Have you ever read a book, and the author sprinkles bits of clues throughout the story that starts to lead you to think about what could happen. Perhaps you read further in the story and look back to see those crumbs left in a trail that somehow you missed. Authors often do this with a purpose, and some call it foreshadowing. A glimpse of a reality to come in the future. The reality seems so uncertain for many, and so writers play on this idea, and it builds in-depth to the story.
So, what about this true event that took place. The people of Israel sinned by complaining against God and Moses. This displeased God and He sent venomous snakes among them, and many died from it. But then Moses asked God to relent on their behalf when God sent snakes to bite them. God then instructed Moses to create a bronze snake, and those that had been bitten need only gaze at that bronze snake and they would be healed. Their sin demanded they repent, but God also wanted them to be mindful of the consequences. In order to be healed, true repentance demanded they turn to the symbol God had placed for them.
Many years later Jesus refers back to this event.
Jesus first tells His followers that just like the snake that was lifted up, so will He one day be lifted up in John 3. Then in John 19, we read the actual account where Jesus is lifted up on the cross and all around that fateful hill could gaze upon Him.
So, just as God demanded repentance as the people of Isreal wanted physical healing, now any of us that want true inner healing need to repent and gaze at the now empty cross and the subsequent burial tomb. Jesus was lifted up on the cross and was buried. But He didn’t stay in the tomb. He rose again, just as He had stated He would.
Let’s reflect on this even more. The bronze serpent was a clue of what Jesus would one day hundreds of years later do for mankind. What about in your life? Is God leaving bread crumb trails at various points in your life, foreshadowing hints of His plan for your life. Do you recall what David said in Psalms 139;16?
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Therefore, if God knows you in the womb when before you were even born; surely He knows the days ahead for you. He has a specific plan for you. He wants you to walk this path in faith and He is waiting for you to be depending on Him to lead the way. Don’t get sidetracked with other trails that seem more interesting in the moment, but keep focused on the blazed path He has made for you. Watch for the bits of bread crumbs He has dropped along the way to keep on the right way.