GIG274 The Bronze Serpent

Growing In God Podcast

Program Number: GIG #274

Title: The Bronze Serpent

 

Web Description: Do you feel like you are being bitten to death by your circumstances and problems? Get your focus back on Christ. Renew and deepen your relationship with Him because He Himself is the answer. He Himself is the victory and the overcoming of any situation that we are in. And by believing in Him, we will not perish in our circumstances but instead have eternal life.

 

Show Notes: When the children of Israel complained against the Lord and Moses in the wilderness, the Lord sent them poisonous serpents. So the people repented and asked the Lord to remove the serpents. That however is not what God did. Instead, He told Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it up on a standard. And if anyone looked at the serpent, that person would live. That story has great meaning for us today.

 

The children of Israel had become entirely focused on the material world rather than on the presence of God who was with them day and night. They were entirely focused on what they were unhappy about and what they did not have, ignoring all that God was providing them. As Christians we too tend to lose our focus on the Lord. We start to focus on what we are lacking and what we wish we had in the material world. We sometimes forget that we have the Holy Spirit to lead us and guiAde us, that Christ is in us, and that we can be filled with all the fullness of God.

 

Just like in the wilderness, we may be asking God to remove our problems that are like poisonous snakes biting us. But we should not be surprised if those problems do not go away. We should expect that God will give us something else to focus on. He may even be using our problems to get our focus back on Him. He is looking to bring us to Himself, to a life in Him, to a life in His Word, to a faith and a walking in Him that we may not be doing at the moment. Christ was lifted up just like that bronze serpent in the wilderness so that in Him we can have eternal life. He is our answer. And we need to live in Him more than we need to try to solve our problems.

 

Key Verses:

 

•       Numbers 21:4–11. “If a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.”

•       2 Peter 1:3. “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.”

•       Psalm 103:2. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits.”

•       Luke 21:28. “When these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads.”

•       John 3:12–21. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”

 

Quotes:

 

•       “It seems almost impossible to think that we would get tired of having the Lord's presence with us day and night. But I think in all honesty, we do lose our focus on the Lord, and we tend to bring our focus back into the lower level or lower realm of the natural world.”

•       “Instead of taking away our problems, many times what He does is He gives us an answer that brings our focus and our relationship back to Him. Because ultimately, He's the answer.”

•       “You’re going to get tired of this journey that we're on in these end times if you are focused only on what's going on around you. But if we can keep our focus looking up, looking upon the Lord and what He's provided, then these other things are not going to destroy us.”

 

Takeaways:

 

1.    The children of Israel magnified their unhappiness about the wilderness to the point that they despised God’s provision. And we need to realize how we can get so focused on what we dislike about our circumstances that we forget the Lord’s benefits.

2.    God’s answer to the serpents in the wilderness was not to remove the serpents but to get the people’s focus back on Him. And God may not be answering your prayer by removing your circumstances but by getting your focus back on Him.

3.    When you see all the things beginning to happen in the end-time, raise your eyes above the material world and focus on Him and His Kingdom. Make Him your focus and make Him what you are journeying to.