“Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey, and they began to speak against God and Moses. ‘Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?’ they complained. ‘There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!’ So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.’ So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord told him, ‘Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!’ So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!” (Numbers 21:4-9 NLT)
The healing of the Israelites in the wilderness when Moses lifted up the brazen serpent is one of the many familiar stories in the Bible that each of us have probably heard before. It seems though that that is one of the problems with many in the Church today–they're just stories to them. We must, as Christian war fighters, not look at any Scripture as a mere story and start realizing them to be mighty examples of God's victory that awaits us.
Israel had just come out of a marvelous victory over Arad, king of the Canaanites. During this battle, Israel had made a vow to God. After the victory was accomplished, though, they forgot all about God and started complaining again. Some people forget about God as soon as the battle is over, just like the Israelites did. When times are hard and things aren't going good, people have a habit of promising God things they never intend to keep. It’s time, though, that we take our commitments to God seriously and not take them lightly. We must be serious as spiritual warfighters. We cannot afford to play games.
Moses had asked to pass through the land of the Edomites, but Edom would not let them. Because of this, the children of Israel started complaining against God and against Moses. All they could do was whine and complain. Sadly, many today are just like the Israelites were. Unless they are whooping it up on a mountain top all of the time, they start crying, “Everybody's against me. Oh, woe is me. God doesn't love me anymore.” Hear me, and hear me clearly, it's time we stood up for Jesus on the mountain and in the valley! It's time we get some backbone in us and stand tall for Jesus. We act like if we aren't shouting on a mountain top all of the time, that God has forsaken us. He hasn't forsaken you. More than likely you have forsaken Him with your cowardly attitude.
Israel had just come out of that great victory, but now, because of its complaining, God had finally had enough. He permitted poisonous, fiery serpents to come among the people and kill some of them. All of this time, God had been protecting the Israelites, but now God simply got tired of their complaining. The difference between a true, genuine warfighter and just somebody who's been drafted into an army is that the warfighter will sacrifice himself and every ounce of his energy into the fight just to see a victory; whereas a regular drafted soldier will do everything he can to get out of battle.
As these snakes came into their midst and began to bite and kill many of the Israelites. The people of Israel came to their senses very fast. In verse 7 they cried out, “We have sinned. Pray unto the Lord that He will take away the serpents from us.” It's amazing, isn't it, how fast they turned back to God. The strange thing about it all is that they knew that God was the only way all of the time. They had seen God in His power and glory. So it is with so many Christians today. They've experienced the might and power of an almighty God, but yet they turn away from Him.
Verse 8 says, “And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten when he looketh upon it shall live.” God was directing their minds back to the original covenant. What was this original covenant? Remember, God said to the serpent in the garden of Eden, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” It sure is good to know that God always holds true to His promises and covenants, isn't it?
The thing that we must understand is that Jesus forever took the sting out of the serpent. The bruising of the heel took place when Jesus Christ died on the cross. But, in the bruising of the heel, the head of the serpent was crushed. Christ won the victory for every human being throughout the rest of time. Satan was deaf, dumb, and blind if he ever thought he could defeat Jesus! The head of the serpent was crushed and destroyed forever!
The New Testament reveals to us the utter defeat of the serpent. The Word says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” He has become, to the saint of God, the symbol of defeat. He cannot have any victory over you whatsoever unless you allow him to. He's utterly powerless against the Blood of the Lamb. Jesus came to defeat the devil, and defeat him, He did. Jesus won the victory over that serpent, satan, once and for all.
The Word of God not only reveals Jesus's own triumph over the devil and darkness, but also the triumph of the Christian who enters into oneness with Christ. Praise God, we can have victory over the devil and over every demon of darkness. There is victory over every force of evil. Every force in the universe cannot prevail against the child of God who will put all of their trust in God. We serve a victorious, risen Savior. We serve a Lord that marched down into the pits of hell and forcibly took the keys to death, hell, and the grave. He won the victory, and now that victory can be ours also. Fellow spiritual warfighter, the magnificence of Christ's power is realized in Revelation 1:18, when it says, “I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death.” Praise God! Jesus took the keys away and to this day satan has never been able to get them back.
Matthew 16:19 says, “I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Praise God, the keys that Jesus took are now being given to us as warfighters in His Kingdom. Is the devil giving you a hard time? Then bind him in the name of Jesus. Victory will be yours.
The serpent has been the symbol of the enemy of the human race from the very beginning, but satan’s utter defeat is set forth and portrayed in the fact that he, the symbol of darkness, is erected and nailed to the pole. Just like God said to the Israelites, “Come, look upon the serpent that's been nailed to the pole, and you will be healed.” Now God says to us, as spiritual warfighters, “Come and look at him. Do not be afraid of him.” The power of the promise overcame him. Whoever had the courage to look upon the brazen serpent lived. And whoever will look at the serpent today, from the viewpoint of Christ’s victory over that serpent, will see the overcoming Christ victorious in power.
What a powerful symbolic lesson to be learned about not being afraid of the devil. The Almighty Himself brought the enemy into captivity, and no power of darkness can stand before the Almighty God. This lesson of the defeat of the prince of darkness, must be very clear on the minds of every child of God if we are to ever realize the power we can have as Christian warfighters. We must look upon that brazen serpent as it is lifted up and realize not to be scared of it, but rather realize it is a symbol of a defeated foe. Be courageous, child of God. Stand tall in the power of His might. We are more than conquerors through Christ that strengtheneth us.
Luke 10:19 says, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Praise the Lord–victory is ours! We can march into battle knowing that the victory has already been won. As we march forth in the power of God's might, we do so knowing that we have already been promised that the war is going to be won because of Jesus, our mighty Commander. So, be comforted and know that even when the war gets tough, we do not have to fear, and we do not have to worry, because we have read the end of the Book and it says that we are victorious!