Numbers 21:4-9 (The text is our Old Testament reading.  Let's begin with
prayer.)

 A little historical background for you if you would.  Israel has been
marching in the wilderness for a number of years at this point.  What we
learn in the previous chapter is that Aaron, Moses' brother and the first
High Priest, has just died and the Israelites have mourned his death.
What is going on is that the Israelites are living in the wilderness
until the generation of Israelites that had refused to trust in the Lord
and go in a capture the land of Canaan had died out.  We are almost at
the end of that forty year period of wandering and it seems that despite
the Lord's blessing and care, the Israelites easily forget to trust in
the Lord.
 Now note what I said.  Despite the Lord's blessing and care the
Israelites easily forget to trust in the Lord.  Do you know why I say
that?  Because for the last 39 years or so these people are still being
lead by the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire.  Because for the last
39 years or so we are told that their clothes and shoes did not wear out
or when water is needed it is provided.  Just as important, for the last
39 years the Lord has provided manna and quail so that no one goes
hungry.  It is very clear in every way that God is watching over these
people and taking care of their needs.
 And as if all the things I just mentioned aren't enough, please note
that the Lord has just given victory against the enemy.  Just before our
text it is mentioned that the Canaanites living in Arad had attacked the
Israelites and taken some captives.  The people turned to the Lord and we
are told that the Lord gave the Canaanites in Arad into the hands of
Israel.  In other words these people have just come from a great victory
against their enemy.  For all intents and purposes, these people were
invincible since the Lord was clearly on their side.
 It is this background knowledge that makes the words of our text so
utterly shocking.  Here is this group so utterly blessed by the Lord, so
clearly the recipients of his goodness and providence and yet here is
this group that has the gall to complain and grumble against the Lord.
Well, I think this group and its history has a lot to say to us.  Let's
consider the words of our text under the theme: PROBLEM HEARTS.  1st. The
faith problem.  2nd. The snake problem.  3rd. They are brought back to
the Lord.
 I would expect that you are as shocked, or should we say, you are as
appalled by the behavior of these people of God as I am!  I could
understand their behavior if for the past 39 years there had been no
evidence of God's direct care and concern for them.  I could understand
their behavior if they were losing battle after battle, if they were
starving and thirsting to death.  I could understand their behavior if it
wasn't for the awesome and clear blessings of God that were daily, DAILY
found among them.  Yet here is what our text reports.  It says, "But the
people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against
Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the
desert? There is no bread! There is no water!  And we detest this
miserable food!"
 What a complaint!  What an absolute and miserable lie?  Let's examine
what they say.  First we hear that the people grew impatient.  God had
directed them to go around the land of Edom because the King of Edom
refused to let them pass through his land.  God directed them around Edom
because the Edomites were actually related to Israel.  Israel is
descended from Jacob.  Edom is descended from Esau, Jacob's twin brother.
 God directed them around Edom as an act of grace and mercy to Edom
simply because of who they were.
 But Israel is unhappy.  What, they don't want to share God's grace and
mercy?  They would rather kill their relatives than patiently go around?
I don't know about you, but I see that their impatience in this matter is
really based on the fact that they don't think the Lord is leading them
right.  Blessed by God.  Cared for by God.  And yet they think God
doesn't know what He's doing.
 Go on with their complaint.  They speak against God and Moses!  They
accuse God of wanting them dead.  They complain about no bread and no
water.  And did you catch those last words?  "We detest this miserable
food!"  They had food.  They had everything they needed to take care of
their physical needs.  They don't like the food before them.  They are
telling God to take his heavenly bread, the manna, and his heavenly meat,
the quail and get lost!  Doesn't their attitude just make you shudder?
 It is clear that there is a faith problem.  It is clear that they have
focused in on the things of this world, their personal desires rather
than the blessings they have from God.  Their faith problem is the result
of ungrateful hearts.  They have, but it is not enough.  They are blessed
but they don't feel it's the right blessings.  They are loved but turn to
the Lord in bitterness and hatred.
 Do you know what makes this all the more tragic?  It is the fact that if
instead of complaining they would simply have come to the Lord and asked
him, asked him for help, I have no doubt the Lord would have given it.
