The bronze serpent and the cross

When the Israelites complained again against Moses and God why they were taken out of Egypt to just die in the wilderness and eat the tasteless manna that God provided for them, God sent fiery serpents that bit them and made so many people die.

Remorseful of their complaints, they asked Moses to plead to Yahweh that the serpents be taken away. Yahweh heard their plea and ordered Moses to make a bronze serpent so that anyone who was bitten will only have to look at the direction of the bronze serpent to be spared from death.

In their time, the bronze serpent was a symbol for healing and living. In our time, our symbol is the cross. We only have to be continually reminded that Jesus died for our salvation, for us to be freed of earthly worries and enjoy eternal life.

Jesus saved us from our sins which are not merely the bad things we do and say to others and not doing the things that we ought to do but it also include closing our lives to God's help when we become so engrossed with our problems and the human means to solve it.

When we live a life apart from God, we eventually will perish just like withered branches that eventually die when cut off from the tree that nourish it.

The bronze serpent and the cross are symbols of God's never ending love and compassion for His people. May we always remember to look at it's direction to be reminded that God sent His only Son to save us from the death caused by our sins.