SATURDAY, 18 NOVEMBER 2023
TEXT:
Numbers 21:1-20
1:
When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was
coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some
of them.
2:
Then Israel made this vow to the Lord: “If you will deliver these people into
our hands, we will totally destroy their cities.”
3:
The Lord listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They
completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.
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 wilderness? 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, they lived.
10:
The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth.
11:
Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that
faces Moab toward the sunrise.
12:
From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley.
13:
They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the
wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab,
between Moab and the Amorites.
14:
That is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord says: “. . . Zahab in Suphah and
the ravines, the Arnon
15:
and the slopes of the ravines that lead to the settlement of Ar and lie along
the border of Moab.”
16:
From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the Lord said to Moses,
“Gather the people together and I will give them water.”
17:
Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well! Sing about it,
18:
about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank— the
nobles with scepters and staffs.” Then they went from the wilderness to
Mattanah,
19:
from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
20:
and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the
wasteland.
(New
International Version Holy Bible)
TOPIC:
FROM DEATH TO LIFE: THE MIRACLE OF THE BRASS SERPENT
The
Israelites were God's chosen people and because of His covenant with Abraham,
He was always ready to hear their cry in times of distress.
However,
like today's generation, they are always quick to forget God's goodness at the
slightest hardship and begin to murmur not only against their leaders but
against God (see verses 4 and 5). Because they provoked God, He sent death into
their camp through fiery serpents and many people died.
If
men are so ungrateful to God for all He has been doing, then judgement is
inevitable. Their victories during their journeys were short - lived because of
ungratefulness. We should learn to remember God's provisions of yesterday and
trust Him for today's.
The
God of mercy ever ready to receive repentant sinners as He did when He told
Moses what to do so that death through the fiery brass serpent would stop.
The
miracle here is that, when we trust and obey God, life shall come from the same
agent of death. Peace with God is victory and eternal joy.
QUESTION:
Do you trust God well enough to believe that what is killing many people today
can heal you?
PRAYER:
Father, remove whatever is bringing the fear of death to me so that I may live
the life of miracles that only You can give, in Jesus name. Amen.
Remain
Blessed
ECWA
Food For The Day, 2023.
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