July 31, 2022 – Sunday Service Live Stream

Call to Worship and Invocation

Of our God, please stand. Oh, give thanks to the Lord. Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the people. Sing to him, sing psalms to him. Talk of all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name.

Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations. His wonders among all people.

For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is also to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols. But the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and gladness are in his place.

Give to the Lord, oh families of the people. Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of our Father in heaven.

We have come to worship and to bow down and kneel before you, the Lord, our maker. For you are our God and we are the people of your pasture, the sheep of your hands. We come to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

He is our advocate with the Father. He is the only mediator between God and man. He always lives to make intercession for us. Through him, we come boldly to your throne of grace. In his name, we earnestly seek you.

Oh, Lord, our souls thirst for you. Our flesh yearns for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Bow your heavens and come down. Inhabit the praises of your people. Remember your promise, oh spirit of Christ, to be present in the midst of your worshiping people when two or more are gathered together in your name.

Condescend to us, grant us the joy of your fellowship, speak to us through your word, and be blessed by our praise and adoration. Amen. Please kneel as you are able for the corporate confession. Let us join together in confessing our sins.

Gracious God, we confess that we have longed too much, but we have loved the gifts more than the giver. May your mercy help us to see that all. We plead your forgiveness on the merits of Jesus Christ.

Accept his worthiness for our, his sinlessness for our, his boldness for our emptiness, his glory for our shame, his righteousness for our dead works, his death for our lives. We pray in Jesus.

Please stand. Hear this assurance of pardon. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Oh, my brothers and sisters, the gloriousness of this thought that our sin not in part, but the whole was nailed to the cross and we bear it no more. Let us rejoice that our sins are forgiven. Amen. Please take up the hymnal and open up to number 173.

Praise him. Praise him. Number 173.

Please take out the insert and look for the psalm that's labeled 256. Out of the depths of sadness is from Psalm 130. Melissa will play through the tune one time.

And then we will join in.

Jeremiah 24 and the Two Baskets of Figs

Bain standing and open your Bibles to Jeremiah 24. Jeremiah 24.

Lord showed me and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord. After Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had carried away captive Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem had brought them to Babylon.

One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe, and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten. They were so bad. Then the Lord said to me, what do you see, Jeremiah?

And I said, figs, the good figs, very good. And the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten. They are so bad. Again, the word of the Lord came to me saying, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good into the land of the Chaldeans.

For I will set my eyes on them for good and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not pull them down. I will plant them and then I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord and they shall be my people and I will be their God.

For they shall return to me with their whole heart. And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad. Surely thus says the Lord, so will I give up Zedekiah, the King of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.

I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse in all places where I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine and the pestilence among them till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.

Peace to God.

Let us now confess our common Christian faith by the singing of the Apostles' Creed. Once again, take up the Trinity Hymnal and open up to hymn number 390, Lord of the Sabbath, hear us pray. Number 390.

Prepare yourself for the prayers of the... Let us pray.

Oh God, from whom come all the merits of Jesus, who lives and reigns with you.

The Lord says, I am the Lord, your God. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother.

For many of us to have faithful parents, I pray that you would allow us to honor those who are in the midst of this, Lord God. Even more so, Lord God, as a ministry to them, that we would honor our fathers and mothers who are unbelievers, Lord God.

Anyone represented in this community,.

In this church, who is in that position. Father, I pray that you would allow this to be a ministry to them, Lord God, and you know this is something that glorifies you as your first family of the promise, Lord God.

I pray that we here, essentially, would be those who honor our fathers and mothers.

Let's pray.

You shall not kill.

Lord, have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

Father, we thank you that you are the author of life. We thank you that you have delivered us out of the kingdom of darkness and into your glorious light. We do ask that you would have mercy upon us, that we would not be inclined to any type of anger, fits of anger, any bitterness within us towards our family, towards the church, or towards anybody unlawfully.

We pray, Lord, that you would grant us the grace to put to death anything that comes close to this. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

You shall not commit adultery.

Lord, have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

Father, we live in a rooted out.

You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Who bear those around us. And Lord God, that we would not be a deceitful and manipulative people. Father, I pray that we would be full of your truth and your light, and your light, Lord God. And I pray that we would be wholly dedicated to a justice that is reflective of your word.

