You can turn, if you will, in
your Bibles to Numbers chapter 21. I entitled this message, The Rebellion
of Israel. And I put that definite article
there, and I want to explain that a little bit. It's not because
this is the one rebellion of Israel. Israel had many, many
moments of rebellion. They walked in rebellion almost,
well, from the time God Drew them out as a nation and chose
them until the time he left this world. They just walked in rebellion
all their lives. They're just like you and me.
We walked in rebellion against the true Christ until God brought
us to the light. And we still walk in rebellion.
And we still have to be delivered from rebellion. I entitled the
message The Rebellion of Israel, but it's not just a physical
rebellion I'll be talking about, but also a spiritual rebellion.
Let's look here in Numbers chapter 21, starting in verse 1 here. First of all, this is what I'm
going to be talking about here. It's going to be the rebellion
itself and then the results of that rebellion and then the remedy
for that rebellion. So Numbers 21 in verse 1. And
when King Arad, the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard
tell that Israel came by way of the spies, that's how he heard
about them coming, by way of the spies, they fought against
Israel and took some of them prisoners. And Israel vowed a
vow unto the Lord and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this
people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
Israel, he's talking about here, is the nation. Israel said it
as a nation. Verse 3, And the Lord hearkened
to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly
destroyed them and their cities. And he called the name of the
place Hormath, which is utter destruction. Now, my text is
going to be verses 4 here on through verse 9, but it says
in verse 4, And they, the children of Israel, journeyed from Mount
Horeb by way of the Red Sea to accomplish the land of Edom.
And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the
way. They had sought to go through
this land of Edom. You know, these little kingdoms,
Edom and Moab and all these other little, they just lined up along
the Red Sea. And here they are out here, and
they're trying to get to a certain place. They wanted to go through
this land. It would have been a lot shorter
if this, These descendants of Esau here,
the Edomites, would have just let them go through. But they
said, no, you cannot go through this land. If you do, we're going
to attack you. And God had already told them,
do not contend with these descendants of Esau. I've given them this
land. Don't bother them. I'm not going to deliver them
into your hands. So they didn't have but one choice. And that
was to take the long way around this kingdom. And so that's what
they're doing here. And it says, to accomplish the
land of Edom, and the soul of the people was much discouraged.
It was a long way. It was a wilderness. I mean,
we can't even imagine the kind of difficulties these people
were going through. I mean, we live in the land of
plenty. We live where you just go down
to the corner and get you a hamburger when you want it. But these people,
they were out here in some pretty dire straits. So you can imagine
that they did become discouraged. They became discouraged against
their conditions. They said, in a minute we'll
see it, they said they had no water, no bread, only this light
bread. And this is not the first time
Israel had complained against the providence of God. I know
it was difficult, but this is not the first time they complained.
Look back in Exodus chapter 16 and verse 3. Exodus 16, 3, it
says, And the children of Israel said unto them, Moses and Aaron
is who they're talking to. And the children of Israel said
to Moses and Aaron, would to God we had died by the hand of
the Lord in the land of Egypt. When we sat by the flesh pots
and when we did eat bread to the full, for you have brought
us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with
hunger. And then look over a page at
17, verse 3. And the people thirsted there
for water. And the people murmured against
Moses and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us
up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with
thirst? So this is not the first time
that they had rebelled against God's providence here. Those situations had been answered
with bread from heaven, manna, and water out of a rock, a flint
rock, which you normally wouldn't get water of, but God provided
them water out of that rock. Look at verse 5 in Numbers 21.
And the people spoke against God and against Moses. Wherefore
have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul
loatheth this light bread. Like I said, this is not the
first time that they complained. This light bread they loathed
is the very food that God had provided to sustain them through
this wilderness experience. They didn't have any other means
to eat. And God rained this bread down
on them. As Ken mentioned, every morning
when the dew fell, this bread, this little wafer was on the
ground. And they went out and gathered
up one day one day's worth for each person and took it in. And
if they tried to get more than that, it rotted and stank. So it's like Ken said, it's like
a picture of Christ being. We need him every day. We need
to come to this word every day. We need to think about God's
providence in bringing us to this Savior who is all of salvation
every day. This light bread they load is
the food God provided them without which they would have starved.
