Lent 4 (3)

Numbers 21:4-9 (NIV) 4  They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5  they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" 6  Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7  The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8  The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9  So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

The Bible teaches is that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This means that we don’t need to fear eternal punishment for the wages of sin because Jesus has sacrificied himself on the cross for our sins and we are forgiven through faith in him. It does NOT mean that God will never discipline us in time for the sins that we commit. The writer to the Hebrews emphasizes this in

Hebrews 12:4-13 (NIV) 4  In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5  And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6  because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." 7  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8  If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9  Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10  Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12  Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13  "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

This is also taught in other parts of Scripture.

Revelation 3:19 (NIV) 19  Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

1 Corinthians 11:27-32 (NIV) 27  Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28  A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29  For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30  That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31  But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32  When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

We may think that somehow God treats his children differently in the New Testament era than he did in the Old Testament. That somehow because we believe in Jesus, we are exempt from being held accountable for our actions and that God no longer disciplines us. But these passages teach us otherwise. We are accountable to God and he does work with us so that we may life disciplined lives.

Romans 14:9–12 NIV84

9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ ” 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Matthew 12:33–37 NIV84

33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Teaching point: God has given his law to us to guide us on how to live as we love him who first loved us. Although this is not a road map to earn eternal life, our attention to God’s law is important and he does hold us accountable. At the end of the 40 years of Israel wandering in the wilderness, Moses summarized it this way.

Deuteronomy 8:1-5 (NIV) 1  Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. 2  Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3  He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4  Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5  Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

A well-known event in this time period was our text today. (Quickly summarize)

The Bible tells us how this infestation of snakes was a direct intervention by the Lord. Modern scientists would probably explain it away by saying they accidentally came across a pit of vipers which were aggressive because of global warming or a drought or something. We today like to explain natural events as the result of “Mother Nature” or happenstance. This may be true in many cases. But have you ever noticed how often the Bible links a seemingly natural event with a direct intervention from God? (see examples)

Ezekiel 14:12–21 NIV84

12 The word of the Lord came to me: 13 “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, 14 even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord. 15 “Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, 16 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate. 17 “Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its men and their animals, 18 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved. 19 “Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath upon it through bloodshed, killing its men and their animals, 20 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness. 21 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals!

Amos 7:1–3 NIV84

1 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the second crop was coming up. 2 When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!” 3 So the Lord relented. “This will not happen,” the Lord said.

In the past God did use seemingly natural events to teach important lessons to groups of people or individuals. When something bad happens in our lives we can choose to explain it away, disregard it, or look for a message from God. We may not always know which it is, but Jesus’ teaching on this may prove instructive.

Luke 13:1–9 NIV84

1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” 6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ 8 “ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ”

Application: I think it is irresponsible today for a religious leader to confirm with 100% certainty that anything bad that happens to us is absolutely a direct disciple from God. That is above our pay grade — we no longer have a direct revelation from God. But I do agree that God can use these events to discipline us.

If we believe it is a disipline from God, then pursue the proper course of action. Repent!

The Israelites sure did. But God did not act as they has asked. He did not remove the vipers. Instead he provided a cure.

Later, Jesus would identify himself with this cure. John 3:13-21 (NIV) 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Conclusion: Bad things do happen in our lives. Whether it is a direct message from God to turn from a sin or the sad fact that we live in a world tainted by sin, we are all vulnerable. God saved his people from the consequences of their rebellion by providing hope through the special statue of the snake and his promise. God has saved all people through the sacrifice of his own Son on the cross who paid for our sins and gives us eternal life through faith in him.