In Jesus' name, we pray.

You shall not covet.

Lord, have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

Father, we ask that you would give us hearts of contentment, recognizing that you have given us everything that we have. Ask that you would help us not to be envious or jealous of other people, but be grateful for what you have given other people.

We pray that you would give us clean hearts in this regard. That you would help us to work for ourselves so that we can provide what we need for ourselves, for our families, and friends and others that we would.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, mind, and strength.

Lord, have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

And to all these things we say together, amen. Please stand and take up the insert again. And for the last time, we're singing the psalm of the month, Psalm 124. Let Israel now say in thankfulness.

Numbers 21: The Bronze Serpent and the People's Grumbling

Please turn in your Bibles to Numbers chapter 21. Numbers 21. In the fourth installment in our little Pentateuchal series, Numbers, this is God's holy and infallible word. The king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the south, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Athrahim.

Then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners. So Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, if you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

And the Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called Hormah. 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. 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.

So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people. And many of the people of Israel died. 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 may take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, make a fiery serpent, 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. May the Lord be pleased with our study of his most holy word.

Please pray with me. Lord, we thank you for Holy Scripture, which you have inspired and preserved and delivered to us. We pray, oh Lord, that as we recount these events of the history of your covenant people, that we would see Jesus Christ exalted, lifted up.

The savior of all. And we ask this in Jesus name, amen. Please be seated. What a strange narrative. People falling under the judgment of God, dying from the bites of snakes, serpents, vipers in the wilderness wandering, and God providing a bronze statue, a pole with a brazen serpent on it as the means of deliverance.

In context, God had commanded Israel not to fight with their brethren, Edom. So the whole encampment must travel the long way around. You wanna think about a map. Israel needs to go northwest. Direct line would be through Edom.

To get to where they're going to go, they turn around now and are gonna head southeast, the polar opposite direction. This is a cause of grumbling and complaining among the people. If you've ever missed your exit, you know how this feels, but this is infinitely larger and more frustrating.

This is all being done very laboriously on foot. They have to go the long way. Our own experience reveals the frustrations that go along with something like that. And in fact, we have to acknowledge, like Israel who are going through some real difficulties, we grumble at the smallest of inconveniences.

When the trains are off by a couple of minutes, we're thrown out of sorts and we grumble and complain because our plans are not coming to pass as we would like. And it's interesting here as we read that the Israelites had just recently humbled themselves and they had obtained in that first section a substantial victory over the enemy, the Canaanites.

And yet they complained about a longer path and even despised and murmured about the man of food. And the recurring theme in Numbers, there is no water, there is no food. Why have you brought us out here to die?

You'll remember, and this is reminiscent in the previous chapter of Numbers, referring to the first incident of this in Exodus 17. They had even recently drank from that rock, which we learned from Paul in 1 Corinthians 10, was Christ.

They're forgetting. God is providing for them, he's blessing them, their lives should be filled with thanksgiving. Living with Christ in dry desert tents is better than living in the palaces of men. But they forget and they grumble and they complain.

They wanted the meat and drink of the wicked nations, despising that which miraculously comes from God's hand in heaven. Being unthankful and hard-hearted invites the chastening of God. This is an inviolable axiom of scripture.

As a congregation, our history is not on par with the history of Israel. But the principles that apply to them also apply to us just the same. When we grumble and complain, we ask for correction. And that correction can oftentimes be unpleasant.

After all, our God chastens the sons whom he loves. Be chastened instead by the shepherding staff of God's word, that you might not be chastened by the rod. God's patience is long-suffering. But his holy character also demands action.

And our text today chronicles both God's correction and unsurprisingly now to us, his persistent love, grace, and mercies. And in all of this, and in vipers and serpents and poles and grumbling, we're going to see something of the glory of Christ.

Let's consider this in principle and in action. First, the first section, verses one through three, the utter destruction of the Canaanites. The utter destruction of the Canaanites is the first outline point for you who needs some structure to organize your thoughts.

In verses four and five, shockingly, when reading this, when you read what happens through this little narrative, it's surprising that the people speak out against God and Moses. That's number two, that the people would speak out against God and against Moses.

Number three, all from the text here, the Lord, verse six, sent fiery serpents. The Lord sent them. This is not just a naturally occurring phenomenon in a little patch of the wilderness. These come from God.

