“Death in the World, Life in the Lord”

Scripture: Numbers 21:4-9

For the past 3 weeks, we have been looking at Israel’s journey toward freedom and their new life in that glorious new land. And while it should have been an exciting time for them, a time when their faith would be strengthened, a time when they would grow closer to their LORD, their lives seemed to go in just the completely opposite direction. When they appeared to be trapped between the pursing Egyptian army and the sea, they complained and whined about death instead of turning to God for life. When their meager food supplies began to run out, they continued to complain and wish that they were back in slavery, instead of turning to God with their great needs. When they had gone as far as Mount Sinai and God handed down His commandments and other instructions, and even sent an angel to be their guide for the rest of the journey, they still weren’t happy. Every time some new challenge confronted them, their “song of lament” was the same as before – “O Moses, why did you bring us out into this God forsaken desert to die? Why didn’t you just leave us in Egypt– the slavery there was a lot better than this miserable existence!” And our scripture for today finds them in the same situation – complaining about their unbearable condition, and wishing that they were back in their oppressive, but predictable, existence in Egypt.

Read Numbers 21:4-5

They had already reached the land promised to them, but because of their fear of the current inhabitants, and more importantly, their lack of trust in God, they had refused to go in and claim the land. And so they were now on their way to wander in their own wasteland for 40 years. God had fed them by giving them manna and quail to eat; He had satisfied their thirst by giving them a flow of perfect water out of the rock; He had lead them through all kinds of trials and tribulations and had cared for their every need, and they were still complaining about their” insufficient” condition! Verse 4 tells us that they had grown “impatient” with God – He wasn’t responding to their pleas in the way that they thought Him should, He wasn’t giving them what they wanted as soon as they thought they should be receiving them.

Up until now, God had been very patient with these hard headed and ungrateful people, and in spite of their continuous grousing, He had given them whatever they asked for. But it seems that His patience has finally run out, and now He is going to show them what real trouble is!

Read Numbers 21:6-7

They had been rejecting God’s salvation and generosity for far too long, and now they were going to face the world’s death!
Have you been there? Have you been active in the church for years and have always assumed that the things you have done, the committees you have served on, were sufficient to secure your salvation? Have you always thought that attending worship on Sunday morning was enough “religion” for your life? Does your life take one tact on Sundays, and travels in totally different circles for the rest of the week? Have you gone through this life complaining about how unfair God is to you, but never once giving Him a single mention for all the blessings that He brings into your life? Do you know of someone who has never seen any need to allow God into their lives, and has never even acknowledged God’s presence in the world, and you have let them go on believing that lie?
If so, you are right in step with the Israelites during their wilderness years. They never offered a single word of thanksgiving, but there were many of criticism; there was never a word of worship or surrender, but many of arrogance; never a word of allegiance and fidelity, but many of personal demands. Israel was beginning to find out what it was truly like to walk through the barren land without their God’s providence and protection, and they were dying for lack of it! And just because we have never experienced poisonous snakes, or faced a certain death for unexplained reasons, or some other fearful fate that we never expected, doesn’t mean that we never will! But our gracious Lord, in spite of our superficial faith, or even our total lack of faith, has still offered an escape from the certainty and finality of death.

Read Numbers 21:8-9

While the snake crawled on the earth, it was a symbol of death, but when its likeness was hung up high on a pole, it became a source of healing and life. From that first day when God strolled through the Garden of Eden with the first created human (Genesis 2:15), until the last day that Christ walked among us, His words were about “doing” things to please the Lord of Heaven. But human actions can never be sufficient, they can never be pure enough, or true enough, or honest enough, or complete enough.
But when God Himself was hung on the pole of Calvary, and invited all who have been infected by the venom of earthly life to look upon Him for healing and salvation, a whole new era of life began. The One who was so terribly despised and feared while He walked the earth had become the only source of hope. The One who had given all of the necessary commandments for life, that list of commandments that NO ONE could possibly follow, has now given us a way of life that can NEVER fail!

Christ is our guardian from the evils of this world; He is our source of nourishment,
He is our provider of guidance and direction for the journey, and is our only basis for salvation and eternal life.
And all we have to do is to look upon His suffering on Calvary as glory, as life, and not as a failure, as death. It wasn’t the Cross that killed Him – it was the sins of humanity, and that includes yours and mine, that demanded that He surrender His life. And it wasn’t the tomb that would ultimately hold Him – it is to be the arms of redeemed sinners, yours and mine, that are to embrace Christ in loving and obedient faith.

If you have never taken that step to turn your eyes to heaven, to look to Christ for life, to let go of yourself in this world, then today is the day. Won’t you do that now? Won’t you receive the Risen Christ for your salvation?