September 29 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

The regrets came after the punishment. First the Israelites complained about the journey and the food. Then they grumbled about the leadership of Moses and of God. In a moment of disgust, they tossed away all the privileges of being God's own people. They were taunting their Lord, inviting him to cast them off. And it was only after they were dying from poisonous snake bites that they cried to Moses and begged him to pray for them.

"We have sinned when we spoke against the lord and against you."

Humbled to the dust, the people of Israel cried out to be spared.

God answers in a very remarkable way. Moses is told to make a replica of a serpent and put it on a pole. Then, when people are bitten by a snake and the poison begins to course through their system, they can look at the brass serpent and be healed.

Some five hundred years later, Israelites were burning incense before the bronze serpent Moses made, until a God-fearing king destroyed the object of superstition (2 Kings 18:4).

Within the church, this short and bitter episode in the history of Israel's wanderings might have been forgotten, were it not for the fact that this saving sign became a teaching model in the New Testament.

Jesus himself used the figure of the serpent to clinch his instruction of Nicodemus. First he humbled the ruler of the Jews, and all of us, by declaring that flesh is only flesh and human beings are unable to lay hold on the life that comes from God. And then our Teacher chose the bronze serpent to show that it is up to God to choose the instrument of healing.

"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man (the Messiah) must be lifted up (on a pole or a cross), that everyone who believes (looks to him as the message from God) may have eternal life in him." So simple and so profound!

All of us are dying and no one has medicine. Then God gives us Jesus on the cross. And all we have to do is look up and live.

REFLECTIONS

Remind yourself to look up to Jesus today and whenever you sense your need for healing from sin, weakness, and lack of faith.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.