Four, the Lord instructs Moses and provides deliverance. Number four, the Lord instructs Moses and provides deliverance. And fifth, look upon the serpent, comma, look at Christ. Look upon the serpent, look at Christ.

Verse one, the utter destruction of the Canaanites. The king of Arad made a devastating mistake. He thought it wise, strategic, and tactical to attack Israel on the road to Arathim. He fights against Israel.

He probably kills a few of them. And we know from the text that he takes some of them to be prisoners. And in this, in Israel's trouble, rightfully so, as we should upon every entrance into any kind of trouble, Israel turns to God in prayer and they make a vow to the Lord.

They say, if you will give us this favor and this victory, we will go and utterly destroy these people. Look again at verse two. So Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, if you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

And the Lord graciously listens to the voice of Israel. These hardheaded, stubborn, rebellious people, the Lord again listens and hears their prayers. And he delivers up the Canaanites and they rout them and they utterly destroy them in their cities.

And that place ends up being called Hormah, which means an utter and complete destruction. God heard them in their time of need, in their prayers. He continues to show his grace and mercy to them as he has to you.

And what do we do in response? Look at verse four. The people speak against God and against Moses. They journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea. You remember, they have to go Northwest. They turn to the Southeast because they have to go around the land of Edom.

And the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. Oh, people of God, we need to become a lot tougher than we are. We are so easily set off course. Any little thing trips us up. The grace of Christ has been showered on us, his people.

Our very breath, our life, our salvation, all the good gifts that he has supplied to us super abundantly and yet we grumble. We're discouraged when we have to work a little harder than we're inconvenienced in any way.

And the people in this act of treachery really speak against God and against his mouthpiece, his servant, his prophet against Moses. And how many times in the law, in the Pentateuch, have they asked a question with identical or similar words as this?

Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? God didn't bring them out of Egypt to die. It's hard out here, God. We're supposed to be your people. Why are you making it so hard for us?

There is no food and no water. Every night bread from heaven comes down. Great rocks crack open and delicious, fresh spring water flows out of them for their sustenance and relief. There's no food, there's no water.

And Lord, it's been about 38 years. Our soul loathes this worthless bread. We don't like your provision. We don't like what you've supplied for us, Lord. Now, we look back at them and we look our nose down on them for this and there's some rightness to that.

But that same spirit resides in us. We have to acknowledge, we have to repent of this. We are always discontent, it seems. We go from praising and blessing and thanking and gratitude to we slip down some slope and immediately we're found to be ungrateful for what the Lord has provided for us.

The Lord is patient. The Lord is long-suffering, but now his patience has run low and has run out. In Numbers chapter 20, if you turn back, a little context will help us see the position they're in. There's something kind of bad and hard that happens.

There's a blessing, a provision, then something very difficult, then a great victory over the Canaanites, which we read in chapter 21, and now they spiral down in a different direction. Let's begin reading in verse seven of chapter 20.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, take the rod, you and your brother Aaron, I should point out to you at the beginning of chapter 20, Miriam, Moses' sister, very prominent in his life and all the issues related to him being saved and delivered, brought into Pharaoh's house, she dies.

So they're getting very old, the older siblings of Moses. And listen carefully, children. God speaks to us with great precision. We live in a squishy age, but God commands things to be done a certain way.

Says in verse seven and beginning at verse eight, take the rod, you and your brother Aaron, gather the congregation together, listen, speak to the rock before their eyes. It's another rock. They need water.

In Exodus 17, that most powerful image of this, Moses with his rod strikes the rock and the water flows out. Here he says, speak to the rock and it will yield its water. Thus you shall bring water from them out of the rock and give drink to the congregation and their animals.

So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock and he said to them, here now you rebels, fitting description. Must we bring water for you out of this rock?

Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod and water came out abundantly and the congregation and their animals drank. I believe this is a little lesson for Moses here. A little lesson for us that sets the stage for the fiery serpent passage.

God had provided a way for the water to come out through the speaking of his voice through Moses. But Moses has this magic rod. Before he strikes the rod, Exodus 17, the water comes out. He goes, I'm gonna hit it again twice with the rod.

He's given it to me. He's called me to carry the rod up to the rock. I must have to use it. God said, speak to the rock. Moses struck the rock, but water still comes out. It looks like it still works.