Every time they need water the Lord supplies.  Every time they seek God's
blessings, the Lord supplies.  Yet they don't ask.  They complain.  Not
just a person here or there but rather the whole lot of them get to
griping, sniping, and complaining about almost everything.  The real
problem they have is a faith problem.  They view the Lord as the problem.
 It is a scary thing to see.
 I wonder if we have ever done such a thing?
 The Lord deals with this as only the wisdom of God can.  Since they have
a faith problem God provides a faith solution.  Pay attention to what the
Lord does.
 What the Lord does is send poisonous snakes among them.  Not just one or
two, but hundreds.  God sends this as a lesson.  It is a lesson that
says, "How dare you treat the Lord God like this!"  It is a lesson that
says, "Look how powerless you really are!"  Were it not for my blessings
and guidance you would have and be nothing.  Since you want to play God
here is a problem to solve.  It is a lesson that leads them to rethink
their position about God.
 God was leading them back to putting their trust and confidence in him.
In Hebrews 12 we have God's own words about what discipline is for.  He
says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not
lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he
loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."  Endure hardship as
discipline; God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined
by his father?  If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes
discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we
respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of
our spirits and live!  Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as
they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share
in his holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.
Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for
those who have been trained by it.
 Do you see what the Lord's discipline does?  It leads us to God or as
Hebrews puts it, "it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace."  I
have no doubt that these people didn't like the snakes and the people
dying, but at the same time it was just the event needed that lead them
to turn back to the Lord and seek his forgiveness.  That's what our text
reveals.  It says, "The people came to Moses and said, 'We sinned when we
spoke against the LORD and against you.  Pray that the LORD will take the
snakes away from us."  It is in the face of this hardship that they
recognize their need for the Lord's power and blessings.  I tell you, the
Lord knows exactly what He is doing.
 Nor does God stop there in leading his people to faith.  Note the Lord's
solution to this problem.  I am fascinated by the fact that the Lord
doesn't just miraculously cause the snakes to disappear but rather does
something quite extraordinary.  He tells Moses to make a bronze serpent
and put it on a pole.  Whenever someone is bit by a snake, all one had to
do was look at the bronze serpent on that pole and they would suffer no
harm.  God provided a solution that was an exercise in faith.  If you got
bit, the first thing you needed to do was use your last ounce of strength
to get in sight of that pole.
 Isn't that interesting.  God wants to teach.  God wants faith put into
practice.  If you believe God and get bit then you look for the bronze
snake.  If you don't believe God, if you think he's just a bunch of hughy
when you get bit you won't look for the solution.  You die.  But what is
most fascinating is the fact that even if you thought God was full of
hughy, when you got bit and accidently saw the bronze snake you were
saved.  In other words, only the most stubborn resisters would die, the
rest would be brought to realize that God is true and right.
 Finally one last lesson that we just can't afford to miss.  It was
really God's lesson for us.  That bronze snake serves as a type of
Christ.  The bronze snake was meant to direct people to think about God's
gift of a Savior.  Jesus himself points this out.  We heard the words in
our Gospel reading.  "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so
the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may
have eternal life."
 Do you understand why that bronze snake was a type of Christ?  It is
because is shows the very epitome of God's grace.  Being saved from the
snakes wasn't in what you did but rather in what God promised.  That
bronze snake was nothing without God's promise and the power to carry it
out.  So it is with Jesus.  Being saved from the eternal snake and his
venom called sin isn't about what you do but is about what God has
promised.  He promised a Savior.  Jesus came and was that Savior.  He was
our substitute, the one who took the poison of our bite so that we won't
eternally die.
 Now you can be stubborn, like some of the Israelites I'm sure, and have
absolutely nothing to do with the bronze serpent or you could at least
take a small peek.  Today's world is full of those who completely reject
God and his power but I say, why not just a small peek?  Why not take a
look at what the Lord has provided in Jesus and see what happens?
 By the way, I would like to tell you that within the next year or so
this group of Israelites will go in and take complete control of the land
of Canaan.  They are shown to be an unstoppable force because of how God
was so with them and because of their great faith.  I believe it is still
the same way today.  With God on our side, what is there to fear?  Since
God sent his Son to atone for our sins and win eternal salvation what's
the problem?  Let's continue as God's children looking to his promises
and his power for our needs.  It what faith is all about.  Trust what the
Lord says.  Trust that the Lord knows best.  Trust what His Son Jesus has
done for all.  Amen.