The manna was a type of Christ. So the rebellion was not just
about the bread. It's also about God's way of
salvation. Now, God doesn't take lightly
those who complain about His providence, but He doesn't take
lightly especially those who complain about His Son. Israel's
40-year sojourn in the wilderness is a picture of Christ providing
for all men. You know, we think about Israel
and we think, well, these are the people of God. These are
the elect of God. No. In Israel, they were both
elect and non-elect. There were those that God had
chosen unto salvation and those that He had passed by. He said
they're not all Israel who are of Israel. Just because you're
the natural descendants of Abraham, that doesn't mean you're the
chosen elect spiritual people of God, He said over in Romans
9. So when we think about Israel, we've got to remember that they're
not all the elect of God. So this sojourn that they went
through in the wilderness is a picture of Christ providing
for all kinds of men, all men. Both those who are not and never
will be his own, spiritually speaking, as well as his own,
even before they know they are his own. Look over with me to
Acts. Paul addressed this issue over
here in Acts with these men on Mars Hill that he confronted
in Acts chapter 17. In verse 22, Paul said, Paul
stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, You men of Athens,
I perceive that in all things you're too superstitious. For
I passed by and beheld your devotions. I found an altar with this inscription
to the unknown God covering all the bases. In other words, they
think by having an altar to the unknown God, they're going to
catch them all, no matter who they might be. Whom therefore
you ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." Verse 24, God that
made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord
of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands,
neither is worship with men's hands as though he needed anything,
seeing he giveth to all, all without exception, life and breath
and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations of men,
all the descendants of Adam. for to dwell on all the face
of the earth, and have determined the times before appointed and
the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord,
if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he be
not far from every one of us. For in him we all, all without
exception, reprobate and elect alike, elect and nonelect. In
him we live and move and have our being, as certain also of
your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring by
creation. We're all his offspring. For
as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think
that the God is likened to gold or silver or stone, graven by
art and man's device. I'll stop right there on that. It's Christ who's taken care
of this world. It's Christ who took care of
this nation Israel, both those that he had purposed to save
eternally and those that he had not. It's no small thing to reject
the Lord Jesus Christ, His just satisfaction, His accomplished
redemption. In fact, it is the continued
rebellion against God's Christ and rejection of Him that brings
certain unavoidable judgment to men. And that's the second
point of this lesson. That's the rebellion of Israel.
They rebelled against God's Christ, of which the manna pictured and
typified. The second thing is the result
of that rebellion. Look back in our text, Numbers
21 here, verse 6. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of
Israel died. God's judgment came upon them
for their rebellion against Christ. Fiery serpents whose bite was
lethal, painful, agonizing death was the result of these serpents.
There's no remedy for them, no cure for them. If they were bitten,
they died. Now, why did God send these deadly
serpents among these people? Was it so that the people would
see that He meant business and straighten up? Was it because
this was His way of teaching and correcting His people? Neither
reason. Why did God reveal His judgment
against those who continued to despise His Christ? This was
an occasion for Him to show His elect that the only hope of sinners
is in God's mercy, pictured and typified in this brass serpent,
which is also a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's mercy is
the only hope of sinners. The propitious, merciful work
of Christ is the only answer for fallen humanity. It's the
only answer to the rebellion against God's Christ. So the rebellion resulted in fiery
serpents being sent among the people. And that represents the
judgment of God. Now, what does the judgment of
God call sinners to do? Let's read on here to verse 7
in our text. Therefore the people came to
Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the
Lord and against thee, praying to the Lord that he take away
the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people."