These methods of men sometimes work and produce results. But look at verse 12, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, because you did not believe me, to hallow me in the eyes of the children of Israel. Therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.

Moses finds out he's not gonna cross over into the promised land. Moses, top five, top seven greatest men of all time. Moses doesn't get to see the blessing. Our God is a precise God. We gotta be very careful to obey him in the manner he prescribes.

Verse 13, this was the water of Meribah, same language of Exodus. That word means contention, because the children of Israel contended with the Lord. Something good happens, and he was hallowed among them.

Now we get some background into why they don't cross directly through Edom. Verse 14, Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. Thus says your brother Israel, you shall know all the hardship that has befallen us, how our fathers went down to Egypt, how we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers.

When we cried out to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent the angel and brought us up out of Egypt. Now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border. Please let us pass through your country.

We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells. We will go along the king's highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.

Then Edom said to him, you shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword. So the children of Israel said to him, we will go by the highway. If I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it.

Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more. Then he said, you shall not pass through. So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory.

So Israel turned away from him. Now the children of Israel from the whole congregation journeyed from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom saying, listen carefully, Aaron shall be gathered to his people.

For he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel because you rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Aaron's gonna die because of this. He's gonna be stripped of his priestly garments over this.

Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there. Imagine that walk up to Mount Hor.

Aaron, I'm really thankful for all you've done but the Lord's judged us. So we're gonna walk up this mountain. We get up there, we're gonna strip off your garments. We're gonna put them on your son and you're going to die up there.

It's a hard walk. Verse 27, so Moses did just as the Lord commanded and they went up to Mount Hor and the side of all the congregation and Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, put them on Eleazar his son and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain.

And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. Now all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead and all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron 30 days. The people, it's clear in their mind, God is about some serious business here.

They've been abundantly warmed and the mourning period is over and then they have this interaction with the King of Arad, the Canaanite. And the Lord here in his mercy and his grace, they're a wounded people.

They've been offended by wicked men. The Lord comes and he intervenes and he provides and saves them and delivers them and conquers the Canaanites. They start to grumble. We have the death of Aaron because you rebelled against my word at Meribah.

The people mourn for 30 days. The King of Arad attacks and imprisons them. Israel rightly turns to God for help. God delivers them. And then very quickly they become discouraged and speak out against God and Moses.

The common refrain, why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die? There's no food or water and our soul loathes this worthless bread. They despise God and his dealings with them. They even despise that holy bread that he brought from heaven.

That's the context. Do you feel it unjust that God would bring serpents upon the people? Look at verse six. The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people. They bit the people. Many of the people of Israel died.

The Lord chastened Israel because of their ingratitude, their failure to obey, their failure to worship, their unthankfulness, their hard-heartedness toward God. The Lord is long suffering toward us in our sin.

Be instructed here. He will not leave you in your rebellion unchecked forever. Lest you repent from your sin, he may send chastening consequences into your life. The wisest among the people of God heed his word.

They hear it. They receive it with gladness and they turn from their wickedness. As we've been learning on Sunday mornings, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. Discipline yourself that others may not have to come and correct you or more terrifying, the Lord may chasten you.

I do not want the chastening of the Lord. I tell my children, this is something you do not want to have in your life,.

The Lord's chastening.

Children, today, obey your parents in the Lord. You know the principles they set before you in Christ. If you walk in obedience to the Lord, you will have no need of correction. You will not need to receive a painful chastening.

Israel now has a new urgent crisis. Fiery serpents, probably thousands of them. And I'm telling you, I do not like snakes. When I stumble upon them, I jump. I'm not afraid of many things. I do not like rattlesnakes.

I do not like water moccasins. I do not like snakes. Thousands of snakes biting them. Pervasively in their midst. Striking them with painful venomous bites. I believe they're described as fiery for several reasons.

One of the most obvious one, getting struck by them felt like being severely burned. Secondly, the immediate illness felt by those struck was a burning fever. They felt fire when the serpents strike. The people are dying.

Fear is running through the camp. Those freshly struck are writhing and moaning in pain. They're seeing their family members, their neighbors, their clansmen, they're dying. So they turn to Moses that he might intercede.

It's interesting, they were just speaking against God and Moses, just right there. But now they turn back to God through his servant, interceding for help. And this is one of the first Christological connections that we can make here.

