved
Because
of dissatisfaction and rebellion, they came under the judgment of God. Only God could provide the remedy. The whole world is under the condemnation of
God and only God can and did provide the cure.
The way of salvation for Nicodemus, and for the whole world is to look,
to believe, to accept God’s remedy, and the issue will be forever settled. There is no other way. The God who brings the condemnation, Himself
provides the solution and all we have to do is BELIEVE IT!
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