What does the judgment of God cause sinners to do? It causes
them to seek relief from that judgment. Imagine being in a
place where these, it says fiery serpents. I don't even like to
be in the same county with a snake, much less be among a snake that's
there to, that's a poisonous snake and he's, they're numerous
and they're all over the place and I don't even like to think
of being in such a situation. So I would be seeking relief
from these serpents. But these serpents represents
the judgment of God. They said, pray unto God that
he take away the serpents from us. What they're asking for is
God to deliver them from his just judgment. That's what this
is representative of. God's just judgment against sin. And they're asking him to deliver
them from God's just judgment. All they wanted was relief. All they wanted was not to be
exposed to the wrath of God. And here's the way sinners, this
is represented in us and in other sinners in this world. It's a
fig leaf apron. will give me relief from God's
wrath, then give me the apron. If hiding from God will give
me relief, just show me where I can hide and I'll do that.
If a profession of Christ in a religion of requirements and
conditions, if that will give me relief, then just tell me
what condition I need to meet. Just tell me what I need to do.
The only thing sinners want is relief from God's judgment. But
you know what? Look back at Exodus chapter 10. Pharaoh wanted the same thing.
Exodus chapter 10. You remember when God delivered
Israel out of this land of Egypt by a mighty hand and through
numerous plagues? Pharaoh asked for the same thing
these children of Israel asked for here in verse 16 of chapter
10 in Exodus. Then Pharaoh called for Moses
and Aaron in haste. God had had covered the face
of the whole earth with locusts, and he wanted some relief from
that. And he said, I have sinned against the Lord and against
you. Same words the children of Israel
said. All sinners want when they see
the judgment of God is relief. They really don't care where
it comes from or how to get it. This world's religion has thousands
of ways, most of which are based in some part of the Scriptures,
some verse, some doctrine. Pray this prayer and God's wrath
will be removed from you. Walk this aisle and God's wrath
will be removed. Give your heart to Jesus. Worship
on Saturday and not on Sunday. Confess your sins to this certain
man. Get immersed and not sprinkled.
There are so many ways that this world's religion has for sinners
supposedly to be delivered from the wrath of God, from the wrath
that they've been exposed to both by their fallen Adam as
well as our own personal sins. Now you've heard them just like
I have. If you'll go visiting on Thursday, God will be way
more pleased with those who just come on Sunday, these nominal
Christians. You know, you've heard all these
things. Get serious about your religion. Don't just come on
Sunday and sit there and listen to the preacher. Read your Bible.
Pray. Give above a tithe. All these things. You've heard
them. But a just God is not in any of these ways. The only thing
a just God can do with sin is punish it. with eternal death.
That's the only thing he can do. The soul that sins, that
soul shall surely die. He told Adam, in the day you
eat thereof, you shall surely die. The wages of sin is eternal
death. God cannot fail to punish every
sin. To punish one sin and not punish
all sin would be unjust. And God's just God. He can't
do that. The question that ought to be
being asked and is not is where has God punished sin? Has there ever been any punishment
for sin? Where has sin been put away in
a just satisfaction? The question that ought to be
being asked is what is God's remedy for sin? So we have the
rebellion of Israel. They rebelled against the manna.
They rebelled against God's Christ. And then we have the result,
judgment. He showed them what he thinks
about rebellion against Christ. And now let's look lastly here
at the remedy in verse 8 of our text. And the Lord said unto
Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it
shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he looketh
upon it, shall live. This is the remedy, God's remedy
for sin. God did not answer the prayer
of the ungodly. They wanted Him to take away
the serpents from them. He didn't do that. Israel still
faced the same fiery serpents. They still faced the same painful
bites from these serpents. Now, I see this as a testimony
that even God's elect people are not kept from sin's legal
guilt and just condemnation, just like those not chosen. We
entered into judgment with God based on Adam's sin imputed in
the garden, just like every other sinner born into this world.
We fell in Adam. We were condemned by sin imputed
and were exposed to the wrath of God, just like every other
sinner Adam represented. We have also sinned personally
and would be facing eternal death if God judged us based on our
best efforts at obedience. Just like those who aren't chosen. Now, Paul proves this in his
letter to Romans. Look over at Romans with me for
a minute. Romans 3. Romans chapter 3. And look down at verse 21. Now, let me give you this context
here. Paul has just finished showing
how God was just to condemn the nations, or the Gentiles, and
how he was just to condemn Israel, and then how he was just to condemn
even his elect. He was just in that. Verse 21
says, But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness
of God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and
upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. That
should be did sin and themselves come short of the glory of God. Now, what I want to show you
right here is that all sinned in Adam by his sin imputed and
we all sin personally and still do and come short of the glory
of God. Those three phrases right there. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe, for there's no difference. There's no difference
between the Jew and the Gentile. There's no difference between
the elect and the non-elect. All stand in need of this righteousness
that he's talking about here, that is now made manifest, that
is without the law, which Christ himself brought in. It says in
verse 23, for all have sinned. Now that first part of that verse
is talking about we've all sinned in Adam, our representative.
