DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR 25 TH AUGUST 2013
TOPIC
TEXT
BRIEF:
: HELP! RUN! SNAKES!
: NUMBERS 21:1-9
This chapter opens with a glorious victory for the Israelites over the Canaanites and continues with the all too familiar pattern of grumbling and complaining. They complained about the lack of food and the monotony of the manna (v5). This time instead of quail, God sent judgement upon the grumbling people in the shape of fiery serpents, whose bite was fatal (v6). The wages of sin and unbelief continued to be death. Yet once again, Moses was there to intercede for the people when they repented. In response to his intercession, God commanded him to make a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole, so that any-one who had been bitten could look at the serpent and live (v8).
The serpent on the pole was not a magical cure for snakebite. The real point of the bronze serpent is that when the people turned to God, they were healed; they were not healed by the sight of the serpent itself. In John’s Gospel, that meaning in the Numbers passage is expanded and employed in reference to the eventual crucifixion of Jesus, which brings healing to the world: “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” (John 3:14-15
NIV). In other words, just as the bronze serpent was a sign calling for faith to which people could look and be delivered from death, so Christ’s crucifixion would have the same effect.
God was going to provide a means of dealing with the wages of sin through Jesus Christ being lifted up on the cross. This image of Jesus being “lifted up” on the cross can also be found in John 8:28 and 12:32-34.
The bronze serpent was preserved for centuries until King Hezekiah destroyed it because the Israelites turned it into an object of worship (2 Kings 8:4).
QUESTIONS:
[1] Despite their victory over Arad, the people’s faith lacked endurance. What can help us build endurance in trusting God?
[2] How did the people show their ungratefulness to God for the victory He has given them? How is the sin of ungratefulness evident in your own heart and life?
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[3] How has the venom of sin plagued your life or relationships? What are the effects on your relationship with God?
[4] Looking at the bronze serpent brought healing to the dying people. a. Why do you think God had Moses make a snake image to save them? b. Where can we find reference to this “bronze serpent” in the New
Testament? c. How did Jesus use this event in Numbers 21 to help us understand God’s grace? d. Of those bitten by the fiery serpents, who could not be delivered from death?
[5] Read 2 Kings 18:3-5. Why did King Hezekiah destroy the bronze serpent that
Moses made? a. What do you see as the most prevalent forms of idolatry in our culture today? Which forms of idolatry seem to be the most dangerous temptations for the church? b. What do you understand to be your own most serious temptations to idolatry? How does God want you to respond to this danger?
PRAYER:
Share with the person next to you any insights or lessons that the study of this passage has brought to you personally for your faith journey. Share how you intend to apply them to your life. Then pray for one another.
MEMORY VERSE [LEVITICUS 19:15]:
“Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”
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