4th Sunday in Lent 3/22/09 Text: Numbers 21:4-9 Title: God's Presence i n the Dester of Our Lives
The Fourth Sunday in Lent03/22/09
Text: Numbers 21:4-9
Title: God’s Presence in the Desert of our Lives.
As I heard the Old Testament reading being read, I realized that this text is one of the hardest texts in the Bible to understand. God’s Word tells us that the people were complaining, so God sent snakes into their midst. Snakes are biting the people. They are dying and then God tells Moses to form a snake out of bronze, put it on a stick so that people could look at it and live.
Now, I understand, as probably all of you do here this morning, that this text is a foreshadowing of Jesus being raised up on the cross. We see that in our Gospel reading where Jesus says to Nicodemus, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must he Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
I understand, but I still have a problem with people looking on a bronze image of a snake and being healed. It sounds like idol worshiping to me. The people trusted in the image to save their lives. I have struggled with this Old Testament reading ever since I can remember. I just don’t get it. What is he up to and why is God doing such a thing? I thought that since I have struggled with it, many of you might have struggled with it also.
There are those who would react in shock at what I just said, but there is nothing wrong in struggling with the Word of God. It was written a long time ago, to people who had customs and thought about God in ways that we cannot even think of today. The inspired writers of God’s Word wrote in whatever context they were living in to people living at the same time.
Many times we have to dig out what I call the golden nuggets of God’s truth so that we can apply them to our lives today. The truth was the truth back when it was written and because it is the truth the truth stands today for us and will continue being the truth.
So, what was going on? Well, just a quick read will show you that the people were complaining to Moses. They were not happy, for they did not think that God was treating them right. No food, no water. How soon they had forgotten about the food and water God supplied in the past. And they hated, as the text tells us, “this worthless food.” I looked up the “worthless food” and guess what; it was the manna that God sent every morning that when cooked tasted like cakes baked with oil, a wonderful thing to eat.
They were complaining because God was not behaving the way they wanted him to behave. God could do better than he was doing. They were in affect turning their back on God and God, who loved his people had to do something desperate to turn them back. He sent, as the text tells us poisonous snakes in their midst. People were dying and in desperation they turned to Moses for help, the same guy they had just rebelled against.
So God who all along just wanted his people to trust in him has Moses form an image of a snake. We read that Moses did it and that anyone that was bitten looked upon the snake they lived. In other words, look at a graven image and be healed. That is where I have the problem, and in fact later on the Israelites had a problem, for they began to worship the snake and it finally had to be destroyed to save them.
According to the text you trust in a graven image and are cured. Now we being New Testament people know that the image of the snake on the pole was a foreshadowing of Jesus on the cross, but the people then did not know that. So why then would God tell Moses to do such a thing? The people were not healed because they looked upon the graven image, but because they trusted the words of Moses. They, in their desperation knew that Moses spoke for God. He was the intermediary between them and God, so when Moses spoke, they knew that it was God speaking to them.
Their faith in Moses’ words, that is God’s words, healed them and that then clears up the confusion you might have had about this text. It was for them trusting in God’s Word that saved them, just as it is today that our faith trusting in the words of God that Jesus body hanging on the cross saves us. It is not the image that we see before us that saves, it is the word of God, his promise that Jesus’ death saves us from eternal death.
So, as always, the question has to be asked; what does it have to do with us today. First and foremost it means that we don’t have to fear death, for although it looks permanent it is not. There will be that time of resurrection. It is guaranteed by God himself.
But this text also applies to us today, for we are in a sense wandering around in our own desert of life. We too rebel against God. We look back in our lives and see how God has provided for us, how he was blessed us and yet we still complain about how he is not taking care of us. We want things our way and when we want them. We are a rebellious people.
Stuff happens in our life; things that are out of our control, like the economy which has gone South, because of the sin of greed. Things go wrong. Life gets brutal sometimes. Pain doesn’t go away. People don’t stop dying. And in the midst of it all the Christian can wonder why it is that God has allowed, or even caused, these things to happen. We begin to question his wisdom, since we know what needs to be done. And that is where we have sinned, as a people, as a nation. We, like the people of Moses’ day have turned from God and God is acting to bring us back to him. He is not doing it because we are special or deserve his love and forgiveness. He is doing it because he wants all people to be in fellowship with him. He is, as he says, “A jealous God.” He will not have anything stand between him and us.
