Numbers 21:4-9
21:4 From Mount Or they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way.21:5 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 we detest this miserable food."
21:6 Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.21:7 The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
21:8 And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live."21:9 So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
Good morning. Next month my parents will celebrate their 38th wedding anniversary. As one blessedly richly and enriched greatly by their commitment, I believe that a Godly marriage is the best gift parents could ever give their children.
In addition to all the lessons in love, patience, sacrifice and forgiveness; a Godly marriage also serves as a lesson in continuity where a family’s connections, successions, and unions go uninterrupted over time. While I believe marriage serves as a great illustration of continuity, I do not believe it is the only form in which continuity reveals itself.
I confess that trying to find continuity in the world and in our culture borders on impossible. Having spent almost ten years working in healthcare, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard healthcare professionals invoke the phrase, “continuity of care,” like it actually exists. I often wonder how many people have had their continuity of care interrupted by an denial or an appeal.
Before cable television poisoned everything it touched, professional and collegiate sports acted as one of society’s last outposts for continuity. The fan assumed that their favorite player would stay with the same team for their entire career and the players use to enjoy the continuity of their spouses keeping the same friends and their kids staying in the same schools.
But if we struggle to find continuity in the world, then it is with great ease that we observe the wondrous continuity of God’s word down through the ages, and bear witness the continuity of God’s redemptive plan that continue its uninterrupted march into the future.
By itself, this passage in Numbers 21 might seem out of place in the Christian faith. What possible connection can be found in a story about a people liberated from bondage becoming impatient and entitled? Only for mankind was freedom not enough that we would complain to the front desk about the maid service and send the food back to the kitchen.
Now what if I told you that over the next couple thousand years God’s redemptive plan would set events into motion that one day would link Numbers 21 to John 3 in a master stroke of continuity. I believe all of us are familiar with John 3:16. Now go back two verses and read,
3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.3:17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
You see whether we realize it or not, we all have bitten by one poisonous serpent or another. Some have been bitten by pride, others have been bitten by lust. Then there are some who have been bitten by addiction, still there are others who have been bitten by violence. No, our chance at survival does not depend on gazing at a bronze serpent affixed on some pole. However, John 3 says that we will still have to look at something. If we want to live, our salvation demands that we look at our sin draped over the Son of Man nailed to a cross.
And with Easter approaching, it is important to note that the cross is not the end of the story. For God had still yet one more point of continuity waiting to be revealed. Is anyone familiar with the Jewish understanding of the term, “Mercy Seat?” It comes Exodus 25 and the instructions for making the ark of the covenant that held the Ten Commandments. Well on top of the ark a lid was placed that came to be called the mercy seat because in that space is where the cloud representing God’s presence rested. Here God was supposed to be seated, and from there God dispensed mercy.
Now listen closely to God’s design for the mercy seat and see if anything sounds familiar. Ex 25:17 “Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 18 And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 19 Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. 20 The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. 21 Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. 22 There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the Ark of the Covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites."
Anything stand out? No? Well read v. 22 again,
“22 There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the Ark of the Covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.” To review we have a mercy seat, two angels, an empty space between them, and a God willing to meet in the empty space."
Is it really possible that God did it again? I mean bridging the span between Numbers 21 and John 3 is impressive enough. But for God’s continuity to overcome all the chaos and destruction in the world a second time, that really would be amazing. Well lets not get our hopes up, but lets turn to John 20 to see how close God came..
Read starting in v6,
"6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying."
Now this interesting, take a look at what Mary sees when she peers into the empty tomb...
"11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus."
You see Godly marriage isn’t the only source of continuity in this world. Because whether one lives in 1400 B.C., 80 A.D., or 2018, there exists a God who has always raised up occasions for salvation if we would look upon it. Moreover in 1400 BC, 80 AD, and 2018, there stands a God who has always expressed a willingness to meet us in the empty spaces of our lives.
And if continuity defines the Creator of the universe, then this week let us be creatures of continuity. Despite hatred’s attempts to disrupt, let us preserve the continuity of love that exists between us. Regardless of evil’s designs to corrupt, let us sustain the continuity of good that pours out from us. In spite of grief’s best efforts to interrupt, may we always remember that it can never disturb our continuity of hope.
CJE