The Nature of True Faith

When the people complained against God and Moses in the wilderness, He sent fiery serpents to bite the people. Many of the people died. So the people came to Moses, asking him to intercede for them to the Lord to remove the serpents. Instead, God told Moses to make a fiery serpent, and put it on a standard. (Numbers 21:8)  Then, everyone who was bitten could come and look at the serpent and live. What a strange solution to a terrible problem. However, it is very important for us, if we are going to understand the nature of true faith.

The people did not really trust God. They complained that He and Moses had brought them out of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. They complained, even though God was leading them and meeting all of their needs. Still, any time they were unsatisfied about anything, they complained instead praying and trusting the Lord. Therefore, God sent the deadly serpents to punish their lack of faith and to teach them a lesson. The bronze serpent on the standard was not magic. It did not heal them from the snake bites. They were healed when the took God at His word, believed what He said, and looked at the fiery serpent. Faith always begins with hearing from God and believing Him. Then, when we do what He says, we are having faith in Him. When He sees our faith in action, He saves us. That is why Jesus alluded to this event and used it to point to Himself being lifted up on the cross. It is when we look on Jesus with faith that He is Lord, and He died to pay for our sins, and we live out our faith in Him that we have true saving faith. Without that type of faith, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6) With that type of faith, anything God says is possible for us.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 22-25.