So what are we to do? The first thing is to look upon the cross, not the physical cross we have behind our altar, for it just represents what took place almost 2000 years ago. We are to look upon the cross as God tells us to, recognizing that on that cross our peace with God was made. We need to recognize that there is nothing in us, nothing that is deserving of God’s forgiveness. We still, as we sit here today, still deserve his punishment. We need to understand that it is only through Jesus that we have forgiveness; there is no other way.
We live in sometimes a crummy world, but God says that we are not to fear for he will let nothing harm us or separate us from his love. That is a wonderful promise, a promise that God has to keep, because he cannot lie.
So what do you do? First, you need to get out of the driver’s seat. In this “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps”, “God helps those who help themselves” culture we have gotten used to the idea that you can make your own future; create your own destiny. And some people do. And sometimes it works. But it is always limited. It is always a relatively brief period of time, when you take into account the history of humanity. For every human being will face a time when things are beyond their control; when you can’t actually summon up enough gumption or courage to beat whatever it is you are facing. It will happen, if it has not already.
We like to believe that there is always a good reason behind everything bad. It is sort of like having a great lesson teacher in the sky. We go, if I can only learn what he wants to teach me I will see the reason behind what is happening in my life. I would put forth that some things might actually be the result of that pesky little thing called sin. There may be no good reason for them, whatsoever.
My brothers and sisters in Christ God wants you to learn one thing, just as Job learned: that He’s God and you are not. He doesn’t want you to learn that there’s a lesson behind everything, but He does want you to learn the lesson behind this very real account of His grumbling people. He wants you to learn that even when things are difficult, even when you are wandering in the desert of this life, he is still with you. He is still caring for you. He is still providing for you. Perhaps the food of your life is not as spicy as you would like it, or it has gotten downright boring, but it does not mean that he is not there, for he is working out your salvation.
God did not promise to be our magic genie and give us every wish we ever desired come true. And though He does indeed promise that He will work all things for the good of those who love Him, he has not promised you that that will happen this side of life. In fact he says that life for those that follow him will be hard. The good life is on the other side of the resurrection when you have entered the Promised Land. Amen.
Text: Numbers 21:4-9
Title: God’s Presence in the Desert of our Lives.
As I heard the Old Testament reading being read, I realized that this text is one of the hardest texts in the Bible to understand. God’s Word tells us that the people were complaining, so God sent snakes into their midst. Snakes are biting the people. They are dying and then God tells Moses to form a snake out of bronze, put it on a stick so that people could look at it and live.
Now, I understand, as probably all of you do here this morning, that this text is a foreshadowing of Jesus being raised up on the cross. We see that in our Gospel reading where Jesus says to Nicodemus, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must he Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
I understand, but I still have a problem with people looking on a bronze image of a snake and being healed. It sounds like idol worshiping to me. The people trusted in the image to save their lives. I have struggled with this Old Testament reading ever since I can remember. I just don’t get it. What is he up to and why is God doing such a thing? I thought that since I have struggled with it, many of you might have struggled with it also.
There are those who would react in shock at what I just said, but there is nothing wrong in struggling with the Word of God. It was written a long time ago, to people who had customs and thought about God in ways that we cannot even think of today. The inspired writers of God’s Word wrote in whatever context they were living in to people living at the same time.
Many times we have to dig out what I call the golden nuggets of God’s truth so that we can apply them to our lives today. The truth was the truth back when it was written and because it is the truth the truth stands today for us and will continue being the truth.
So, what was going on? Well, just a quick read will show you that the people were complaining to Moses. They were not happy, for they did not think that God was treating them right. No food, no water. How soon they had forgotten about the food and water God supplied in the past. And they hated, as the text tells us, “this worthless food.” I looked up the “worthless food” and guess what; it was the manna that God sent every morning that when cooked tasted like cakes baked with oil, a wonderful thing to eat.
They were complaining because God was not behaving the way they wanted him to behave. God could do better than he was doing. They were in affect turning their back on God and God, who loved his people had to do something desperate to turn them back. He sent, as the text tells us poisonous snakes in their midst. People were dying and in desperation they turned to Moses for help, the same guy they had just rebelled against.
