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Moses & The Fiery Serpent
● John 3:14-17 . . As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in him have eternal life. For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes
in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
That's Jesus making use of an incident that took place in Numbers 21:5-9
Long story short: Moses' people became weary of eating manna all the time at
every meal. But instead of courteously, and diplomatically, petitioning their divine
benefactor for a different diet, they became indignant and confrontational; angrily
demanding better accommodations.
In response to their insolence, and their ingratitude for His providence; God sent a
swarm of deadly poisonous snakes amongst them; which began striking people;
and every strike was 100% fatal, no exceptions.
After a number of people died, the rest came to their senses and begged Moses to
intercede. In reply; The Lord instructed Moses to fashion a replica of the snakes
and hoist it up on a pole in plain view so that everyone dying from venom could
look to it for relief.
The key issue here is that the replica was the only God-given remedy for the
people's bites-- not sacrifices and offerings, not tithing, not church attendance, not
scapulars, not confession, not holy days of obligation, not the Sabbath, not
rosaries, not weeping, not the golden rule, not charity, not Bible study, yeshiva,
catechism, and/or Sunday school, not self denial, not vows of poverty, not the Ten
Commandments, nor even one's ideology of choice, i.e. it wouldn't have mattered
whether somebody was Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant, Baha'i,
Atheist, Agnostic, Pagan, or whatever-- the replica was it; nothing else would
suffice to save their lives.
As an allegory, the replica speaks of Christ's crucifixion for the sins of the world as
the only God-given rescue from retribution and perdition; and when people accept
it, then according to John 3:14-17 and John 5:24, they qualify for a transfer from
death into life. Those who reject his crucifixion as the only God-given rescue from
the sum of all fears, are on the docket to face it.
● John 3:18 . .Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not
believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of
God's one and only son.
FAQ: How might one go about looking to Jesus like those folks back then looked to
that replica?
REPLY: I recommend RSVP.
Find a quiet place; anywhere will do. Cover you face with your hands for a sense of
connection, and tell God-- under your breath or out loud if you like --that you have
never yet measured up to His standards and you're pretty sure you never will. Tell
Him you would like to take advantage of His son's death to protect yourself from
retribution.
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