Hadassah gives out an eerie cry that echoes through the night. Her brother has just been bitten by a fiery desert serpent, and its poison is swift and fatal.
Panicked, she carries her brother to their parents’ tent: only to find her father groaning in pain as life slowly seeps from him. Her mother, helpless, stares at the worsening condition of her family.
Frantic, Hadassah runs to seek help from neighbors. To her shock, every tent she passes houses another victim of these venomous reptiles. Suddenly, a trumpet sounds from the sanctuary, summoning the people. On her way, Hadassah falls: bitten by one of the fiery serpents herself.
Struggling, she reaches the sanctuary and sees their leader holding a tall pole with a bronze serpent mounted on top. Gasping, she asks the nearest person, “What is it for?”
“The Lord has given a directive,” the person answers. “All who are bitten: if they look at the lifted serpent, they shall live.” He gently helps her fix her eyes on the bronze figure, and at once, strength returns to her limbs. She’s healed.
Without delay, Hadassah rushes back to her family, guiding them to the sanctuary. Her father and brother look at the uplifted serpent and are healed. But her mother scoffs in disbelief, refusing to look. Within moments, the poison takes full effect, and she dies in unbelief: having rejected the very provision God had made to save her.
“Many had already died, and when Moses raised the serpent upon the pole, some would not believe that merely gazing upon that metallic image would heal them; these perished in their unbelief.
”
“Yet there were many who had faith in the provision which God had made... If these, though faint and dying, could only once look, they were perfectly restored.
”
“They were required to show their faith in the provision which He had made. They must look in order to live. It was their faith that was acceptable with God.
”
This story is more than history: it’s a living parable. Jesus Himself said:
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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“All who have ever lived upon the earth have felt the deadly sting of that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan.
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“The fatal effects of sin can be removed only by the provision that God has made... So the sinner may look to Christ, and live.
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“While the sinner cannot save himself, he still has something to do to secure salvation. ‘Him that cometh to Me,’ says Christ, ‘I will in no wise cast out.’
”
Just look at the uplifted Savior and live. Like Hadassah’s mother, many today perish in unbelief: not because they cannot be saved, but because they reject the very provision God has made.
“Jesus has pledged His word; He will save all who come unto Him. Though millions who need to be healed will reject His offered mercy, not one who trusts in His merits will be left to perish.
”
Sin is sapping away life from us: will you accept Christ as the antidote?
Like Hadassah, once healed, will you guide your loved ones to look at the Crucified Savior?
Look and live, dear soul... just look and live.