All did sin in the garden when Adam sinned. I wasn't there and
you weren't there either. But we sinned in our representative
and that sin was charged to our account. The second part of that
verse 23 says, and, and that's a middle voice, it means and
themselves come short of the glory of God. And that come means
continue to come. Even in my person right now,
even in your person, we continue in all that we do, even in the
best that we do, to come short of the glory of God. In other
words, there's nothing I can look at in me that makes me different
from any other sinner in this world as far as my standing before
God goes. My standing has to be found in
the imputed righteousness of Christ and in that alone. That
is the only difference. He says here, there's no difference.
All sinners, Jew, Gentile, elect, non-elect, all stand in need
of something. The problem is we just don't
know what that something is until God is pleased to sit us down
under the gospel and show us what Christ accomplished by His
obedience unto death. God did not answer the prayer
of the ungodly. Take away these serpents from
among us. He didn't answer that prayer.
He didn't take away the serpents. He did not remove his just judgment
for sin, but he didn't leave his people without hope. He told
his mediator what he needed to do to deliver his people from
this judgment. I'm back in Numbers 21 now. He told his mediator what he
needed to do. Make a fiery serpent and set
it upon a pole and it shall come to pass that everyone that is
bitten when he looked upon it shall live. His mediator is who he told to the remedy
for his sin. And he promised his mediator
that his work would be successful. And when the mediator responded
and the sinners who were bitten beheld his work, the work of
the mediator. When they beheld the serpent
of brass, they lived. This is all a picture of sinners
looking to Christ alone for all of salvation. It's a picture
of sinners looking to Christ's blood and imputed righteousness
alone to keep them unto final glory. God's remedy, pictured
in this brazen serpent, is a substitute who has borne away the sin of
his sheep. He has borne them away in his
body on the tree. Even God's elect were sentenced
to eternal death in Adam. All God chose were delivered
from that death at Calvary. All who have been delivered from
that death at Calvary, justified there by the blood and righteousness
of Christ, all who have been delivered will in time look upon
that one who delivered him by his obedience unto death. The
promise of the gospel is still the same today as it was right
here. The Gospel still tells sinners in need of deliverance
from God's just judgment where that deliverance is to be found.
Romans 10 and verse 13 says, For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Paul said to the Philippian
jailer in Acts 16 31, Believe, he asked, sirs, what must I do
to be saved? He said, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.
It's believing on that Christ that God sets forth in the gospel,
that Christ He sent to the cross to work out the only righteousness
He ever accepted and the one He imputed to His people there
at the cross. It's not the calling or the believing
that brings salvation, just like it wasn't the looking here that
brought relief from these fiery serpents. The calling and believing
just identifies us with Him who accomplished our salvation. by
his death on the cross. That's the evidence that we're
looking to the one God sent. Look at verse 9. And Moses made
a serpent of brass, he did what God instructed him to do, and
put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that if a serpent had
bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. The remedy which God provided
through his mediator, it says in this verse, was 100% effective. That's a pretty good cure rate,
isn't it? One hundred percent. No one bitten who beheld the
serpent of brass died from their bite. All who looked to the serpent
of brass survived God's judgment. Though they had been sentenced
to death, the serpent of brass delivered them from that otherwise
certain end. The only ones bitten that would
not have been delivered in this context were those who refused
to look. upon the serpent of brass, because
if any man had been bitten when he beheld the serpent of brass,
he lived. The serpent of brass is a picture
and type of the mercy of God found only in Christ, typified
by that serpent. By Christ's obedience unto death,
he delivered every sinner he lived and died for from the just
punishment our sins deserve in God's justice demanded of us.