Moses's Christ-like character revealed here. They deride him and despise him. And in their turning to him for help, he does not turn them away. We see something of Christ and Moses in this instance. Listen to what they say in verse seven.

That they come to Moses, that they rightly acknowledge their guilt. We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he may take the way, the serpents from us.

That last verse, very simple, six words. So Moses prayed for the people. He's praying for his enemies, his own brethren who have come against him, who rebel against him at every turn. Yet he persists in his faithfulness as their prophet and priest.

And now we get to the very interesting things. Then the Lord said to Moses, I should point out children, he doesn't take the serpents away. So the prayer is, Moses beseeched the Lord that he might take away the serpents from us.

The Lord hears Moses's prayer and he gives an alternative solution. 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.

Brethren, this is wild to me. I know the story, but this is the people, the guy who just died, he's not far removed from making a golden calf. God commands Moses to make a statue out of bronze and have all the people look at it.

There's something important here. They're going to look at the emblem of their suffering. The cause of their pain and death is held up before them. The vipers come because they rebelled against God. The things that's killing them is that venom coming from those serpents.

And the people are gonna have to look at it. They're not going to go and rub it. There's not going to be some anti-venom. They're not going to be taking bark and rubbing it on themselves over the wounds.

The only thing they can do is look at it. And if they look at it, they live. They have to look upon the cursed serpent, their judgment and death that they might live. They look upon the bronze serpent and see the salvation of God.

They're called to see their sins and to see their sins there, to look through them, through the bronze serpent toward God's deliverance. This is a bizarre scene. I want to remind you of something. And I'd like you to turn to Genesis 3.

There's something here. We've seen some things in recent weeks that are very obvious, but are underserved and underappreciated. How well do we know Genesis 3? We know it very well. I've read many commentators this week who say there really is no connection between the serpent of Genesis 3 and the serpents of Numbers.

And I think they are full of baloney. I think the people knew. When they were getting bit by serpents, they knew about Genesis 3. Now remember the description beginning in Genesis 3. Some of this I'm going to skip over because of its familiarity to us.

I'm not gonna rehash the fall, but just remember this. It says, now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. I'll skip over. And man fall, Adam falls. They hide themselves.

We read recently. We have the consequences of the fall. And in verse 13, look what it says. It says, and the Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate.

Now I want you to listen very carefully. We forget that cursing has come into the world. The sin has brought curses upon the world. The unbelievers outside the walls of our church, in our families, our loved ones, our community,.

They're under a curse.

They're not just nice people who aren't on God's side. They are under a curse. God curses the serpent. Look at verse 14. It says, because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field.

And on your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed, the Proto-Evangelium, the first gospel.

Here, it's right there. It comes in the context of cursing. The promise of salvation in Jesus Christ is revealed in the curse. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Now it's interesting, the curse doesn't fall on Adam in the same way.

It seems as though the serpent's person is cursed. What does it say about Adam, verse 17? Adam, he said, because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat of it.

Cursed is the ground for your sake and toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. He ties Adam back to the dust from which he comes through labor, through thorns and thistles. It's going to bring forth food for you.

The sweat of your face, you shall eat its bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust you shall return. This is the curse of death, the curse of toilsome labor and death.

Curses fall upon this beautiful creation God made. It's very important for us to understand this in light of the person of work of Christ. Please turn with me. Sometimes, and I hope I'm accused regularly of taking it too far, stretching the analogy.

I hope you are questioning whether it's legitimate to draw a one-to-one correlation between this historical thing that happens in Numbers 21 and the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you're questioning that.

Is this good exegesis? Turn with me to John chapter three really quickly. Please turn in your Bibles there. Most famous chapter in all of scripture, probably. And we have Numbers 21 here. Jesus in his interaction with Nicodemus says, most assuredly, this is verse five, I say to you, unless one is born of water in the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.

So is everyone who is born of the spirit. The curse has come upon humanity. We need new birth. The teacher of Israel needs to be instructed. He needs a new birth in Christ. Nine, Nicodemus answered and said to him, how can these things be?

Jesus answers him, are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not receive our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the son of man who is in heaven. And even things like water coming out of rocks and manna falling from the sky point to the revelation of Jesus Christ.