So God who all along just wanted his people to trust in him has Moses form an image of a snake. We read that Moses did it and that anyone that was bitten looked upon the snake they lived. In other words, look at a graven image and be healed. That is where I have the problem, and in fact later on the Israelites had a problem, for they began to worship the snake and it finally had to be destroyed to save them.
According to the text you trust in a graven image and are cured. Now we being New Testament people know that the image of the snake on the pole was a foreshadowing of Jesus on the cross, but the people then did not know that. So why then would God tell Moses to do such a thing? The people were not healed because they looked upon the graven image, but because they trusted the words of Moses. They, in their desperation knew that Moses spoke for God. He was the intermediary between them and God, so when Moses spoke, they knew that it was God speaking to them.
Their faith in Moses’ words, that is God’s words, healed them and that then clears up the confusion you might have had about this text. It was for them trusting in God’s Word that saved them, just as it is today that our faith trusting in the words of God that Jesus body hanging on the cross saves us. It is not the image that we see before us that saves, it is the word of God, his promise that Jesus’ death saves us from eternal death.
So, as always, the question has to be asked; what does it have to do with us today. First and foremost it means that we don’t have to fear death, for although it looks permanent it is not. There will be that time of resurrection. It is guaranteed by God himself.
But this text also applies to us today, for we are in a sense wandering around in our own desert of life. We too rebel against God. We look back in our lives and see how God has provided for us, how he was blessed us and yet we still complain about how he is not taking care of us. We want things our way and when we want them. We are a rebellious people.
Stuff happens in our life; things that are out of our control, like the economy which has gone South, because of the sin of greed. Things go wrong. Life gets brutal sometimes. Pain doesn’t go away. People don’t stop dying. And in the midst of it all the Christian can wonder why it is that God has allowed, or even caused, these things to happen. We begin to question his wisdom, since we know what needs to be done. And that is where we have sinned, as a people, as a nation. We, like the people of Moses’ day have turned from God and God is acting to bring us back to him. He is not doing it because we are special or deserve his love and forgiveness. He is doing it because he wants all people to be in fellowship with him. He is, as he says, “A jealous God.” He will not have anything stand between him and us.
So what are we to do? The first thing is to look upon the cross, not the physical cross we have behind our altar, for it just represents what took place almost 2000 years ago. We are to look upon the cross as God tells us to, recognizing that on that cross our peace with God was made. We need to recognize that there is nothing in us, nothing that is deserving of God’s forgiveness. We still, as we sit here today, still deserve his punishment. We need to understand that it is only through Jesus that we have forgiveness; there is no other way.
We live in sometimes a crummy world, but God says that we are not to fear for he will let nothing harm us or separate us from his love. That is a wonderful promise, a promise that God has to keep, because he cannot lie.
So what do you do? First, you need to get out of the driver’s seat. In this “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps”, “God helps those who help themselves” culture we have gotten used to the idea that you can make your own future; create your own destiny. And some people do. And sometimes it works. But it is always limited. It is always a relatively brief period of time, when you take into account the history of humanity. For every human being will face a time when things are beyond their control; when you can’t actually summon up enough gumption or courage to beat whatever it is you are facing. It will happen, if it has not already.
We like to believe that there is always a good reason behind everything bad. It is sort of like having a great lesson teacher in the sky. We go, if I can only learn what he wants to teach me I will see the reason behind what is happening in my life. I would put forth that some things might actually be the result of that pesky little thing called sin. There may be no good reason for them, whatsoever.
My brothers and sisters in Christ God wants you to learn one thing, just as Job learned: that He’s God and you are not. He doesn’t want you to learn that there’s a lesson behind everything, but He does want you to learn the lesson behind this very real account of His grumbling people. He wants you to learn that even when things are difficult, even when you are wandering in the desert of this life, he is still with you. He is still caring for you. He is still providing for you. Perhaps the food of your life is not as spicy as you would like it, or it has gotten downright boring, but it does not mean that he is not there, for he is working out your salvation.
God did not promise to be our magic genie and give us every wish we ever desired come true. And though He does indeed promise that He will work all things for the good of those who love Him, he has not promised you that that will happen this side of life. In fact he says that life for those that follow him will be hard. The good life is on the other side of the resurrection when you have entered the Promised Land. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 4:17 PM
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