And you remember, this story is referenced over in the New
Testament. I know you remember this. When Christ came to Nicodemus,
Nicodemus came to Christ by night and said, we know you're a teacher
come from God because no man can do the things that you do
except God be with him. Look over at John chapter three
with me for the last few minutes here in this message. John chapter
three, and let's look at As I said, Christ references this lifting
up as a servant here in verse 14. John 3.14, And as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life. He said, even so must. This is
before he went to the cross. Even so, Christ said, must the
Son of Man. be lifted up. He must be lifted
up on that cross. He must go there and pay the
sin debt for his people. He must go there and establish
the righteousness that his people need and none can provide. He
must go there and make a just satisfaction to God's law and
his justice on behalf of his people. He had to go to that
cross and bear away the legal guilt and just condemnation of
his elect. So he must be lifted up on the
cross. And he must be lifted up in the
gospel. Before you and I were privileged to be brought and
sat down under a message that told us of this successful Savior
and the salvation that he accomplished for every sinner he lived and
died for, where were we? We were wandering around in the
darkness of this world's religion somewhere. You were somewhere
and you were somewhere else and you were somewhere else. But
it doesn't matter. God brought us here to the gospel. And Christ was lifted up in that
gospel, this Christ, this Christ who accomplished the salvation
of every sinner he lived and died for. So Christ must be lifted
up on the cross. He must be lifted up in the gospel
and he must be lifted up in the hearts of his people in regeneration.
And he will be when they behold him who bore away their sins,
who established God's righteousness and were justified by that righteousness
imputed there at the cross. Look at verse 16 here. For God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For
God so, or thus, in this manner loved the world. How did he love
them? How is that love demonstrated? Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sin, the sin-bearing sacrifice who put away our sins
there at the cross. A lot of people through the ages
have wondered about this verse. It talks about the love of God,
and it says how can a loving God send sinners to hell? How
can He justly punish sin if he's a loving God. How can that be?
Well, a loving God is not who punishes sin. It's a just God
that punishes sin. God's love cannot stop his justice
from demanding the death of every soul that sins. It couldn't stop
his justice from demanding even the death of his elect. That's
why Christ had to come. That's why he had to satisfy
law and justice on behalf of his people. That's why he had
to work out the righteousness God demands. And we needed and
couldn't provide. That's why for those sinners
that God chose, His love provided what His justice demanded. His love set forth His Son, a
propitiation that He might be just and justifier of ungodly
sinners. The only sinners who will not
be saved in this world are those who refuse to look to Christ
alone. Look over at John 3 and verse
36. He that believeth on the Son, the One who accomplished
all of the salvation of His elect there at the cross, established
that righteousness, and the Father imputed that righteousness to
them there at the cross. He that believeth on the Son
has, not when he believes, he already has everlasting life.
This belief is just evidence of life. And he that believeth
not the Son, that is, He who refuses to be persuaded by this
message, by this Christ, by this gospel, he that believeth not
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
Always asks, Jacob have I loved? Esau have I hated? He never loved
Esau. He always hated him. The wrath
of God always abided on Esau, but his love always eternally
abided on Jacob and every one that he chose. before the world
began, everyone he sent Christ to live and die for. The world
emphasizes believing in these verses. Believe that whosoever
believeth on him. But it's the him we're to believe
in that makes all the difference. Are we believing in that one
that God sent? Are we believing in that one
who is God and man in one person? Are we believing in that one
who accomplished the salvation of his people and established
that one righteousness? by which God is just, was just
when he justified us there at the cross. I'll close with this
quotation from Isaiah chapter 28. Therefore, thus saith the
Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a
tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, one that can't
fail to save all that he represents. He that believeth shall not make
haste or be ashamed. That verse describes the Savior
that that serpent of brass, in Numbers 21, typified. It describes
the Savior I've attempted to set forth in this message. It's
the Savior every gospel preacher attempts to set before those
he's privileged to speak to. And it's the Savior I urge everyone
listening to, to look, look to this Savior and live. Thank you, Mark. Moses, the mediator.