By Amy Brown 

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:14-15)

In the book of Numbers, we read an account of the people of Israel becoming dissatisfied with their condition and speaking out against God and against Moses. They were on a long journey, became discouraged, and so began to complain.

Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”(Numbers21:4-5)

The Lord’s anger was aroused against the people and he sent fiery serpents among them, resulting in many deaths.

So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. (Numbers 21:6)

Naturally, this got their attention! They immediately confessed and repented of their sin, begging Moses to pray to God on their behalf, that the serpents may be taken from them. Moses complied and prayed for the people.

Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.(Numbers 21:7)

God was merciful and gave Moses instructions that the people might be delivered from the serpents.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:8-9)

There was only one way for the people who had been bitten to live-that was to look upon the bronze serpent. It was set high up on a pole that all people might be able to see it. The nation of Israel was no small group of people, so it makes sense that the serpent would have to be lifted up in order for all to be able to look upon it.

Likewise, for mankind to be saved, the Son of Man must be lifted up for all around us to see. How is this done? Well, He was literally lifted on the cross to die for all so that we might all have an opportunity for salvation. Christ said this speaking of His death:

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.-John 12:32

Today, those of us in Christ must share Him with the dying world around us. We must live in such a way that there is no doubt what we are and to whom we belong. We must lift Him up daily in our words, actions, and even in our private thoughts. We must be diligently seeking Him through the Word always that we might be ready to teach the lost.

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. (2 Tim 4:1-2)

Going back to the Israelites…what if Moses made the serpent, lifted it up and delivered the Lord’s instructions, and the people believed what was said, but never looked up at the serpent? Sounds silly doesn’t it? It follows reason that if they believed the words of the Lord, they would follow through on what was commanded. That is also the case today. We know many in the religious world claim belief is all that’s needed. We know from the Word that is not true. Repentance (Mark 1:15, Mark 2:17, Mark 6:12; Luke 3:3, Luke 13:3; Luke 24:47), Confession (Matthew 3:6, Matthew 10:32; Romans 10:10), Baptism (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 2:41; Romans 6:4; 1 Peter 3:21), and living a faithful life (Matthew 25:21, Philippians 2:12, Revelation 2:10) are all also necessary to salvation.