Look Up and Be Healed

I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I was checking my rear view mirror when I noticed a strange sight.
Some people may have a dog on their lap as they drive; this man had a horse.
A puppet of a horse head was on his left hand.

It was terribly disconcerting to see.
It startled me, until I saw how much enjoyment this man was getting from the attention.
He was waving the horse head at the passing cars.
The look on people’s faces was priceless.

As puppets go, this one was incredibly realistic.
I had to do a double take and check if my eyes were playing tricks on me.
The man was singing and the horse head was keeping the beat to the music.
After the initial shock, it actually made my day.

A horse head puppet hanging out of a driver’s side window is a bit absurd.
So is a snake on a pole.
Yet, that is exactly what God commanded Moses to do.

They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea to go around Edom, but the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 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. The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look up and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. (Numbers 21:4-9)

Absurd.
Venomous snakes were killing the people.
A bronze snake mounted on a pole would be the antidote for those that were bitten.
It was not the bronze snake that did the healing; it was faith in God’s provision.
God did the healing.

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. (John 3:14,15)

The Israelites who were bitten by venomous snakes, looked up and were healed.
Those who look in faith to Jesus, lifted up on the cross, will be healed of their sins.
Those who look upon Jesus and believe in Him will have eternal life.

The Old Testament pointed to Jesus.
The sacrificial system required the blood of repeated animal sacrifices.
This repetition pointed to the need of a perfect sacrifice, offered only once; Jesus Christ.

The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed.
The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

I remember when I was a new Christian and I first began to read my Bible.
I came to the passage in John that talks about Jesus being lifted up.
A light bulb went on!

I knew about the snake on a pole and remembered the healing of the people.
Now that Old Testament truth came alive when I saw how it pointed to Jesus.
The absurdity of a snake on a pole.
The absurdity of God’s Son on a cross.

The healing came because of the faith in God’s provision.
It is always God’s work!
It is never ours!

Ironically, the bronze snake that Moses made became an object of worship.

He (King Hezekiah) broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time, the Israelites had been burning incense to it. It was called Nehushtan.(2 Kings 18:4)

Our faith needs to be in Jesus and His completed work on the cross.
We tend to make things, even good things, an idol in our hearts.

What if the driver of the car suggested that his horse head puppet could heal you?
What if he waved the puppet and claimed that the horse head could save you?
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.
(Psalm 33:17)

It is faith in God’s provision that heals you.
God provided healing through a snake on a pole when the people looked up in faith.
God provided healing through His sinless Son, Jesus, who was crucified on a cross.
All that look up to Him in faith will be healed of their sins.

Absurd?
It may seem so to those that do not believe.

It doesn’t matter what WE think, it matters what God said.
Tell them to look up and be healed.
Amen!